Today, March 3rd, Cole and I visited the AIANY Center forArchitecture.  After visiting Cook + Fox Architects, the designers of One Bryant Park, we decided to learn a little bit more about the tower.  There was a lot of interesting statistics and information about the tower.

-The tower prevents 56,250 tons of co2 from coming into the atmosphere.

-40% of the materials used to build the tower come from within a 500 mile radius of NYC.

-35% of building made out of recycled materials.

-The tower’s goal is to produce zero storm water.

-Since the tower generates most of it’s own energy, it is 300% more efficient than normal buildings.

-67% of the debris from construction is recycled.

-A normal building loses 73% percent of energy through different areas, while the tower only loses 23%.

-25% of light energy can be conserved by using daylight dimming and motion detectors.

-The tower conserves 3 million gallons of water every year using waterless urinals and other conservation techniques.

-Quinn

I wanted to go over to the AIANY Center for Architecture today so i could see some more of the exhibits that they had there. We were given a brief tour on the first day but we didn’t get to see everything. Also at our last meeting something was mention about beginning to construct our own buildings and I wanted some ideas. However I had to go straight home after school so I wasn’t able to go. But seeing how I was still in the school building I decided to buy a bag of popcorn from Sasha. On the way home i just said to my self that I would have to make sure i’m early at our next meeting so I could see some more of the exhibits. The only problem was that I had no idea when our next meeting was. I decided that i would try and get in touch with the organization and ask them when our next meeting was. I look up the phone number on the internet and called. I didn’t know the name of the three digit party and i pushed two. That led me to a list of names of the entire faquilty. I knew that this would take a whilie before I got to the person that I wanted so i decided to e-mail them. In the e-mail I was a student from LREI who took part in the family activity day at the AIANY Center for Architecture. I said that I was just wondering when our next meeting was. I also asked them about being able to meet during the week and not just one weekend of the month. I told them that I was free during the week everyday except Thursday from about 3:30 to 5. I knew that I probably would not get a response today or maybe even tomorrow so I had to act for myself if I wanted to know when the next meeting was. I look and the site and the next meeting is on April 19, from 10 to 12.

Today, Sasha and I sold an estimated amount of 50 bags of popcorn, for a dollar each. We sold out pretty quickly, and a few people, including myself donated money to the cause. The last time Sasha was selling baked goods, it took longer than an hour to sell, but this went really well, because it sold out quickly, and people seemed interesting in what she was selling and they wanted to help out. I think I did pretty well, I got people who passed by to stop and take a look at what Sasha was selling and what it was for. Some people stopped to ask further questions on what selling popcorn was for, but most of the kids, just came to buy popcorn. This was just to help out, I’m not planning to do anything for the day of learning on this, but I had fun selling popcorn with Sasha, and I hope that I can help her the next time she decides to do a bake sell again! 

Today I tried to get into conttac with the AIANY Center For Architecture.

Today, I helped Sasha sell about 50 bags of popcorn for 45 minutes or so for her sustainability project.

Due to the fact we can’t really do anything around the salon, and we’ve already interviewed John Masters, Gaia and I have decided to work with other sustainable cosmetic related things. We had the idea of interviewing one of his employees, but we realized this wouldn’t yield any new information. We are both investigating other ideas.

Gaia and I have decided to pursue other sustainable cosmetic related projects, instead of just John Masters.

Gaia and I visited the John Masters organic salon, and interviewed the owner, John Masters.

Gaia and I went to the John Masters Organics salon, to interview John Masters. He was very friendly, as was his dog, who sat by us for most of the interview. Gaia took notes and we both asked questions. We didn’t really prepare, and at first it was awkward, but we eventually relaxed. He told us about his beginnings in a normal salon, how he began mixing organic products in his kitchen, and his lab and factory in California. He also told us about how he uses mostly sustainable containers for his products and equipment in his salon. We also found out that a large amount of celebrities come to his salon and use his products.

