Thursday, January 31, 2008
Let it Snow?
In a blog Global Warming Hits Holy Land—with Snow, I was shocked and jealous by the news it contained. One I really like snow, I do not like winter but I love snow. I just remember at my Dad’s house we lived next to a golf course; and on snow days my friends and I would get cookie trays and sled on the hills. It was really fun, anyway back to the problem about global warming. When there is snow in the Middle East, something should tell society that we are doing something incredibly wrong. The ozone layer is important because it protects us from harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun. It would be impossible for anything to survive without it, including humans! A lot of controversy is going on about whether global warming is just a big propaganda parade, but snowing in Jerusalem just doesn’t happen on a regular bases. I am taking an evolutionary anthropology class and I learned that there is constant change in our species and landscape; but weather doesn’t really drastically change like that. In the part one paper we had to write, I wrote about air pollution and it is a contributing factor to why our ozone is thinning. In Kentucky, a law was passed where they asked constructor to stop open burning, which is where you burn a mass amount of trees or waste. I feel like making things like that illegal can help very much, and that more actions should be taken.
Burbs are Boring
I was reading Smart City Memphis under the Memphis blogs. The particular blog I read was Indicators of Success: Kids in Cities. In the blog it mentioned that when a middle class family has a child, they should be prepared to live in the suburbs for the next eighteen years. I was raised in the suburb my entire life, and I found it to be very boring. After all my childhood friends moved away, there was not very much left to do. I found it especially boring when I was between the ages of thirteen and sixteen; the stage where you want to go places and don’t have a car. Unfortunatly, the suburbs don’t have a lot of fun or interesting things to do within walking distance. All that was really in the suburb when I was growing up was the Hollywood Theatre and a lot of fast food chains. I realize that there are positive to the suburbs like a safe environment and good school; which is very good for a middle class family. I know personally, that if I ever had a kid that I would like to raise them in a more interesting environment than the suburbs. I am thankful that I was able to live a safe life and get a decent education; yet I feel that if looked over properly and if we lived in certain areas of the city we could have been fine. I think it depends on the family and the situation they are in if they can handle a family in a big city or not. I do not believe that it should be assumed that middle class family should always have to live in the suburbs.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
White Out Pens
I was really excited today because my friend Michael was coming to town to visit me. He lives in Olive Branch, Mississippi, which isn’t that far away; but with our busy time schedule we never get to see each other. So when we do get to hang out, it’s a really big deal. However, he ended up having to go to a family function and can’t come down like planned. I was really disappointed, because he was suppose to visit a week ago but I got the fabulous bronchitis and our plans were ruined. We both had planned to go to the café down the street from my apartments and have lunch. After wards, we were going to draw on my black folding chair with white out pens. I know this sounds pretty weird, but this is a fantastic way to spice up cheap boring furniture. If the piece of furniture is dark enough, all you do is draw or doodle on the piece with a white out pen . After it dries, you color over it with washable markers. The color will stick to the white out, but not the parts you don’t want painted. This looks really neat because of the contrast of the dark furniture, and the colors from the markers. It’s kind of the same concept of doodling with sharpies on furniture, but the colors are so much stronger and vibrant. I’ve only tried this once before on a dark blue storage box and it was really interesting to look at. Michael and I both really like to paint, and I thought that we both like to try this to see how it turn out on a folding chair. But, I guess that I’m going to have to wait another week.
15 minute writting brainstorm
I am aware of the global environmental issues like ocean pollution, unclean air, ect. Although, I really don’t know the intense environmental issues Memphis faces. I’ve noticed things like litter, and the lack of leafy streets; but I am not aware of the statistics or the pounding issues we endure. I am hoping that when I research Memphis’s problems that I will be able to learn a lot about it , and continue to be involved with it after this English course.
I think mainly that I want to research how polluted out air is. I would like to learn how it is effecting Memphis’s citizens and our atmosphere. What I mean by our atmosphere
is Memphis’s plants, flowers and wildlife.
If our air cleanliness really isn’t a problem, then I would like to investigate the recourses Memphis mainly uses and how they are limited. However , I think that writing a paper on this would be difficult because I would be tempted more to write about the world than just the city.
