Decatur Service Learning Project Analysis

Pollution has always been an issue within our society. Derrick Jenson and Stephanie McMillan as well as Michael Pollan have all written articles about the issues in our environment and the effects of pollution. We are causing an increasing amount of pollution as time goes on. Virtually everything we do causes some form of damage to the environment and it seems that regardless of how much we want to fix this issue we are making no progress towards a solution. Based on their articles “As The World Burns” and Pollans article “Why Bother” these authors have similar views and yet contrast on many points.

Pollution is a major problem for all of us. People need to recognize this situation so we can start making a difference to this problem. In order

Pollution can cause changes in the planet’s energy balance, such as changes in the greenhouse effect, which affects the amount of heat retained by Earth’s atmosphere, variations in the sun’s energy reaching Earth changes in the reflectivity of Earth’s atmosphere and surface. The changes have changed the climate many times which have an effect on humans also. (NRC EPA. 2010) Our planet can is good at reusing waste but humans are producing more than what the Earth can handle. Pollution happened at different stages and it has an impact on all living things including species and humans. Unfortunately, humans are the most polluting species.

A Service Learning project is one of the project requirements to complete the Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree through Ferris State University (FSU). My Service Learning experience was completed at the VA Medical Center (VAMC) in November, 2014. This paper includes details of the facility along with the contact information for the coordinator of the project. A description of my role as a volunteer, critical reflection of my experience, and a synthesis of the Service Learning are also included.

The world is consuming more than it can produce. In order to produce the amount that we use, requires a lot of waste to be made. Industrial production produces industrial waste. With the amount of waste being produced it is effecting the environment, especially the water and food supply. Everyone is a polluter and everyone abuses the environment.

The first objective that my service learning project can relate to is objective five. This is to analyze the historically and morally necessary forces of change that brought an end to slavery and segregation, as well as second-class citizenship for women and people of color (Course Objectives, 2015). Bringing the history of slavery and segregation to the forefront may be difficult at times, but it is important to know just how far America has come. Understanding and analyzing the events that abolished segregation also allows individuals to consider racial tensions that still arise in current society.

After some research and deliberation, I chose Habitat for Humanity (HFH, 2016) for my service project. There were several reasons that Habitat for Humanity appealed to me. The first reason is that I consider HFH to be a worthy cause is that I appreciate that it’s for a lower income family that would not otherwise be able to afford a home. The facts that the beneficiaries are expected to help build their home or other HFH homes with sweat equity, they’ll pay a mortgage, combined with the way it’s set up so they won’t be able to just sell as a short term flip, gives me the impression that it’s not a freebie entitlement program, but a program that promotes responsibility with some life changing results.

Homeless people, all around, are dealing with starvation. Searching recklessly day and night to find food, but all in all, it can change. One way for the homeless to receive this is by packing bags of food. At my church, they do this project called, “The Backpack Project.” A project where each student at a specific school is given a bag of food to have on the weekends. If people do the same for the homeless, giving bags of food would give them a sign of relief. Handing our smallest amount of change can also help with starvation. Whenever there’s a financial situation, it’s always good to have some money. It doesn’t have to

One environmental pollution are caused by factories because the product they produce causes the filth out of them. This could be the car production or agricultural production. America produces a lot of cars for all the people to drive. More cars makes more carbon dioxide (filth) which causes deaths, health problems and global warming. Perhaps we can switch to a different energy source to power these vehicles.

If I could do a service learning project I would do an adoption event for cats and dogs, I chose this because a lot of people love animals and I think a lot of people would love to help with this sort of event. Also there are a lot of animals out there that need homes and they absolutely do not deserve to be put down so it’s really important. I think personally talking to people would be the best way to get them involved, possibly having a presentation so more people can focus on you and listen to what you have to say would also work.

Pollution is a serious global issue that has been occurring for as long as humans have inhabited the planet. There are many different varieties of pollution, as well as an abundance of materials, both natural and synthetic, that the earth has been contaiminated with. Shifrin ( 2005), states: “To date, wastes remain a fact of life and there are only three places to dispose of wastes-air, water, or land. Waste management always involves tradeoffs.” (p. 676). Even though Shifrin is correct in his analysis, it does not excuse the amount of environmental poison that continues to exist today, nor the amount of environmental problems that it has caused throughout history. The “tradeoffs” of pollution have devastated entire communities, causing waves of sickness and death in their wake. According to Shifrin (2005):” Water-borne contagious disease still caused devastating epidemics in the early 1900s, compounded by growing, congested populations. Air pollution also grew to a high priority by midcentury because its impact was so observable and immediate.” (p. 676). Generally, these diseases were spread through poor sanitary practices as well as the overwhelming volume of pollution that was generated by so many indivduals with little knowledge about what the adverse effects on the overall environment would be.

Pollution is caused by people littering, throwing their trash everywhere, wasting energy, and burning fuel from vehicles. Pollution effects all animals and plants from around the world. It can harm them and kill them. Some animals have gone extinct because of pollution, thanks to humans. To be exact, over 11 species of animals have gone extinct because of pollution, Not to mention people have died too! How much? Well, about 6.5 million people have mainly because of respiratory problems (lung cancer caused by air pollution) . Yea, its really bad. Pollution has been around for a long time in the U.S since the mid-19 centuries. It got worse because of the industrial revolution. This caused the air and water to become polluted because of all of the manufacturing factories, which uses coal for their factories and threw their waste

Pollution has become a prevalent issue worldwide and has begun to affect the air used to breathe, the soil used to grow food, and the water used to drink. All of these effects result in commonly occurring destruction of health and wildlife that one may have seen on the news or heard from peers. In order to live, one needs food, water, clothing, and shelter. If the water and food that society consumes gets contaminated, a major component of life has been eradicated, which can only have negative consequences. If more people are educated as to what effects the environment, the world has a chance to counteract the effects of pollution. The main causes of pollution are the burning of fossil fuels such as with car exhausts, littering as a result of societal norms and laziness, and factory waste as a result of lax waste regulation, and can result in mass destruction of the environment and catastrophic effects on the everyday lives of contemporary people.

In 2014, a foundation called Feeding America did a survey on the people they serve and found that in order to stretch their food budgets 79% of them purchase inexpensive and unhealthy food in order to stay fed. This can seriously impact their health, because no matter the age, healthy bodies and minds require nutritious meals. In some cases, food insecurity can even lead to Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and obesity. These are just a few examples of why food insecurity is so harmful. Fortunately, there are many organizations, clubs, and foundations that are committed to ending hunger in America, and eventually the world. The first step to solving this problem is spreading information, and realizing just how dangerous food insecurity is, and who it affects. After learning these things, you may want to help and there are many ways to do that. I’m sure in the past, you've donated food to the annual canned food drive our school puts on, and that’s just one way you can contribute to solving this problem. There are many organizations that ask for donations and will put your money to great use, for example every dollar you donate to Feeding America will provide 11 meals for a child in need.If you don’t have food or money to donate, you can donate

The last great source of pollution lays in the businesses. Although not common, businesses have been known to dump their waste products into streams, lakes, and rivers. This may seem like a relatively small occurrence that really is not your concern, but you're wrong. Each time one of these companies pollutes there are horrible consequences to pay. Mutations, destroyed ecosystems, and human death have all occurred as a direct result of illegal dumping. It contaminates our drinking water and soil. It causes entire communities of humans (not to mention animals) to move on to new places not to return for at least a century. The pollutants dumped by industry are so concentrated that a single barrel can destroy an entire lake's ecosystem. Not only do companies dump chemicals, but also hot water. This hot water kills most life it comes into contact with, but also causes an overgrowth