Today after school I went to Recycle-A-Bicycle.  I had in mind the idea of going there to sit in on a class but it seemed they were on a trip to Long Island City where I live because there appears to be a storage facility very close by.  So I stayed there and had my interview with Lisa Stien the director instead.  I learned a great deal of information about the organization itself and the whole process of what they do.  She now has my email so she will send me a lot of extra stuff.  In the end I will probably have done extra work because of the doors of hope project.  🙂

Lately, Talia and I have been feeling as if we might be encountering a dead end with the John Masters Organics. We have almost done everything we can with the salon. They don’t need any volunteers so we aren’t exactly allowed to help around the salon so we are thinking of expanding our topic. I think it would interesting and exciting to explore the broader topic of sustainability in the fashion and beauty industry.

My mother suggested a store called Origins. It is a petite store selling cosmetic and beauty products. They have recently launched a new organic line of products. Some of these include organic face wash, organic face lotion and many others all of which are 90 to 97% organic. If Talia and I decide to use this store, we might ask the employees what they think about the organic scene. We might also do a comparison of the Proactiv face wash ingredients and the Origins face wash ingredients to see the difference. I think this would a great store to use because it seems very friendly and welcoming.

Another avenue which would be very interesting to explore would be the sustainable fashion brands. There are many, but for example a brand leila suggested was Moo Shoes. Moo Shoes is a vegan shoe brand that doesn’t use animal parts or animal
by-products such as leather and glue made from animals.

So far I am feeling confident in that Talia and I will be able to finish our project by the time required. We already have good information ready for The Day of Learning and we have plenty more time to gather some more.

On 4/1 for about an hour me and a group of kids (Jack, Henry, Gaia, Amy, Lilly, and more) made sketches of what we wanted to paint on the door.  Carin was there watching us do this.  Since I missed the meeting with the people who are running this she filled me in on what we were doing and what we are doing this for.  We were painting a door that had to be about New Orleans life, hope or NYC life.  I came up with the idea of painting the word HOPE in bubble letters and filling them with Subay numbers and letters.  Cameron was the one filming us sketching the different sections of the door we wanted to paint on.  We decided that there are nine groups each group would get a spot that is shaped like a puzzle piece.  This I felt was really fun, and creative and had a lot of meaning.  We were painting this door for a house that the organization will be making. I think this is very good and helpful for the Katrina victims. The reason why I started doing this organization is because Sarah, my mom, and I think that I’m doing my organization’s work for them and not taking in what they do for our community.  I feel bad but I think I need to switch over to either another guy in solar one or a whole other place.  -David 

From 10:00-12:00 I made fliers.

I emailed Laida about sitting in on a class tomorrow.  I called Lisa Stien the director about an interview on monday. 

Worked on door sketches and planned out where the sketches would go.

2:00 pm – 2:30 pm –During school hours

Today the Doors of Hope Group (Henry, Ella, Maya P., Amy, Lilly, Cameron, Aliza, Emma and I) met in the Art room to discuss our ideas for the door that we were painting for Doors of Hope. Our door is being sent to New Orleans and so we have to incorporate parts of New Orleans culture into our door. We started by finishing up our sketches of what the door would have incorporated into it. Some people split off to partition the door, while others continued to work on their sketches. We’re all deciding on whether or not we’d do more than one door, but for now we’ll work on the door we have. I think so far that I’ve participated a lot in the door work, but I think that I can do more; for example, completing my sketch as well as putting more detail into it.

Maya PH

I’ve gotten an email back from WEACT and my group is going to participate in an Earth Day event on the 19th, as well as start to organize a date for cleaning up a park (Prospect Park, maybe?). I still haven’t gotten an email back from Tucker Robbins, so I might have to drop that idea. My group (Cameron, Emma, Aliza and I) are going to a organization in Brooklyn over the weekend to do some things with them for the day, starting at 2:00. My plan for the next time I get in contact with WEACT and Tucker Robbins is to finalize a date to visit each organization.

Maya PH

Cole and I have arranged to go to the center for architecture on Thurday to learn more about green architecture and the new Bank of America Tower.  We have also arranged to go to two different expos on sustainability, one at the Hilton on 53rd street and one at a eco-eatery called Habana Outpost near Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn.
-Quinn

Henry, Ella, Maya, Amy, Lilly, Cameron, Aliza, Emma, Maya P.H. and I met in the art room at 12:00 and stay till 12:30. We got a chance to finish up our sketchs and finalize them by coloring them in.

