The Game is Over

Blogged By: Zach, Alyssa, Sam and Jarrett

As we near the holidays, bound to be filled with sweets, we had the students, and staff of Nottawasaga Pines S.S. active! On December 9th and 11th, during lunch, students faced the staff in a fun filled game of dodgeball. Staff won 5 games, and students won 6. It was a close game but the students won!

Over the past few months our group has put hours of work and a lot of effort into our events, both the blood drive, and the dodgeball games were a success. Canadian Blood services reached above their goal and we have raised $30+ for AVERT and The Thirst Project, which has secured one person, clean water for life, and is raising HIV/AIDS awareness.

We believe we have helped the UN Health Goal because we helped our local hospitals via the blood drive, and have gotten teenagers, as well as adults to be active, improving general and cardiovascular health.

Our challenge during the project happened during the planning of our global goal event, we hoped to host a dance at the local elementary school, however due to the work to rule we were unable to. As a result, our group member, Zach came up with the idea to host a dodgeball event.

During the blood drive we had 25 students, and 2 teachers donate. During the dodgeball game, we had around 40 students, and 25 teachers playing dodgeball (between the 2 days). The picture above shows group members, Jarrett and Zachary playing dodgeball, they had a fun time and were active!

Goal 15: Life On Land

By Sam, Brendan, Janson, Matt and Tristan

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Our Gallery Open House Is Here!

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After a long time of hard work it is finally here, on Friday December 11th 2015 our group is having our open house. All of our furniture will be done and on sale, remember that all the money earned will go to Friends Of Earth Canada.

 

The gallery will be taking place on the second floor gallery at 8:45, we are super excited to share what we have done, find out more about Friends Of Earth Canada at  http://foecanada.org/en/ .

Follow our Twitter page, Upcyclingtosavearth to see how we have come along in our project and check out #globalgoals to see other initiatives by others.

Final Blog Post for Global Goal #12

Blogged by: Zach, Tanner, and Zack

Some of the toys that were donated

Our global goal was to to promote sustainable consumption. To complete our goal we held a collection drive. For this drive we collected used toys, clothes, books, and e-waste. After collecting, we donated all of the the clothes, books, and toys to Goodwill and donated the e-waste to a company that recycled it.

We received over 100 articles of clothing, over 20 toys, 31 books, and a whole bin of e-waste for donation in 10 days! I believe based on all the donations we received, not only from the school but from the community that this drive encouraged change and certainly encouraged action by students, teachers, and people willing to donate in the community.

The main thing our group learned from this experience is that you can make a difference. Through work, blog posts, social media, posters and raising awareness we were able to deliver a large amount of donations from the community to help the community, and promote sustainable consumption. We also learned a lot more about the UN Global Goal #12 Sustainable Consumption. At the beginning of this project our group members knew a little bit of what responsible consumption was, but never knew to promote it or do it ourselves. By researching this UN goal, facts, graphs and figures relating to it we learned that consumption was widely out of balance around the world, and also that sustainable consumption is key to adding more balance to third world nations and poorer countries.

The overall experience of our drive and collection was enjoyable. The surprising donations from our teachers and students shocked us. The donation of a Microwave from our hospitality teacher and the large amount of articles of clothing were part of the main collection as well as an Xbox 360 along with a sizeable amount of games donated as well. Us as a group believe that the drive was a success but could have been improved through better organization and better planning during the beginning of the Global Goal process.

Many of the challenges we faced during the beginning of our Global Goal was a way that we could feel like we achieved something as a group. Through the collection drive, we collected old toys, clothes, books, and e-waste. Promoting sustainable consumption during the drive wasn't easy for the first few days as people most likely had to dig around in their attics and garages or even around the house for items to donate. As we started getting donations slowly throughout the week, we were surprised so many people had clothes and toys they didn't use anymore. Just thinking about it now we're not sure what would have happened to all of these items had we not collected them. We're sure most of it would have been thrown in the garbage instead of being recycled or given to others in need. The success of this drive allowed us to donate these items to Goodwill where they can be used by more people in need. All of the e-waste was donated to a facility that recycles the e-waste.

Overall our group’s project is viewed as a success, because we were able to accomplish well our goal of promoting UN global goal #12. We also benefited from this by learning more about sustainable consumption, and the community benefited from the donations given. In a small way we promoted globally sustainable consumption because we lowered and brought some awareness to the large overconsumption in North America. This project brought a positive impact that our group can be proud of. Thank you for reading and supporting our group’s project!

Smog in China Causes a Red Alert

Blogged by: Zack Q

Photo by Getty Images

On December 7, this Monday the city of Beijing raised a red alert due to the mass amount of smog levels in the air. Although China has had problems with this in the past, they have never had to call a red alert for smog before. Because of this Schools as well as some construction operations have been cancelled from Monday until this Thursday. More effects of this alert by the Chinese government will be a 30% decrease of traffic to lower CO2. China’s energy is still based 60% on coal, despite trying to adopt more efficient ways for industrial production.  

