It Depends On Us

When in contact with nature do NOT forget  some details: respect  animals, do not mistreat  or feed them (it can be nice for you, but you can harm them).

If you happen to find a wild, dangerous animal, like a snake, don’t kill it. Don’t forget, they are in their homes, you’re the intruder. Just pass a few meters away.

Do not pick flowers or plants.

Carry plastic bags to take your garbage away with you.

Do not make unnecessary fires, avoid damaging the trunks and roots, and when you leave, make sure the fire is fully extinguished.

Use the stairs  instead of the lift. You exercise and save energy at the same time.

Acid Rain

Acid rain are acids that are brought back to the land surface by the rain. It  possesses high levels of hydrogen ions, which react  with water molecules  in the atmosphere. It can damage crops, reducing the productivity of plantations, and can promote the corrosion of various materials, but it can be avoided by reducing the burning of fossils and their derivatives.

Deforestation

Inaddition to global warming, the degradation of forests promote the spread of mosquito-borne diseases,such as dengue and malaria.

All over the world, forests have been devastated in the name of progress itself, to make way for crops,  pastures, cities, industries, roads etc .

The Greenhouse Effect

The Greenhouse Effect has been widely used to describe the trapping of excess heat by the rising  concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The production of greenhouse emissions is a natural part of the process of planet Earth. Gases that absorb heat have always been a part of our atmosphere and everything that breathes air gives off carbon dioxide as a by product. Until recently, the relation between people and animals – which produce greenhouse gases, and plants – which consume greenhouse gases, has been a balanced one. The problem is that human beings have increased the amount of greenhouse gases that they are producing, while cutting down huge portions of forests. The heat radiation from the surface is retained in the atmosphere and is not released into space. The consequences we can see today:

·         drastic climate changes, with significant increase in the incidence of severe storms, hurricanes,typhoons and tornados.

·         loss of species  of flora and fauna in different domains of the natural world.

·         contribution to the melting of ice caps located at the poles causing a rise in sea levels.

Recycling

Before the 20^th  century the amount of waste generated by a house was small and it was often thrown out of the window or buried in the gardens. When human concentrations became more dense, the disposal of litter became a problem.

The reuse of processed materials as feedstock for a new product is a tendency nowadays. The most common examples of recycled material are paper, glass, metal and plastic. Recycled plastic can produce hundreds of products, like sleeping bags and pillows. The main advantages are:  minimizing the use of natural sources, often not renewable, and minimizing the amount of waste requiring  final disposal (grounding or incineration).

 B 3  M/W   Teacher: Mônica Borges

Where is the wonderful city?

This post is about miserable people. It’s not fiction, it’s the real life. About people living, working and eating in the trash. You'll see in this video a social problem that most of people ignore.

They go there to collect the trash, because they see there a possibility to survive. But it’s the opposite: they don’t have anything to protect their health when collecting the garbage and eat what they find in the garden. Now you have the opportunity to know a real example, a person who has survived for years under these conditions until she died: Estamira. 

If you think Gramacho Gardens are far away from you, it’s not. 

Real statements:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQZoTFKvu08&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Djfaquqqms&feature=related

CE5; FRI 16:00; Rafael Blanco

Beautiful Things On Earth

We are young students of English who live in Rio de Janeiro, and on our planet we have beautiful things. We have many types of animals, seasons, weather, natural phenomena, plants, etc.

On Earth we have to follow some rules and traditions between people;  this is called ethics. Ethics are the way you use to behave with people of different nations and cultures. Here,  it's necessary to have respect with every kind of people. 

It’s also very important to respect our fauna, flora and good interests to explore such a beautiful planet.

Here the temperature varies from -89.2 °C to 53 ºC in extreme cases of environments. 

 The environment is so diverse , we have different seasons : Spring, Winter, Autumn and Summer. Most of people in Brazil prefer the Summer, because they can enjoy the beautiful nature, like the beaches, waterfalls, rivers, lakes...

 It’s very important to protect nature, without it we will die.

CE6; MON-15:45; Rafael Blanco

How will Rio support the world?

The World Cup and the Olympics are coming,  but is Brazil prepared to receive the entire world?

In the occasion of the choice of the city where the Olympics would be, many people, especially in Brazil, started asking themselves about the real possibility of the city supporting this event. In Rio de Janeiro we have a lot of good things. Here there are natural beauties, good people and samba. Rio was chosen and after the celebration, decisions and other questionings about problems and necessary changes started. A good example of that is the Carnival. This is one of the biggest public parties in the planet, but it isn’t like the football event, because we have to receive all the soccer teams, all the international press people, the tourists and we can’t forget about our people, the Brazilians – soccer lovers since we were born.

The Olympics, though, can be worse than that. The reason about our concern is because it’ll only happen in one city. We have some problems like traffic jams, fair public transportation, drain, trash, violence, among others, and in 2014, when the World Cup starts, these problems can get worse and more visible.

 

Such big events can cause enormous environmental damages. Investing in clean energy, bike ways, recycling co-operatives and drain systems can be possible solutions to avoid them. We can learn from other countries’ experiences in the last events, but the Brazilian culture is the most important thing to change during this process. If people understand the difference that such event can make in their lives, their participation will be bigger and they will feel responsible by their behaviour about the environment. This way, government and population can discuss how to make it.

