1) "The story of Plastic" Animated Short
Description
          Plastic started being used in the 1930s. Who would’ve thought that just thirty years later, plastic would create a problem for our mother Earth? Everyone knows that plastic is huge problem for our planet yet, we keep using it even more. When we think about it, it’s not easy to stop using plastic. It’s how we store milk, juice, fruits, vegetables, and bread. Is it how we carry our groceries from point A to Point B. It’s how we carry our clothes when we leave the mall. But things must change. Everyone needs to take sacrifices to save our planet from the monster we call plastic. The story of plastic is a short, animated documentary that reveals all the damage that plastic has caused and the consequences our world has been facing. The video starts off by showing an animation that represents the "giant trash island in the ocean". The video shows how the plastic that ends up in the environment like our beach, lakes, rivers, or parks, gets a lot of attention but most of us don't think about where the rest of the trash ends up. The video informs the viewers of what plastics is made from and how the process creates pollution that hurts our planet. The video reveals how even though just the process of creating plastic hurts citizens, the government still doesn't shut down the business of plastic and in fact even creates plans to expand the usage of plastic to other parts of the world. The video reveals the percentage of where trash ends up at such as 32% being in the environment, 40% being in landfills and 14% end up in incinerators, where it is polluted into communities nearby and another 14% of trash is actually recycled and only 2% is  effectively recycled. the video suggest ideas to stop the usage of plastic and create a sustainable economy such as passing laws and regulations that do not allow the usage of plastic, making companies be accountable for their actions and contributions,
Second Video:
2) "The Story of Cosmetics"
Description:
The average girl is more than likely to have their first interaction with cosmetics when they’re a toddler and are playing with mom’s makeup. Then, the average boy has their first interaction with cosmetics when they start going through puberty and they are start growing facial hairs. Why am I mentioning this? When people first start their journey with cosmetics, we are not aware of the toxic's that some of these products hold. And some may think it’s only in products that are for older people, but, these toxic chemicals can even be in shampoo, body wash, toothpaste, shaving products, conditioner, hair gel, heat protector sprays or oil, and the list goes on and on and we use those products daily! The story of cosmetics gives an idea on how these toxic chemicals are growing more by the day and sneaking their way into our personal care products. The video reveals who is in charge of injecting these toxic chemicals and even suggest alternatives that can be better. The video starts off with Annie Leonard revealing that products such as her own shampoo, sunscreen and even baby shampoo contains toxic chemicals that have a link to cancer and even asthma. She reveals how those toxic chemicals are injected and how the creating hurts the workers, the citizens who are using them and communities around them. She even reveals how words such as organic or natural do not have a legal definition so when shampoos have written organic or natural on the label, that doesn't mean that it is really "natural". Leonard states how these chemicals are still in the products we use because there are no laws that ban the injection of of these toxic chemicals into our products. Leonard sums up the video describing how companies need to stop using toxic chemicals so that we can feel comfortable when we buy products in stores. 

Reflection:

When it comes to using safe cosmetics, I face little guilt because I like to do research on these products and research the chemicals that are in the labels. However, I still relate to the role of consumption because I still buy products at these companies such as Walmart. I may make smart choices on what I am buying but I am still giving money to these companies which leads to the mass production of these bad products. Not only is that just with cosmetics but also with the usage of plastics. When people go to Walmart, most of the population still put their groceries in the plastic bags because we prefer those bags because they make our life easier when in reality, it is hurting our planet. And since we are still using those bags, The companies and factories must make more plastic bags!

These videos have inspired me to sacrifice my wanting urge to use Plastic bags in stores despite the urge because my planet is suffering and so are the communities around me. I recycle the plastic I use however this video has encouraged me to spread how important it is to recycle to create a better future for us and the generation after. It has inspired me to make wiser consumptions and carefully think of the companies I am buying products from. I will continue to do research on the cosmetics that I buy but also encourage others to do research on the chemicals in the cosmetics that are being used on a daily basis.

