In my search of an activity to do for this ecology project, I desperately googled “green project ideas” and came upon quite a few helpful websites (found below). I came upon one interesting idea that seems small, but after some research, I found it is very helpful: composting. Since I am an avid chef in my household, I have decided to take some of the biodegradeable waste from my cooking such as orange peels along with much more “brown material” from around the yard and turn in into compost, from a recipe I found on a website found below. I will store this homemade compost, keep some for my mother’s garden, and decorate some containers to give as creative Christmas gifts to my family’s gardening-savy friends. On the scientific side of this activity, I will measure the amount of compost material generated by my family and record it.
http://www.outdoorlivingpa.com/content.asp?pl=60&sl=1&contentid=75
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/making-compost-black-gold-for-your-organic-garden.html

My name is Sara and I am from Houston, Texas. When looking at my carbon footprint, I found that my footprint for the food I eat is way below average. I think it is due to the fact that my mom only feeds my family and me organic, non processed foods. Not only is it healthier, but it I think other people could benefit from switching to organic foods as well. It might be more expensive, but to help, I placed a link below where anyone can find cheeper organic foods, to help lower their own or their family’s carbon footprint.

I’m Nicole, from Houston, TX, and I don’t currently have a home garden, but would love to, because I think that there are so many benefits to it. Growing your own fruits and vegetables would mean that you could have more of these foods at your house more often. Although it wouldn’t mean that you would become a vegetarian, it might reduce the amounts of meat you regularly eat, simply because there are now other foods to fill your diet. Locally grown food also means a reduction in all the energy used to transport food across the county or across the world. You might not think that one family not buying as many groceries would make much difference, but it’s important to start somewhere, even if that somewhere is small.

Hi. My name is Lanvy. I’m from U.S.A. I was so suprised about how much carbon emissions were released due to my dietary choices even though I mostly eat healty foods. Being Vietnamese, my family and I visited Vietnam back in 2004. This was and still is an eye-opening trip to me. Imagine a 6-year-old little girl visiting the marketplace in central Saigon, seeing countless of elderly and children begging for money for food (of course we gave as much as we could). Even up until now, I still clearly remember the poverty and sufferings of the people less fortunate then me. I was never exposed to something like that. That trip changed my life. I came back to America thankful for everything I have. World hunger can be prevented. There is awareness, there just isn’t enough care and hope to accomplish the act.

Hello. My name is Joy and I am from the United States of America. I believe that it is better to grow your own personal fruits and vegetables at home than going to the store to buy them for a high price. I also believe that buying fruits and vegetables from the store is not completely bad. Buying fruits and vegetables can save you time, energy, and the chances that you may fail in growing the fruits and vegetables. Overall, I believe that people should grow their own fruits and vegetables.

Hello. My name is Joy and I am from the United States of America. My class has been calculating our carbon footprints and I didn’t think too much about how my carbon footprint was affecting the world before then. From what I noticed, most of my carbon footprint came from the foods that I eat. Although I cannot promise to just eat entirely organic food and stop eating fattening things, I will make an effort to decrease how much of the fattening things that I consume. I will try to also achieve this goal inside and outside of school.

Hi, I’m Stephanie. Before I calculated my carbon footprint at school, I thought that my carbon footprint was that big. But in reality, my average was higher than the average person in my region. Most of my carbon footprint came from food. I have to admit, I eat a lot of fattening foods, which are produced in factories that pollute the air. Recently, I have been trying to eat more nutritious and organically made foods that are better for the environment. I think that restaurants should offer a wider selection of organically grown foods and a smaller selection of unhealthy foods in their menus. I think that would help a lot.

Hi. My name is Grace. My class has been tracking our individual carbon footprints. I didn’t notice how much I actually waste in one year. I remember watching on Food Network how chefs had to make their dishes from “trash.” The “trash” was actually the wasted food from restaurants and supermarkets. So much food is wasted every day in supermarkets from the perfectly good food that the customers won’t buy because it isn’t perfect. At home, if there was an apple that had a bruise on it, you would cut it off and eat the rest. Also, food that have passed their expiration by one day are perfectly fine to eat that day.

I am Logan from the USA. After reviewing my carbon footprint I realized that out of all four subjects, I used most on food. I was surprised because I don’t usually eat alot. My family though has always been big steak and chicken consumers my whole life. No one in my family is overweight so I find it interesting that eating the amount that I eat puts alot in the environment.

Hi, I’m Sara from Houston, Texas! I have not had much luck with past attempts at growing my own food; however this discussion is making me want to try again. I have an aunt who is an avid gardener and some of her home grown food is the best I have ever tasted. Anyways, I was researching green craft ideas and I came across some ways to reuse plastic bottles in a garden. You can use them to help irrigate your plants instead of paying a lot of money for a fancy irrigation system. You can also make a terrarium for growing plants and a worm farm out of a large 2 liter bottle. I like these ideas because they combine two ways of reducing your carbon footprint. Plants convert carbon dioxide into oxygen, and if you grow food at your own home no fuel needs to be used to transport the food to you. Reusing plastic bottles means that the bottles will not go to a landfill or end up as litter on the side of the road. Also other resources will not have to go into making new items if you can use what you already have to make. I hope others find these ideas to be helpful and if you have any tips on gardening in Houston please let me know.