Kevin Bolanos Civic Action Scorecard Blog 8AM

DE-16 Sign at least 5 petitions relating to causes you support (5 points)

            These 5 petitions were made with the idea of showing support to 

solutions to social problems. The first one I signed was to get justice for Breonna Taylor. Everyone should know her story already. She was a victim of an unfortunate police shooting and this shined more light on the blatant racism shared by some police officers. The second petition I signed was to get CVS to donate food that they believe is gonna go to waste soon instead of what they currently do with it which is just throwing it away. So many people could use those items they are throwing out which include toothpaste and food. It is a shame to see them wasting such good items. The next petition I signed was to put a law done that makes wearing masks in enclosed spaces like shops or markets mandatory. There are a lot of selfish people that say the masks are uncomfortable which they think gives them the right to not wear it. This leads to them at risk of getting the virus and putting other people at risk of getting it. The fourth petition I supported was also connected to the pandemic. It was people across the country demanding free functional testing kits. This can lead to people taking more precaution because without them people could be going out and seeing people and they could have the virus and not even know they have it. The final petition I signed was asking for homes for homeless vets. I find this sad because soldiers go and risk their lives for this country and its sad to think that they come back are celebrated for a short time and then immediately thrown out to be on their own.  I found these petitions just scrolling through change.org these are the ones that resonated with me the most. I believe that if petitions can rally a lot of people behind them they can work. It also depends on what they are trying to change. Because if its a global issue and it gets a few thousand people that's not as lot of support behind it but if it is a small community issue with a thousand signatures then thats alot. 

DE-19 Participate in an organized political debate (10 points)

                In Professor Sinkoff's class we were asked to do a debate in class so my group decided to have a debate about abortion one of the most political and divisive topics around the world. This is one of the first debates i took part in and it was a great experience. I had to discuss the moral and religious views against abortion. I learned the differences between and debate and just dialogue with a friend or family. In a debate you use facts to back up your point and only lean into  your opinions lightly. In a debate you also have to bring up the other side. While in a dialogue you can lean into opinion a whole lot more since it isn't so formal. I learned about different viewpoints among different world religions toward abortion. The role a debate plays in a democratic society is a pivotal one. It can be what teaches people both sides about an ongoing issue and when people are educated about their available choices they can vote for the better side.

DE-27 Take practice citizenship exam (5 points)

                I was born in America so this is my first time getting a taste of the citizenship exam but my family had to take it and i have multiple friends that did to so it was very interesting to see what they had to do. I got an 85% on the practice test. It was actually a bit tougher than I expected. It asked a few very specific questions that I didn't even know the answers to. For example, the hardest question for me was when it asked for a specific part of the declaration of independence. I don't understand the need to be this specific with the questions. I do agree with the need of having a citizenship exam. It feels sort of like an extra layer of security with making immigrants citizens. Instead of letting anyone be a citizen this shows how devoted they are to being a good law-abiding citizen.

ES-6 Complete the Miami water keepers quiz and read the included article 'Best Management Practices'

(5 points)

My relationship with water according to the Miami water keepes quiz is horrible. I didn't ever consider some of the questions they asked so it was good to learn other ways to save water. For example, I didn't correlate where I washed my car as a big factor but now that they explained it to me it makes a lot of sense. There's other practices that you can take to save water. Turn off the faucet when you aren't using the water. Turn off the shower head until you need to rinse off. It's also important to not flush things like wipes down the toilet even the ones that say are flushable. Leave it to solely toilet paper. Also whenever you're going to wash your car if you are gonna wash it at home make sure to do it on top of grass so that the runoff can go into the ground and filter through the dirt instead of being wasted by going into a storm drain. 

ES-7 Calculate your slavery footprint (5 points)

            I didn't even know there was such a thing as a slavery footprint until i took this quiz. It is a very interesting topic of discussion. I guess in this life most of us don't really question where do we get our food, clothing, and electronics from. It is very important for people to reflect on their slavery footprint because this can incite change with big production companies. If we do research and support companies that don't throw away the safety and care for its workers then the ones that don't care will start to notice and change their ways and those workers will probably get better pay and just better quality of life in general at work. I am going to start researching companies before I decide to buy their products.

