# data[].attributes.body
Chew On This: Farmers Are Using Food Waste To Make Electricity

Food waste is normally disposed of in landfills, aggravating climate change, but dairy farmers in Massachusetts are transforming the trash into electricity. Food waste is collected, ground, and liquefied across the state before being delivered to an anaerobic digester on a dairy farm, which can produce enough energy to power more than just the farm. While Whole Foods donates much of their excess food to food banks, there is still a lot of waste. Preparing prepared foods accounts for a large portion of it. There are many things that remain, just as there are in your own kitchen, such as onion or carrot peels, rinds, stalks, or meat leftovers. All of these pieces are ground into a slurry by the grinder. "It 's almost like liquefied food waste," Franczyk explains.

Aubrey, Allison. “Chew ON This: Farmers Are Using Food Waste To Make Electricity.” NPR, 30 Nov. 2019,

The Country Winning the Battle On Food Waste

In South Korea, a mix of grassroots movements and government programs has resulted in a 95 percent reduction in food waste; that's about 400 metric tons a day. Residents must purchase special biodegradable bags as part of a fee that funds 60 percent of the city's food processing. It's a pay-as-you-waste strategy that also encourages residents to think of new methods to recycle and compost, and special weighing machines push them to remove the moisture first, saving even more money on collection fees. Chung Sun-hee's new behaviors are part of a bigger shift taking place in South Korea's densely crowded capital, where grassroots groups and government initiatives have drastically altered how people dispose of leftover food.

Kim, Max. “The Country Winning The Battle On Food Waste.” HuffPost, 8 Apr. 2019,

Reflection:

I think the whole pay-as-you-waste strategy is so smart! It makes people do a double take and maybe not step in the direction of contributing to the waste. I find it so impressive that since South Korea put in the new rules, 95% of food waste have been reduced. I think the United States could definitely take a note from that. Just bringing awareness of the general public's contribution to food waste or plastic waste could make a huge difference and bring more activism to the streets and share the knowledge.

# data[].attributes.headline
CAS4: Listen/View (Recycled Ocean Plastic)

# data[].attributes.subject
CAS4: Listen/View (Recycled Ocean Plastic)

# data[].attributes.body
Video: Why recycled ocean plastic is (often) a lie

Reflection:
Recycled ocean plastic has been brought up many times to help with throwing away trash. But there hasn't been a lot of validity in it. Sometimes it's just a marketing tactic to get more consumers to buy their product. In order for products to be considered recyclable, they'd have to be broken down and not be able to get caught in anything. There's multiple steps into making sure it's recyclable that it's never certain that these brands and companies are doing their part in disposing of it.

I've learned, in previous assignments as well, that recycling is not just throw away an object and send it on its way. It's making sure it's not tangled in anything and that it's not completely dirty or just not applicable. It's a longer process and time inducing that sometimes never gets around to it.

# data[].attributes.body
1- The carbonless fuel that could change how we ship goods

Maria Galluci went on to talk about how we can ship goods while lowering the carbon footprint. The solution is green ammonia. Green ammonia doesn't contain any carbon molecules so it doesn't create carbon dioxide. It contains one part nitrogen, and three parts hydrogen. This could be ten times better than regular fuel and can help the environment in many ways.

Gallucci, Maria. “The Carbonless Fuel That Could Change How We Ship Goods.” Maria Gallucci: The Carbonless Fuel That Could Change How We Ship Goods | TED Talk

2-  A new way to restore Earth's biodiversity -- from the air

There are two billion hectares of abandoned land around the world. It takes more than planting thousands of trees, it takes putting back the ecosystem that was in place there so it can thrive. With bigger and better technology, they can get drones to scope out the area to see what to plant so it can grow and thrive quickly and better. With that technology, they can return forests back to land and recreate ecosystems that used to be.

Graham, Susan. “A New Way to Restore Earth's Biodiversity -- from the Air.” Susan Graham: A New Way to Restore Earth's Biodiversity -- from the Air | TED Talk

Reflection:

There's not much I can speak on about the green ammonia and to replace it for the new fuel. I would love for that to happen and hope that it does but there's not anything that I can really do about it unless I am in the field. It was amazing to learn about it and dig a bit deeper on the topic. Onto how to restore the ecosystems of abandoned land, I didn't know it took more than planting trees to rebuild it. I thought if we were to plant trees, animals could just migrate to said area and make their own ecosystems but it takes more than trees and also plants. Plants that also attract bugs, insects, and animals.

# data[].attributes.body
1) Where Does Your Trash End Up?

Our trash goes to the landfill or an Asian country. A landfill is basically a hole in the ground where our trash is placed. Our trash just sits there and decays over the years. One out of the many problems of landfills is that they produce this toxic liquid called leachate. Leachate is all the liquids that collect in the landfill. It can be filled with paint, pesticides, bleach, nail polish, medicine, battery acid, etc. All that toxic liquid could seep into the ground except that there is a liner under the trash and collect it. Problem is that the liner could break and it could go through. Companies will monitor the landfill and repair the leaks for 30 years and then after the years, it's up to the public to clean up the mess. There are over 2,000 active landfills in the United States.

