Team Marine’s Bag Team competed in 2012’s Quikscience Challenge hosted by Quiksilver and USC. Bag Team worked for over a year to collect data on how a single-use plastic bag ban has been effective in Santa Monica. The project proves that a nationwide bag ban is possible and can make immense positive change in the environment. Check out our project summary!
Car Team’s Overview video has finally been completed! This video gives a short summary of what the past few weeks have been like for the team. We have been active in the community from teaching students at Lincoln and JAMS to expanding our knowledge of the electric car conversion process.
If the video isn’t working you can see it here:
Team Marine’s Car Team has been featured in the February 11-12 issue of the Santa Monica Daily Press. This is a great feat as it means that our work is being informed to the community. The Daily Press highlights the motivation that encouraged Team Marine in taking up the electric car conversion; the health effects of gas powered cars. However, the environmental impacts tailpipe pollution also acted as a catalyst. Ocean acidification, climate change, smog, and black carbon. These matters directly affect global ecosystems and become more pronounced with increasing population size and the need for transportation. The world’s living conditions and health are in rapid decline due to a reliance on fossil fuels. The electric car is one solution to these issues as it produces zero emissions. While it is not a perfect remedy, since the electricity used to power the car has some power plant emissions, EVs greatly reduce carbon dioxide emissions due to the higher efficiency of power plants. The paper also mentions the team’s urgent need for batteries, the most important component of the car, in order to complete the project. The purpose behind selecting lithium ion batteries to power the car is due to their large energy density and convenient size – meaning they can pack a lot of punch in a small space.
Written by Angelina Hwang
Santa Monica has continuously been a leader in environmental sustainability. The Santa Monica City Sustainability Plan was first adopted in 1994. Now, in 2012, the council is taking under consideration the Sustainability Bill of Rights Resolution. The passing of the SBR ordinance means the rights of people will be protected and people will have access to clean air, land, and water. On January 24th, Team Marine went to the Santa Monica City Hall to support the Sustainability Bill of Rights. Prior to the City Council Meeting, the supporters gathered on the steps of City Hall for a rally. Team Marine signed the SBR Student Support Poster, showing that the youth care about the environment and the future of Santa Monica. As a unified group, we entered the council chambers and our members spoke in front of the council explaining that people are entitled to constitutional rights, not corporations. We made our opinions heard about our vision of a future where renewable energy sources are used to generate energy, clean water is affordable and accessible, and wastes are disposed of in a way that does not harm the environment. This event was an important movement in mitigating environmental crises such as climate change, pollution, and ocean acidification, bringing us one step closer to our goal of a sustainable future.
een to complete its lesson plan. Developments in the interactive portion of this project have increased drastically in the past few days. We have undertaken the construction of three educational display boards that each break down the implications, cycles, and benefits of contemporary fuel Continue reading “Car Committee Lesson Plan”
On January 12th,Team Marine, with help from Heal the Bay, organized and hosted a beach cleanup and invited all of SAMOHI’s Marine Biology students as well as other members of the community. We collected trash all along the shore and especially around the mouth of the storm drain. Continue reading “Beach Clean Up”
In the past week, there has been a heated call and response between Marc Gunther and Stiv Wilson over a topic very close to Team Marine, plastic and plastic pollution in the environment. The plastic industry has always fought against environmentalists and their goal to ban plastic bags. Gunther continued the fight by representing the large plastic companies in his article. Continue reading “In Defense of Humanity”
This Wednesday, at Los Angeles City Hall from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., city representatives are having a hearing to determine if the single-use carry out plastic bag should be banned throughout all of the City of Los Angeles. This a monumental occasion for the city and we need bodies there to rally support for the cause. If you truly are sustainable and have the time to make it, come down to city hall and promote positive change in your city!
ALSO: Come hear Team Marine Member Annie Wiesenfeld SPEAK at this event! She needs your support to truly be heard.
Here is the info about the event:
What: City of Los Angeles single-use carryout bag ban
When: Wednesday, December 14 at 9:30am
Where: Los Angeles City Hall, John Ferraro Council Chamber Room 340,
200 North Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
***Wear GREEN to show your support for the environment and holiday spirit***
Check the Heal the Bay Website to make sure everything is up and running for Wednesday the night before
http://www.healthebay.org/event/la-city-council-votes-ban-single-use-bags
As the effects of the Kyoto Protocol expired this year, new UN climate debates, The Durban Talks, are being held to determine the new course of action. This debate has been going on for years and plays a large role in the fate of the environment as many know it. Many nation’s representatives are pushing for a much more strict environmental policy, a path closer to that of the original intentions of the Kyoto Protocol. Ideally, it would establish strict emission plans for nations which are becoming industrialized, and would also use new “legal instruments” to regulate the carbon emissions of already industrialized nations. These are all just ideas though, the debates are still underway. You can read more about the talks here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/un-climate-talks-real-world-outcome-will-be-determined-in-asia/2011/12/11/gIQAzpMDoO_story.html
Make sure to keep up on all the latest climate news and the Durban Talks
On Wednesday, September 28, 2011 Team Marine visited Sara Bayles’ Photography exhibit. She collects trash from the same beach (tower 26) for 20 minutes at a time with a goal of 365 non-consecutive days of trash collection. So far, she has collected for 238 days and has gathered 903.9 pounds of trash. After each clean up, she blogs about it on her blog, The Daily Ocean. Team Marine got to see many of the pictures from her clean ups and we got to learn a lot more about her project. This was a very informative event and not only did it show us what an ECO-BEAST Sara is, but it put in perspective how much trash there really is. If one person can collect this much for only 20 minutes at a time, at the same spot, then imagine what can happen if every one person chose a different tower and did the same. Sara is doing a great thing and Team Marine loves it. Check out her blog! : http://thedailyocean.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-10-05T07:47:00-07:00&max-results=3
Posted By: Alexis Saez
