Monday, November 28, 2011

Thanksgiving

This is a picture of Westfield Mall in Merrillville Indiana on "Black Friday." This is the mall near my home town where I worked for 3 and a half years. I worked at a retail clothing store and had worked 3 Black Friday's in row so I know how crazy people can get. Although, I had never seen anything like this before! All of these people are waiting ONLY for Victoria's Secret! The reason I've posted this picture instead of a picture of a turkey is because Black Friday is basically a Thanksgiving tradition now for a lot of Americans.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Social Sustainability


My tree has lost a lot of leaves since last week! I didn't think it happened so quickly. Trees can promote environmental justice by having more of them in poor communities, which typically tend to be cities. Urban forests are a way to reduce carbon monoxide in the air considering trees absorb it. By planting more trees in urban or poor communities, equity is being promoted for these communities.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Sustainability

My tree is not surrounded by other trees. It is surrounded more by artificial, man made materials rather than other natural entities. Usually trees are seen together, i.e. a forest, but my tree was placed where it is for aesthetic reasons. Other trees in my community are placed in the same spots as you go down the row of apartments; it looks pretty uniform. But what are the ways my entity can promote environmental sustainability if improved. Trees help sustain the environment by reducing carbon dioxide in the environment they are present. By adding more trees near my tree, it can help promote a more sustainable environment. Also by having more trees next to my apartment, they can help shade it from sunlight during hot summer days. In the winter, the trees can help prevent cold winds from making my apartment colder. Trees seem to be the best thing for the environment!

Monday, November 7, 2011

Abiotic Environment


My tree is red! Every single leaf is completely red without even a speck of green on any of them. Abiotic features of my tree's environment can affect it by destroying it. One of them is rain. If it rains really hard and if there is a lot of wind, it can completely destroy my tree by breaking it in half. My tree's trunk is pretty thin so there is a higher chance of this happening. Snow and ice can break the branches of my tree. Tornadoes can completely wipe out the entire tree and place it somewhere else, and high winds in general can tear off branches.