Hope Street Park

 http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/plan-could-bring-park-to-middle-of-hope-street/article_bb5bf3dc-cc5f-11e5-abfd-1b9ee463cffa.html

The article is about  Downtown Los Angeles brings up a new project of putting a park in the middle of Hope Street. Sustainability is an outstanding concern, when it comes to the modern society.  Parks are always pleasant places and they bring people together by creating a warm environment. Constructing them and maintaining them is a costly affair. One of the problems with parks is that they are easily destruction and misuse.

        Similar issues come when the project proposal of a park in Hope Street is brought up. First, the government has to be open to the idea of a park and should be willing to spend a substantial amount of money on it. Things do look positive where the government is concerned. The good thing about this park is the creators are trying to build it that it flows with the community and not creates any distractions. As said in the article, if the new park can take its essence from parks like the ones in Tele Aviv, it would be a great new community.  

        Not just that, if the neighborhood gets involved and tries to look at this new project with enthusiasm, it can be a good start. As parks are basically a place that provides people with the chance to relax, it would be a good place to open up new businesses like restaurants. In addition, parks like these will also open employment opportunities for people and that is a noteworthy thing to consider.

LA EcoVillage

The LA Eco Village is a great example of sustainability.  Throughout the decades, people have been making their place of living ecologically clean and free from car pollution. Environmentally sustainable lifestyle in a supportive community in Los Angles attracts more and more people every year, who are eager to give up nature pollution and join the Eco-Village. 

The Eco Village community are inspired by ecologically clean lifestyle, organic food,  the democratic relationship in the neighborhood. The area of the Eco Village community is divided into two blocks,  Several houses connected by the common yard play an important role in the lives of people who live there. These are not ordinary houses, but unique places which connect people and introduce their practices of being sustainable. The atmosphere in the neighborhood is close and friendly. People gather together every Sunday night to have a dinner and discuss some issues. They are united by the common values and goals, which include replacing  bicycle, organic food, and environment-friendly lifestyle. The inspiring atmosphere in community encourages its residents to keep going on with making the world a better place.

Ride Green

A simple direction of terminating air pollution and cutting down on loading of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere does exist. While solar energy and other green sources of electric current offer a fuel solution integrate them into the currently used machines, the green car is one way that a machine now can able to use in alternative fuels. The cars use electric current rather than oil cutting off the emission of any polluter gas into the atmosphere.  

The first challenge is the creation of enough capacity in the cars. Secondly, the concern to increase the speed-power of the vehicles exists because they move at a slower speed compared to the traditional ones. Lastly, they need to carry loads at the same level as the contemporary cars. However, the electric-powered cars come as limited in horsepower and space. These limitations are, however, overcome by Tesla. Tesla offers introduced their models where they can fit a family, strong power, and big space.

The dream seems to take off fast as a better replacement to the electric cars emerges. The future to green transport is bright, and only a little more effort from the urban areas is needed to make it a reality.    

Are you Fashionable? Try keep up with the new Fashion

Have you ever imagined of wearing clothes for a specified period and then disposing of them off to the compost where they will readily decay? There exist technologies that lead to the development of clothes. However, they are limited, and few people consider most of the decomposable fashion products as ineffective and of inferior quality. Nevertheless, the increasing environmental pollution from the non- decomposable fashion products has led to the development of sustainable fashion.

In one of the articles, the sustainable fashion means the creation of the latest fashion products using materials that are environmentally friendly, for example, readily biodegradable. There is a unique relationship between the sustainable fashion and business ethics. One of the requirements of corporate social responsibility (CRS) is that the companies should maintain a sustainable environment, which will enhance the safety of humans and other living things (Josephine, 2015). However, most of the big firms in the fashion industry have failed on CSR requirement, and most of their products are made up of non – biodegradable materials. Therefore, the major question is whether the companies or unique brands can employ a different technique to produce sustainable fashion products.

I discovered from the articles that most of the manufacturers and consumers have failed to adapt to the biodegradable or renewable fashion because they believe the products are not strong, have a low durability, and are not attractive. Most people do not understand the meaning of biodegradation because it occurs through a certain process and under unique conditions (Josephine, 2015). Therefore, the sustainable fashion products cannot decompose within a short time as most of the manufacturers think. Also, the idea of sustainability involves the ability to renew the materials. In essence, the consumers throw used clothes without considering the possibility of recycling them while most of the manufacturers lack strategies for collecting and recycling used fashion products.

I have a major concern on the willingness and the strategies utilized by the fashion industry to enhance green and sustainable fashion. H&M is a leading Sweden-based company that produces sustainable fashion products, which works towards committing to the ethical fashion to urge its competitors to use the same techniques (Alexa, 2013). For example, the company has launched a product line identified as “Conscious Exclusive” produced using sustainable materials such as polyester, and organic cotton (Alexa, 2013). Another company, Freitag, plans to use microorganisms to decompose the waste fashion products. The microorganisms are safe and decompose the products within three months. The biological dye does not harm the customers, and it is friendly to nature. Despite several companies showing the willingness to adapt to the sustainable fashion, most of them are very slow on the strategies. Most of the consumers contribute to the decisions made by the big fashion companies to adopt the sustainable fashion, which leads to the current situation.

The sustainable fashion is a unique advancement in the fashion industry, which aims at protecting both the consumers and the environment. The companies have a corporate social responsibility of maintaining a no pollution environment; therefore, a sustainable fashion is the best solution to maintain a CSR. Sustainability involves the use of both renewable and biodegradable products such cotton, silk, and wool. Both the companies and consumers need to collaborate and accept the sustainable fashion products.

