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It is common knowledge that the world's bees are diminishing, but what people fail to realize is that the bees that need saving are not the honeybees, rather the other 20,000 different species of bees that are known to man. Honeybees are often kept under very good care in the hands of beekeepers, who proft off of them through the honey-making business, but the other bees who are in the wild are better for pollination since they each are taileored for a specific plant. I find these facts interesting in that when one thinks of bees, we immediately think of honey and the honeybees. We fail to acknowledge the importance of the thousands of other bees, whose population is rapidly decreasing, while the number of honeybees is actually increasing. Our use of pesticides and intensive agriculture has been decreasing the diversity of wild bees in our ecosystems, which of course is bad for the environemnt, but also directly affects our food security.
I think it is very important that we become more aware of the actual impact our technology is affecting wildlife, and the effect it has on us as well. This video highlights the effects of the decrease in wild bees, bringing light to the food shortage that could possibly occur in the future as a result of this chain of events.

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Talking Trash to a Whole new level (Peter Harris)
When organic matter such as food decomposes, it rots releasing methane, which is a gas that rises to our atmosphere since it is lighter than air. It is 21 times more potent and harmful than carbon dioxide. Every year, 1/3 of the food supply is wasted (2 billion tons) somewhere along the process, so it is important to try and find ways to use methane and have it work for us rather than let it harm our environment. We should be looking for ways to use methane as a resource, which is a concept known as a circular economy. The speaker uses a phrase: "Let's not let the waste go to waste." We can use two linear economies and connect them to make a circular one, ensuring that the waste of one is the resource of another, virtually producing no waste. This minimizes the harmful impact methane has on the environment.

Works Cited

Harris, P. (n.d.). Taking trash talk to a whole new level. Peter Harris: Taking trash talk to a whole new level | TED Talk. Retrieved March 3, 2022, from https://www.ted.com/talks/peter_harris_taking_trash_talk_to_a_whole_new_level

Watch what you dispose of (Rania Bahaa)

The project "zero waste to landfills" was started by Rania Bahaa and her colleagues. Many people looked around and rummaged through garbage, looking for recyclable material to reuse in their daily lives or to sell as products. This sparked an idea for Raina and her team: what if companies, instead of getting rid of waste, gave recyclable materials to people, so they could use it and/or sell it? With this innovation, people have made things such as environmentla fertilizers, clothes hangers, fisherman bags, and more, making use of recyclable materials and taking advantage of potential food waste. However, "zero waste to landfills" specializes in paper-making, ensuring the use of all recyclable materials and reusing them in an every day object.

Works Cited

Bahaa, R. (n.d.). Watch what you dispose of. Rania Bahaa: Watch what you dispose of | TED Talk. Retrieved March 3, 2022, from https://www.ted.com/talks/rania_bahaa_watch_what_you_dispose_of

Reflection

I find it incredible how people have the innovation to take something that is harmful to the environment and turn it into something that helps conserve nature and the people and animals living in it. The first TED talk found different ways to use methane in a circular economy diagram, to ensure that methane would be helpful rather than serve as a catalyst to the worldwide problem fo global warming. The second TED talk showed innovation through sending companies' waste to people so they can use it for different purposes. Through the making of fertilizers, plastic products, and paper, this organization has helped waste become a thing that helps people make a living, and helps them find a source of income. This of course, while also reducing waste and helping the environment through the new innovations being made. I learned that truly when there is a will, there is a way. For many years, we believed these things to be harmful but were indifferent to their negative impact until it got progressively worse. If it weren't for people who are actively seeking for ways to make a change in their communities, and ultimately the world, no change would ever be made. Their ideas not only help the world through their innovations, but also inspire others to do the same as well. They give people hope and ideas on how to proceed when coming up with new ideas, something that in the long run changes the world over time.

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Article 1: "Don't feed the moster! The people who have stopped buying new clothes"

This article highlights the concept of fast fashion and the impact it has had on the environment. In modern day society, impulse shopping is present ine everyday life, especially when it comes to new clothes. A lot of the time, people get bored with the style of their clothing and just throw it out, never to be used again. In the United Kingdom, the average citizen keeps an item of clothing for around 2.2 years then gets rid of it. Because of this, about £ 11 million worth of clothing goes to landfills every week in the UK. This is extremely problematic not only to the environment, but the use of our resources. The fashion industry and consumers are building an unsustainable process that drains our resources when it can be avoided. Because of this, there has been a large movement recently to purchase used clothes while thrifting.

Works Cited

'don't feed the monster!' the people who have stopped buying New Clothes. (2019, February 19). Retrieved February 03, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2019/feb/19/dont-feed-monster-the-people-who-have-stopped-buying-new-clothes.