If possible, now that I have been brain storming, I would like to report just on the cleanliness of Memphis. I’d like to write about how clean the streets are (like how much litter and debris linger), the cleanliness of our water, and the air. I’d like to take all three of these topics and apply to how all these factors contribute to Memphis’s people and environment.
When researching, I’d like to know when this became a problem . Knowing this history is the key to preventing it in the future. Also, I’d want to learn how long this has been a problem and what has been done to help improve the situation. I’d like to learn what the people and city officials can do to help; and what big steps needs to be taken. Also, I like to find out what the positive outcomes could be.
I think mainly that I want to research how polluted out air is. I would like to learn how it is effecting Memphis’s citizens and our atmosphere. What I mean by our atmosphere
is Memphis’s plants, flowers and wildlife.
If our air cleanliness really isn’t a problem, then I would like to investigate the recourses Memphis mainly uses and how they are limited. However , I think that writing a paper on this would be difficult because I would be tempted more to write about the world than just the city.
If possible, now that I have been brain storming, I would like to report just on the cleanliness of Memphis. I’d like to write about how clean the streets are (like how much litter and debris linger), the cleanliness of our water, and the air. I’d like to take all three of these topics and apply to how all these factors contribute to Memphis’s people and environment.
When researching, I’d like to know when this became a problem . Knowing this history is the key to preventing it in the future. Also, I’d want to learn how long this has been a problem and what has been done to help improve the situation. I’d like to learn what the people and city officials can do to help; and what big steps needs to be taken. Also, I like to find out what the positive outcomes could be.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Afternoon Nap
Today I went to eat at El Porton with my boyfriend Alex. We are big fans of Mexican food because it’s cheap, fast, and you get free chips and salsa. After lunch I was extremely tired, and so I decided that a nap before work would be a novel idea. Usually after Mexican food I am wired from all the spicy flavors, however the cold weather is doing a fantastic job of wearing me out. I forget when I nap; I usually end up being trapped in my dreams. I don’t know if this has ever happened to you, but it is a very scary thing to trapped in a dream. When I’m trapped in my dreams, I aware that I am dreaming; but I am too tired to wake myself up and I don’t know how.
The first time I remember being trapped in a dream was about a year ago. I came home from class and took a nap. I don’t really remember what my dream was about, but I remember waking up from my dream and looking at my alarm clock. It was 11:46 and I tried to emerge from my bed, however I couldn’t budge. My body wasn’t in pain, but it was almost like I was an inanimate object and nature would not allow me to move. I became scared and at last I woke up again, in the same place. I tried to move again and with out fail my body would not allow it. This happened another time then finally I was free from my dream, and woke up immediately getting out of my bed. I realized that this dream really did scare me because it got me out of bed without pressing snooze about ten times.
In my dream today the farthest back I remember was my best friend Jacey and I were driving in a mall parking lot, and laughing hysterically about something. I don’t remember what we were laughing about, but it was so funny we were crying. Suddenly, Jacey stopped laughing and said, “Stop the car. Stop the car!” The natural response I responded with was simply, “Why?” I looked at Jacey’s serious scared face, and I became very worried. Then suddenly an entire family runs up to my car and beats on it, and so I slowed down my car to a stop. I gradually rolled down my window and saw a little girl who had run up next to my car. Mostly, I was impressed that a small little girl was able to run up to car accelerating at 30 miles an hour or so. I saw in my rear view mirror that woman running up to my car, she came up next to my car and screamed with tears in her eyes, “You ran over my mother!”
I started to cry. Questions ran through my head as I got out of my car to see the victim. How has I not see her before I hit her? I just murdered a human being? Unexpectedly I woke up in a chair at Barnes and Nobles waiting for Jacey to meet me, and all I remember being really happy I didn’t have to deal with the murder of pedestrian. I saw my boyfriend’s phone next to my purse, and thought, “Oh silly Alex, left his phone at a bookstore again.” I picked it up and realized it was different than the phone Alex owned, however I knew it had to be his. I started observing features in the phone and after every blink his phone would morph into a different shape. It seemed like the phone changed into something like a microscope, but when I looked inside I was looking inside a see kaleidoscope.