In this article, a story is told from two point of views. One view being from Everton Simpson, who is the main character of this article, and the second point of view being from an outside perspective coming from a journalist. Everton Simpson was once a spear fisherman and a scuba diving instructor but two years ago, he dedicated his life to being a coral gardener and is dedicated to bringing back Jamaica’s coral reefs back to life. In the 1980s, Jamaica lost 85% of its tourist attracted coral reefs, but since 2019, Jamaican locals along with others have been working hard to bring their coral reef back to life. Simpson not only dedicates his life to bringing the coral reef back to life but Simpson along with Lipton Bailey also dedicate their lives to protecting the tropical fish that come to these coral reefs from fishermen. On some mornings, Lipton and bailey head to guard the no fishing zones. These guards have no weapons and sometimes even come out injured from trying to protect the fish and the coral reefs. Lipton and Bailey have even persuaded some of these fishermen to volunteer at these fish sanctuaries too.
"In Indonesia, bigger catches for a fishing village protecting its mangroves":
A village in Indonesia, Sungai Nibung, has closed 3 square miles of their river and banned fishing for three months to allow for crabs and fishes to reproduce. This ban has been into action because fishing laws in these fisheries were being weakly enforced. Therefore, this village was facing overfishing and depletion on certain habitats and in addition, mangroves were being ripped out of the ocean. Anyone who violates the fishing ban will face harsh criticism and fines. This village is not the only one with this ban. A community on the southern coast of west Papua has also temporarily closed to protect sea cucumbers. To enforce this ban, Sungai Nibung’s local government has established patrol teams to monitor and enforce this fishing ban. This occurred during October through December 2017 and the, later during April through July 2018. Since then, fishermen’s income has increased, and the weight of catching crabs has also increased. The spread of this ban was a bit difficult to enforce because illiteracy was quite high. 
Reflection:
This subject is definitely a popular subject, I think. Fish nurseries along with coral nurseries have been known to people since before 2019 and I think people who dedicate their life to saving coral reefs and fish nurseries are beyond amazing because Earth needs Coral reefs and beautiful fish. I hope that one day our coral reefs will be as beautiful and healthy as they were in the beginning but at times it will be difficult to establish that because man families depend on catching fish and selling it to put food in their bellies and keep a roof over their head. But things much change for the better. Somethings I learned was that Jamaica has people that work to keep these coral nurseries alive. I also learned that sometimes local are what protect these fish nurseries. By that I mean, I thought that these fish nurseries were protected by governmental protection who were armed but, in reality, it’s just locals hoping they can persuade fishermen to stop killing fish, without these locals being badly injured. This subject was portrayed uniquely through solutions journalism in many ways. One of those ways is, they have many images for the readers to see and not just normal ones but in-depth images. For example, Solutions journalism has a video of a young fishermen catching fish with a speargun in no fishing zone (AP Larson).
I learned that there is in fact, a country that enforces a fishing ban for a certain amount of moths. I also learned that Indonesia has a high rate of illiteracy, and it isn’t because they can’t pay to go to school, it’s because once they get a taste of earning money, they rather work to earn money rather than going to school. I learned that there is an organization that not only addresses the consequences of overfishing but also has a goal to decrease illiteracy. For example, they have educational programs like business, development, financial education, and literacy(Mongabay, Pahlevi).  I think that the temporary fishing ban is great because it leads to growth of mangroves along with the reproducing growth of fish and crabs. However, it doesn’t make sense to stop fishing for the reproduction of fish but then once the ban is over, fishermen’s income increases because they’re fishing more leading them back to stage one, which is the overfishing and depletion on certain habitats, including mangroves. Once again, Solutions Journalism portrayed this subject uniquely through images. Solutions journalism had unique images of local men catching fish and the process of what happens after they caught the fish. For example, they had an image that showed how woman dries the fish after it’s caught (Mongabay, Pahlevi) .  

Stephen Petranek opens up his ted talk by bluntly telling the crowd that adults will end up on Mars to colonize it and work there while their children will end up living there. He believes that humans should live on Mars because we are sensitive creatures who cannot withstand the harm of an asteroid. He also believed that humans should colonize Mars because exploration is just in our DNA. Petranek then goes on to explain some facts about Mars such as Mars is smaller than the planet Earth and is also thinner, nor breathable and he even explains that it would take 258 days to travel to Mars and that is only possible if we travel on a specific day at a specific time. He explains how we can live on Mars by saying that there is water in the solid in Mars, NASA created a machine that could produce enough oxygen to keep a person alive, food would have to be transported from Earth, as for shelter, we would have to live underground in caves or lava groups. As to what humans will be wearing, humans would be wearing a sleek space suit that would keep us warm and block radiation. Petranek talks about reengineering the planet Mars in order for humans to strive on that planet. 
Video 2: The fastest way to slow climate change now Ocko, Ilissa.
Llissa Ocko introduces her topic in her ted talk by explaining how 99% of pollution is carbon dioxide while 1% is methane. However, even though it is only 1%, that methane can cause a whole lot of more harm than the pollution that is coming from the carbon dioxide. Ocko strives to identify ways to slow down global warming as fast as possible to help lower the risk of more damages in the future. Methane can stay in the air for a decade, therefore this damage is coming as a result of recent emissions. Ocko claims that cutting methane is the single most effective opportunity to immediately slow down the rate of warming. The methane that is being emitted is coming from three sources, those being Agriculture, energy production, and waste management. Cutting energy production is the cheapest, easiest way to slow down global warming. Agriculture is the hardest because of all the livestock digestion. Ocko and her colleagues discovered that by the mid century, humans can cut as much as 30% of global warming which would prevent wildfires, the rise of temperatures, etc...