Environmental news this week...

A surprising find to reduce methane emissions...

Feeding cows seaweed cuts 99% of greenhouse gas emissions from their burps. Now, scientists in California are hoping to help farmers meet strict new emissions targets by performing the first ever tests of seaweed feed in live dairy cows.

(From: The Independent )

AND

We were surprised and sad to see that illegally cutting down trees is happening to a huge scale in Europe..

Romania breaks up alleged €25m illegal logging ring

Security forces launch raids linked to deforestation in the Carpathian mountains, home to some of Europe’s last virgin forest. Romania’s security forces have mounted a series of raids to break up an alleged €25m illegal logging ring, in what is believed to be the largest operation of its kind yet seen in Europe.

EP at the roof garden..

In environmental enrichment we do a variety of things to help our environment plant a variety of different seeds like: kiwi, chia seeds, avocado, tomatoes and apples. Last week a group of us went up and watered and cared for the different plants. We harvested lettuce that was already fine to eat and plucked out plants that were harming other plants. We also cut of the tops of the spinach so they could grow healthier and stronger. Another of our tasks is to make sure all the plants have water in the hot climate of Barcelona. 

Another activity we do to disconnect from our stressed minds and the internet is listen to our environment, our surroundings, so we can notice things that we never pay attention to in our daily life.

Every week, we observe how our plants are growing and we make sure they keep on doing it. We have a very pleasant time up on the roof that relaxes us all and helps us connect with nature.

 - Ainara, Katja 

Campanya de mobilitat - Escoles Sostenibles

From the Escoles + Sostenibles initiative some 1º ESO pupils - supported by the rest of Environmental Club developed a campaign to try and persuade pupils to share car journeys with other families that live nearby, and thereby reduce air pollution and increase the air quality around our school.

Here is the presentation that they developed, which they shared with 1º and 2º ESO pupils on the 15th May

Here is a poster which shows the different elements of the campaign

And look out for us in 1 month because we will be sharing a questionnaire with you all to find out and try to measure the impact of their communication campaign!

Here is a link to the questionnaire i fyou want a preview!
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/1636e5036dc4837e

Environmental news this week...

The hills are alive with the signs of plastic: even Swiss mountains are polluted

The Guardian,Damian Carrington, Friday 27 April 2018

Major study finds microplastics in soil across Switzerland and scientists warn urgent research is needed into impacts on food safety as other countries may be worse affected

We also had a discussion this week about how Climate Change will affect our world and the fact that it will make water and food more scarce than it is now. Someone asked how many people currently die per day from a lack of food and water so Aiyana investigated:

"In environmental we have been learning about climate change. According to Hunger and World Poverty, about 21,000 people die globally every day from hunger or malnutrition."

Source : Hunger and World Poverty