Henry, Ella, Maya, Amy, Lilly, Cameron, Aliza, Emma, Maya P.H. and I met in the art room at 12:00, for the door project. We sat down and discussed whether or not we had to still work on sketches or not. Most of the group said they still had to finish up their sketch or start it. We were given a choice to work on our section of the door with a partner or by ourselves. I decided to work with Gaia. Gaia and I got a piece of paper and pencil and sketched out our design. We decided that we were going to draw flowers and write words. Once we had the sketch down we got some color pencils and filled that in so that we could get a sense of what colors we wanted to use to paint on the door. We decided that we were going to add an inspiring quote. We did and then drew around that and had the idea that maybe the words could be shaped in a certain form to make it more appealing. I felt that so far I didn’t do much, I don’t feel like I really helped out. But I think that once we get to sketch our design on the door, I will feel like I helped out. It took me a while to realize that at first I wasn’t going to get to start painting right away. The process now I realize is a lot longer than I would imagine. I just wonder if we are going to do more than one door or not.
-Amy

On the 8th of March I worked for about 2 hours at the AIANY Center For Architecture. I arrived a little late so when I entered the group had already began to work. I worked with Ella, Maya, Amy, Calen and Manny. They filled me in on what was happeningwhen i arrived. The group was making the highest buildings that they could out of one peice of newspaper. I was not filled in on the assignment as a whole but i made an asumption about how this could related to green buildings. I thought that the newspaper could represent one material used to make buildings. The idea was to make a the tallest building you can using only one page of the newspaper. I figured that it this was giving to the group to see how much of a building could someone make using only one of a certain material. It was amazing to see some of the buildings that people created. Most of the buildings had a triangular base other groups didn’t give their building as much support at the base. The theme of this weeks building activity was Chinese architecure. We then saw a brief slide show about some of the buildings in China. After the slide show groups made buildings based off of what they had seen. This time we didn’t get to make a building of our own. Instead we just helped out by asking if anyone needed help and handing out items. While the assignment was going around we were allowed to look around and examine what the groups were making. While I was looking I had a sense that some groups had lost track of the assignment. Most of the buildings were just the imagination run wild and I could no see much relation to the Chinese architecture. I had an ok time. Maybe next time we could do something more interactive.
-Niles

Here are some of the products of John Masters Organics.

-Gaia

bourban vanilla & tangerine hair texturizer

Today, Ella, Brianna, Amy, Lilly, Cameron, Jack G, Henry, Emma, Maya PH, Aliza, and I met during recess to learn about a sustainability project that we will be starting soon. This project is a City Arts Project that will be directed by Paul, an Indian from New Orleans. We will be painting a door that will be given to New Orleans that has messages of hope on it. We will also be including some drawings about the earth. I think I did well by listening to what Paul and the director of City Arts had to say about this new project. We didn’t do too much except learn about the history of the arts in New Orleans, and watch a short video of some Mardi Gras dances, and other New Orleans celebrations, but we also had a few minutes at the very end to come up with a drawing of what we might like to paint on the door. I felt very proud of what I came up with, although it is still a work in progress, and I only had three or four minutes to come up with an idea. I hope that the more we have to get together and come up with ideas, the more I can get into this project. I was surprised by how much of our music and arts, comes from New Orleans. I’m not sure what life would be like without Louis Armstrong’s music, or the Mardi Gras celebrations! I was interested in what other City Arts sustainability projects were being planned, I think that art is one of the best ways to get something across, especially if kids are the ones doing it, because I think people are amazed by what such young people can accomplish. I hope that for the next session I will be able to finish my idea for the door’s design. I enjoyed the first session, especially since I love art, and I can’t wait until the next one if I decide to continue this project.-Amy 

After school,Talia and I went straight to the Salon. On the way we spoke about all the questions we would ask him.

We entered the salon and John ushered us to the back where we hung up our coats in a small closet. We sat up front and began our questioning. At first it wasn’t very smooth and I could sense that Talia and I were both slightly tense and unsure of how the interview was going to turn out. Soon we were done asking all our questions, but we improvised from there. It actually turned out very well. I was the one writing down what John said, so I think I was a little more stressed out because I was afraid of not being able to get everything down.

