Week 7: Labor, Urban Life, Technology & the Environment

12/2/2011

For this scenario, you are working at an environmental policy firm in Downtown Washington, DC. You have been asked to offer a training to local residents of Washington, DC about how they can use technology to help conserve and maintain a sustainable environment within urban communities. It is also important to keep in mind how these factors can also contribute to the workforce.

Please create a list of practical steps and actions people could take in Washington, DC that are split into the following categories below (at least four actions per category). Check out the National Park Service Center for Urban Ecology website to help you get some ideas about resources that are endemic to the Washington, DC area. Please also make sure that you are not repeating any actions that have already been posted by other students in previous posts.

The categories for the list of actions are as follows:

Actions to take in the household
Actions to take in the community
Actions to take in the workplace

***Your response (blog post) to this blog above is required by Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at 11:59 p.m.***

20 Comments

André Mons Ybañez link

12/4/2011 12:22:22 am

Simple actions can be taken to have a healthy and eco-friendly effect on your environment.

In your household, you can:
- Recycle glass, plastic, and paper products
- turn off the lights in a room if no one is there and turn off electrodomestic devices if not being used
- do not leave any water faucets on while they are not in use
- find practical ways to heat/cool your household without so much use of the air conditioning system; do not set the temperatureof the ac too high or too low

In your community, you can:
- leave a smaller carbon footprint; find ways to commute such as walking, biking, carpooling or taking public transportation
- recycle or throw away all unnecessary items; do not throw anything on the street, sidewalk, creeks, etc.
- take your own bags to grocery stores instead of getting more from the actual store
- build awareness of this issue; encourage others to take precautions and lessen their impact on the problem

In the workplace, you can:
- be consciencious about your printing; print only what you need and make sure you do not have to reprint; whatever you need to dispose of recycle it
- turn off computers etc when not in use
- bring your own food to work in containers you can reuse, as well as reusing disposable cups as opposed to using a different cup each time and throwing it away
- limit use of office supplies and share whatever supplies are available amongst other co-workers

Fraol Bejiga

12/5/2011 08:36:14 am

Actions to be taken at home
• Plant trees in your garden.
• Use compost instead of inorganic fertilizer in your garden.
• To avoid packaging waste, by products in bulk.
• Use low-flow shower head and toilet.

Actions to be taken in the community
• Get involved in volunteering and community services that promote environment protection.
• Change oil for your car at least every 3,000 miles to reduce the emission of pollutant.
• Avoid hard acceleration while driving and use renewable fuel.
• Do not buy products of endangered animals.
Actions to be taken at work place
• While printing, use both sides of the paper.
• While buying products for your office, consider using safer alternatives to hazardous chemicals
• Unplug printers and copiers when not in use and recycle toner cartridges.
• Run grammar and spell check before you print, to eliminate printing again.

Larai U.

12/5/2011 09:17:23 am

Technology can be used to help conserve and maintain a sustainable environment in the household by: Saving water, recycling, proper disposal of chemicals, and making your home energy
efficiant. In the community: clean air, clean water, climate- reducing co2 emissions, and green infrastucture- using bike or rail. In the workplace:
Turn off lights and computers, air conditioning set to 72 degrees(all year long),fluorecent lighting, and recycling. The demand for
sustainable environments will create green jobs which will help the economy.

Gary Stevenson

12/5/2011 11:15:32 am

In the House you can:
1.change your five most frequently used light fixtures with bulbs that have the energy star. You can help prevent green house gases.
2.when buying appliances for your home that help with air pollution.
3. clean your air felters regularly and have your heating and cooling equipment tuned anually by a licensed contrator.
4.Sealing airleaks in doors and windows and adding more insulation to the attic and basement.
In the workplace you can:
1.In form employees about hazards thruogh training, labels,alarms and colored coded systems.
2. Perform test in the workplace such as air sampling required by OSHA standards.
3. Post OSHA citations injury and illness data in the workplace where workers will see them.
4.Provide hearing exams or other test required .
Actions that can be taken in the community.
1. Citizens in every community- including schools,busineses and local government must work togather to reduce and better manage our waste.
2. Communities can work togather to devlope and emploment sustainable water management programs to meet the present and future water needs of residents and businesses.
3. If you are a boat owner you can find ways to reduce hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxides from your engine.
4.Discover what you can do to make a difference in your watershed and learn more about nearby estuaries, lakes , streams and rivers.