Shortly after that I, had seem to “wake up” again. Although this time, I realized that I was trapped in a strange sequence of dreams. I don’t remember much else in my “dreams,” the only thing I can remember was thinking, “I need to get ready for work!” Finally, I really woke up to reality, and not just another dream. This time I slowly rolled out of bed, and yearned for my dreams about finally getting a pony. Dreams are a weird thing, it’s almost like I am living in a parallel universe. I live almost a complete other life when I dream, but big chunks are taken out in this life so it’s like I live in sequences. Honestly, I really do not know the world I would rather live in.
The first time I remember being trapped in a dream was about a year ago. I came home from class and took a nap. I don’t really remember what my dream was about, but I remember waking up from my dream and looking at my alarm clock. It was 11:46 and I tried to emerge from my bed, however I couldn’t budge. My body wasn’t in pain, but it was almost like I was an inanimate object and nature would not allow me to move. I became scared and at last I woke up again, in the same place. I tried to move again and with out fail my body would not allow it. This happened another time then finally I was free from my dream, and woke up immediately getting out of my bed. I realized that this dream really did scare me because it got me out of bed without pressing snooze about ten times.
In my dream today the farthest back I remember was my best friend Jacey and I were driving in a mall parking lot, and laughing hysterically about something. I don’t remember what we were laughing about, but it was so funny we were crying. Suddenly, Jacey stopped laughing and said, “Stop the car. Stop the car!” The natural response I responded with was simply, “Why?” I looked at Jacey’s serious scared face, and I became very worried. Then suddenly an entire family runs up to my car and beats on it, and so I slowed down my car to a stop. I gradually rolled down my window and saw a little girl who had run up next to my car. Mostly, I was impressed that a small little girl was able to run up to car accelerating at 30 miles an hour or so. I saw in my rear view mirror that woman running up to my car, she came up next to my car and screamed with tears in her eyes, “You ran over my mother!”
I started to cry. Questions ran through my head as I got out of my car to see the victim. How has I not see her before I hit her? I just murdered a human being? Unexpectedly I woke up in a chair at Barnes and Nobles waiting for Jacey to meet me, and all I remember being really happy I didn’t have to deal with the murder of pedestrian. I saw my boyfriend’s phone next to my purse, and thought, “Oh silly Alex, left his phone at a bookstore again.” I picked it up and realized it was different than the phone Alex owned, however I knew it had to be his. I started observing features in the phone and after every blink his phone would morph into a different shape. It seemed like the phone changed into something like a microscope, but when I looked inside I was looking inside a see kaleidoscope.
Shortly after that I, had seem to “wake up” again. Although this time, I realized that I was trapped in a strange sequence of dreams. I don’t remember much else in my “dreams,” the only thing I can remember was thinking, “I need to get ready for work!” Finally, I really woke up to reality, and not just another dream. This time I slowly rolled out of bed, and yearned for my dreams about finally getting a pony. Dreams are a weird thing, it’s almost like I am living in a parallel universe. I live almost a complete other life when I dream, but big chunks are taken out in this life so it’s like I live in sequences. Honestly, I really do not know the world I would rather live in.
Manifesto: Part Two
Apparently, I misunderstood the assignment of writing my own manifesto. Most of the time, I tend to over analyze things and I successfully managed to do that with this assignment. I noticed by reading the other manifestos, that they were more about the person’s beliefs more than strictly just a problem. Therefore this time around I will try to redeem myself and do the manifesto about me and what I believe. :)
Here we go, I believe more than anything in the world that everyone should be happy. Everyone should have the equal opportunity to enjoy life with their loved ones and be able to achieve what they dream. Unfortunately, this is very hard to do in this world because of war and other unjust activities that take place; such as families being ripped apart, poverty, ect. In this situation, it is one of those things where we must depend on the little things to try to improve the circumstances. So I try my best to be grateful and happy for what I have, and I think other people should try to do the same. This would create a more positive attitude and would possibly inspire other people to be grateful for what they have too.
My dream is one day to travel the world and find the little things that make the world a little place. The idea is based around activities people do to make the world a better place. In the news today, mostly all you see is tragic events that take place in our community or around the world. I would like to find the good hiding in little places and share it with other people. My motive is to show people that the little things can make a big difference, and that anyone in the world can make it a better place if they try.
