Our video starts with showing the environment as our home. Then it shows and talks about the effects of oil or chemical spills, including the mess left in waterways as well as an acted out scene of someone being poisoned from the water. It ends with showing how the chemicals are being cleaned up as well as a warning for the future. I chose this topic because I feel that it is not talked about as much as some other environmental justice issues. I think I edited our video pretty well. Maybe we could have had more acting scenes. The most meaningful part of creating this PSA is to advocate for chemical spills (or other pollution) that is affecting our waterways.

Essential questions:

1. We see value in biodiversity because it means the earth has a broad variety of components that contribute to the balance of nature. There’s value in our natural resources because we need those for human survival.
2. Many human actions alter earth’s natural systems such as agriculture, urbanization, producing greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels, and more.
3. Individuals can live more sustainably by doing things like recycling, being more energy efficient (turning lights off, using solar panels), conserving water, eating less meat, etc. Communities can live more sustainably by being more efficient with transportation (carpooling), composting, growing their own food and consuming more plants, etc. Nations can live more sustainably by wasting less, driving less, preventing pollution, etc. All of these things can also be done by either individuals, communities, or nations. These are all sustainable ways for people and whole countries to live.

Reflection questions:

1. This project deepened my understanding of sustainability because I didn’t just get to learn about the broad topic of sustainability, but how each different industry specifically impacts the environment.
2. What surprised me the most about the food industry is how almost 40% of all food is wasted per year, whether from grocery stores or restaurants.
3. I contributed to my group’s project by conducting research, helping create our presentation, and also helped with building the physical model. I am most proud of our overall ideas for making our restaurant as sustainable as possible.

This is our site link: https://sites.google.com/slabeeber.org/restaurant?usp=sharing