Kinley Bunting

12/5/2011 11:38:15 pm

In the house:
1. Wash your car with environmentally safe soap.
2. Don’t release or plant invasive species.
3. If growing vegetables don’t use harmful bug repellent or use organic environmentally safe chemicals.
4. Use energy efficient light bulbs in all light fixtures.

In the community:
1. Form a community garden to grow vegetables and other produce to limit the trips taken to a grocery store.
2. Create a program in which everyone goes around and cleans the community of all waste.
3. Have community meetings that educate everyone on how they can limit their carbon footprint.
4. Make sure that you get your car inspected on time for emission control.

In the workplace:
1. Use environmentally friendly cleaning products.
2. Have biodegradable paper towels in the bathrooms or hand dryers.
3. Use energy saving light bulbs in light fixtures.
4. Limit the amount of office supplies used on a weekly basis.

Hawanya Jones

12/6/2011 02:41:55 am

In the home:
1. Plant a garden and grow your own foods.
2. Turn all your bills into paperless billing.
3.Seal and insulate your home.By taking these steps, you can eliminate drafts, keep your home more comfortable year round, save energy that would otherwise be wasted, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
4. Use energy efficient light bulbs and purchase a energy wise thermostat.

In the Community:
1.Use recycling bins by reduce, reuse and recycle.
2.Plant a tree, a single tree will absorb approximately one ton of carbon dioxide during its lifetime.
3.Be green in your yard
Use a push mower, which, unlike a gas or electric mower, consumes no fossil fuels and emits no greenhouse gases.
4.Spread the word, talk about ways the community as a whole can be more energy efficient during community meetings.

In the workplace:
1.Use less energy for your commute
Switch to public transportation, carpooling, biking, telecommuting and other innovative ways to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions on your way to and from work.
2.Manage office equipment energy use better by activating the power management features on your computer and monitor, unplug laptop power cords when not in use.
3.Turn off equipment and lights at the end of the day.
4.Use a water filtration system. Use a water filtration system. They remove particles, chemicals, and bacteria and only have to be delivered once. Delivered water bottles, on the other hand, typically cost $6 to $8 for each five-gallon bottle.

nadja bruskin

12/6/2011 03:02:01 am

Work (as seen at the stables)

Use Heat extraction from manure to help heat barns and water

Use gutters to collect rain water in a cistern and use if for watering plants, for watering horses, bathing horses ect.

Use biological controls for pests like using non stining wasps that eat horse flies and et their larvae.

Have lots of windows for good ventilation and lots of natural light.

Community:

Buy from local farmers
Don’t buy food that isn’t in season (because there was a lot of energy used to get it here that came from across the country).

Support businesses around the area that are environmentally conscious

Teach kids in schools about agriculture and growing their own food

Home:

Have heat storing floors that help heat the house when it gets cold

Use a decomposing toilet

Use reusable pads that are made out of cotton and you can wash or moon cups

Recycle electronics

Wendy Maxwell

12/6/2011 03:35:17 am

In the household:
1) Play boardgames instead of video games.
2) Use moonlight or some other form of naturalized light instead of a lightbulb.
3) Use a hand-fan instead of a fan that uses electricity.
4) Don't print out as much stuff (printing uses up ink and paper).

In the community:
1) Plant more trees, gardens, and grass (these clean the air, provide food, and reduce erosion).
2) Use cow and horse manure for fertilizer more often.
3) Turn off cell phones/ect when you don't actually need them "on", thus lowering the amount of times you have to use electricity to charge them.
4) Use pencils, pens, and paper that have been made from recycled items.

In the workplace
1) Use solar-powered computers, chargers, and computers.
2) Recycle everything (paper, metals, even glass).
3) Double-sided printing when printing on paper is necessary (the same goes for sketching and artwork in general).
4) Use PDF's more often, which lowers the amount of printing you'll need.