I believe that Jesus Christ did walk the earth and performed miracles. I however do not consider Jesus as a religion. Jesus is my Christ and Savior and I am proud to talk about him and what he has done for me and you. I do not agree with everything the bible says, but I am still reading it and trying to completely understand what god is telling me. I think that if you are willing to accept Christ as your lord and savior then you have made a wise choice, but I understand that not everyone will and I don’t believe in shoving the word of god down their throat.
I believe in being free. I believe in free love, free thought, and free feelings. I believe that if people could release tension and just realize there is a free person inside them that they would enjoy life more. I feel that people should be kind to everyone and have an open mind so they can think about important matter in different ways. Also, I belive that people should be open with their feelings. What I mean by this is when situations like how you feel about people come up; if you have a problem with someone then you should passively talk to them about your feelings. The same goes for if you have feelings for a person, you should tell them and if they have feelings for you too then both of you can be happy together.
I think that the arts should be respected, no matter how great or not so great that piece of art is. Anything someone pours their heart into is worth being respected. Many people who aren’t into art usually don’t respect the talent and time put into that piece. I’m not into most sports, yet I respect the time and practice athletes put into the sport. For that reason, I respect the sport they play. Along with this belief, I also think that people should respect other people in general.
As you can tell from the last attempted manifesto, I really care about the environment. I believe god gave us a beautiful world to live in; and by trashing it and tearing down our environment it’s insulting to god. More than anything, I just fear that the future of our environment is in danger. At the rate we are going we are going to run out of natural recourses and have no one to blame but ourselves. I think we all have a duty to clean up our trash, and give back to the environment. We can do this, as you’ve read in the previous manifesto, by simply planting flowers and trees.
Well, hopefully this is more along the lines of the manifesto we were suppose to write, and if not then manifesto part three will be coming soon!
Here we go, I believe more than anything in the world that everyone should be happy. Everyone should have the equal opportunity to enjoy life with their loved ones and be able to achieve what they dream. Unfortunately, this is very hard to do in this world because of war and other unjust activities that take place; such as families being ripped apart, poverty, ect. In this situation, it is one of those things where we must depend on the little things to try to improve the circumstances. So I try my best to be grateful and happy for what I have, and I think other people should try to do the same. This would create a more positive attitude and would possibly inspire other people to be grateful for what they have too.
My dream is one day to travel the world and find the little things that make the world a little place. The idea is based around activities people do to make the world a better place. In the news today, mostly all you see is tragic events that take place in our community or around the world. I would like to find the good hiding in little places and share it with other people. My motive is to show people that the little things can make a big difference, and that anyone in the world can make it a better place if they try.
I believe that Jesus Christ did walk the earth and performed miracles. I however do not consider Jesus as a religion. Jesus is my Christ and Savior and I am proud to talk about him and what he has done for me and you. I do not agree with everything the bible says, but I am still reading it and trying to completely understand what god is telling me. I think that if you are willing to accept Christ as your lord and savior then you have made a wise choice, but I understand that not everyone will and I don’t believe in shoving the word of god down their throat.
I believe in being free. I believe in free love, free thought, and free feelings. I believe that if people could release tension and just realize there is a free person inside them that they would enjoy life more. I feel that people should be kind to everyone and have an open mind so they can think about important matter in different ways. Also, I belive that people should be open with their feelings. What I mean by this is when situations like how you feel about people come up; if you have a problem with someone then you should passively talk to them about your feelings. The same goes for if you have feelings for a person, you should tell them and if they have feelings for you too then both of you can be happy together.
I think that the arts should be respected, no matter how great or not so great that piece of art is. Anything someone pours their heart into is worth being respected. Many people who aren’t into art usually don’t respect the talent and time put into that piece. I’m not into most sports, yet I respect the time and practice athletes put into the sport. For that reason, I respect the sport they play. Along with this belief, I also think that people should respect other people in general.
