Reflection: weeks 7&8

Hey Everyone!

Another 2 weeks have gone by and I have learned a lot as usual. We started off week 7 with a discussion of chapter 16 “The Chemical Plant Next Door”. This chapter is basically a story of how a factory called Borden Chemical has affected Becky Bradway’s life, the author of this article, and the lives of many others. It talks about the situation some small towns are in, living very close to big industries that produce so much toxic in air. Chapter 16 focuses one story, when we watched the documentary “Green” I realized how many more people were living in a similar condition as Bradway. The documentary “Green” was very heart breaking to me .It introduced me to “Cancer Alley”, an area along the Mississippi River, between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, which contains numerous industrial plants. I was very shocked to find out the number of people that actually live in this area. I couldn’t believe the condition these people were living in; many citizens in these communities have been diagnosed with numerous cases of rare cancer. The most horrible part about this situation is that the government officials aren’t doing much to help them. In week 7, we also did an Eye Opener called "Environmental Working Group". This eye opener revealed a lot of health risks linked to cosmetic products. I didn't realize they were so many risks, the one that scared me the most was cancer. And it seemed to be linked with all the products most people researched. I hope I would be more careful next time while buying any cosmetics, no matter how safe they might appear.

During week 8 we discussed chapter 31 “Privatizing Water”; which was another heart-breaking issue. This chapter talks about how some countries want to privatize water; meaning private companies would run the water usage in communities and charge a lot of money for it. What in world? What about those that won’t be able to afford it? Are they just going to die of thirst then? As we all know, water is the most necessary resource after air. I hope that the countries that are on the verge of privatizing water would stop and think twice; and hear people’s voices, unless it’s going to become a disaster. The documentary “Thirst” gets into more details about water privatization and also discusses how the governor of California wants to privatize water in California, but not allowing the people to vote about such a drastic move.

So far all the readings we’ve done and videos we’ve watch in class have been a great learning tool. I am speechless about all the issues that are going on world wide with our environment.
Have a great Spring Break everyone!

Documentary Review: Green

Hey Everyone, sorry about the late post!

The Documentary “Green” is directed, produced, and edited be a graduate student; Laura Dunn. The film was produced in 2000, and focuses on “Cancer Alley” in Louisiana, formerly known as “Cancer Corridor”, which is an area about 100 miles between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Dunn travels from town to town between Baton Rouge and New Orleans to film the effects of petrochemical plants that are being dumped in the Mississippi river and also the effects of the chemical refineries in neighborhoods. In each town she reports personal stories of how people are affected by the environmental crisis in Louisiana.

Summary

She begins her journey in Baton Rouge. She shows an area in this town where there are organic vegetables being sold next to a toxic waste clean up. I was very shocked to find out how close people really live to these dangerous chemicals. In this town there is a 13-year-old girl who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a rare case of cancer that produced numerous tumors all over her body. The girl believes her diagnosis was caused by the environment she lives in.

Another story that stuck me in this film was the case of a 2-year-old boy who was diagnose with Rhabdomysarcoma, a rare case of brain tumor. This story takes place in Gonzales, just 30 miles from Baton Rouge. I was compelled believe this diagnosis had something to do with the area they live at after this case. I was even more certain when another child living just 3 miles from the 2-year-boy was diagnosed with the same type of cancer. Why aren’t doctors or community leaders taking note of this and taking actions? According to the video it seems like only average community members are doing something to get this crisis to be notice. And most of the government officials are just thinking about their pockets, considering that taking a step will be very costly. A lady interviewed in this film explains this very well by saying “They don’t see human being all the see is green; M.O.N.E.Y. Some people will sell their soul for a dollar”. The EPA isn’t doing much about this problem either.


In Convent, a town not too far from Gonzales there was a lady interviewed about the environmental situation in her town. I was really touched by her words. She says that most of these big manufacturers have brain washed consumers and that have become “consumeristic” and these companies convince us he have to buy their products to survive. For instance plastic, we all find it useful, but she argues we can live without just like we did before it was invented. Another lady mentions how we have become immune to this environmental crisis, passing it down from generation to generation.

My thoughts
I was touched by all the stories in the documentaries. I didn’t even know about “cancer alley” until I watched this film. It really heartbreaking to know that government officials aren’t doing much to help the people in these communities. It seems like there will always be conflicts over money and power everywhere. The EPA should be ashamed of themselves, can’t believe all they’re trying to do is to scrape two feet off a nine feet affected soil to make thing better; which is going to help at all in the long run.

Terms:
Environmental Racism: refers to intentional or unintentional racial discrimination in the enforcement of environmental rules and regulations, the intentional or unintentional targeting of minority communities[1] for the siting of polluting industries, or the exclusion of minority groups from public and private boards, commissions, and regulatory bodies.

Excutive Order 12898: (It was too long to write down) :)

Thanks for reading! Have a great week!

Share and Voice: Second "Eyes Open Award for Critical Thinking" Goes to Kaileigh!

Hey Everyone!

Kaileigh's Nature Log earned an award on her share and voice "Northland Country Club". I really like how she challenged her boss' point of view and actually convinced him to do something good for the environment. Good job Kaileigh!

Award Instructions

-Leave a comment below so that I know you "picked up" the award.

-Create a Share and Voice post that says you've received the award and indicate who the award is from (be sure to hyperlink).

-Also indicate to whom you are going to pass on the award and why. Be sure to hyperlink the blogger (use main blog URL) and the blog title (use the specific URL for that blog post).

-Copy and paste these instructions at the bottom of your post.

-Publish the post.

-Visit each blogger you've awarded and leave a comment telling them they've won.

-Continue the process...