Chun Yung

12/6/2011 03:51:08 am

Household
- People can share to use some facilities in some group of apartments, such as washing machine.
-Turn off all the electronics if people not using it
-Just turn on the air conditioner when temperature reaches one standard
-Do not drop any materials that still can use, such as newspaper
Community
-Encourage people to use public transportation
-Plant some trees on the roof of buildings to let the society become green
-Set a rule that people need to pay for a plastic bag if they need when they buy something in the super market.
-encourage people to drive hydride car
Workplace
-Control the lighting for those offices
-Control the air conditioning for those offices
-Use energy safe product in workplace
-Limit the printing page of each person, and encourage them to print in both sides

Stephon

12/6/2011 04:25:14 am

House:
1.Dispose of trash and recyclables in their appropriate places(trash can and recycle bin).
2.Turn off all lights and TV to save energy.
3.Use daylight for natural light.
4.Try to conserve use of paper(cups, towels, printing paper).
5.Open a window to avoid using air conditioning.

Community:
1.Encourage gardening and tree planting.
2.Encourage days where members of the community can assemble and clean up parks and other loitered facilities.
3.Encourage public transportation use.
4.Push for more accessible recycle bins.

Workplace:
1.Try to limit poer usage by turning off lights in unoccupied rooms.
2.Make trash cans and recycle bins easily accesible.
3.Encourage less use of paper.
4.Encourage car pooling to conserve on gas usage.

Concepcion Tyler

12/6/2011 05:11:48 am

Household:
-Use energy conservation lightbulbs
-Consider using solar panels for electricity
-Develop a habit into turning things off including lights when you're done using them.
-when out looking for electronic products, consider the energy conserving tv's, laptops, etc.
- unplugging chargers when the charge is complete.

The Community:
-Recycle bins next to every trash can. Especially parks.
-Get more people to use public transportation, and even push for more hybrid buses.

Workplace:
- Turning off all the lights and unplugging everything that's not in use during closing.
- Try to encourage more of the use of e-mail to limit paper use.
- Find people who live near you and try to car pool with them and develop a system.

Jacklyn Njoya

12/6/2011 06:12:52 am

Home
! Reduce the use of plastic bottles - invest in water filtering systems  Brita
! Reduce the need for plant fertilizer (some of which contain biohazard us chemicals) – keep compost waste bucket
! Avoid use of aerosol cans
! Keep windows open to monitor climate during spiked temperatures
! Unplug all common unused household items  iron, toaster, pencil sharpener,
Community
! Dispose of all batteries, telephones, and electronics at designated facilities within county
! Designate certain areas per mile that contain both waste and recycle bins
! Encourage buying [seasonal] produce locally
! Dispose of used car oil at a designated waste facility
! Use of recycled bags for more than one occasion  groceries, target
Office
! Encourage use of mass storage ports, as opposed to paper copies
! Dispose of ink cartridges within designated areas of office, or waste facilities
! Avoid unnecessary waste – bring lunch in Ziploc container
! Layer up to reduce the use of heat within your office
! Suggest investment in scanners (yes I know, more energy, however..) – documents can be saved electronically, as opposed to paper contracts

Lisa D.

12/6/2011 08:53:17 am

Actions to take in the household:
*When brushing your teeth dont leave the water running
*instead of using the dish washing machine which takes up a lot of energy, wash dishes by hand
*recycling paper, cardboard, cans, bottles, glass, etc...
*instead of using foil, plastic wrap, etc... use reusable plastic/glass containers
*if remodeling your home and painting, use the less toxin materials such as latex paint and instead of washing the paint brushes outside where they can contaminate the soil, wash them inside your homes
*unplug appliances that are not being used

Actions to take in the community:
*car-pooling with neighbors or co-workers
*using public transportation to get to and from work, school, stores, etc...
*Creating community gardens or if one is already in your community helping maintain it
*organize events where everyone gets together to clean their neighborhoods/parks
*having recycling bins/trash cans in every public place
*mandatory programs in schools where it involves students helping out as far as maintaining their communities clean

Actions to take in the workplace:
*use less paper, print front and back
*recycling paper
*instead of using the paper cups for coffee at work, bring your own mug/cup
*when done using the computers, copy machines, fax machines, etc... turn them off
*rooms that are not being used in the office area, the lights should be turned off
*having office supplies that are recycle-able

Hawaya Abby

12/6/2011 09:53:51 am

Actions to take in the household:
Use power strips for home computers
Turn the lights off in the day and open all your curtains for natural light
Buy a reusable water bottle, that way you can stop buying disposable bottles
Install more fans in your home during the summer.
Fix local water leaks around the house