As you can tell from the last attempted manifesto, I really care about the environment. I believe god gave us a beautiful world to live in; and by trashing it and tearing down our environment it’s insulting to god. More than anything, I just fear that the future of our environment is in danger. At the rate we are going we are going to run out of natural recourses and have no one to blame but ourselves. I think we all have a duty to clean up our trash, and give back to the environment. We can do this, as you’ve read in the previous manifesto, by simply planting flowers and trees.
Well, hopefully this is more along the lines of the manifesto we were suppose to write, and if not then manifesto part three will be coming soon!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Green City Manifesto
Ashli Blow
English 1020
Wendy Sumner
January, 22 2008
I began my research for the term manifesto by asking a friend, “What is a manifesto?” He turned to me and automatically responded with, “like The Communist Manifesto?” I continued to ask a few of my other friends what they thought a manifesto was, and without fail each of them answered with The Communist Manifesto. Apparently, The Communist Manifesto is a document that reflects an attempt to explain the goals of communism. It argues that class struggles, or the exploitation of one class by another, are the motivating force behind all historical developments (Spark Notes 1). This well known manifesto published in February 1848 begins with: A spectre is haunting Europe -- the spectre of communism. All the powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre: Pope and Tsar, Metternich and Guizot, French Radicals and German police-spies ( Hayes 1-2). The opening statment to this document was very powerful, and lured me in to read more about what this manifesto involved and advised.
Due to reading The Communist Manifesto, I realized that a manifesto is more than just a document of ideas and rules; manifestos are documents written to announce reasoning or demands from a person or a group(Computer Hope 1).Deeper in my research I came across The Hacker Manifesto, written by Lloyd Blakenship in January 1986, which states that hackers choose to hack because it is a way for them to learn, and because they are often frustrated and bored in school(Wikipedia 1). This manifesto is written far more casually than The Communist Manifesto which is organized in four sections discussing theories and relationships between the communist and other parties( Sparks Notes 1 ). The Hacker Manifesto doesn’t have much formal organization, but is written like what you find on a facebook or myspace blog. Despite the organizational structure; both manifestos are informative, establish a well developed idea, and successfully leave some sort of impact on the reader. In my manifesto, my structure will meet in the middle of being organized and casual. Also, I hope to have as established and strong as the other manifestos I have read.
Green City Manifesto
Introduction:
In any busy city regardless of size, the extent of scenery is limited to buildings, statues, and street. Sometimes, a person can catch a dandelion emerging between the cracks of sidewalk and that dandelion will be considered a flower. Unfortunately, a dandelion is just a weed, and in cities there are rarely any flowers or trees to be seen.
Even in small undeveloped towns and suburban areas this has become a problem. Once construction has taken place, the new living areas are vast spaces and foliage is limited to a small amount of newly planted trees.
Homeowner’s gardens should not be the only vegetation in our community’s environment. Constructors and city officials should also be responsible to dedicate areas in the community to flora and trees.
Proposal:
Cities should have a mandatory amount of flowers and trees per mile to be planted and tended to. Although, many would argue there is enough greenery and plants in the rural and suburban area; we have to consider the rate our society is cutting down trees. At the fast pace that strip malls and more housing is sprouting up, soon their wont be any room for natural vegetation at all.
It is an unreasonable request to ask to stop building houses and expanding our shopping centers, because as America continues to grow so must our economy. However, just because our nation’s economy is growing does that mean our natural environment must die? Our society is engulfing Mother Nature’s original design by pounding land with housing and buildings, but as we remodel our land can we not return what we destroyed?
As humanity plants themselves on nature’s land and continues to tear down trees to make additional roads, we should replenish the sides of streets with trees and greenery. When medians are constructed, the community’s leaders should take it upon themselves to flourish it with some sort of flowers like dianthuses or pansies.
Trees are vital to life; they cleanse the air, provide shade, and a cool environment (Tree Count 1). One of the greener city streets is found in Manhattan, New York averaged 49.4 trees per mile of sidewalk (Tree Count 1). If every city could plant half the amount of trees Manhattan has; not only would a bit of our natural habitat be restored, but we could conserve more energy. Studies have shown that if trees are planted in a certain location around homes, they can conserve energy (Garden Tips 1).
In our society does everything around have to be beneficial to us? Flowers or shrubs might not shade area, but they’re not harmful. Then why is it cities you rarely see flowers unless in a flower shop?
