Enrichment- Women at Arms

   Women in Combat 

     This article talks about the negative impacts that women are facing due to the fact that they were in the military and fought wars. Many female combat veterans are suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. This disease causes the women to isolate themselves to avoid embarrassment  Majority of the time the women who are suffering, begin to avoid their spouses and their children. The women seek to be alone because they feel that they are people of high rankings in the military so they cannot be seen as someone who is "mentally unstable". The number of women who are suffering psychologically has been increasing continually. Women are prevented from fighting on the ground or on the front lines yet the amount of women who are suffering is almost equal in proportion with the amount of men. 

     Women are affected more than men because when a man returns home from war as a veteran, he can drink at the bar with his war buddies, yet a woman is left to suffer by herself. 
     Some people believe that women are handling and dealing with the stress of combat as well as male soldiers are. 

Walking Lightly on the Planet

     

     Today is the first day of several days that I will began walking lightly on the planet. I now understand the impact that many of my everyday habits have on the planet. Before I became aware of the things I was doing, everyone would need at least 4 planets to keep up with my lifestyle. However, when I became aware of my effects, I changed.The world cannot keep up with everyone living like they want to and not knowing the negative effects it is having on the planet. This is a journal on my path to a better lifestyle, because actions speak louder than words when it comes to reducing your ecological footprint. 
     Day One: I now try to eat more vegetables in my diet and eat less meat like beef and pork. For breakfast I had a butter croissant and a yogurt with granola. I will try to eat one big meal a day, which would be dinner, and several snacks throughout the day. When I'm going home, like when I'm coming to school, I will take the stairs instead of the elevator. Changing certain behaviors that I am used to will be hard however, I know its what's best. We cannot just get another planet earth so everyone needs to come together and start on the path to protecting the one we currently have. 
     Day Two: Today was my second day trying to alter my lifestyle to decrease my carbon footprint. I ate only one big meal yesterday and will continue to do this today. I ate fresh fruits as a snack instead of fast food like a burger. I took the train to school like I normally would and I did not go anywhere with my mother's car. I tried to minimize the amount of time I spent in the shower and I tried to reduce the amount of electrical devices I had plugged in. 
     Day Three: Day three of my way to change seems to be going by easier than day one. Today I continued to eat one big meal and small snacks. i had Greek yogurt and fresh fruits from a farmer's market as a snack. For dinner, I had steamed fish, broccoli and cauliflower and white rice. I am trying to stay away from pork and beef because meats like that contribute to my ecological footprint because it takes so much to make those meats ready to be eaten. I charged my phone only when it needed to be and unplugged the charger when it was not in use.  I continued to minimize the amount of time i spend in the shower and try to encourage the rest of my family to do the same. I recycled all the plastic bottles, cans and newspapers that I found in my house and will continue to for the rest of the week. 

My Ecological Footprint

           = 4.50  Earths

     My current ecological footprint is 4.5 earths. This is my current footprint because I have many people living in my home. My house is not made of recyclable products and I don't buy products that are biodegradable. This means that if everyone in the world did everything like me, we would need 4.50 earths in order to keep up with the lifestyle. 

              = 1.19 Earths              

     In order to get my ecological footprint down to 1.19, I would need to change my lifestyle. I would eat one big meal daily and several small snacks in between. I would mainly ride public transportation and I would shop at farmers markets and grow my own vegetables. I would 

own furniture that was pre-used and I would save water and electricity whenever it was possible for me. I would also own a hybrid or electric car yet not drive it too much. This would change my regular lifestyle because I am used to always driving around and would have to stick to taking public transportation.      

                  

This image means that Americans contribute the most towards the ecological damage that is occurring. If everyone in the world lived like a typical American, we would need 9.5 earths.

     In order to reduce my ecological footprint by one planet I would have to make a few simple changes in my lifestyle. I would have to start recycling all the product which I use. I would try to eat one large meal a day instead of eating three large meals. I could also try getting a low flow toilet. My ecological footprint would also change if I became a vegetarian. It is important to reduce my ecological footprint because we only have one planet not 4.5 so I have to make an effort to help preserve the earth. 

                                              

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=JWYApV0xAil72M&tbnid=u1HMFmx0KOky2M:&ved=0CAQQjB0&url=http%3A%2F%2Fconservationbytes.com%2F2010%2F07%2F01%2Fcartoon-biodiversity-loss-viii%2F&ei=gR5HUc7eG-rx0wH6poDICQ&bvm=bv.43828540,d.dmg&psig=AFQjCNGoLKbYx1ygxW4hRIjv7chkx3zklg&ust=1363701758046269

     People in the world needs to understand that global warming is not an issue that's just going to fix itself. All the different lifestyles people are living needs to be controlled in order to help the environment. The temperature going up is not the only consequence we can face as humanity because of global warming. Countries can become flooded, animals can die and people will become displaced. The government needs to find ways to prevent the big corporations and individual people from continually ruining the world. We only have one globe and we have no way of getting another so we need to start making efforts to preserve the planet we currently have and have to prevent ourselves from causing any more damage. 

                                         

     Ways in which to reduce your ecological footprint is by using public transportation instead of driving when it is an available alternative. People can try to buy fresh vegetables and fruits and only buy the amount of groceries that they will use in a week in order to prevent a lot of food being wasted. If a car is necessary, a person can buy a small one and not drive it for too many miles. People can make their homes energy efficient and buy energy efficient products that preserve energy. People can also keep their thermostat at room temperature in the winter instead of keeping it high. People can also reduce their footprint by recycling as much of their waste as possible. 

http://www.myfootprint.org/en/take_action/reduce_your_footprint/