I was suprised at how much John new about all the chemicals in non-natural beauty products. He told us about all the bad chemiclas in toothpaste. For example; the Titanium Dioxide which was been classified by the International Agency For Research on Cancer as a a possible carcinogen to humans. Titanium Dioxide is in Crest and Colgate toothpastes. It is also found in plastic, paper, food, and other things. It is used usually to provide whiteness in something. I have almost six pages worth of interview question answers, but I want to save it for the Day of Learning.

I am slightly worried that Talia and I will not be able to do much more with our sustainability group because we aren’t able to help around the salon and we have already interviewed John Masters, but we might be able to think of something else.  When leila said we could interview an employee of John Masters.

-Gaia

Henry, Ella, Maya, Brianna, Lilly, Cameron, Aliza, Emma, Maya P.H. and I met up at school and we talked about what we could put on the doors. We also saw a short film. 

 2 and a half hours of working at the Center for Architecture with Maya, Ella, Niles, Manny and Calen.

Brianna and I both got in contact with people from city parks, both over the phone and through email checking to see what time we could meet them. We contacted Anne Frederick, Mike Mc Queen, and Sarah Erinsin.

Brianna and I both got in contact with people from city parks, both over the phone and through email checking to see what time we could meet them. We contacted Anne Frederick, Mike Mc Queen, and Sarah Erinsin. The whole process was different then what I was used to. A formal phone call was so weird compared to when I call my friends up on the telephone. I didn’t feel like I was helping out anyone yet because I didn’t do anything. It annoyed me when the place where they wanted us to meet them at was too far away for us to go so we didn’t end up going but we thanked them all for contacting us back and we said it just wasn’t going to work with our schedules.-Amy 

Brianna and I after school helped Sasha with her organization “Madness Against Malaria” by selling baked goods. We were in the lobby from 3:30 pm to about 4:45 helping her raise money. People from all different grades bought goods and even adults knowing that their money was going to a good cause.

Ella, Calen, Maya P., Manny, Niles and I went to the Center For Architecture Foundation and helped sep up at 10 am. When families arrived we gave them nametags and got them ready for the newspaper challenge. The newspaper challenge was where you were given only one newspaper and you had to take it and try to make the tallest building possibly with the newspaper, and the tape you were given to build with. You only had two minutes to complete your design and then about 10 minutes to build your structure. While the families were busy making their structure we walked around and asked what their design and plan was to win the contest. If they needed any more tape to help them build with. When the 10 minutes was up everyone brought their design to the front of the room. It gave people a chance to really see what different people had made and see who’s was the tallest. After it was time for Grace (the coordinator) to measure all of the structures and find a winner, she said it was a close call and that everyone did a great job. Grace then showed everyone a PowerPoint of some structures by artists in China. We got a chance to see the amazing art of the buildings in China. For me, I thought it was a great thing to experience, because I know that on my free time I never look up buildings in China and I had no idea what they were like until that day when I saw that impressive PowerPoint. Behind the buildings you could see some of the scenery and make it seem that you were there in that photo. I thought it was moving to watch, seeing some of the buildings in China where I was born. Their structures are so different then they are in New York City. A lot of the buildings I saw in the PowerPoint seemed unreal, in the sense that the buildings were so fancy and astonishing to look at. Some buildings looked as if they were wavy while others were straight but still had an interesting flare added on to it. Each building seemed to bring more. Part of the time while watching the PowerPoint Ella and I cut 10 feet of wire a bunch of times and then rolled it up into circles. Once the PowerPoint was done and people had a sense of what they could do, they drew up a plan for the next building they needed to design. We then distributed one Styrofoam board and 10 feet of wire to each family. Once every family had what they needed they started to build their structure. This time if they needed any more material they were allowed to take it. Extra materials; tape, scissors, glue, tissue paper. We walked around one more time making sure everyone had what they needed and how they were coming along with the challenge. Once everyone was done within 15 minutes the families all shared what they did differently this time along. What their plan was and how the whole process went for them. When it was around noon we helped clean up and set up for the next group coming later in the afternoon that day. By 12:30 we were completely done for that day. After that was over I felt very good and that I helped out and felt very pleased and it was something that I enjoyed doing the whole time. Helping the little kids out was something that I will cherish. That was a day to remember.-Amy

