More Essays!

All entries, project titles, and summaries are provided below as they were submitted

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Poems For Change - Ella Avedikian

Large urban areas contribute substantially to pollution and energy consumption; this contribution can be significantly decreased by implementing effective new programs to keep city residents aware of how to conserve energy and mandating that recycling bins will be found next to most trash bins on the street. This will give the public more options for conservation and make it easier for people to make the right choice. By erecting wind farms off the shores of major cities, such as New York or Boston, and by using more solar energy, these large urban areas can be powered by a renewable energy source that will decrease their contributions to global warming.

Water Conservation - Hector de Haro

My idea focuses in the conservation of the unused but clean water that goes down the drain while we wait for hot water to come out. This could be achieved through a simple valve and storage tank. this water could later be used for other purposes such as irrigation or to flush the toilet.

Fostering Conservation through Global Awareness - Heather Wright

I am proposing a cultural conservation experience for middle and high school students in a tribal or indigenous community within the U.S. or in a developing country. This experience is based on the principles of sustainability and would provide a service/cultural aspect with an environmental awareness component. By integrating environmental conservation with social problems, my proposed program will serve as a catalyst for life altering changes within the participants and will create future generations of conservation leaders.

Global Warming - Michelle Reddinme

We really just need to take a step back and see what we can do as a group to stop global warming. By limiting the amount of carbon dioxide we emit we can save the environment for future generations. I hope to set an example for others, and help them to change there views on this global issue.

Lifestyle Change, Global Change - Devon Parson

A United States legislative policy enforcing a driving prohibition is practical and would force a change. The action-oriented factor is to be proactive within one’s government forcing a change for the better.

Greening Up the Trucking Industry - Brody Warren

As a nation, trucks use a total of 640,000,000 gallons of diesel in a year, just for idling. The whole time trucks are idling, they are releasing greenhouse gas emissions. This paper provides a feasible solution to cut down on these emissions.

Conserve Energy: Energize Community - Andrew Munn

In America today, affluence is a prerequisite for living an environmentally friendly lifestyle. Conserve Energy: Energize Community is an interdisciplinary project that will employ recent college graduates in using climate change mitigation as a means of empowerment for low-income communities. It will address critical issues of environmental, social, and economic sustainability with practical solutions.

Schools Reducing Carbon Emissions - Sarah Rowe

Students can grow fresh fruits and vegetables to supplement school lunches - and reduce the carbon footprint of their school.

Frostburg State University Green Campus Plan Feasibility Study - Beth Kroiz

This project is a feasibility study proposing to transform Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Maryland into a Green Campus. It is so essential for everyone to work together in an effort to reduce the human impact on the environment and make a conscious effort to help ensure a cleaner and more sustainable environment in which to live. Frostburg State University has an opportunity to be a pioneer among east coast universities and set the trend to conserve our resources while being cost-effective.

Santayana Seeds - Stacey Worman

This is an easy way for any school to harness their kids’ concern with a fun, low-cost activity that takes traditional ‘recycling’ up-a-notch and which doubles as a fund raiser. Children’s handmade-recycled-paper products are sold at local stores, challenging their community to also rethink and reduce the superfluous old-growth-once-used-then-discarded-paper-waste that is collectively generated during our commercial holidays. And it is a better way for us to begin environmental dialogues in our nation because it is a practical way for our children to collectively guide us away from a “all talk, no action” approach to a “softly-speaking, concretely-doing” paradigm.

Reusable Bag Campaign in Local Communities - Sierra Gladfelter

In order to combat the 100 billion grocery bags Americans go through a year, and an estimated 12 million barrels of oil a year just to produce plastic grocery bags I have proposed a plan to get small communities actively involved in a reusable bag campaign. By involving schools, teachers, local churches and businesses to sew/create and decorate the bags and then have them distributed through local businesses I hope to create a circulation of bags that are public and shared by neighbors.

Conservation is the Key - L’Asia Brown

My action-oriented, practical solution gives insight to why conservation is being ignored. It also outlines methods to involve entire nations by making our governments active. My plan is a realistic method of reaching thousands of people by way of law, which is sometimes the only way.

Alternative fuels - Shamaya Whitby

This is a paper about an alternative fuel for the future. My paper is about hydroelectric fuel for an alternative energy source for the future.

Protecting our Rivers - Sarah Van Nostrand

My idea is to plant trees along a river to prevent the banks from eroding away. Also to prevent pollution from entering into the rivers.

