Tag Archives: change

Growing Sustainably

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For the last blog post, I wanted to think about improving our world to combat climate change and a growing population. One of the biggest threats to humans in the next decade is global climate change. It can be seen that if we continue to follow the highest emission path of releasing CO2 into the atmosphere many parts of the world will become unlivable.

With the threats of the rising temperatures and natural disasters we as a society need to be able to counter this. One of the methods to do this is through building sustainable cities. Goal 11 “Sustainable cities” with the growing population the ability to accommodate this along with creating a sustainable development that will last. The goal states, “we need to build modern, sustainable cities. For all of us to survive and prosper, we need new, intelligent urban planning that creates safe, affordable and resilient cities with green and culturally inspiring living conditions” (Global Goals, n.d). 

This goal can be seen more locally within New York State. There is a push by the state to grow in a sustainable way. There is a state program called Climate Smart Communities (CSC) created by the NYSEC which provides a framework for local governments to guide their climate action plan. This program has been successful with 2,706 sustainable actions being completed across the state (New York State 2021). An off branch of this program of CSC was created by the Under the NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority) called Clean Energy communities. This program created a commission that focuses on the mitigation of climate change and energy use on a more local level. Schenectady has completed 7 actions adding up to 2100 points. Including implementing clean fleets, being a part of Climate Smart Communities, LED Street Lights, PACE financing, Unified Solar (NYSERDA n.d.). 

All these programs created by the state of New York work towards the goal of sustainable  cities. These programs combine state action, local municipalities, and the individual to work towards creating a greener and more sustainable place to live globally. 

Within the goal set up by the UN, it includes the target to  “affordable and sustainable transportation” which New York is doing by setting up grants that encourage individuals to buy electric cars but also encourage governments to implement electric fleets. Another target is “inclusive and sustainable urbanization” and “reduce environmental impact of cities”, these targets are something the ClimateSmart incentive is tacking step by step through their incentives program that it is getting more and more towns to implicate green incentives that will better the local community, the nation and in turn the world. 

Making the world a better place, is such a broad ask for anyone, if it’s a country of a single person. By breaking the statement down into parts and focusing on making small improvements, you are in turn helping everyone. By New York State and then Schenectady working to create a more sustainable place and developing or green initiatives it is, in turn, reducing the amount of fossil fuel emissions being released which is helping EVERYONE in the future. 

 

Bottles Need To Go

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First off there needs to be a global awareness by humans for their consumption, use, and waste of resources that affect the environment. Global awareness with sustainability is how humans will survive in all regions of the world. Awareness has to do with initiative where if people are aware of their actions, they can be held accountable and have an initiative to either fix their harmful actions or to continue practicing beneficial actions. One way that awareness correlates to mathematics is being aware of the ways that each human is polluting the environment. This can be through using plastic bottles, driving efficiently, not recycling, and using an excess of energy. For example, millions of people use plastic bottles for beverages instead of using reusable bottles which in return affects the atmosphere and environment by releasing Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere. For every water bottle, 1.6 ounces of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. Think about the millions of water bottles used per year, that is thousands of ounces of carbon being released into the atmosphere. If each human can use reusable water bottles, this will immensely help the environment. A simple switch to reusable water containers can extremely benefit the environment, and this can be accomplished through global awareness. If humans can become educated and aware of their actions with plastic bottles, even though they are very convenient, the earth takes the punishment. Awareness is a key to any change on earth, which is in return through education and knowledge.

Necessities during Covid-19

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During the Covid 19 virus outbreak, this left many families coping with insecurities such as food, income, and health. With many people losing their jobs due to the worldwide shutdown, this impacted the food insecurity issue. Without jobs there was not a constant income coming into families homes that they could use for necessities such as food. The impact of Covid 19 on food security has a common theme of different races being differently affected. As presented in the chart below, it depicts the food insecurities by race with a variable of whether the family had children or overall. As we can see, the black and hispanic race was much more affected by Covid 19 in relation to food security. This chart was found in a study on whether the families had thought about food in the last seven days. The black communities suffered from Covid 19 food insecurity most prominently as shown in the chart at 23%. Whereas the Asians and White race were suffering less but it also depicts how all races had been affected by food insecurities during Covid. As the United States recovers from the pandemic, society must intend to help the families in need whether that’s through governmental funding or radical changes such as access to food banks and pantries. Although food insecurities is a major suffrage of Covid, there are several other social justice issues that the American society is working toward. Charts like the one below can visually present the effects Covid has had, and there are many other charts for other social justice issues.

References:

https://econofact.org/who-does-not-have-enough-to-eat-in-america