Article 2: The Kitchen Garden series

This article talks about a costume designer seeing her costumes being used in a single play or production and then being put in storage or being thrown away. It brings her awareness to the concept of wasting fabric and just getting rid of something that is only used once or twice, creating a very wasteful cycle. Becasue of this, she created a company that helps resuse these old costumes and puts them in a new home in the kitchen. Urban farmers are her main customers, as she tends to make large sacks for flour and even things such as reusable cloth coffee filters. Next to oil, textiles are one of the most pollutive substances that exist, and finding different ways to utilize these clothes in an innovative way can help reduce wastefulness.

Works Cited

The kitchen garden series upends the textiles industry by reviving an old Philly Tradition: Producing local linen. The Philadelphia Citizen. (2020, August 13). Retrieved February 3, 2022, from https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/kitchen-garden-series-philadelphia/.

Reflection
Both of these articles have helped me understand the gravity of just how much damage the fashion industry and our habits as consumers is actually harmful to our resources and our environment. I had never really thought about the amount of clothes that is thrown away and sent to landfills after being used only a couple of times, while many clothes are never bought in stores. Both of these articles have highlighted the importance of finding new, sustainable ways to utilize your clothes instead of throwing them away. One mentioned thrifting and buying secondhand clothes rather than spending money on purchasing new clothes, promoting the reusing of clothes rather than throwing them away. I think that this idea has sparked a movement that has pushed people to incline toward buying things at thift stores rather than at chain stores. Not only that, but it is also a good way to get cothes for a better price and supports a sustainable movement. I think that the solutions media did a great job of not only narrating the problems with unsustainable fashion, but offering ways to improve these problems. Offering multiple solutions to the issues surrounding fast fashion gives people more alternatives to choose from in order to help the world become a better place in the end.

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In the video The story of cosmetics, the varieties of chemicals present in everyday bathroom necessities is discussed. Many common bathroom toiletries contain harmful toxins that harm our bodies through being neurotoxins, carcinogens, or reproductive toxins. Being more mindful of the products we use on ourselves will help us remain healthy and safe. It is very difficult to find products that don’t contain harmful chemicals because many advertise with phrases such as organic and natural, while being the complete opposite. Everything leads back to the people who have the authority to place these products on the shelves, since the FDA doesn’t check up on the ingredients being put in these products. The most we can do is petition and protest to congress, demanding that they pass laws that help keep us safe.

In the video The story of microbeads, microbeads are described to be small pieces of plastic smaller than a grain of sand. These microbeads are most present in personal care products like face soaps and body washes. They are so small that when they go down the drain, filtering them is very difficult, ensuring that millions of them end up in our waterways every day. These microbeads are extremely absorbent to toxins, so they can be up to a million times more toxic than the surrounding water. These toxic microbeads are then eaten by other animals, such as fish, through the water. Eventually, these can be the animals that you end up eating, meaning that you just consumed the toxins that you laid out through the microbeads in the first place.

As a global citizen, I realize that I consume products mindlessly, not paying attention the harm that these products can cause me and even others. As a consumer, it is important to be more conscientious of the products I buy, as not only could it have a negative impact on my health, but on the state of the environment and its creatures as well. Doing my part to help the reduction of these products in stores would be becoming a more active member of my community. Petitioning and protesting for the safety of products being distributed is one way could involve myself more into the solutions to the problem at hand in today’s stores.

After watching the videos on the stories of both cosmetics and microbeads, it has inspired me to make more conscientious buys in the store as a consumer. Not only would it be beneficial to my health to make more educated informed decisions, but it would be beneficial to others and the environment as well. It is also important to note that the more people begin to make these lifestyle choices, the less large companies will make such products, as less people are buying them. Being a part of the process that eliminates these harmful chemicals from being used in cosmetics in microbeads is a change that will improve the wellbeing of everyone in the world.