“Where Does Your Trash End Up?” Story of Stuff, 11 Mar. 2020

2) Where Your Recycled Plastic Ends Up.

In 2013, under the pressure from city council, the Ecology Center began accepting non-bottle plastic. People thought that just by recycling, their garbage was in a safe environment and they had done their part. Thing is, the United States was shipping over 50% of their paper and plastic to China. China then said, no to accepting the trash. Following China's waste ban, scrap began to flood other Southeast Asian nations. They started bringing the trash to smaller villages, shown in the video, like Indonesia. The plastic garbage covered acres and you could barely see the floor.

“Where Your Recycled Plastic Ends Up.” Story of Stuff, 21 Jan. 2020,

Reflection:

Unfortunately, I do relate to consumption as a global citizen. I, like everyone else, crave material things and with buying them, it gives the incentive to companies to overproduce and make more of them because they see the success of the product. I am at fault for not looking into brands and see what they stand for and how they package things that make it environmentally friendly.

After watching the videos, I'm inspired to look into brands that eco-friendly and ones who specialize their packaging to become bio-degradable. I will minimize the use of plastic and if I were to need a straw, I'd use a bamboo or metal per say. I do recycle but I will read into how I can correctly recycle because most people are doing it incorrectly.

# data[].attributes.body
1. “Miami Is Now the Second Most Expensive Housing Market in America, & Prices Are Still Rising.” The Next Miami, 6 Oct. 2021,
This article speaks about how Miami is now the most expensive housing market in America. Miami overtook Los Angeles for the second in the U.S. in October, and now overtook New York as the first this month. We saw a growth in the market during the pandemic when everyone came down here because there weren't as much restrictions as the north. Majority of the people moving into Miami are from New York. Miami's rent per month is on an average of $2,500.

2. Team, CBSMiami.com. “Miami's Overheated Home Prices Continue While Experts Say Red Hot Housing Market Starting to Losing Steam.” CBS Miami, CBS Miami, 31 Jan. 2022,
This article speaks on how Miami's housing market actually started cooling down, but not exactly in the center of it. Increases in the market have been increasing but very little. The increases have been getting smaller which leaves a small leeway into buying a house. In total, the year increase for Miami in 2021 was 26.6%.

3. Kallergis, Katherine. “Miami Most Expensive US Housing Market.” The Real Deal South Florida, 16 Feb. 2022,
This article focuses on how Miami surpassed New York to be the most expensive housing market in the country. Home prices in Miami have soared especially during the pandemic, leading there to be barely any room for natives to afford a house. A house in Miami would make a homeowner spend 78.7% of their salary to pay for the house. Many people, especially from New York, come to Miami and make it their permanent residence. What they don't realize is that they're driving the market up to be even more expensive from where they came from.

# data[].attributes.body
A research tool that caught my attention was the MDC Library. It was a resource that I had heard about before but very little. Professor Duque showed us how to access it and navigate it and it blew my mind that this was a resource I could have used all long to help with my assignments. It gave me so much information on my topic and legitimate sources that could back up on my topic.

The topic that I chose to research was the heavy traffic in Miami. The reason why I chose it is because whenever I'm on the road, especially during 4PM - 6PM, it's bumper to bumper with cars on the road. I know it's because everyone is trying to get home from their job on a timely manner but sometimes it is so backed that up that I cannot help but wonder why. Aside from the fact that people are trying to get homes, majority of the times the traffic is always headed towards Downtown. Downtown Miami is always filled with tourists and the major night clubs. Tourists adds a lot to the traffic since they rent cars and sometimes even make the drive from Miami to Orlando.

Works Cited

"Heavy Traffic In Miami." Tampa Tribune [Tampa, FL], 4 Feb. 2007, p. 9. Gale General OneFile,

# data[].attributes.body
Hi everyone. My name is Waleska Cruz. I am 18 years old and I was born and raised in Miami, Florida. My mom is Puerto Rican and my dad is Brazilian so it was very interesting household growing up. I can fluently speak English, Spanish, and Portuguese. It was constantly switching back and forth from Spanish and Portuguese so it was constant whiplash for me and my siblings. I have a sister and a brother and they both live in Texas. My goal is to own a flower shop. All my life I've always been interested in gardening and identifying different type of flowers. I love to arrange them and I've always wanted to open my own storefront flower shop. More specifically, in Seattle, Washington. I've been dreaming of living there since I was about fourteen. I've gone twice and each time it makes me want to live there more. It's far from Miami and my family, which is the most important thing to me, but I think branching out and moving to completely different area is important for self-development. Aside from gardening, I'm very passionate about reading and making time out of my day to, at least, read a couple chapters from the book I'm currently reading. In the beginning of last year, I had gotten into reading and I was reading about four books a month and it just kept increasing from there. Success to me is just being happy in what you're doing and having it keep you afloat in life.