Photo by Getty Images

In 2013 this red alert system was created by the Chinese government for situations like these. The red alert was to be put into action if there was a prediction that the air quality index would rise above 200 for more than 72 hours. According to the American air quality index if the air quality is above 200 it is very unhealthy and become dangerous at around 300. On Monday Beijing was about halfway at an air quality index rating of 253!

Citizens of China are of course not happy with this situation, but are used to the smog. A citizen was reported saying “The smog is like toxic gas. I never had a sore throat before, but since last year my throat’s been hurting when I speak more” Another said “I’m used to the smog. I’d find a day when the sky is blue unusual.” These comments are just a few examples of what the 24.9 million citizens of Beijing are used to.

For the Chinese government this event served as a wake-up call. Chinese local authorities were urged by the public to put more priority on maintaining the environment they live in. The Chinese newspaper China Daily said “ people’s health should deserve more attention than the GDP figure”. The Chinese government say they are changing priorities to reduce their harmful emissions and find cleaner ways to produce energy.

This story is a good extreme example of what can happen if production becomes overly important without looking at the environmental aspects. Industrial coal burning is cheap, but not very healthy for the environment. Hopefully China will adopt a cleaner and more efficient way to fuel their industry in the future.

If you have any questions feel free to ask

The Marine Team

Our Conclusion

By: April, Josh, Leah and Sydney.

As the NPSS Marine Team, we have successfully strived to promote UN Global Goal 14; to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources. 

In order to do this, we developed various methods to not only raise money, but spread awareness. The first decision we made was to create a Twitter account, @MarineCleanTeam. The purpose was to get students and other individuals involved by updating them about our events, as well as tweeting ocean pollution facts and statistics. 

After we got the ball rolling with our Twitter account, we joined as “Community Panda” partners with the WWF, in order to raise money for their ocean sector. 

From this idea we developed a documentary movie buy-out, in which we would show a movie detailing ocean pollution and charge students $2.00 admission, all proceeds being donated. The results were great! Many students as well as staff attended this insightful event, and we raised a total of $195.20 to donate to the WWF’s ocean sector! 

The third and final aspect of our project was the hashtag we created to accentuate the Twitter account, #JoiningTheMarineTeam. Participants were asked to take a photo of themselves appropriately disposing of a garbage or plastic product and tweet the photo using the hashtag. In doing this we strived to prevent littering that could eventually affect the oceans. 

By the use of our Twitter account, movie buy-out and hashtag, we feel we accomplished the primary goal of educating and encouraging action and change relating to our Global Goal!

During this experience, we learned many things in regards to our Global Goal. We learned that spreading awareness about our specific topic did wonders for promoting it. For example, students became further informed with the help of our Twitter, and as a result assisted in spreading the word about the buy-out and hashtag. We also learned that in order to get a task successfully accomplished, we need to get others involved and interested. Pumping up the hashtag and movie event by involving students and staff made them much more successful.

Although we experienced a great deal of success with this project, nothing comes without its challenges. The biggest challenge we faced was the lack of individuals participating in the hashtag. As our local goal, we felt this was an appropriate method of not only spreading the word regarding our Global Goal, but also to prevent littering. Initially we thought many people would tweet using this hashtag and it would be a great success. Various students participated and tweeted exactly what we asked! However, the turnout was not as excessive as we hoped. We were looking forward to most students and staff participating in this great way of sending a message, but not so many people chose to do this and the hashtag essentially faded after a while.

Overall, our events were a success! We feel we were successful in raising money for the WWF’s ocean sector, and spreading awareness regarding UN Global Goal 14. We’d like to give a huge thanks to everyone who assisted in making this such a huge success, and we appreciate everything you have done for us! Remember to always do your part in making this world a better place!

Photos:

http://s3.media.squarespace.com/production/1339417/19627768/.a/6a00d8341c6aee53ef01b7c7d2c71a970b-800wi

http://i2.wp.com/www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/shutterstock_61760839-e1421798058123.jpg?resize=850%2C435

An Afternoon of Awareness

Friday December 11th @12pm is the date to save!! Join our group Poverty 2 Power, Ms McLeod, School Board and community guests, as well as students from our school for an afternoon of education and awareness! We will be showing our student made film as well as educating our audience on the effects of local poverty! There will be refreshments, a mission statement to sign and a donation drive. Watch for posters around our school, e-vites and announcements on our twitter page @Poverty_Power for more information!

We hope to see you there!!

