design4ENV

"If you were released from the architecural school program what would you do to impact the environment?"

Trees...

There is just something about a forest. It's a majestic and enlivening experience when one gets a chance to view such an amazing thing. Some trees stand over 100 feet tall and can be several feet across spanning a life time of nearly one hundred years! "Forests not only make us feel alive they help us live" (Conservation.org).

There are events going on today which threaten this experience. Deforestation is killing our trees and killing the environment. Generally, the removal or destruction of significant areas of forest cover has resulted in a degraded environment with reduced biodiversity. In many countries, massive deforestation is ongoing and is shaping climate and geography.

"The burning and clearing of forests contributes more than one-fifth of total global greenhouse gas emissions – more than the emissions of all of the world’s cars, trucks, trains, and planes combined" (Conservation.org).

“Protecting the world’s remaining forests will significantly reduce climate change, maintain the livelihood of millions of people who depend on the forest and protect a huge amount of the world’s biodiversity� said Greenpeace Amazon Campaign Co-ordinator Paulo Adario.

My solution to curb deforestation and replant the effected areas is to become a hydroponic tree farmer. In general, trees would be grown using a hydroponic system. Once the saplings have reached a mature stage they would be moved to the location where they could be planted in soil to start the forestation process.

The hydroponic system uses no soil and the plants are grown in an inert growing medium, the plants do not get anything from the growing medium. The plants receive only what you give them, nothing more, you have complete control over pH, nutrients and the nutrient strength.

An example of a commercial hydroponic system can be seen in this video growing lettace:

The reason for selecting a hydroponic system instead of simply panting seeds in soil is that large-scale farms usaully cause much more damage to the environment than intended. Negative aspects of farming include depleting the soil of nutirients, pollution due to runoff, and wasteful water consumption.

Lets maintian a healthy forest.

Posted by healy082 at 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My second day volunteering in the Pre-K program at Skyline tower went well. The same kids showed up today along with another volunteer from Arch 1701. A mother tried to drop off a child that was not old enough and she was told she couldn’t leave him. I thought it was going to get confrontational since she started shouting a little bit, but she left peacefully.
The kids played with blocks for a couple minutes and then were asked to clean up. I am surprised how the kids all pay attention and follow directions so well. It appears they have a routine which they are used to. The kids then grabbed books and we read books to small groups of 2-3 kids. After reading a couple books the kids colored with crayons and I tried to teach them letters and colors. The day went fast and soon it was time for the kids to go upstairs and I cleaned up the room and left.

Posted by healy082 at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I arrived at Skyline Tower in St. Paul, MN to begin my first day volunteering in the Pre-K program. I was not sure where this was located in the building since last semester I volunteered as a Homework Center tutor. I found Yvonne, a coordinator with Common Bond, and she politely directed me to the Pre-K room. There I met the director of the Pre-K program and she gave a quick overview of what they do everyday. From 2:00pm-2:45pm children ages 3-5 come to participate in learning activities. When the children arrived they quickly grabbed the “blocks�, wooden blocks with letters and colors on them, and spilled them across the floor. There were 5 kids today and they played with the blocks for about 5 minutes and then we moved onto reading the board and teaching the alphabet and numbers. I read the kids some cards with words on them too. Later, we read several books and colored some alphabet letters with crayons. The day went fast and the children seemed very interested in the program and I went home with a good impression of the program.

Posted by healy082 at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

"If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin." ~Charles Darwin

This collection of quotes, images, and a song list all share a common goal to bring awareness to a global issue of extreme poverty and hunger. Awareness will be change...

Did you know?

Did you know that in our world today:

One third of deaths - some 18 million people a year or 50,000 per day - are due to poverty-related causes. That's 270 million people since 1990, the majority women and children, roughly equal to the population of the US. (Reality of Aid 2004)
Every year more than 10 million children die of hunger and preventable diseases - that's over 30,000 per day and one every 3 seconds.
(80 Million Lives, 2003 / Bread for the World / UNICEF / World Health Organization)
Over 1 billion people live on less than $1 a day with nearly half the world's population (2.8 billion) living on less than $2 a day. (UN HDR, 2003)
600 million children live in absolute poverty. (SCF, Beat Poverty 2003).
The three richest people in the world control more wealth than all 600 million people living in the world's poorest countries. (Source:ChristianAid)
Income per person in the poorest countries in Africa has fallen by a quarter in the last 20 years. (Source:ChristianAid)
800 million people go to bed hungry every day. (Source:FAO)
Every year nearly 11million children die before their fifth birthday. (Source:UNICEF)

See this video:
Download file

NOTE: Some images are graphic...

