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http://www.ypte.org.uk/environmental/river-pollution/35
-Spoke to Ossining and Westchester County Board members on environmental initiatives that are currently taking place in regard to the Hudson.
-Spoke to principal of Ossining High School in an attempt to create a school-wide effort to inform others of sustainability.
-Published research project on school website
-Distributed survey to members of the community that determined how aware and how much they cared about the current crisis with pollution in the Hudson River.
-Tracked success-or lack thereof- of efforts to encourage community members to become more sustainable.
- Gathered environmental clubs from OHS to speak about issue and what can be done to solve it
- Reported findings in success of community members’ involvement in cleaning the Hudson.
The Hudson River is a natural system, but it is coming to have some of the characteristics of a man made system, because we have exposed it to so many destructive processes such as pollution with plastics, and glass.
When I first embarked on my quest to learn more about the pollution in the Hudson River, I mistakenly tried to take on the enormous task of getting involved with an organization, in order to help physically clean the Hudson River. I soon learned that this task would not only take too long (in terms of our project and how long we were given to impact our community) but it was somewhat unrealistic. Therefore, I changed my main focus to learning why the pollution was so high, and what could be done to decrease it. Fortunately, I was able to answer my initial research question, which was “How can we encourage members of the community to take an active role in protecting the Hudson from pollution- - which can lead to us creating a more sustainable community?” In response to my research question, I set out to survey individuals in my community, and question experts as to their opinions on the pollution crisis. I took a somewhat pessimistic approach, and immediately thought that incentives needed to be established in order for people to want to stop polluting, because our society capitalizes on emphasizing the good of the individual over the good of the collective community. However, I realized toward the end of my project that I had been missing parts of what people had said during the interviews- it wasn’t necessarily that humans do not want to change their behavior, many of us just do not understand how much of a negative impact some our behaviors are on the environment.
The incentives I established throughout the course of my research included advertising the recycling methods that are already in place at many local supermarkets (recycling machines in which money is given back for each bottle/can.) Also, recycling motor oil at gas stations and getting reimbursed for it (small monetary amount based on how much is recycled.) I also thought of new policies being instilled to be even stricter on large corporations and their pollution (which has been proven to have a great impact on the Hudson.) Although I did extensive research, the question still remains for me as to why there is such a large problem with pollution in the first place. While I feel I made a dent in determining this, I am nowhere near finding out the answer, if I ever can.
Since water is a point of sustainability that is a most pressing issue to me, the Hudson River is the ideal body of water to take action on, due to the fact that by changing this water system, I could impact vast areas and large quantities of people in a positive fashion.
The Main Question
How can we encourage members of the community to take an active role in protecting the Hudson from pollution- - which can lead to us creating a more sustainable community?
How did I go about answering this?
Let's break it down
What is currently being done?
Policies are in place that supposedly "protect" the Hudson River from pollution, but to this day, they are not effective. With all of the toxins, chemicals, and garbage that our community is pulling the Hudson River with, it is no wonder that we have been forbidden to do many activities in certain sections of the Hudson, such as swim and fish. The Clean Water Act of 1972, in addition to the ones that have been placed on the Hudson River specifically, should be able to protect it from destruction, but the only way that will happen is if people are first informed and engaged in stopping the destruction and becoming more sustainable.
The efforts cannot end here. To prevent pollution, and restore vitality to the Hudson, we must- as a community- consistently work in order to clean the river of the harmful pollutants, and put policies and practices in place to try and prevent as much pollution as we possibly can. However, the first step is making people in our community AWARE.
The Hudson River has been proven to not be cleaning itself, despite popular belief, since PCBs in the sediment and water are still present, and they pose a serious threat to the environment, and human/animal health. Water quality, sediment, air quality, fish, and wildlife of the Hudson River have been studied for the past 25 years, and the conclusions have been the same- the river is in danger. PCB's have proven to be the most harmful to the river thus far. PCB's are building up in the environment, and the concentration of PCB's is increasing as you go up the food chain. However, PCB's have shown a significant build up in the fish population, especially in the Hudson River. As of now, certain sections of the Hudson River are blocked off from the general public, and they are not allowed to fish, or swim in those areas. If the river is so contaminated that we are not allowed, by the government, to wade in it, then there is a serious problem that must be solved immediately.
The main thing I learned was that although the problem of pollution cannot be solved as quickly as many of us would like, that does not mean that a large investment of our time and energy is not needed NOW. My original goal included cleaning the Hudson, but I found this to be a too overwhelming a task to pursue. My focus changed after that, and so did the course of my entire project. Although my action did not accomplish what I originally thought it would, I am satisfied with the results. By making my research known throughout the school by interviewing faculty, students, and posting it on the school website, I believe that it got people to think about my topic, whether it be in depth or briefly. If my research taught me anything, it is that this is such a multi-dimensional problem that cannot simply be solved with one solution.