30 minutes of talking to representatives from the City Arts Project

 

            On Saturday, I was at the Center for Architecture with Amy, Maya, Calen, Niles, and Manny for our second family day. There was a slight problem with punctuality. Amy, Calen and I were on time. Maya was about thirty minutes late because of some problem with the subways. Niles was about forty minutes late because his mom took a wrong turn while driving. Manny was over an hour late for some invalid reason that I can’t remember. I think it had to do with him waking up too late and missing his train. The extreme lateness of half of our group probably did not benefit the architect’s views of us, so next time I think we should all be either five minutes early, or on time. Thankfully, Grace was very kind and understanding.

            The theme of this family day was Chinese architecture. The interior of the building had been completely redecorated from the previous time. There was now wallpaper about China and its buildings, and little models scattered about with crazily ambitious but amazing Chinese buildings. For example, there was one building with a cutout in it that looked like an ancient temple.

            Amy, Calen, and I helped prepare the building for the visitors by spreading paper onto the tables. When the children and their parents came in, their first task was to build a structure as tall as possible using limited amounts of newspaper and tape. The group that won had a structure with three legs that connected at the top, and looked similar to the Eiffel Tower. However, I learned that that group had been at the course last year and had copied off of last year’s winner. The second challenge was to build anything you wanted inspired by the Chinese buildings the group had seen earlier. Many creative buildings came out of that, such as one with planets around it.

            An interesting thing that I noticed was the difference in the parent and child relationships. All of them could be sorted into basic groups. One group would be the one in which the parent simply let his/her child lead the way and helped out if necessary. Another would be the group in which the parent and child contributed equally. The final (and my least favorite) group would be the one in which the parents were so set on winning and creating the best model, that they steamrolled over their children’s ideas and did the entire project themselves. The room was very tense during the newspaper project, particularly in the last minute. One group even cheated by combining with another group to get twice the materials!

            I really love working at the Center for Architecture because you get to interact with a lot of nice people. Of course, there are always the parents who will push you away because they are too busy to listen to the advice of 13 and 14 year olds, but Amy and I were able to pick out the nice parents and help them.  You also get to talk to a lot of impossibly cute little kids. One of them was this tiny little blond girl named Esme, with little yellow boots and a pink raincoat who was probably about two years old, if not younger. She came up to us and said in a quiet and high-pitched voice, “I need some blue paper please,” and we all immediately dove into the bins to find out exactly which shade and texture of blue paper it was that she wanted. When she asked for a piece of white paper that Amy had to retrieve from another group, she took hold of Amy’s hand and went to the group with her as to not be left alone. When I asked her what her name was, she said in that incredibly adorable little kid voice, “Esme. E.S.M.E.”

            I think we all did a pretty good job at the Center for Architecture. Amy, Niles, and I offered to help cutting and rolling pieces of wire. We all handed out materials to many groups, cleaned up after them, and offered suggestions. Maya and Calen took photos. Amy was on incredibly good behavior, which could be because I had threatened her before we left my house, but was probably because I think she thoroughly enjoyed herself. She and I love little kids a lot. Niles tried being nice to the little kids, but when a tiny boy came to the paper table, Niles said, “hey you, what do you want?” unintentionally harshly, and the little boy took a couple steps backwards.

            I think that a lot of what the Center for Architecture does is to spread awareness though fun days and activities. I bet that at least some of the people who went to a family day went home and thought, “hmmmm, maybe that light could be changed to a fluorescent one.”

            After the session was over and we finished cleaning up, Grace let us eat some leftover doughnuts. In addition, she gave us a DVD about green design that we should all watch sometime. While we were cleaning, we had planned to through out the paper on the tables and replace it with clean paper, but Manny had the ingenious idea of simply turning the paper over, which fit perfectly into the theme of conserving resources.

            When Amy and I left together, I felt a sense of satisfaction at having helped not only people, but also the environment out. I think Amy and I both mentioned that feeling once in our conversation on the walk home, but not for a long time, because we were both too busy gushing about Esme.