ES-8 Calculate your carbon footprint (5 points)

                 In this era that everyone is concerned with the well being of the earth people have been calculating their carbon footprint. I had always heard it but never truly understood what it meant until now. The key factors to my carbon footprint are the amount of electronics running in my house. Thankfully due to the quarantine its lowered the amount of traveling I do but I think that lack of travel just means I have these electronics running for longer. I didn't expect something as simple as washing your clothes with cold water to make such a big impact on carbon footprints. I also didn't expect recycling to make very little impact on the grand scale of all things. When we are children we are taught to reduce, reuse, and recycle as if those 3 concepts will save the planet so its shocking to see it doesn't do much of anything. I believe if more people knew about their carbon footprint it would lead to improvement for the world.

ES-9 Research two contributors to a carbon footprint (10 points)

Food is a major factor in the carbon footprint of the whole world as a whole. Eating beef is one of the biggest factors to greenhouse gas emissions. A lot of people are confused by this premise so to sum it up cows take space and facilities on pastures to grow and nurture them. Companies then need to create the specific food for them to eat which takes up a lot of energy. They then need to process the food from the cow and ship it miles and miles away and then factories then use plastic and Styrofoam to package it for stores to sell it. Some people say the solution to this is simple just buy local. The problem with this is that it would be a viable option except for the fact that the main problem is not the transportation energy usage. In fact it’s probably the smallest factor. Instead we need to change what we eat. 

Another key factor in carbon footprints and greenhouse gas emissions are household energy usage. So many houses filled with people using electric devices obviously has to take a toll on the well-being of the planet and its atmosphere. There’s heavy hitter appliances like drying machines that use up to 159 kilograms of carbon a year per household. Freezers that use about 175 kilograms a year per household. And electronics like Plasma televisions that waste a whopping 269 kilograms of carbon a year per household. Besides this being horrible for the environment there are factors that are making these numbers higher. One of which is over-population. The excess of people on the planet is leading to more use of these sorts of devices and appliances. Another huge contributing factor that’s making these number rise is the pandemic. Due to everyone being home for basically the whole day it makes using laptops and televisions the only form of work and communication. 

Sources:

https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local

https://www.carbonfootprint.com/energyconsumption.html

https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/CO2_footprint#:~:text=The%20major%20contributors%20to%20carbon,one%20of%20the%20biggest%20contributors.

AC-3 Research the indigenous people and tribe of your community (10 points)

One of the tribes in my area are called the Tequesta Tribe. This was a tribe that was very peaceful that lived near biscayne bay. They used the location to their advantage cause they would fish as a main source of food. " They relied mainly on fish, shellfish, nuts, and berries for food"They would apparently also hunt sharks and use their bodies and teeth to make tools that included spearheads, hammers, chisels, fish hooks, and even drinking cups. They believed manatee meat was special and therefore it was only given to leaders. When europeans started arriving the tequesta tribe did not trust them very much until they were won over with gifts from the europeans. 

Another tribe that was common around the Miami area were the Taino tribe. This tribe was split from people in Florida and some from the caribbean. "they were the principal inhabitants of most of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic and Haiti), and Puerto Rico." They also were called the Lucayans in specific locations. Traditional villages were usually made up of from small family compounds to groups of up to 3,000 people. During special occasions every one no matter sex would pain themself in celebration. They were very creative as they would make baskets and pots. 

Sources:

https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/article/section/pre-colonial-history/taino-indigenous-caribbeans/

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Taino

https://fcit.usf.edu/florida/lessons/tequest/tequest1.htm

Why Elections Matter

This video made by PTK was very interesting and I'm glad that I saw it. It taught me about the hardships kids in the foster care system go through and how it is crucial to vote so we can incite change for them. It also helped teach me the services that exist for these people which was nice to learn about. Not only did it teach more about children in foster care but it also inspired to get involved with political matters that mean something to us.