Scientific Breakthrough to Stop Malaria

Blogged by Zach

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2015/11/23/scientists-hack-mosquito-dna-to-spread-malaria-resistant-gene.html

We all know about pesky mosquitos and their thirst for blood. When your main food source is blood then there is a good chance that you will contract and even spread diseases. This is common with mosquitos. Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that can affect both humans and other animals if an infected mosquito bites them. Malaria can cause any of the following symptoms which include fatigue, fever, vomiting, and headaches. In some more severe cases it can even cause yellow skin, seizures, coma and sometimes even death.

On Monday November 23rd there was an experiment reported, this experiment involved U.S. researchers who hatched some malaria-resistant mosquitoes. The scientists used a groundbreaking technology to ensure the insects pass on the protective gene that prevents Malaria, as they reproduce. This means that the population of malaria-resistant mosquitoes will continue to grow.

Malaria kills at least half a million people each year and sickens about two hundred million more. Mosquitoes can pick up the malaria parasite by biting an infected individual, and then can spread it when they bite someone else. Mosquito-killing insecticides and bed nets are the main protection but is little comfort to those in poverty who have no access to these prevention methods. However, with this scientific breakthrough of malaria-resistant mosquitoes there is a hope for those who are at higher risk of being affected by the malaria infection.

End hunger in your own way!!

By: Vincent, Rachel, and Chantel

When first seeing the word rafiki you’re probably thinking about the baboon from the Lion King.

Photo of Rafiki the Monkey from The Lion King.http://lionking.wikia.com/wiki/Rafiki

Although this baboon plays an important role in The Lion King many people do not know the real meaning of rafiki.  For any of you who don’t know rafiki means friend.

You are probably wondering now what do rafiki’s have to do with ending world hunger. Well  Me to We sells rafiki bracelets! The bracelet they sell each have their own meaning and each supply something different to developing countries. Some help supply access to clean drinking water, healthy school lunches, note pads and pens for students to write on and with, and tons more. Most of their bracelets are only $10.00 and they make for an amazing birthday or Christmas present!!  The also make a perfect gift to tell your friends how amazing they are!!!

Food rafiki bracelet you can purchase from me to we!http://shop.metowe.com/ca/rafikis

If you are a student or teacher who attends  Nottawasaga Pines Secondary School and would like to buy a rafiki bracelet the Global Action club will be selling rafiki bracelets in the coming months!! Come see Miss.Mcleod or Miss. Cryer for more information!! If you do not go to NPSS but would still like to purchase a rafiki bracelet go to: http://shop.metowe.com/ca/rafikis

Remember: Don’t forget to go follow our teacher on twitter @misssmcleod or look up the hashtag #npssglobalgoals

Which is Worse? Boko Haram, or ISIS?

Blogged By: Samantha K.

Over the past few months, the news has been focusing on ISIS, and the associated attacks, however, within the middle east, the extremist group, Boko Haram, have still been terrorizing the lives of locals.

Boko Haram:
A terrorist group, that is an extremist Islamic group, located in Nigeria, that engages in guerrilla warfare, across Northern Nigeria. They violently attack, government offices, the UN, as well as civilians, as they try to destabilize Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon.

For More Information: Boko Haram Information

ISIS:

A structured extremist organization, that is attempting to consolidate its power as a government within the Islamic Caliphate. Also referred to as Islamic Extremist.

For More Information: ISIS Information

Boko Haram was considered the deadliest group in 2014, since they contributed to more deaths than any other militant group. Last year they were responsible for 6,664 deaths, compared to ISIS’ 6,073 deaths. The two groups, together, are equally deadly considering together, they were responsible for 51% of all claimed global fatalities in 2014.

Unfortunately, Boko Haram is learning from ISIS, which it pledged allegiance to in an audio message from the group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau.

The general population fears ISIS more, as they are currently publicized, especially after the recent attack on France, however both extremist groups are dangerous, and should not be causing massive amounts of people to cower in fear, instead we should be deciding on a solution to the problem.

Your Part in the Global Water Crisis

http://www.charitywater.org/blog/pod03192012/

http://ithirst.org/blog/page/7/

Blogged by: Leah

“Almost everywhere, water is wasted, and as long as people are not facing water scarcity, they believe access to water is an obvious and natural thing.” Water is something that I and most citizens in developed countries can say we take for granted. We shower as long as we wish, drink as much as we please and have massive swimming pools at our leisure. It isn’t much of a common thought that in other parts of the world, these are things that would only be seen in dreams. Can you imagine that 1.1 billion people live their everyday lives without access to clean drinking water? I want you to really think about this statistic. Visualize your everyday life without taking a shower, without washing your dishes, without getting a glass of water whenever you feel thirsty. If you did give into dehydration and drink that water, you would be in fear as to what it is doing to your body. As of 2004, 3900 children die every day from diseases in their water. Would you take the risk of doing such a normal routine?

http://www.charitywater.org/blog/pod03192012/

http://ithirst.org/blog/page/7/

As a country develops the water can only then afford to be treated, eventually making it proper for consumption. Unfortunately, many countries are far too poor and dangerous to worry about purifying water. The threat of personal safety is far too evident to think about the consumption needs of citizens. Even if a country decides to take action regarding clean drinking water, it is far too massive of an issue to take care of alone.