Increasing Interest in the Environment through Film: An Experiential Learning Approach - Helen Dombalis

I propose that the Student Conservation Association provide high school and college students with opportunities to visit and film their power plants, landfills, recycling centers, water treatment plants, and natural landscapes. The goal is for the students to learn about and increase passion for their environment through their own experiences of it just as I have done. By providing video cameras to students, the SCA will provide a new lens through which students view their world.

Involving Inner-City Youth in the SCA by Education and Participation - William Eubanks II

The time is now to bring more diversity to the environmental movement. Although the SCA is not a cause of the problems perpetuated by race and poverty in the United States, the Student Conservation Association has the tools and resources to be a solution to these problems. The SCA can promote diversity, enrich urban students’ lives, and conserve the environment with four easy steps: (1) collaborate with inner-city school systems, (2) educate the students about the environment, (3) generate money for community improvement by utilizing state bottle bill laws, and (4) provide college scholarships with additional revenue from the bottle programs.

Building Community: Fun and Environmental! - Carrie Welter

We feel that the lack of community in our consumer driven culture perpetuates social and environmental problems. We propose a national “Get to Know Your Neighbor Day”, a holiday encouraging individuals to reach out and connect with those in their community. This day will focus on skill sharing, fun, and building communication and awareness of local issues.

Community-run Greenhouse - Tricia Frank

“Community-run Greenhouse” is a project that will establish year-round community-run greenhouses in small towns and in areas of larger cities where there are not grocery store or there are grocery stores, but they do not provide substantial year-round produce that is healthy and non-costly to the people of these low to middle income neighborhoods.

Green World - Rebecca Shopiro

Green Roofs have countless benefits to the environment. Now if only we could apply them to one of the biggest sources of carbon dioxide in the world today: the roads.

Environmental Peers Project - Ezra Markowitz

The Environmental Peers Project builds off of a successful, existing peer-connection program model and recent psychological work on environmental conservation to improve the relationship between youth and the natural environment. The concept is simple: get college students who are interested in environmental conservation directly involved in helping youth in middle and high schools across the nation to both learn about and connect with their natural environments. Utilizing a mix of educational mediums, Environmental Peers will bring about substantive, positive and long-lasting changes in the ways in which the youth they work with treat their environments.

Mother Earth - Tamara Avshalumova

I was inspired to write a short poem.

Aquaculture Industry - Chloe Salle

My solution is to create a new industry that reduces the strain of harvesting from the oceans, lakes, and rivers. It utilizes private citizens to spread knowledge and become involved in conserving natural resources. It could eventually eliminate almost all dependence on fresh and salt water system by recreating those ecosystems and relying on them instead.

Eco-Friendly Lifestyle - Jennifer Fill

My solution entails a daily eco-friendly, conservation-minded mentality. By following the tips I present and incorporating them into their daily lives, college students (and others as well, both older and younger) can reduce the negative and increase the positive impact their lifestyles have on the world.

Solar Wake - Kelly Tweito

Placing solar panels on the tops of boats, boats that sit out on a dock or sit in water for any period of time can collect energy and store them in batteries for the boats later use and as your using the boats they can charge as well.

The Burning Earth - Anthony Macias

Poem describing how the “slash and burn” techniques are affecting the rainforests and its inhabitants.

Conservation timer - Alexandria Warwick

The conservation timer is a device that is similar to a garage door opener. When you leave the house for work or for whatever other reason, you press a button that automatically turns any forgotten lights, TVs, radios, computers, or running water off until you type in the desired time you return to your house, and that is when they turn back on.

The Self-Composting Produce Store - Devin Crenshaw

Utilize the mass amounts of edible, unsold scraps thrown away by produce stores to sustain a livestock operation. Use the livestock\’s waste to sustain a produce-growing operation. Sell the healthy, organic meat and produce back to the community through the produce stores from whence it was taken.

Sustainable Development in Developing Countries - Alisar Aoun

Developing nations face the biggest pressure in balancing development needs with international environmental agenda. Sustainable infrastructure for safe water, energy, and economic opportunity need to be explored with the help of developing nations, and with the input of marginalized communities in developing nations in order to meet these needs concurrently.

WildFires - Christian Rubio

Dont throw ciggars out the windows. Dont play with fire. fix sockets when destroyed.

CHAINS - Jose Alcantar

This research paper will be about Food chains in an ecosystem.How and why are food chains significant for the survival and the stability of every organism in an ecosystem, and for the absolute comprehension of the interaction of each species supporting an ecosystem.

Bridging Technologies and the Transition to a Hydrogen Economy - Adam Poll

This essay describes the transition to a hydrogen economy as a practical solution to curbing greenhouse gas emissions in the US. It describes a pathway through bridging technologies and impacts that a hydrogen economy would have on the country.