In this meeting with Alisha we learned that Cocoavino is a nonprofit orginization that is brand new in 2005. they get their chocolate bits from a brand called Sweet Bits which is located in California. the normal work day of Cocoavino consists of Alisha waking up really earlly in the morning and checking her emails then setting offf to work, she works about 7 to 8 hours a day during the winter. Winter is not one f Cocoavino’s best seasons, after valintians day everything becomes real quite till about Easter but even then its still slow. Cocoavino uses all wind powered machines and make all their chocolate by hand. Alisha went to French Colinary institute, she wanted to do something different and so became Cocoavino.

helped Sasha and Taylor with bake sale. 3:20-4:20

-Brianna

Amy and I helped Sasha and Taylor sell their baked goods to raise money for their organization. They were at the front area of our school after it ended. We went about to tell people about what the organization does and to see if they wanted to buy some of their merchanidise or donate to the cause. At first some of the parents seemed skeptical when we mentioned a bake sale but when we told them what it was for, a sense of recognition was present as the agreed to buy a cookie for their child or to donate $20. I found the buyers reaction to be appropriate what their group was doing because it showed that they cared and wanted to help in some way. Also, I liked how this certain activity was benificial and I thought about how easy it is. I was thinking that a lot more people could do this because it is so easy to do.

-Brianna

On the 8th of March I worked for about 2 hours at the AIANY Cemter For Architecture.

Brianna and I helped Sasha after school raise money for her organization for Battle Against Malaria. I was the in the lobby for about an hour helping her sell baked goods, when we realized that no one was really buying we decided to go outside and see if the general public would like to buy any baked goods from her to help out her organization. What struck me about the bake sale was that when we first said that there was a bake sale downstairs and that they should come downstairs and buy something the children said sure. I realized that the grown ups said maybe. But then when we said that it was for a cause and it was for the organization Madness Against Malaria they said they were willing. I think that the reason they had changed their mind and were willing to come is because they were glad that there money was helping people instead of going into our own pockets for us to spend on stuff that we don’t even need. Even though I wasn’t apart of the baking process I was still glad and felt that I helped out for the cause. Before when Sasha just mentioned to me that I should help her out with her organization I was debating whether or not to do it and then when I started doing it I was happy because I was helping out a cause.

-Amy

We met with john masters at 3:30 and interviewed him for an hour/hour and a half.
-Gaia and Talia

On Thursday we met Alisha in a cafe (it was not possible to meet at the Cocoavino kitchen) and interviewed her for almost an hour, during which she told us all about her and Cocoavino’s relationship with sustainablilty, and how she came about working to help our earth.
-Lilly

On Saturday night, March 29th, I had an earth dinner at home. An earth dinner is what Mary Cleaver recommended each of us do.  It was an all natural, organic meal and we also conserved energy while eating by only using the light for that room.  We knew where each ingredient that made up our meal came from, and who grew the food and how it was grown. It was a very enlightening meal. It lasted for about an hour.

-Ama Torres

On March 28th, I managed to get a copy of the movie Our Daily Bread and I watched it. It was a very compelling movie about the conflicts among harvesting, producing and packing food.   I thought it was relatively like Fast Food Nation, but incredibly different because in ways it made more of an impact on you.  This was real life, no actors.  Also it was behind the scenes at a meatpacking plant and the truth can scare you more than a movie because you can’t convince someone that a movie is true.  Also, the movie really affected me because there was no dialogue.  I think that that really made you think about how important and how incredibly horrible what was going on actually is.  You had a lot  of time to think about how you were acting and contributing to this horrible situation too.  The lack of dialogue actually made you insert your own dialogue.  This movie really impacted my views about sustainability and the worldwide lack of informed people.  It was also very disappointing.  I spent about two hours watching that.

-Ama Torres

After we bought the produce for the next day’s event, we went to the Chelsea market and put on our aprons and got to work. We were escorted to the kitchen once we got to chelsea market and then we met the head chef in the kitchen.  He told us that we had to wash the potatoes for the next day’s event.  We were directed to fill the sinks with water so that we could wash efficiently by doing more than one potato at a time.  That was very sustainable.  We were listening to music and really had an exciting time working in the kitchen.  We washed the small potatoes first, then after we finished all three stations for the small potatoes, we moved on to the larger potatoes.  We finished the three stations and then we moved onto even larger potatoes that were darker.  Everyone in the kitchen was happy to be there and be sustainable and we were sharing their joy.  We washed potatoes for 1 to 2 hours and we also spent time with the chefs and assistants that worked for Cleaver Co..