For more information on this topic as well as incredible and innovative solutions go to: http://www.triplepundit.com/2015/06/innovative-solutions-water-shortage-crisis/

Statistics from:

http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/library/archives/water-crisis/

The Rapid Decline of Bees: Why are the Bees Playing “Hive and Seek?”

Blogged by: Emma G

http://www.custommade.com/blog/content/uploads/2014/09/bee-001.jpg

Over 250 billion bees have died in the last four years alone,which is about 90% of our bees each year. Although many different types of bees are included in this number, the majority of them were honeybees. Bees are responsible for approximately 80% of all fruit, vegetable and seed crops in the US alone, which clearly shows us how much of an importance they are for ecosystems around the world. If the bee population collapsed, it has been said that humanity as we know it would collapse with them. So, what has caused this rapid decline in bee lives? Are humans to blame for this tragic trend that is occurring?

   The answer to that question is yes and no. There are various reasons behind the disappearance of bees that are both natural and anthropogenic (caused by humans). Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is one of the many reasons for the decline of bees. The main symptom of CCD is very low to no adult bees present in the hive but with a queen who is alive and no dead honey bee bodies present. Despite continued research, there is currently no scientifically proven reason behind the cause of CCD.

Viruses are also a culprit behind the disappearance of bees. A virus is an infective agent that typically consists of a nucleic acid molecule in a protein coat that is too small to be seen by light microscopy and is able to multiply only within the living cells of a host (Dictionary.com). One of many viruses that affect bees are varroa mites which cause Varroosis. Varroa mites are reddish-brown in color and have a flat button shape. They are common nearly anywhere honey bees are found, and every beekeeper should take immense precautions if they are in a geographic area in which Varroa mites can be located. They suck the blood from both the adults and the developing brood, leaving open wounds, weakening and shortening the lifespan of the ones they feed on.

Cell phones are also a main cause of the decline of bee lives, or more specifically the radiation that is emitted from them and their service towers. The massive amount of radiation produced from towers and cell phones is destroying the navigational skills of the honey bees and preventing them from safely returning to their hives. A small study at Landau University in Germany had also proven that bees wouldn’t go back to their hives when there was cell phones present. The vanished bees may never be found again, though they are thought to be located far from home. Since they don’t have a habitat any more, they eventually die due to lack of nutrition. One might argue against this point by stating that humans aren’t dying because of radiation, but this can be easily shut down due to the fact that insects and small animals would naturally be affected more by this increase of ambient radiation since they possess smaller bodies which contain less flesh to be penetrated by exposure to microwaves, which then results in a different behavioral patterns. If towers and mobile phones continue to expand at the rate they have been in the past few years, the bees as a species could disappear in approximately ten years.

Clearly, bees are a crucial component to our ecosystems all over the world. In order for us as humans to help the bees we need to take better care of our planet and take precautions so that we don't destroy life on earth as we know it. Things that you could do to help the population of bees that are still alive could include; buying local and organic food which is healthier for your body and for our environment due to lack of chemicals during the production of the food, leaving dandelions on your lawn which serve as some of the most important food sources for North American bees, and leaving a small basin of fresh water outside of your home for the bees to drink. All of these are simple yet effective actions to ensure the future existence of our bees. Do your part and “bee the change!”

“If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.” -Albert Einstein

References

Beesfree.biz,. (2015). Honey Bees Dying - Why Are Bees Dying Worldwide | Bees Free. Retrieved 8 November 2015, from http://www.beesfree.biz/The%20Buzz/Bees-Dying

Greenpeace International,. (2015). Bees in Decline. Retrieved 8 November 2015, from http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/publications/Campaign-reports/Agriculture/Bees-in-Decline

The National Beekeepers Association of New Zealand,. (2015). Beneficial Plants for Bees - The National Beekeepers Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 11 November 2015, from http://www.nba.org.nz/learn/beneficial-plants-for-bees/

Gianni, K., & Gianni, K. (2012). 4 Reasons the Bees are Disappearing. Renegade Health. Retrieved 12 November 2015, from http://renegadehealth.com/blog/2012/09/24/4-reasons-the-bees-are-disappearing

Ars.usda.gov,. (2015). ARS : Honey Bee Health and Colony Collapse Disorder. Retrieved 15 November 2015, from http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=15572

(2015). Retrieved 20 November 2015, from http://www.ipublishing.co.in/jesvol1no12010/EIJES2044.pdf