Solving Our Plastic Predicament, by James

November 7, 2020

Today, a well-known nonprofit called Environment Saving Solutions (ESS) based in Portland, Oregon, finalized their program to replace all plastic bags in stores with eco-friendly, compostable bioplastic. ESS began this program because they knew that plastic was the main part of all trash and bad for the environment. The Pacific Trash Vortex, a patch of plastic and garbage the size of Texas floating in the North Pacific, is particularly troubling. ESS is supported with money and personnel from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Together, the ESS and the EPA are working together to create a new era for shoppers.

During the program, ESS and EPA have discovered how serious our plastic problem is and was. The United States was almost completely depending on petroleum for our plastic products. Because we are almost out of oil, our plastic products are about to use up all of our fuel. If ESS and EPA had not acted sooner, the U.S. plastic market would have run dry!

Luckily, the ESS and EPA acted fast enough, and they saved the U.S. economy, and a lot of nature. "We did it for the people, not the profit," says the chair of the board of ESS, a amazing man from Portland, OR, named Alex Seeker, who has dedicated his life to ESS, and saving the environment.

From Trash to Transportation, by Ibrahim & Stella

October 10, 2020

Today, Camille Summerson, our local Portland station reporter, reported to us from Delhi, India, about the problems in public transportation, along with the clouds of pollution generated from the public buses. During Camille's research, she interviewed Raj Rahman, a resident of Delhi, who is leading a campaign to build sustainable transportation. He has been thinking about solutions to this problem for the past several years, since 2013 that is. Rahman has invented a solution now in 2020. His idea is to build public buses out of recyclable material that can be used to make more buses once the old ones have been taken out of service. Since one of the main problems he is also facing in his town and in the rest of the world is carbon dioxide emissions, he has decided to make the buses run electrically.

Raj, a skilled engineer with years of experience, has built a small model of his "Electrobus" to present to the Indian Department of Transportation. Raj states, "This pollution problem is out there, you know it! We have got to make a move on it, and I hope the IDT will agree with my creation." Camille then asked Ms.Veerapritak Paranatram, a citizen who lives near a bus stop and takes the bus daily to get to the market in Delhi, what she thought about the Electrobus. She said, "I hope that Raj's idea will be made effective because the smell of gasoline and auto exhaust makes me gag with disgust in the morning. I know this pollution can't be good for the planet."

When Camille interviewed an IDT official about what he thought on the Electrobus, there was no negativity in his response. He said, "The Electrobus is a hope to fix our problems on pollution. We need to be open to new ideas like this one, and I hope the rest of the IDT agrees." The Electrobus could be quite a revolution in public transportation, and we just have to get a move on it.

Beekeeping in Portland, by Ethan

July 15, 2020

Bees have been dying due to Colony Collapse Disorder for over a decade, but there is hope. Professional beekeeper Brian Lacy of Livehoneybees.com in Portland, Oregon, has noticed that urban beekeeping, ironically, has been more successful that rural beekeeping in bringing back northwest

honeybee numbers. "We use less pesticides in the city; we have a greater variety of food sources here; and more and more backyard beekeepers are joining our numbers." 

Lacy has worked with Catlin Gabel School in Portland over the years to teach a whole new generation about beekeeping. "The kids are wonderful—full of curiosity and wonder," he notes. The campus has six hives in its apiary project, and they are teaching the students there the value of the honeybee. "One-third of the food we eat is pollinated by the honeybee," Lacy notes. "They provide food and honey for us, and we do the same for them."

Email from Rob Hopkins, December 18, 2013

Wednesday, December 18, 2013 8:25 AM
To: Carter Latendresse
From: Rob Hopkins

Hi Carter,
I have copied your email to Isabel Carlisle who holds Transition Network's work around education and who has created just the kind of network you are talking about. She will be in touch. I have sent her the link to your website. I have tweeted your website, and will include it in next month's Roundup that we do. There was also a school in Spain who did a big project about Transition which was fun. http://transitionsantacoloma.blogspot.co.uk<http://transitionsantacoloma.blogspot.co.uk/>

Do keep us posted, we'd love to feature any stories about things you do on our website!
Best wishes
Rob

Natural Building, by Samma & Mayumi

January 12, 2020

Mrs. Robin Crusoe, a famous actress, has donated over $1,000,000 to the NBA (Natural Building Association), to the NTMGA (Natural Tree Manipulation Growth Association), and to the TREE (Tree Revolution Elder Engineering). Mrs. Robertson has decided to make a natural house and live there most of the time to be with nature. It will take time for the tree to get shaped and for the grass to grow in between the vines so that the roof will be woven together thoroughly.

Three dozen fruit trees will be planted around her home in Southwest Portland to provide additional shade, which she estimates will reduce air conditioning demands by up to 50%. By cutting down the energy demand for cooling our houses, we reduce carbon dioxide and other pollution from power plants, which in turn reduces global warming. Mrs. Crusoe plans to grow her backyard orchard and garden on her .25 acres by using permaculture principles, so that apple trees and other plants can provide her and the birds with everything they need to survive. 