Therefore depending on the size, parks should be required to have a certain amount of flowers and shrubbery planted. This would bring back some vegetation that society has replaced with another mall or office building.
When constructing office buildings, shopping centers, or any other public location; a certain amount of space outside of the entrance or in parking lots should be dedicated to flora and trees. To our benefit, this would add property value and benefit the environment.
New suburban housing divisions should also be required to have a certain amount of foliage. More foliage should be required in these areas because there is more space available to plant flower, shrubs, and trees.
Schools in the community should also be considered in the community’s responsibility to increase vegetation. Young children and other students should be in an environment with an abundant amount of trees and flora, therefore in the future they are inspired to continue flourishing our environment with foliage.
Resolution:
With a greener environment, our society would benefit from creating more resources and enjoying a better atmosphere. Although we have not made yet, with out proper actions a lot of damage can be done to our environment if we do not act on it. Our society is on the way to living in a world with out trees and flora. It is an aspect we are taking advantage and won’t realize how much we appreciated it until it’s gone.
By simply adding a few more trees to our streets we can remember what America was before we began building cities and massive communities. We live in a beautiful country, and we can make it more beautiful with a little effort.
Our society can benefit from helping the environment, therefore for many years to come trees and flora can be seen by many generations of people. Our cities can be more than smoke and debris, we a little greenery it can be a healthy environment for humanity to live in.
Work Cited
Spark Notes. The Communist Manifesto.
(n.d.) From Spark Notes.
Web Site: http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/communist/summary.html
Brian j. Hayes.The Communist Manifesto Summary and Qoutes.
May 2000, from age-of-the-sage transmitting wisdom through the ages.
Web Site: www.age-of-the-sage.org/philosophy/communist_manifesto.html - 25k -
Manifesto.
(n.d.), from Computer Hope
Web Site: http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/m/manifest.htm
Wikipedia. Hacker Manifesto.
Last Modified January 2008. From Wikipedia.
Web Site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_Manifesto
New York Tree Count.
(n.d.), From New York Govermeny Parks
Web Site: www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/trees_greenstreets/treescount/treecount_summary.php - 23k -
Garden Tips.
(n.d.), From Life Tips
Web Site: http://garden.lifetips.com/faq/10310/0/do-trees-help-conserve-energy/index.html
English 1020
Wendy Sumner
January, 22 2008
I began my research for the term manifesto by asking a friend, “What is a manifesto?” He turned to me and automatically responded with, “like The Communist Manifesto?” I continued to ask a few of my other friends what they thought a manifesto was, and without fail each of them answered with The Communist Manifesto. Apparently, The Communist Manifesto is a document that reflects an attempt to explain the goals of communism. It argues that class struggles, or the exploitation of one class by another, are the motivating force behind all historical developments (Spark Notes 1). This well known manifesto published in February 1848 begins with: A spectre is haunting Europe -- the spectre of communism. All the powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre: Pope and Tsar, Metternich and Guizot, French Radicals and German police-spies ( Hayes 1-2). The opening statment to this document was very powerful, and lured me in to read more about what this manifesto involved and advised.
Due to reading The Communist Manifesto, I realized that a manifesto is more than just a document of ideas and rules; manifestos are documents written to announce reasoning or demands from a person or a group(Computer Hope 1).Deeper in my research I came across The Hacker Manifesto, written by Lloyd Blakenship in January 1986, which states that hackers choose to hack because it is a way for them to learn, and because they are often frustrated and bored in school(Wikipedia 1). This manifesto is written far more casually than The Communist Manifesto which is organized in four sections discussing theories and relationships between the communist and other parties( Sparks Notes 1 ). The Hacker Manifesto doesn’t have much formal organization, but is written like what you find on a facebook or myspace blog. Despite the organizational structure; both manifestos are informative, establish a well developed idea, and successfully leave some sort of impact on the reader. In my manifesto, my structure will meet in the middle of being organized and casual. Also, I hope to have as established and strong as the other manifestos I have read.
Green City Manifesto
Introduction:
In any busy city regardless of size, the extent of scenery is limited to buildings, statues, and street. Sometimes, a person can catch a dandelion emerging between the cracks of sidewalk and that dandelion will be considered a flower. Unfortunately, a dandelion is just a weed, and in cities there are rarely any flowers or trees to be seen.