Actions to take in the community:
Pick up garbage/trash around the community and streets in your neighborhood
Set up local car pooling in your community
Support your local economy and shop at local farmers market.
Plant trees in your local community
Inform your neighborhood about environmental things they can do

Actions to take in the workplace:
Send emails, and things so that you won’t have to print as much. The less paper you use the better. If you have to print, use recycled paper. print front and back
If possible instead of driving to a meeting, skype (video message) instead.
Minimize the amount of Internet use if possible; get everything done in one time. Turn off computer when you’re not using it at the office
Promote a healthier environment at your job.
Install energy efficient lighting around the office

Surafel A Reta

12/6/2011 10:12:21 am

In the Household :-
- make sure plastic bottles, paper and other recyclable materials get recycled properly and that they don't mix with other wastage.
-using energy efficient light bulbs or electronic appliances.
-Take measures to conserve water and use water filters as a source of drinking water rather than bottled water.
-If there is a space available like a free deck plant a resistant but small variant of plats such as ferns.
- use paper bags instead of plastic bags since paper bags can be used again and again.
In the Community:-
-Taker part in activities which promote to help the environment.
- Taking other forms of transpiration other than driving daily for example if one's work place or school is in a walking distance, walk or take public transportation instead of driving
-making small contributions and donations to organizations which help to environment.
-Taking part in activities such as plating forests.
In the work place:-
-making sure that paper is not being wasted and recycling the one's that have been used.
-engaging in friendly conversations with co works and letting them know how useful it is to recycle .
-Promoting conservation of energy and resources from electricity to plastic materials.
-Taking an active interest in conservation and recycling of things around the work place

Jeanne Jarvis-Gibson

12/6/2011 11:12:10 am

Household
Get under warm blankets instead of turning on heat!
Make sure to shut down computers when you are not using them!
After you have got your hair wet in shower, when shampooing your hair, turn off the water. Turn it back on when to rinse it out!
Buy makeup with earth-friendly packaging(http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/fashion/25skin.html)

Community
Plant trees, and flowers.
Set up community garden where people plant their own vegetables
Raise awareness about the environment and how we can help!
Pick up trash at parks around neighborhood

Work Place
If printing out paper, use both front and back side of the paper
Have picnics outside with coworkers where you bring your own lunches!
Bike to work or take public transportation
Recycle paper and bottled water!!
Bring your own recycling bin

Rodney Washington

12/6/2011 11:47:04 am

Actions to take in the household:
-While showering, turn off water when washing up or washing hair
-Unplug all cords connected to outlets when not using them
-Turn off heating/cooling systems completely when not at home

Actions to take in the community:
-Participate in neighborhood newsletters, email alerts to list items or items for sale instead of throwing them away
-Use neighborhood pools instead of personal pools because less energy is required if everyone uses them
-Biking and walking to local stores instead of driving

Actions to take in the workplace:
-If coworkers live close, carpooling would be best to save gas and also it will help the environment
-Stop by office to make sure all paper or recyclable items are where they suppose to be
-Make sure lights are turned off in offices that areant in use

Aljahai Henley

12/6/2011 12:46:10 pm

12/6/2011 12:54:20 pm

Household
-Lower heating/AC temperatures to reduce energy use
-Use less water when doing things such as washing dishes, showering, etc.
-Recycling or even reusing some of the stuff you have in your house such as containers and paper.
-Encouraging everyone in your family to do the same things as you in reducing usage.
Community
-Maintaining the landscape; trees, grass, etc.
-Organizing projects to get out of the house such as picnics
-
Work
-Carpooling to reduce emissions
-Reusing supplies such as pens and paper as much as possible
-Putting files and notes on computers instead of paper
-Cutting back on energy use such as turning off lights in empty offices and such
-Carpooling to reduce emissions

Robel Beyene

12/6/2011 01:00:00 pm

Household
1) Unplug every household devices because they still use energy.
2) Don't flush any type of drugs or dangerous liquids.
3)Don't trow trash in the back yard.
4)Open curtains for light rather then the power.

Actions
1) Don't spit gums on the sidewalks.
2) Clean up graffiti covering stop sings.
3) Pick up trash from street.
4) Make aware that people can also use fallen leaves for garden purposes.

Workplace
1) Dont print with out proof reading.
2) Use emails rather then sending a mail.
3) Dont useplastic cups.

Week 7: Labor, Urban Life, Technology & the Environment

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