Tag: Sustainable Development

This week our theme was Interdependence and I found this input particularly enjoyable as we had a guest speaker from the soil association and we also visited a dairy farm.

Sammi Jones was the guest speaker from the soil association. Her talk was very informative and she explained how different types of soils lend themselves to growing (or not growing) different types of plant life. In Scotland she explained that our soil is suited to growing grass which supports looking after livestock and dairy farms.  I also learned the importance of soil as 95% of all our food is sourced from the soil. Furthermore, it takes 1,000 years for The Earth to produce just 1cm of top soil! I think this highlights the importance valuing our green spaces especially with our ever increasing urban population and the growth of towns and cities.

We also discussed how to incorporate interdependence into classroom lessons. One idea ,if the class were learning about a particular country as a topic, would be to discuss the soil found in that country and then explore the different plants grown and also the diet of the people who live there. You could also run an experiment planting different seeds from a variety of countries in the same sort of soil and see what plants grow best. Then afterwards discuss the results and get children to investigate what plants are suited to which soils and environments.

The trip to Strandhead Farm really had an impact on me and I definitely learned a lot. Strandhead is a dairy farm that is run automatically by machines. It is actually the first fully automatic dairy farm in Scotland. The animals there all live indoors. Apparently this is actually quite humane as the all of the animal’s requirements are met inside and there is no risk of them getting hurt out in the muddy fields as cows are prone to getting sore and damaged feet.The barn has air-conditioning and creates an outdoor temperature and breeze that adapts to ensure the animals are comfortable. The adult animals all live in quite a large space and the calves live in a small pen up until about 8 weeks.  The cows start getting milked at around 2 years old.

There were machines that were automatically moving around the barn cleaning and ensuring the cows were able to feed. There was even a large spinning brush that the animals could go over and get a scratch from if they wanted to. The most fascinating aspect was that the milking machines were automatic as well. The cows were able to choose when they wanted to be milked (ideally 2 to 4 times a day) and the whole process ran without human involvement. It was really interesting and quite ingenious as it is fairer on the animals and less work for the farmers. However all of these autonomous machines are very expensive but I think it is a really good system.

As a future teacher I think a school trip to Strandhead farm (or any farm) would be really valuable. I feel that it is important that children know and understand exactly where their food comes from. It is important to know about how our diet impacts the environment so that children are able to make choices about what sort of food they are going to eat e.g. locally sourced, free range eggs. It is also relevant for children to respect and appreciate the amount of effort, time and cost farmers put into providing us with food and understand it does not just magically appear into a packet.

Theme: Natural Disasters

Key Learning:  During the morning lecture, Louise came in to speak briefly about the assignment that we have to do and what is expected of us in it. After the lecture we attended a workshop also with Louise.  During this we looked at the classification of  disaster. From this I learned that it is only a disaster if or when society is impacted, this includes events such as: social disruption, material damage or loss of life. (Burton Et Al, 1978) believes that it can be classed as a disaster when it costs more than $1 million to repair the damage or if there are 100 or more deaths. We also looked at the definition of a natural disaster and examples of what a natural disaster may be. Throughout this discussion I gathered that a natural disaster is a major event that comes from natural processes of the earth. This type of disaster can causes many problems and it can typically leave economic damage in it’s wake. However, the severity of said disasters depends on the affected population resilience or the ability to recover. A few examples that may be classed as a natural disaster may be: earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, etc. Nearer the end of the workshop we looked at a few case studies, including one from Haiti and one from Japan. From these case studies we gathered information about what the Government done in preparation for these sorts of disasters and also what they done after it in order to recover from it. For example, the Haiti Government had a poor response to the disaster and they handed over airport control to the US. However, on the other hand the Japanese government is among the best prepared in the world for disasters and they issued a warning 3 minutes after an earthquake. In my opinion, I would say that it is important to bring in this sort of topic to teaching as it gives children an insight about what is happening in the world. It gives them information about how dangerous these sort of events can be, but it also allows them to see what can be done in preparation for it and what can also be done after it. However, I think it is important to be mindful about what we are saying and showing to the children. For example, it is important to inform children about it but it may not be suitable to show them images or videos of these sort of disasters as some of them may be quite graphic and therefore disturb some people.

Impact on my views/lifestyle/practice:

Areas of interest to explore further/develop:

The bill for The climate Change Act (2009) was passed by parliament in June 2009. This act set a target for 2050, and an interim target for 2020 as well as annual targets. These targets where to lead to “the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; to provide about the giving of advice to the Scottish Ministers relating to climate change; to confer power on Ministers to impose climate change duties on public bodies; to make further provision about mitigation of and adaptation to climate change; to make provision about energy efficiency, including provision enabling council tax discounts; to make provision about the reduction and recycling of waste; and for connected purposes” (Scottish Government, 2009). By the year 2050 Scottish ministers must make sure that total Scottish emissions are at least 80% lower than the baseline.

One of the ways I think the government have progressed towards meeting these targets is charging people for carrier bags. On the 20th October 2014, legislation was passed by the Scottish government the requires all retailers to charge at least 5p for all carrier bags. This was to promote bag re-use and to reduce the effects of littering. Scotland alone uses a staggering 800 million single-use bags each year. And each year, council litter collectors pick up at least 7.4 million bags from our streets and surroundings. These bag charges hopefully will encourage people to re-use bags and prevent people from littering.