Even in small undeveloped towns and suburban areas this has become a problem. Once construction has taken place, the new living areas are vast spaces and foliage is limited to a small amount of newly planted trees.
Homeowner’s gardens should not be the only vegetation in our community’s environment. Constructors and city officials should also be responsible to dedicate areas in the community to flora and trees.
Proposal:
Cities should have a mandatory amount of flowers and trees per mile to be planted and tended to. Although, many would argue there is enough greenery and plants in the rural and suburban area; we have to consider the rate our society is cutting down trees. At the fast pace that strip malls and more housing is sprouting up, soon their wont be any room for natural vegetation at all.
It is an unreasonable request to ask to stop building houses and expanding our shopping centers, because as America continues to grow so must our economy. However, just because our nation’s economy is growing does that mean our natural environment must die? Our society is engulfing Mother Nature’s original design by pounding land with housing and buildings, but as we remodel our land can we not return what we destroyed?
As humanity plants themselves on nature’s land and continues to tear down trees to make additional roads, we should replenish the sides of streets with trees and greenery. When medians are constructed, the community’s leaders should take it upon themselves to flourish it with some sort of flowers like dianthuses or pansies.
Trees are vital to life; they cleanse the air, provide shade, and a cool environment (Tree Count 1). One of the greener city streets is found in Manhattan, New York averaged 49.4 trees per mile of sidewalk (Tree Count 1). If every city could plant half the amount of trees Manhattan has; not only would a bit of our natural habitat be restored, but we could conserve more energy. Studies have shown that if trees are planted in a certain location around homes, they can conserve energy (Garden Tips 1).
In our society does everything around have to be beneficial to us? Flowers or shrubs might not shade area, but they’re not harmful. Then why is it cities you rarely see flowers unless in a flower shop?
Therefore depending on the size, parks should be required to have a certain amount of flowers and shrubbery planted. This would bring back some vegetation that society has replaced with another mall or office building.
When constructing office buildings, shopping centers, or any other public location; a certain amount of space outside of the entrance or in parking lots should be dedicated to flora and trees. To our benefit, this would add property value and benefit the environment.
New suburban housing divisions should also be required to have a certain amount of foliage. More foliage should be required in these areas because there is more space available to plant flower, shrubs, and trees.
Schools in the community should also be considered in the community’s responsibility to increase vegetation. Young children and other students should be in an environment with an abundant amount of trees and flora, therefore in the future they are inspired to continue flourishing our environment with foliage.
Resolution:
With a greener environment, our society would benefit from creating more resources and enjoying a better atmosphere. Although we have not made yet, with out proper actions a lot of damage can be done to our environment if we do not act on it. Our society is on the way to living in a world with out trees and flora. It is an aspect we are taking advantage and won’t realize how much we appreciated it until it’s gone.
By simply adding a few more trees to our streets we can remember what America was before we began building cities and massive communities. We live in a beautiful country, and we can make it more beautiful with a little effort.
Our society can benefit from helping the environment, therefore for many years to come trees and flora can be seen by many generations of people. Our cities can be more than smoke and debris, we a little greenery it can be a healthy environment for humanity to live in.
Work Cited
Spark Notes. The Communist Manifesto.
(n.d.) From Spark Notes.
Web Site: http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/communist/summary.html
Brian j. Hayes.The Communist Manifesto Summary and Qoutes.
May 2000, from age-of-the-sage transmitting wisdom through the ages.
Web Site: www.age-of-the-sage.org/philosophy/communist_manifesto.html - 25k -
Manifesto.
(n.d.), from Computer Hope
Web Site: http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/m/manifest.htm
Wikipedia. Hacker Manifesto.
Last Modified January 2008. From Wikipedia.
Web Site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_Manifesto
New York Tree Count.
(n.d.), From New York Govermeny Parks
Web Site: www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/trees_greenstreets/treescount/treecount_summary.php - 23k -
Garden Tips.
(n.d.), From Life Tips
Web Site: http://garden.lifetips.com/faq/10310/0/do-trees-help-conserve-energy/index.html
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