Mrs. Crusoe has been tweeting photos of the construction project, and she has caught the attention of several high-profile celebrities such as Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Usher, and Macklemore who have stated that they are interested in building the same type of houses for themselves.

Rising Seas, by Aarushi & Justin

August 4, 2020

The head of Environmental Studies, Karen Milan, studying sea expansion at the University of Portland yesterday stated, "For seven years the seas have taken a sharp decline is their productivity and as a healthy marine habitat. Sea rise and sea acidification are to blame. We need to stop the sea rise and the rising sea temperatures at their common source, which is global warming." The solution is to reduce the carbon dioxide we are releasing into the air. The main culprit is transportation. Ford Motor Company has now created a hydro-based car that runs on salt water. Ford plans to expand the production in 2021 so that current U.S. carbon dioxide emissions will be cut in half.

The 2020 Ford AquaCar

Recent studies show that the seas and oceans will rise 2.5 to 6.5 feet by the year 2100. There is enough water stored in the East Antarctic ice sheet to raise sea levels by 164 feet. There are hundreds of millions of people at risk from rising seas.

The sea has risen twenty inches in the past 100 years, and more than half of the ice that was originally at the north and south poles is now gone. As with glaciers and the ice caps, increased heat is causing the massive ice sheets that cover Greenland and Antarctica to melt at an accelerated pace. Scientists also believe meltwater from above and below the seawater is seeping beneath Greenland's and West Antarctica's ice sheets, effectively lubricating ice streams and causing them to move more quickly into the sea. Moreover, higher sea temperatures are causing the massive ice shelves that extend out from Antarctica to melt from below, weaken, and break off. We can not lower the seas, but we can stop it from getting higher.

Ford and other companies are doing their best to provide the public with options to lower our carbon footprints and our sea levels.

Catlin Gabel School Leads the Green Way, by Lucy & C.C.

April 8, 2020

Catlin Gabel School

For many years schools have used an exorbitant amount of energy while producing of mountains of plastic that just end up in landfills, creeks, and the ocean. Catlin Gabel School in Portland, Oregon, a U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School, decided to make a change from the everyday wasteful lifestyle of schools, so we visited their campus earlier this week to witness the amazing changes they have enacted.

We took a step inside the Catlin Gabel School middle school building and noticed that all the kids had brought reusable and durable plates and utensils, made out of bamboo. One of the kids, Alison James, a 6th grader, told us that by using these durable plates, they wouldn't throw out any plastics, or one-use items. We talked to other kids, who told us that they rarely printed, and when they had to print a handout, the class would reuse it in future years. Catlin Gabel has really opened the eyes of other schools, almost leading them to victory. These amazing changes do not end here, though; most of CGS's eco-friendly characteristics are focused upon the idea of gardening.

Catlin Gabel gardens during free periods, after school, and sometimes during classes. "How does gardening help the environment?" we asked some sixth graders who were out gardening. They were thrilled to explain. They told us that they harvested the food and brought it to the school lunch room. All of the produce was from the garden. They even gave us some samples, and the fruits and veggies were delicious. Gardening benefits the community in a big way.  

Then it was to the arts building. The arts building had some changes, big changes. For example, in the music room, they had less big MacBook Pro's and more laptops. In the black box, they only turned on the spotlights when they needed to, and they reused costumes in any way they could.

These eco-friendly changes have influenced other schools greatly, and the Catlin Gabel facilities department team regularly visits other schools to help them by doing energy and waste audits.

Organic Farming Legislated Across U.S., by Kai

October 12, 2020

Last year Francais De Lune of Portland, Oregon, wrote a book showing how harmful non-organic farming is for the environment. His highly-influential study found that in many places U.S. soils were so caked with salt and depleted of micronutrients that most crops wouldn't grow. De Lune's book was perhaps part of the inspiration for the U.S. Congress to pass a law yesterday requiring farmers to farm organically.

In many agricultural areas, pollution of groundwater sources with synthetic fertilizers and pesticides is a major problem. The use of synthetic fertilizers is prohibited in organic agriculture, where organic farmers prefer to use organic fertilizers—such as compost, animal manure, and green manure—and greater biodiversity—crop rotation and cover crops—all of which enhances soil structure and water infiltration. Well-managed organic systems with better nutrient-retentive abilities greatly reduce the risk of groundwater pollution. In some areas where pollution is a real problem conversion to organic agriculture is highly encouraged as a restorative measure.

Organic crops must be grown in safe soil, have no modifications, and must remain separate from conventional products. The new farm law prohibits U.S. farmers from using synthetic pesticides, bio engineered genes (GMOs), petroleum-based fertilizers, or sewage sludge-based fertilizers.

De Lune is currently at work on a new book that looks at monocropping. "The practice of monocropping, which required the colossal use of pesticidies and chemical fertilizers that have now been outlawed," he said, "will need to also be changed. Monocropped systems are unsustainable and a poor agricultural choice to maintain soil structure and health."