Category: Progress

I Gave Up My Car, Here’s Why

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Car ownership is prohibitively expensive. The typical new car costs approximately $36,000, whereas the average secondhand car costs roughly $20,000. Aside from the initial price, there are continuing fees such as gas, insurance, and maintenance. Not to mention parking. Depending on where you live, parking can also be difficult and expensive.

Public transit is both inexpensive and dependable. In Los Angeles, a monthly train pass costs only $100, and the trains are quite reliable. Furthermore, taking public transportation is far more environmentally friendly than owning a car.

We can make improvements to our cities to shorten commute times. One method is to establish additional dedicated transit lanes so that buses and trains can go faster. Another option to cut down on travel times is to build more mixed-use communities where residents can live, work, and play all in the same place. Furthermore, walking or biking is generally more practical than driving in cities, and it is more beneficial to the environment and your health.

My list of reasons looked like this:

  1. Cars are a major source of pollution and global warming.
  2. Cars and trucks are a major source of traffic congestion and accidents.
  3. Cars are a major cause of noise pollution.
  4. Automobiles are a major contributor to sprawl and urban growth.
  5. Cars demand a significant amount of resources to construct and maintain.
  6. Automobiles are expensive to purchase and operate.
  7. Cars are neither efficient nor sustainable.

Don’t agree? Then give me a list of counter arguments.

An All Inspiring Green School

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This school is so inspiring that it makes students want to achieve their dreams.

In South Africa, Alba Brandt is working to establish the country’s first “green school.” The school is based on a similar model to one in Bali, Indonesia that Brandt’s family became familiar with on a six-month trip. Brandt and her husband co-founded the school with the hope of raising a new generation of ecologically conscious citizens.

The Green School curriculum is centered on joy and wonder, with the goal of teaching children, families, and teachers how to live sustainably on this world. The teaching style at the school is designed to promote focus and engagement, with breaks built in and a focus on open communication between students and faculty.

The school’s founders are hopeful that their project will inspire other similar initiatives.

A Desire to Learn, Enabling Girls Access to Education

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Girls’ education is not a priority in many developing countries. This is due to the misconception that girls are not capable of learning as much as boys, or that they will only marry and have children, so it is pointless to send them to school. However, studies have shown that education can be an effective tool for breaking the cycle of poverty that live in from generation to generation, as well as improving their health and well-being, not just for the girls but the people in the communities in which they live.

Scholarships are one way to help girls in developing countries get an education. Many organizations provide scholarships to help students pay for their tuition, books, and other education expenses. This can make a significant difference in a girl’s ability to attend school.

Another thing you can do is donate to institutions that contribute to enhancing girls’ access to education. These organizations frequently advocate for policies that encourage girls to attend and remain in school, train teachers on how to better support girls’ learning, and work very closely with girls and their families to help them better understand the value of education.

You can also help by spreading the word about the significance of girls’ education. This can be accomplished through social media, discussions with friends and family, or even writing to your local representatives about the significance of investing in girls’ education in developing countries.

The most important part is to act and take steps to assist, because:

  • Education for girls is critical for breaking the cycle of poverty and bettering the lives of girls and their communities.
  • Consider the importance of scholarships and support for organizations who help girls achieve education in the developing world.
  • You can help by raising awareness about the importance of girls’ education.

Here are some organizations you can look into:

  1. One Girl: onegirl.org
  2. Room to Read: roomtoread.org
  3. Malala Fund: malala.org
  4. Plan International: plan-international.org
  5. The Global Partnership for Education: gpe.org

Venezuela’s Resourceful Solution to Water Shortages

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Venezuela is facing a water crisis due to years of underinvestment in infrastructure and maintenance by the state-owned water companies. This has led to water shortages and rationing across the country.

In response to this crisis, Laurencio Sánchez designed the Lata de Agua, a system which captures and filters rainfall for use in schools and other community buildings. This system provides a reliable source of clean water for communities which suffer from water scarcity. Lata de Agua started operating in 2019 and has already had a positive impact on the lives of students and teachers in the three schools where it has been installed.

Many Venezuelans are unable to obtain a reliable water supply due to recurring problems with state-owned company networks.

Water was so scarce at Unidad Educativa Nuestra Seora del Encuentro, a school in Petare, one of Venezuela’s poorest neighborhoods, that pupils had to carry water from home to drink and wash their hands throughout the day.

However, Laurencio Sánchez, a Venezuelan architect, developed the Lata de Agua – this translates to “Can of Water” – method, which catches and filters rainfall for use in schools to provide communities with a constant flow of clean water.

“It is a sustainable, alternative, complementary water-supply model based on the collection, storage and treatment of rainwater in vulnerable communities and their institutions,” explained Sánchez.

“The model offers, at the local level, a unique possibility of obtaining abundant and high-quality water for at least six months of the year in these communities, not only in vulnerable communities but in all places that suffer from water scarcity.”

“We no longer suspend school activities; we work our daily workday. The benefit has been enormous for the school,” she says.

Rainwater is used to water the plants a vegetable patch at the Unidad Educativa Nuestra Seora del Encuentro, another Petare school, to help feed its 850 students.

The crops would dry up before the project arrived. “We planted maize, but there wasn’t enough water because, due to the sector’s difficulties and the reality we lived in, we had to ration.” “We had to choose between the kitchen, bathrooms, toilet, and vegetable patch,” explains headmistress Mara Inés Guerrero.

“But thanks to this we can sow better, have higher yields and thus achieve better nutrition.”

Lata de Agua began operations in three schools and one health center in 2019.

It has transformed the daily lives of students and teachers at the Fermn Toro school in Petare.

The school’s headmistress, Dayani Echezura, says the organizations would sometimes go up to eight months without water before the Lata de Agua project was installed, but they now have a constant flow.