Summary

Kara Foster, Allie Morua, Courtney Mizer, and Zack Ehling

-UC Campus Community: Clean Up Cincy Program
There are three options you can go forward with in the program. Volunteer, Propose, and Lead. You can
sign up to volunteer through one of the days or events that are already set up, you can earn 5 service
hours. If there is an area in the city you believe could be cleaned up you can also propose that area to be
somewhere they focus on in the future. Lastly in the lead tab you can apply to join their Board of
Directors and help put together events along with others who are passionate about cleaning up the city.
https://www.cleanupcincy.com
-Local Community: Community Garden
Just by looking up community gardens near me there is an array of gardens already made. Each have
their own websites that give you the opportunity to donate to or volunteer for. There is a specific
community garden located in Clifton as well. Along with donating or volunteering with community
gardens that have been established you could find an area around you to make a community garden
yourself.
https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/kindergarden/CHILD/COM/COMMUN.HTM
http://www.civicgardencenter.org/gardens/community-gardens/clifton-community-garden/
-National: Visiting/ Donating to National Parks

There are many National Parks spread out through America that are wonderful to visit. They help
preserve natural habitats and protect the organisms in the area. Through their website there are multiple
ways you could help. You could donate, partner, and volunteer. The website gives you an opportunity to
look at all the different parks that are in the US
https://www.nps.gov/index.htm
-International: Social Media Challenge/ Campaign
In this scholarly article, it demonstrates similar views to what our whole presentation is on. The author
generally states that in our growing communities, people need to be more environmentally aware and
more conscious of their actions. People cannot live the way we have been living if we want to continue
life on this planet. Between industrial farming and fishing, our increasing carbon footprint from the mass
use of individual vehicles, the burning of fossil fuels which leads to pollution in our air and creating a
hole in the ozone layers, causing ice caps to melt and rising sea levels, and so much more our planet
cannot continue with this abuse. By increasing people education and awareness through social media
efforts we may be able to decrease the rapid speed at which this is happening. Overall, people need to
start taking initiative in their own actions day to day in keeping us and our planet safe. And studies show
that social media is one of the best was to spread this awareness and plays a large role in environmental
sustainability.
http://www.academia.edu/6853467/The_role_of_the_media_in_the_enhancement_of_environmental_awa
reness

-Interview
Professor David Lentz of biological sciences at main campus
1.What is your perspective on deforestation?
It's a catastrophic environmental issue of today's day and age. Tropical forests once covered more than
10% of the planets surface and now have been reduced by more than a third.
2. How are you learning about or contributing to solving the issue?
On top of he has published on the subject, he went to the Tikal reservoir and studied lots of different
components of Mayan culture and how they lasted over 1,500 years as a highly complex society in a
tropical environment.

3. Do you have any advice to students interested in doing more to solve the problem?
Basically, get out there and interact with the environment. Learn as much as you can from the experts,
participate in any events that may be held to help out, do your own research, and ultimately spread
awareness for the issue.

4. Do you think it is a good option to create a community garden to help with environmental
sustainability?
Yes, we can all benefit from something like a community garden. It will improve things such as the air
and soil quality, reduce the costs of food transportation, reduce water runoff and much more.

Deforestation in General
Deforestation is simply defined as the clearing of a wide area of trees. As of now 30% of land on Earth
is covered in forests. It is estimated that patches of forests equal to the size of half of England are lost
every year. The biggest contributor to deforestation is agriculture. Farmers will use the slash and burn
method destroying land. The next contributor to deforestation is logging operations, legal and illegal.
Road building, growing suburbs, overgrazing, wildfires, and other natural disasters are contributors as
well.
Deforestation causes the loss of habitats for millions of species throughout the world. It can also drive
climate change. Without the shade provided by trees, soil can dry up and the loss of trees also disrupts the
water cycle. Not as much water vapor can be sent back to the atmosphere. Trees also help control
temperature in forest areas, without them more extreme temperature changes occur. Also less greenhouse
gases are absorbed causing more problems with global warming.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation/

List of Ideas:
Recycle
Environmental Classes
Donate to/Create Preservation Foundations
Clean Up Cincy
Social Media Campaigns/Challenges
Community Garden
Visiting/Donating to National Parks
Tree Planting Day
Reusable vs Plastic Bags