CE4 Tue/Thu 17:45 - Vanessa Paiva 

 

Environment

Our world is in a completely awkward moment. Every day we learn about the rapid climatic changes, with devastating effects to the planet. The climate is damaging the health of many of us. The animals are transmitting more serious diseases to humans. In some years, many people will die because of the consequences of what we are creating for ourselves.  Anyway, nobody is trying to change it; in a world of more than 6 billion people, not many are trying to change something, it's a shame on all of us.

Many cars, many planes... everything helps to destroy the world a little bit. Due to the pressures of population and our technology the environment is being degraded, sometimes permanently. This has been recognized and governments have begun placing restraints on activities that cause environmental degradation. Since the 1960s activism by the environmental movement has created awareness of the various environmental issues. There is not a full agreement on the extent of the environmental impact of human activity and protection measures are occasionally criticized.

In Brazil the dry climate and deforestation are bringing fire to the forests. The Sun rays reach the ground and radiate heat into the atmosphere. The result is the rise in global temperatures and, consequently, rise in the sea levels. Although this phenomenon occurs more evidently in large cities, it’s already showing global consequences. We’ve had an increase of hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones. It's a signal, it's a BIG SIGNAL and we NEED to do something NOW.

The world asks us for help, asks us to stop contaminating it. And we can change everything we are doing now. We need to be healthier and so does the world.

Academic institutions now offer courses such as environmental studies, environmental management and environmental engineering that study the history and methods of environmental protection. The complexity of modern industrialized life with an increase in the scale of hazards has created an increase in the skills needed in firefighting technology and a broadening of the firefighter-rescuer's remit. Waste, pollution, loss of biodiversity, introduction of invasive species, release of genetically modified organisms and toxics are some of the issues related to environmental protection.

We need to stop destroying our home, because after here... 

                                             ... there’ll be no other place for us.

Basic 5 Tues/Thurs 14:30  Mônica Borges

                                              Leave a comment!!

Let's get the ECO party started!!!!

What’s SWU?

It's a musical event aimed at alerting people to the question of sustainability. It was invented by Eduardo Ficher, who believes that small actions can cause big changes.

SWU, which stands for “Starts With You”, tries to mobilize the largest possible number of people around this cause. This year, the event will happen in Paulínia, SP, on November the 12^th, 13^th and 14^th, with different kinds of music and arts. 

There will be three stages (called “Energia”, “Consciência” and “New Stage”) and three tents (named “Heineken Greenspace”, “Fórum Global de Sustentabilidade” and “Lounge VIP”). 

What is the focus of the SWU project?

Sustainability is the key word. The event producers are concerned about organizing an event with low quantity of carbon emission, the reduction of polluting fumes / gases, the use of recycled materials, the correct destination of rubbish and the revitalization of the area where the festival took place.

What’s sustainability?

The property of being sustainable.

 What does sustainable mean?

Causing little or no damage to the environment and therefore able to continue for a long time.

 (Cambridge Dictionaries Online)

The idea of sustainability is related to the concept of living with responsibility in order not to destroy all the available resources of planet. The key words are respect and conscience. As everybody knows, the planet is asking for help, so, the festival SWU - Starts With You – is aimed at raising people’s awareness concerning the importance of having a sustainable development.

Which actions does the event stimulate to help people become green?

There are forums focusing on debates and discussions about new ideas and actions that we can do to have clean streets and a clean air for people to breathe. Our future depends on what we do today.

The festival has already been responsible for planting 8.333 trees, recycling 30 tons of solid waste and distributing 2.000 trash cans.

The festival also encourages other clean ideas, such as:

→ The use of fluorescent light bulbs;

→ Recycling paper, plastic and any other material;

→ Saving energy.

REMEMBER!

Small actions may have huge consequences!

So…

How green are you? What do YOU do to save the planet?

B7 Mon / Wed 3:45 pm - Camila Pereira.



Recycling Your Mind

Do you know how much of the things you throw in your bin everyday could be recycled? 50%? Maybe 70? In fact 80% of everyday waste materials could be reused. That's a lot, right? But unfortunately not everyone knows or cares about it.

The environment is suffering and we are responsible for this because of our bad habits. The uncontrolled consumerism produces a lot of garbage and that’s why our health is threatened by several diseases. The best solution to solve these problems relies on the 3 Rs: reduce, reuse & recycle. Also, reflecting upon the necessity of things we buy is a way of becoming a more conscious consumer.

We can see everywhere people saying how recycling is a key component of modern way to reduce waste. However, not many know how to do that. Vik Muniz, a Brazilian artist who works with garbage and different kinds of materials is a great example of how to transform trash into treasure by recycling things. He brings a creative solution to garbage making extraordinary works-of-art. He is recognized all over the world and has produced recently a film called “Wasteland” that tells the story of the landfill in Jardim Gramacho, Brazil. It shows the reality of the garbage pickers who make money collecting garbage in order to support their families with this hard job. It also shows how difficult and precarious their life condition is. The film, which  won a lot of awards, was nominated for the Oscar for Best Documentary and teaches us an important lesson.

All in all, we believe that Vic Muniz’s work stimulates the recycling of materials and gives good solutions on how to reuse them. He leaves us a final message: it’s really necessary to rethink about our life quality as soon as possible, otherwise it will be too late to change this cruel reality.

For more info: http://www.vikmuniz.net/
http://www.wastelandmovie.com/

P2 Tue/Thu 17:30 Raquel Dantas