My new YouTube video

Dear readers, I want to present you my new video about my recycling and waste disposal project

My YouTube channel

Dear friends! Welcome to my YouTube channel

I will upload various environmental videos and other interesting things. I will be happy to see your comments and opinions about my work. See you on there!

Perfect package for milk

Milk is one of the main foods in our family and probably in many others. We buy it every day. It is convenient when the milk is packed in plastic bottle or cardboard box. In this case, it is stable on the shelf of the refrigerator and do not  fall, like soft plastic bags. 

 

But which packaging for milk, cardboard or plastic, it is better for the environment? Since the garbage in our town basically is not sorted for recycling, but taken to the landfill, perhaps it makes sense to look for the answer in the rate of decomposition of cardboard and plastic.

The decomposition rate of cardboard is 1 year and the decomposition rate of the plastic is over 100 years. Here we go! The conclusion is obvious:  the best package for milk is a cardboard. 

Our grocery stores always have a very large range of milk and other dairy products (sour cream, yogurt, cottage cheese, whey) in cardboard boxes. Therefore, the citizens will be very easy to follow my advice and their environmental awareness and to buy dairy products in packaging that will cause minimal damage to nature during recycling.

Istanbul stray dogs eco feeders

I have one more interesting ecological history offered  Google Alert.
In Istanbul, Turkey, where an estimated 150,000 stray dogs and cats wander the streets every day, a Turkish company called Pugedon has come up with a way to provide food for the animals while simultaneously helping the environment. They're called "Smart Recycling Boxes" and they dispense dispense food and water in exchange for recycled plastic bottles. The benefits of the vending machines are two-fold: encourage recycling and help the thousands of stray dogs and cats across the city.The recycling is put on top and food is dispensed out of the bottom within easy reach for the animals. The vending machine also includes a water dish so users can pour the remaining water from the plastic bottle before recycling it The bottles are used to cover the cost of food.
I think this idea is ingenious, because it is not only beneficial and ecological but also very human and compassionate to the poor animal. 

       On this link   you will be able not only to read this article, but also look very kind video illustrating it.

Ecology: First Steps twitter

Hello, my friends! I am pleased to inform you, now we can follow me on Twitter HERE

Poo Bus

Just look, what a great article Google Alert brought me:  Britain's first bus to be powered by human and food waste has taken to the roads.

The 40-seat Bio-Bus, nicknamed "the number two," will transport people between Bath and Bristol Airport. The biomethane gas it runs on is produced at a sewage treatment works at Avonmouth. The eco-friendly vehicle can travel up to 300km (186 miles) on one tank of gas, which takes the annual waste of about five people to produce.  Here we can read about it and even see a video. Just look how unusual and interesting it is!

Look at this trash recycling article i found using Google Alerts! It is an interview with a company, called Trash Force. Its representatives answer different questions about recycling special items. They tell what to do with leftover paint cans, how to get rid of old oil bottles and similar potentially hazardous things. You can read the whole article here.

"Where does the garbage go in Bryansk?"

  The first thing I would like to deal with is the waste disposal system in Bryansk.

  There is a large landfill for municipal solid waste in our town. It is simply huge - 24 hectares. Garbage is brought here from all the Bryansk and nearby settlements. The small amount of waste was burned before. But this practice is now abandoned, since the products of combustion of garbage cause significant harm to the environment of the city, and increases the risk of fire in a large area. A few years ago sorting plant began to work. Due to it’s small capacity, the plant receives only a small portion of the collected garbage in the city, and in the re-use is only 20% of all incoming waste to the plant: paper, cardboard, plastic, glass. After sorting, they are sold to specialized companies as raw material for deep processing. The main part of the landfill debris brought here is dug into the ground.

There are prospects for improving environmental performance of the process of waste disposal in Bryansk and entrepreneurs and city officials are interested in it. But it's all in the future, for now, the main way of getting rid of garbage in Bryansk is burial. Based on this, and we consider our task of improving environmental performance of recyclable waste.