This has definitely had an impact on me personally and also upon my family. Whenever we go to the supermarket we always re-use bags from previous shopping trips and have several “bags for life”. We also ask for our shopping not to be put in bags when we are getting it delivered to our home. Whenever we do have to purchase a carrier bag we never throw it away but will keep them to re-use again.

Having completed the WWF Environmental footprint I learned a number of things about my lifestyle and my own carbon footprint.

My carbon footprint was at 115%. I did anticipate it being high. In fact, I actually thought it would be higher 115%. Despite this evidently it is not a good result. It is definitely somewhat of a thought provoker. What is plainly clear is that if I want to reduce my carbon footprint I need to make some changes.

During my carbon breakdown it was revealed that the area I need to reduce the most is “food”. This does not surprise me. I eat a lot of animal products which I know has environmental repercussions. I also live in a family home and we probably purchase far more food than we need each week. This of course leads to waste. We also have a young, rather fussy, child in our home who rarely cleans their plate and often refuses to eat the meals cooked for them. In addition we have a very pampered pet cat that frequently turns up their nose at their food dish, expecting something better as a replacement. This obviously leads to even more food waste. However all of our food waste gets put into our brown bin and not just into general rubbish. Perhaps taking this into account my carbon footprint would be slightly less but I am not sure.

The thing that really surprised me while completing this quiz was my own ignorance. There are so many things I never even associated with my carbon footprint. When you mention environment my first thoughts would be about transport, recycling, heating your home, food waste and so on… It never even occurred to me that all of the “stuff” I buy and use such as makeup, beauty products, my phone, the television and clothes are linked in a strong way. I admit that I love shopping and there is no doubt in my mind that I purchase significantly more items than needed.

I was surprised to see that my carbon footprint is smaller than the UK average. I suspect this is partly because I cannot drive, rather than my own efforts to be greener. However when compared to the world average it really quite embarrassing to see how large my footprint is. I suspect others in the UK feel the same way. This topic has been somewhat of an eye opener and highlighted that I do need to make some small changes in areas I had previously never thought about in order to make a difference.

References

http://carrierbagchargescotland.org.uk/

http://www.greenerscotland.org/cleanerscotland/carrier-bags

http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/questionnaires/

 

 

 

After completing the WWF Footprint Calculator test, it showed me that my carbon footprint was sitting at 117%. This number really surprised me as it is a lot higher than I had anticipated. I never thought that some of the things that I do everyday in life could have such an impact on the environment. However, I was quite surprised at what was suggested in order to reduce my carbon footprint. I was also shocked at just how many factors contribute to increasing your carbon footprint.

I would say that my household was quite environmentally friendly as we tend to recycle almost everything, such as: glass, plastic bottles, paper, etc. Also in the house we usually turn everything off, like the lights when we are not using them or we put the television off correctly rather than leaving it on standby. We also have double glazing windows, energy saving light bulbs and insolation in our house. However, we have recently bought some new kitchen appliances, and I now realise that this can contribute to the percentage of our carbon footprint.

I believe that I could possibly decrease my carbon footprint by reducing the amount of car journeys I go on. I tend to go out a lot with my friends in the car, mostly for socialising but also to go shopping or to other places. I sometimes travel by car to university, but I mainly get there by bus and I feel that if I continue to use public transport rather than a car then I can reduce my carbon footprint and become more environmentally friendly.

After having studied the Climate Change Act (2009) it has made it more clearer to me that Climate change is a serious threat that Scotland and the world is facing. Therefore the aim of this act is to create a framework  in order to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland (GHG). The Climate Change Act creates mandatory aims in order to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions.I think that a decision by the Scottish Government that has had a huge impact on us is the 5p carrier bag charge. Due to me working in retail, I have seen a huge difference in the amount of carrier bags that are given out. Many people now tend to use re-useable bags when they go shopping, which is what I now tend to do also. Previously, I would have always just have thrown away carrier bags, but now I realise that recycling bags, even plastic Asda or Tesco bags makes a huge difference.

 

References

http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/tips

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2009/12/contents

After studying the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 I gathered that the Scottish government are doing a lot to help climate change. I do believe that it is possible to reach the 2050 target, in which the acts commits to Scottish Ministers ensuring that by 2050 that the net Scottish emissions fall by at least 80% from the baseline, 1990 levels. The 80% target includes GHG (greenhouse gasses) emissions which currently accounts for around 20% of the countries total emissions.

 

I have always been very much aware of climate change but I have never really gave it much attention since primary school as I was in the eco committee. I think the 5p plastic bag charge was a very effective decision by the Scottish government, I myself can not remember the last time I used a plastic bag as I always have ‘bags for life’ with me. I also think it was a good idea that if customer does decide to purchase a 5p bag, the government say that that 5p will go to charities.

 

I just recently passed my driving test but I have yet to purchase a car. I mainly use the train to commute which I understand is not helping the climate change issue. I do try my best to walk everywhere but it is very hard to so sometimes due to where I live. I was also always able to walk to my work but due to recent roadwoarks around my town I now have to rely on getting dropped off by my parents or getting a bus as the footpath has been shut.

I was very shocked when calculating my carbon footprint on the WWF Footprint Calculator. My carbon footprint was 223% which is extremely high. However, the site informed me that 68% of this is due to my travelling. In the past year I have flew to both Florida and California from the UK as well as two flights to London, one to Dublin and Spain. I also travel to Ayr everyday by car to university which is around an hours drive. As well as that I often go drives with friends and family. I also was not anticipating questions on new house appliances and as my house is getting redecorated we have had a lot of new appliances such as dish washer, oven etc.