 

References

Alexa Guidone. (April 9, 2013). H&M Commits To Sustainable Fashion. Accessed on April 5, 2016 from http://www.strategicsourceror.com/2013/04/h-commits-to-sustainable-fashion.html 

Josephine Moulds. (March 24, 2015). Can big brands catch up on sustainable fashion? Accessed on April 5, 2016 from http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/sustainable-fashion-blog/2015/mar/24/composting-clothes-sustainable-materials-biodegradable

Hey! Rcycle

          Recycling plays a significant role in protecting our environment. It is a way of preventing environmental pollution. Our daily waste of products like plastics, food packaging and electric components could be recycled for reuse. This prevents the harm that could possibly occur in the environment. Recycling reduce the harm passed to the future generations.


          Recycling is a source of revenue for the government. This is obvious given that taxes are added in companies that deal with recycling. It is also a source of income for many citizens who are employed in such enterprises. Finally recycling helps in preservation of fresh raw materials by preventing use of clean material every time a product is needed. By reusing, we, therefore, protect the diminishing of raw materials and also protect our natural inhabitant. In the end, the process acts as a means of preserving energy because used recycled materials use less energy during their manufacture as compared to clean raw materials.

Eco-Effectiveness

A paper is durable, functional, and attractive, but is does not last forever. It is perfectly biodegradable. With this in mind, people still have to worry about its disposal as they do worry about non-biodegradable materials.  Regardless of the fact the paper is a product of trees, it is imperative to note that the composition of the paper changes when one uses pens and pencils on it. To illustrate this, pens and pencils are a combination of heavy metals and carbon black. In this way, a paper that has writings on it is equally harmful as non-biodegradable materials. Further, paper is not plain wood, but an mixture. Having this, the paper should be disposed carefully because it cannot be burnt like wood because it releases dioxins; extremely dangerous substances.

They aimed at developing chlorine-free papers that would not pose danger to humans and ecosystems. The substances became a source of dilemma because they contained elements that could not be prevented from contaminating water. For acceptable durability, the covers of many books are coated; as a result, they cannot be recycled. However, the covers of the books can be recycled. Unfortunately, recycling them more often threatens their strength and inhibits their service. All in all, the option is less appealing environmentally and practically.  

Besides, a ground littered with cherry blossom appears as a sight that one could tolerate. Somehow one might wonder if the tree is wasteful and inefficient. However, when cherries fall to the ground, they breakdown and decompose turning into nutrients for microorganism, plants, animals, insects, and even soil. This tree must be generous for feeding earth. It produces more than it requires for personal sustenance. Humans should reduce the number of structures that they construct and plant more natural vegetation like the cherry tree.

Ask a junior school kid about the experience growth. He or she will tell you that it is a good experience because it involves growing healthier, stronger, and bigger. However, the description is not complete because it should also include growing into responsible human beings. Growth also takes place in man-made entities such as industries. As the human grow bigger, stronger, healthier, and responsible, the industries also grow bigger; consequently, they release more toxins into the air, rivers, and land. Moreover, more land has to be cleared to create room for the expansion of factories. Urban and industrial growth is a potential source of cancer and also behaves as a cancer. Factories behave as cancer because they have uncontrolled growth that take place for their own sake and not for the lives that inhabitant it. In the wake of the expansion of factories, humans have turned into irresponsible organisms.

In contrast to humans, ants are far less intelligent, but take care of their environment by constructing cemeteries, growing and harvesting food, and handling their own material wastes and those of other species.Human should imitate ants in regard to relating with the environment.  

Food Today

Ideally we eat food. Not too little, not too much, just enough. Our society today has been faced with what we should eat to maintain our health. There are various medical recommendations out there today regarding what to eat and what not to eat, most of them leaning on the side of the fresh food intake rather than the consumption of processed foods. What started out as a one-man idea is now an organization that is aimed at supporting businesses, which are committed to making certain changes within their societies.

Food has been used as a strategy to source for funds that will be used to give back to the society in any useful way. Cafes such as Old School hire disabled individuals to sell meal vouchers, whose proceeds go towards college scholarships. There is so much importance attached to food that a little mention of throwing it away can start great debates among the various people today. Past food, shortages have taught man to be more careful on how he makes use of the available food, when there is plenty around or when there is not. For instance the 500 diplomats, environment ministers, and other officials of the United Nations, who were treated to a formal dinner in Kenya, and were served food that was considered as surplus and was supposed to have been thrown away. Rejected food was fed high-ranking officials; something, which no one thought, could ever happen.

Various forums have been set up to campaign against the wastage of food. The Sustainable Foods Summit is currently doing an excellent job combating wastage in the food system. In countries such as the United States, it has been verify that at least 40% of the available food goes uneaten. This show how the availability of food is taken for granted in some areas, particularly those sectors are less likely to experience food shortages. This is happening despite the fact that a good portion of the American citizens lacks a secure food supply. Disposed food sent to landfills for an estimated 25% of the world's methane emissions, which are contributing to the current climate change. Food service providers have been identified as the chief weapon in combating food waste, together with various awareness-raising and educational cafeterias. ‘Low Carbon Diet Day' is celebrated each year, and the people are once again reminded of how their food choices have a significant bearing on climate change. Despite these efforts, food wastage is still inevitable, and the man is now working hard to keep it away from the landfill through feeding scraps to livestock, transforming the food waste into energy, and composting.

Other strategies such as the ‘Hidden Harvest Model' have worked to save produce from wastage while at the same time feeding the hungry. The model provides a solution to the problem of food wastage by giving millions of fruits and vegetables a second chance to many families. The program aims to gather and distribute fresh produce in an attempt to fight hunger. Much more emphasis needs to be given to the subject of food and food wastage. Despite the increasing importance of maintaining an adequate food supply across the globe, more programs and forums need to come up to join in the fight against food wastage.