Okay...

Having some difficulty posting right now. I am trying to cut and past info from Word documents and get them onto the blog. Will keep trying!

Things seen in the "environment."

Ithought that this was a bit funny so I am including this here. Mr. M

Earthbox Planting

Thanks so much to the students who have helped out planting in these Earthboxes. It is the start to a project that I hope will grow over the years. Mr. M

Trip Summary

The ECO-X Adventure

By: Sofie Kouropatov

On Saturday, March 29^th some of the members of the ECOX Club traveled with Ms. Phan, Mr. Margolis, and Mr. Roberts to Caesarea to kayak in the Mediterranean Sea. The waters were calm, the weather was lovely, and even though the author of this article fell into the sea about a dozen times, kayaking was a very enjoyable experience for all. After a couple of hours of paddling, bumping into each other with the accompanying war cries, and trying out tricks (such as forming a line and climbing into your neighbor's kayak) the ecologically aware students were soaking wet and starving.

Luckily, that problem was soon resolved as we were all welcomed to the home of the extremely hospitable Ms. Wescott. We proceeded to pig out on delicious barbequed hamburgers, hot dogs, humus, salad, and eventually our own homemade deserts while conversing and playing I Never (which resulted in a myriad of amusing things, such as asking strangers for sugar and angry dances).

The day wound down as we sat around quietly enjoying the view of the sea. Waking up next day, the trip seemed all but a dream, with only aching shoulders and a slight tan serving as reminders of a truly fun-filled day.

Looking back, trips in which we spend quality time with nature are to be cherished. The members of ECO-X were given another reminder of the environment we strive to protect. We would like to remind you that whether it’s the sea, the desert or the mountains, please remember to take care of your surroundings the best you can. And if you can do that while enjoying kayaking and hamburgers, all the better!

The ECO-X Club thanks Ms. Wescott for her hospitality!!

Eco-friendly shopping bags are on sale for 7 NIS. Please contact Hellen Phan (hphan@wbais.org), Jamie Margolis (jmargolis@wbais.org), or any ECO-X members for more information.

Another site of interest.

This is an interesting site that speaks about the environment as well how to make a more sustainable school cafeteria.

http://www.treehuggingfamily.com/weekly-green-audit-school-cafeteria/

Some Sites, Some Thoughts

I. I rode in the Yarkon Park in Ramat Gan Saturday afternoon. Most times I try to ride early in the morning to avoid the crowds. So, when I got there at 4:00 p.m. I had a great deal of people to contend with who ignored the bike icons plastered on the roads and wandered aimlessly into my path. But, besides the dangers that this imposed on me, I was appalled to see the amount of plastic waste blowing throughout the park. Yes, the garbage cans were overflowing, and shame on the Ramat Gan park services for this happens all the time and they certainly do not have enough cans to collect this, but shame on us too! There is no excuse, none whatsoever, to trash our lands like this in such a habitual manner. Also, how much plastic do we really need?

II. Check out this site on Plastic. Look at the PDF's as well as the video clip. It is helping to change my behavior.

III. Also, take a few minutes to look at this site as well. Go to The Story of Stuff and spend a bit of time watching and reflecting on this video. We really do need to take a few moments to consider "stuff" as we tend to (myself very much included) use so much.

IV. And of course the 60's. Here is some great music from that Era. These are live concerts as well.

Article By a ECO-X Member

Article on Olive Crops- By: Yael Davidov

Right now there are problems with olive crops in the world affecting mostly the areas of California, Turkey, and Greece. Most of these problems, but not all, are due to the change in climate and weather and the small range of temperatures that olive trees can endure. So far the olive trees has been grown mostly in the Mediterranean area and California because they require hot temperatures, and relatively dry air yet at the same time, a great deal of water in the ground in order to develop good fruit.

In California many olive crops have been destroyed due to irregular rain storms, winds, and frost. This was damaging to the trees because prior weather patterns had been hot and relatively dry. However, the global rises in temperatures has affected them greatly. Also, a region in northern California called Mendocino, has seen a recent and unusual freeze that did not kill the olive trees but did damage their yields. The exact impact of the freeze has not been fully evaluated, but it is in the process of being assessed. In the meantime, the county’s commissioner of agriculture Dave Bengston, urges the farmers not to prune the branches that appear dead in the hope that they might recover.

The small hope for the Californian region is its microclimates! These are areas where for some reason the climate is unlike that of a neighboring region. The crops in some of these areas have shown an average yield if not a better crop than the ones of the previous years.

Large fires recently took place in Greece, though this perhaps was not a direct effect of climate change, it is nonetheless of importance and might be indirectly a result of the climatic change. In the Peloponnesian area of Greece 454,000 acres of olive trees, and not to mention the livelihood of many people, have been lost in this massive fire. While it is believed that the total annual production of olive oil will not be greatly damaged, only about four percent, on a local scale about 50% of the people are now dealing with economic stress and instability. These are people whose entire lives since they were young have revolved around the growing of the tree and the production of the oil its fruits provide. The country’s leaders of course are putting forth a great amount of effort in order to provide support and money to these people, but the future is problematic because the trees take about seven to ten years after they are planted before they begin to yield fruits, and the government simply cannot afford to sustain all these people for that duration.

In Turkey too, the olives have had difficulties this year due to a drought that hurt the trees to a point where a seventy five percent decrease of products this year is expected. We, especially living here in Israel, a country who depends a lot on agriculture, should be able to understand the importance of a crop not only for eating but for those who depend on it for income and therefore should be very active in trying to help fight this issues such as global warming (at least that part for which humans are responsible) seeing the devastating impact it can have on people.

I think it is pretty clear that the environment has a big effect on agriculture, and while you might still have olives available to you in ten years to buy at the supermarket, one must realize the impact that the failure of this crop can have in human terms. Since so much of the world is dependent on agriculture of rice, or potatoes, or wheat or any other of the staple foods, it is surprising that the fight for a better earth is not greater and more urgent than it currently is at this time.

Seven Easy Steps...

Go to this link and watch this wonderful video on seven easy steps to reduce the amount of energy your are using.


Click HERE

Blogs of Interest

Here are a listing of blogs that deal with environmental issues (p.s. I lifted this info from the Blogger page that opens these posts if you are wondering where I got this information):

Ideas to cut back in your daily life

Many ideas on sustainablity

Lights Out America (good guidelines and other links)

http://hautenature.blogspot.com/

http://thelazyenvironmentalist.blogspot.com/

http://earthmeanders.blogspot.com/

http://environmentalaction365.com/

http://greenfuture.blogspot.com/

Want to volunteer?

There are a number (a large number at that) of sites that give information related to "green" volunteering. Here is a link to one http://greenvolunteers.com/greenusa.html.

This seems very interesting and some of the sample postings are just amazing. Hard work but one can certainly participate in activities first hand dealing with environmental issues that impact our world. J