The magnitude of the harm caused by the nature of the land by this landfill depends not only on the amount of  garbage buried, but also on its composition. The amount of recyclable waste is difficult to reduce. But  it is possible to change the composition of the waste to minimize its negative impact on soil contamination. Doing it requires analyzing the decay periods of different materials that make up our waste, drawing conclusions about the preferred materials that decompose in the ground most quickly and safely, and giving this information to the residents of our city in a way that will convince them to take these findings to action .

Let's know each other better

My name is Ivan Krasilshchikov, I'm 17 years old. I was born and raised in Russia, in the city of Bryansk.

   I studied in Bryansk Gymnasium №2 for 10 years , before one event changed my life completely - became a finalist of the program FLEX.

  Talk a little about it. Program FLEX - is a non-profit exchange program for high school students from the CIS countries, conducted since 1992. The objectives of the program - the achievement of mutual understanding between the two cultures that have been protected one from another with an "iron curtain" for a long time. 

The program is fully funded by the US Government. In 23 years of its existence more than 23 million students went to America on the FLEX program and spent a year studying in American schools, and living in the American host families.

  Here I am with the end of August 2014 I live in the lovely town of Fallbrook in the blessed state of California in the wonderful family of Steven and Dona Johnson. These wonderful people with great joy that brought me into his family, surrounded by love and care. The whole year I will learn in the senior class in Fallbrook High School, as an ordinary American schoolboy, will, as they participate in various school aktivitis, clubs and sports.

   Under the terms of the program, all participants must keep her active social life and participate in the various activities undertaken by the FLEX or placement organization, talk about culture, customs, achievements and characteristics of his native country. (By the way, here I am also very lucky. My host organization - AFS - considered the most welcoming and very caring. AFS, thank you for everything !!! 😊) 

But I must say that the atmosphere of relations between exchange students and organizers is so friendly that we are more willing to participate in all competitions and projects. It's such a great pleasure to engage in interesting work and to see how the results of your efforts encouraging people and motivate them.

One of the projects in which I participated was the Global New Media Lab. The purpose of the GNML is to provide students participating in three of the Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs' high school academic exchanges with the skills to actively engage in and teach others about the use of social media and other forms of information technology for greater civic engagement. 

Global New Media Lab (GNML), is a joint initiative of the US Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and PH International. Project Harmony (PH) is an international organization which aims to build a strong global community by fostering civic leadership, harnessing Internet technology, and facilitating cross-cultural learning.

PH strives towards a world where individuals and communities collaborate across borders to resolve global challenges and where solutions are: rooted in cultural understanding; inspired by a sense of shared responsibility in each other's lives; strengthened by individuals empowered with skills and knowledge; and sustained through open communication, exchange and friendship. Project Harmony pursues this vision by conducting innovative programs around the world that use online engagement, exchanges, practical skills development, and community coalition-building to support global collaboration. (I was very happy to learn that in Russia we also have Russian branch of PH International. On my return to Russia, I will continue to work with this exciting project.)

  This blog, namely its creation and subsequent management - one of the tasks of GNML. As a topic, I chose: Can garbage be "smart" or how to improve the sustainability of household waste in Bryansk. I believe it is not only very interesting and useful for reference, but also quite applicable in practice. I hope that my research will benefit the ecology of our city, if the conclusions that I have made in the course of work, people will be taken into service.

It's no secret that the problem of ecology - is a universal problem. And everyone agree that it should be solved. But how? Speaking with common words, all of us can assent well-made environmental slogans and lament the terrible environmental situation. But not many can do something. So I decided to explore this topic a little, but literally every person knows about main problem - the trash. I believe that even at this individual level, on a scale of one family my research will benefit for the family, society, and nature, it is not difficult , although requires actions of each family member. How well would it be if everyone will do a rational approach to the choice of packaging materials when buying products. When people know exactly how to benefit the nature, they will gladly do it. Especially since it does not require any additional effort, you only need to know and remember what is harmful, and what is not.

So, I invite you into my Social Media for Social Change Campaign blog: Ecology: First Steps, devoted to the ecology of my city of Bryansk and my attempts to improve it.