"You can't get rid of poverty by giving people money." ~P.J. O'Rourke, A Parliament of Whores

There is no easy way to cure the problems causing poverty and hunger. The issue will take a global change in the way we live and the responsiblities of governments overall. Money is not the answer. You can't give out billions of dollars and expect results. An effort and a task force need to be implemented for results. The process needs management and most importantly the people need education.

Some Songs for thought:
"Dead End Street" by: R. Davies, performed by the Kinks
"A Dollar Ain't A Dollar Anymore" by Tom Glazer, (Sung by the Union Boys)
"Money, Money" from the musical: Cabaret
"There's Nothing Soft About Hard Times" by: Jimmy Buffett

Sources:
http://www.millenniumcampaign.org/site/pp.asp?c=grKVL2NLE&b=185518

Posted by healy082 at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Minnesotans need to make an investment in our transportation and our future. While Minnesota has long been recognized as a center of innovation, we have not maintained our track record in the area of transit. Light Rail Transit (LRT) is an opportunity to invest in a transportation system that will serve as the foundation for a strong, economically viable metropolitan area for many years to come.

LRT will help Minnesotans save money on transportation expenditures in the long-run, conserve energy, preserve our environment, and revitalize the public transit system of the Twin Cities. LRT runs on electricity and causes less air pollution than cars. Consider the experience of Portland, Oregon, where air pollution violated federal standards 170 days of the year until the city built a light rail line and limited downtown parking.

LRT is efficient and will, over time, reduce congestion by moving more people than either cars or buses. One 3-car LRT train can move up to 500 people, taking 350-400 cars off the road, while helping reduce congestion, air pollution and traffic delays.

In the Twin Cities, afternoon “rush hour� usually begins around 3:00 in the afternoon. Driving the eleven miles from downtown St. Paul to Uptown Minneapolis can easily take an hour…an hour mostly spent staring at the bumper of another car. Metro area roads are clogged for 7.6 hours every day. This means a Twin Cities commuter spends an average of 43 hours behind the wheel every year, or the equivalent of 5 eight-hour workdays. That same commuter uses up 28 gallons of fuel, and (on average) loses $722 per year!!!

54 % of Minnesota’s population lives in the seven county metro area, the 3,000 square miles surrounding Minneapolis and St. Paul. If it takes an hour to travel between Minneapolis and St. Paul…let’s just say the suburban commute isn’t much fun.

The Issue:

Minnesota lacks a dedicated source of funding for public transit. In short, that means money for transit projects fluctuates each year, dependent on the whims of the state legislature. The community needs to come together and push legislation to fund these projects. Its for the health of our future and the city.

Referenced Articles:
http://www.geocities.com/yosemite/2288/lrtmnstory.htm
http://www.tlcminnesota.org/congestion1.html

Posted by healy082 at 3:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

What is energy?

Is energy the cars, buses, and people in the city? Or is energy the interaction between these objects and their environment? Is there energy in the overwhelming mass of the buildings which make the city? Is energy seen through the cities' glow in the night sky?

Energy flows through a city. Not only through the people, but everything which keeps the city alive. Both visible and invisible energy flow through the city. Electricity, internet, sewer, and steam all work together to keep the city alive. Like the vascular system in a body energy keeps the city pulsing and alive. There is hierarchy in the flow of energy as in the vascular system. Central arteries feed smaller secondary viens and so on, just as highways feed city streets which then feed allies...

The movement of energy can be seen easily if one takes flight above the city at night and watches the stream of headlights on the highway flowing in and out of the cities limits. As people flow to and from the city culture flows transforming the city with new life and expression. A city without culture is mearly a mass of impermeable structure. This flow of culture leaves the city continuously changing. Just as a river flows through a valley ultimately confined by its environment. The city is continually renewed and discharged with this energy everyday as the process reoccurs.

Posted by healy082 at 3:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)