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In my CAS 1 I compared the story of cosmetics and the story of microbeads. As an avid cosmetics user, I thought I knew everything there was to know about the best products in the market. I know what shampoo works for my hair and what moisturizers don’t irritate my sensitive skin. I had heard of the negative effects of animal testing and ceased to purchase from companies who participated in such heinous behavior. Concerning the topic of microbeads is a completely different thing, as I hadn’t even considered them to be harmful for us or for the environment.
Personally, when it comes to cosmetics, I associate it more with makeup or aesthetic products, and less with toiletries such as toothpaste and lotions. I also assumed that every brand made things with the intention of helping the customer. I never would have imagined all the negative and harmful things done to mass produce products that, in the end, would end up harming my health and my pocket. This idea applies to both the story of cosmetics and the story of microbeads. If the contents of some cosmetics are harmful, then why are they included in the market and available to the public? I would also never have guessed that the little beads in my body scrubs would be harmful to the environment, an uninformed assumption on my part.
In my CAS2, it became abundantly clear that I was unaware of the effects of my shopping habits on the planet. In this activity, I examined the effects of fast fashion had on landfills and the tremendous amount of waste it caused. I had always known that it was a good thing to go thrift shopping, but was never fully aware of the expansive impact it could have in a positive way toward our environment. I thought of how I could change my own habits when it came to shopping for clothes, reflecting on how my decisions could ultimately influence the amount of waste that goes into our environment, even if it was in a small way.
I expected to continue my usual shopping habits after watching this video. I tend to get bored of my clothes easily, and for some reason feel the need to wear something once and then never use it again since I already wore it to go out. However, this video brought me to reflect more on my personal habits and I was inspired by other people using clothes to make recyclable, reusable products to make a living. Because of this, I have started to donate clothes that I don’t want anymore, in hopes that others will make more use of it than I will.
My CAS 3 highlighted the importance of reducing waste and finding new uses for them in order to improve our society and the way we live. Personally, I never put much thought into the way I was disposing of things, or even where they ended up after I threw them away. This activity helped open my eyes to not only the reality of the gravity of the issue of increasing waste on our Earth, but what to do in order to more efficiently deal with it in an eco friendly way.
From this activity, I learned that you could make paper out of almost all waste which is very efficient in many ways. There is deforestation occurring partly from the mass production of paper, which can be helped through making paper with waste. In addition, the amount of waste is reduced. It is an action that kills two birds with one stone.

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1. “Stopping the Spread of Invasive Species in Florida.” The Nature Conservancy, 11 Sept. 2018, https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/florida/stories-in-florida/combating-invasive-species-in-florida/.

This article tackles the reality of the impact of invasive species in Miami and how the The Nature Conservancy is actively taking steps to protect native species from the newly introduced invasive ones. I plan to use this source to introduce the idea of how the effects of invasive species can be overcome and how to minimize the negative impact of the issue.

2. Thomas, Rachael. “Florida's Least Wanted: 10 Invasive Animal Species That Are Wrecking Native Ecosystems.” Florida Today, Florida Today, 15 Apr. 2019, https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/environment/2019/04/13/florida-invasive-animal-species-wrecking-native-ecosystems-non-native/3456294002/.

This website clearly describes the invasive species present in Miami as well as most of south Florida. It gives a detailed description (including physical attributes) of the nature of these species and when they were introduced into the Floridian ecosystems. I plan to use this source to introduce the idea of invasive species and what they are in the Mimian ecology.

3. “Florida National Invasive Species Information Center.” Florida | National Invasive Species Information Center, https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/us/florida.

This website is government operated and clearly lists all the effects that invasive species have had on native species. It also lists ways that the government is trying to incorporate to control the issue at hand. It details the programs that have been put in place to help stop the growing population of invasive species, which is why I plan to use it detail the negative impacts these species have on our native ecology.

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One resource that I was aware of but was great to be able to listen to again was the MDC Online Library. When going on the MDC website, I was always aware that there was an online library resource available but never took the time to explore its different features and uses. It was a lot more expansive than I thought it was, with resources that include not only books, (as I had previously thought) but articles and documentaries as well. A resource that I had never heard about was the opposing views webpage, which has a variety of articles that can be imperative to your research. In addition to this, Professor Duque introduced us to a website to help us cite in MLA format called Purdue Owl. Professor Duque elaborated on a lot of topics during the session, but the one that I would personally like to research is invasive species in Miami and South Florida. The ecological life in Miami has been greatly impacted by the introduction of new species that are harming the native species. Pythons and iguanas are both examples of these invasive species, affecting the animals and fauna of Miami in a negative way. I chose this particular topic because it is important to acknowldge the harm these species are causing the life cycle of the South Florida ecology.

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Hello, my name is Nathalie Morlote and I currently attend SAS (school for advanced studies). Although I was born and raised here, in Miami, my parents both came from completely different backgrounds. My father came to Miami in 1998 from Cuba, while my mother moved to New York from Ecuador that same year. They always raised me to be invested in my studies, so I was often switching schools to find the best one for me. Having the opportunity to experiment with different subjects and courses of study, I have found a passion for biology, which is what I aim to revolve my future career around. I hope to become an anesthesiologist, although I am open to experimenting with different fields of study to find something I truly enjoy. I often find myself focusing on studies for too long, so finding things that make me happy helps me remain motivated even when I'm feeling worn out mentally because of schoolwork. Personally, I enjoy reading, swimming, bracelet-making, and writing. For a long time, my "me time" consisted of swimming, where I would leave all my worries aside and focus on being the best swimmer I could be. I swam at Gulliver Swim club for 10 years, and it was a hobby of mine until I entered my junior year of high school.