-Ama Torres

On Wednesday, March 26th, Ava, Sophia and I went to the green market in union square and got a tour from Mary Cleaver, the head of Cleaver Co.. We then bought about 22 pounds of apples for the event the next day which was a screening called our daily bread. She explained the situation with farmers and how organic food is very difficult to keep going.  We really recognized the amount of work is put into one meal that’s organic!  It’s beautiful how dedicated some of these brave farmers are!  We also visited a compost booth where we learned about how to compost and what to make compost out of.  We got a big tour of the compost station and saw all of the people bringing their trash just to make the world a better place.  It was very inspiring!  I also saw all of the things that were in the compost.  I observed entire dinners and multiple different kinds of exotic foods.  We stayed at the green market for about 45 minutes, walking around and seeing the sustainability going on all around us.  I felt like a better person.  🙂

-Ama Torres

On thursday Ava and I met up with Mary Cleaver at the Brecht Forum on West St. between Bank St. and Bethune St.  At the Brecht Forum Mary Cleaver was catering for an event.  It was a meeting of some sort where the film “Our Daily Bread” was shown.  We helped set up all of the food and chairs and then we watched the movie.  The movie was just basic farms and slaughterhouses in Europe.  It was filmed in an artistic way that gave you your own opinion.  It was really interesting because it was set in Europe instead of America and because of how benign it is over there compared to the U.S.  At the end everyone discussed their feelings on this film(I swear, each and every person said the word benign ten times…).-Sophia 

On wednesday Ama, Ava and I met up with Mary Cleaver at the green market.  We walked through the market as she explained to us how she likes to only use local produce, which farms she gets it from and why.  She also showed us a company which collects local garbage to make compost.  We helped carry some of the produce from the market to the kitchen.  While at the kitchen we cleaned potatoes and got to meet the staff of “The Green Table” at Chelsea Market.-Sophia 

2 and 1/2 hours of working at the Center for Architecture with Maya, Niles, Calen, Manny, and Amy.

I have joined Solar One because it interests me. I also had to give up Recycle-A-Bicycle because they stopped getting back no matter how many times I would contact them.  I have contacted Chris Kennedy at Solar One by phone and by e-mail and hopefully I will be able to work with them by next week.

I got into contact with two organizations, We Act, and the artist Tucker Robbins. Tucker Robbins builds lightings out of sustainable material, while We Act is a organization that works towards environment issues and health issues. I’ve started organizing dates with Tucker Robbins, and just started to get in contact with We Act. The current dates that we are organizing are the week of the 7th and the 14th.

Maya PH

Two days ago I made fliers for Against Malaria. Today I handed out the fliers. Each flier said the same thing. The fliers said that Malaria is the leading cause to children under seven and pregnant women. They said that most cases of malaria are found in Africa. Many parts of Africa are very poor and don’t have the resources to fight this deadly disease. However, only five dollars can buy a mosquito net for a possible, or even a soon to be victim of malaria. At the bottom of the fliers was the website information. They said that you could see pictures of he person that would be receiving the five dollar mosquito net and any possible contact information if they want to give it out or if they have any. At the top it said in big, bold letters, 7 JUMBO JETS OF CHILDREN DIE OF MALARIA EACH DAY. This was the line I shouted out to people. I went to a street fair on Broadway and handed out eighty-five copies of the original flier. People were amazed that there wasn’t more media attention covering the subject. I told them that many parts of Africa can’t afford media attention to bring the disease to wealthier countries that can help. Another thing that people were enthusiastic about was my age. No one expected a kid my age that has never had any sort of encounter with malaria to be helping the cause. People were amazed by some of the things that I told them. People asked me to be there at other fairs so they could bring their friends to talk to me. It was a great experience. I thought that people were genuinely interested in getting involved rather than what I expected. I was hesitant to hand out fliers because I was afraid people would just be interested with the idea that I was doing a community service at such you age. However, they were not, and I felt that I got people interested and did my part.

From 2:30 to 6:00 I handed out flyers.