Fix the drought in the Southeast - Matthew Hobbs

My goal is to provide someone with the idea to help the drought situation in the Southeastern United States. I have neither the resources nor the know how to produce my plan. I will however share my idea for someone to attempt to do what i explain.

Breathe - Kirsten Wiley

Promoting the use of public transportation and carpools; or people purchasing gas efficient cars. People walking or riding a bicycle short distances over driving a car and burning gas. Putting a ban on smoking in public.

Green Schools - Halah Ilias

Expanding a current program regarding youth environmental awareness to a national level.

Pedal Powered Lawn Mower - Zach Andre

In an effort to reduce gas consumption, air and noise pollution and waste caused by a gas powered lawn mower, I have built a pedal powered reel mower. This device does not require any gas, so it is better for the environment and also gives you exercise, so it is better for you overall. My pedal powered lawn mower is better than a gas riding mower because of the many health benefits.

Donations - Lindsey Holderness

At our school we have made a club called S.A.F.E. it stands for saving animals from extinction. A group of kids save up money to sponsor an animal from the organization WWF.

Global Warming: Let’s Keep Arkansas The Natural State - Aaron Blake Campbell

In order to control the effects of global warming in Arkansas, I feel that ALL people should take action. The government must control what corporations of the state do to the environment. The companies must make a conscious effort to reduce the negative effects of their production. And, most importantly, the average citizens must do all they can to conserve our environment.

Education and Awareness Will Promote Environmental Justice - Ivan Yip

The goals of this environmental justice conference are stated simply: firstly, to explore whether racial minorities and the poor are being environmentally victimized, and secondly, to evaluate public policies that promote environmental fairness. This conference called upon a group of professionals and academicians from diverse areas in order to achieve an integrated perspective of the issues, successes, and common goals characterizing the environmental justice movement. The conference was bound together by a common message - the need for education and awareness of issues of environmental quality.

THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING - Prashant Gabani

I have provided an essay on Global Warming and the different consequences. I have also included how we can stop the global warming to stop the destruction of Earth

Making Conservation a Reality - Eric Kuhn

It is a reality TV show about conservation. It uses the source that we all seem to use–TV, in order to turn the spotlight on conservation. The abilities of these people will serve to benefit millions.

Conserve Our Air - Manual Dukes

The action I am taking in this paper in in my community is to educate students on the importance of trees. THe initiative taken is to have students plant trees in the public school systems around the are were I live.

Using skeletochronology to determine population demography of introduced Nile monitors (Varanus niloticus) in Florida - Sarah Bell

This study aims to age an invasive species of lizard, the Nile Monitor, in order to better seek an eradication strategy. These invasive lizards are actively disrupting Florida\’s natural ecosystems and pose a major hazard for the future health of Florida’s native wildlife. By aging their population using the techniques of skeletochronology, key demographic data can be obtained that will help to define a method to prevent further spread of this harmful population.

Fresh Water Conservation - Auriel VanRaalte

Recycle sink and bath water into tank. Use this water for toilets, grass, etc. Use toilet with holding tank similar to RV toilets.

Overpopulation - Chondell Campbell

Well I wrote a song about overpopulation. Basically I addressed the illegal immigration problem, poverty, and man’s tyranny through out the millinum. I don’t have a specific solution, rather I am saying that the world needs to address the problem, then accept the problem, and work together to reduce the population, or prevent overpopulation. We all need to be more aware of the environment and our actions in general.

Clean Water Quest - Kelydra Welcker

Ammonium perfluorooctanoate (APFO) is a surfactant and potential carcinogen associated with the production of Teflon®. Tests have shown this hazardous chemical to be in dangerous levels not only in humans around the world - but even in the blood of the endangered polar bear. This project was designed to explore ways of quantifying, removing, and recovering APFO in a manner that is socially, economically, environmentally responsible.

Education Conservation Corps - Jamie Richards

In order to continue SCA’s goal of engaging motivated high school and college students to help promote conservation in the United States, a new internship program needs to be created. This program should be called the SCA Education Conservation Corps. Interns would be responsible for educating local community members on how to make their hometowns more environmentally-friendly.

Expanding SCA Partnerships to Produce a Unified Park Resource Conservation Approach: Land, Water and Air - Caitlin Kelliher

My proposal addresses the critical lack of water (and air) quality analysis and testing across all the major watershed systems in the country. To do this, the proposal recommends the creation of a joint, collaborative, interagency process that leverages the vast, annual, on-site resource pool represented in SCA Conservation Crews. Lastly, and most importantly, my proposal has been tried and tested; I personally have engaged in the process I outlined with extremely successful, repeatable results.