Beautify Red Hook Parks

Shania Jordan

         I worked with New York cares on a project called “Beautify Red Hooks parks” where we planted upwards of 2,700 tulip flower buds. It was a joint team effort of about 20 fellow New Yorkers. The first thing we did was dig a trench around trees around the park, then using a tool, we dug holes about 7 inches deep enough to where they can put the bulbs so they won’t be infiltrated by squirrels who love to feast on them. Then we shoveled the dirt into the trench that we dug to bury the buds. After this, we raked leaves from the perimeter of the parks into large trash bags to be composed at a later time.

Yes, I felt like I was able to help because parks that aren't well-maintained are easily forgotten about. This experience allowed me to meet people from all over the world, including Kazakhstan and Jamaica, as well as students much younger than me. I spoke with an eighth grader about the neighborhood we came from and how far we had to travel to visit red hook,  I also met a young lady from Kazakhstan and we talked about service learning in her country. She informed me that in her home country, service learning is encouraged and practiced regularly in high school, and as a result, she has brought her skills and utilized it in many other service learning.

I learned the importance of caring for your environment. According to the PBS article, “Why there’s a backlash against globalization and what needs to change”,  “The globalization project contains much that was desirable: improvements in living conditions through global trade, reducing conflict and threat of war through political globalization and encouraging cultural diversity in a widening cultural globalization”. We can all agree that globalization has impacted the world positively. It has increased international trade, building positive working relationships with foreign nations, and led to technological advances, but it has also had its downsides. Globalization has had numerous negative environmental consequences, including climate change, depletion of our ozone layer, and overfishing. According to chapter 6, “vastly increased demands for food, timber, and fiber have put severe pressure on the earth's ecosystem. It has resulted in pollution, which has increased greenhouse gases because products are delivered to various parts of the United States and the world, which means more fuel is burned, culminating in climate change and ocean acidification. Industrial pollution, as well as other types of pollution, has an impact on soil quality. Crops may be contaminated if the soil is contaminated with contaminants.  Consuming those crops could lead to subsequent cancer and other diseases in people. In some instances, contaminated soil is unsuitable for farming. As a result, farmers have to find other locations to plant their crops, devise ways to survive on less money from farming or find another source of income. Not only does it affect farmers' income, but it has destroyed the environment. Cutting down trees to keep up with the market demands has led to the displacement of animal species. Furthermore, globalization perpetuates inequality in countries that contribute the least to climate change, such as developing nations. Currently, countries such as Somalia, Afghanistan, and South Sudan are experiencing famine, and millions are anticipated to die. Europe and the United States are responsible for the most carbon emissions, while those who are the least polluting face the brunt of climate change. The droughts, cyclones, floods, and wildfires that are happening all over the world are a precursor to what will eventually happen in the U.S. and other nations if these issues aren't addressed adequately. The main takeaway is that globalization has inadvertently led to global environmental degradation due to population growth, hazardous waste/ industrial accidents and warfare, food insecurity diseases, loss of biodiversity, and most obviously, climate change.

Some changes that can be implemented to combat these problems are to use renewable energy, recycle old electronics, take the subway to eliminate unnecessary car usage, reduce water wastage, and eat what you purchase because about 40% ends up in the waste.

References  

Short, John Rennie. “Column: Why There's a Backlash against Globalization and What Needs to Change.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 30 Nov. 2016, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/column-theres-backlash-globalization-needs-change.

Steger, M. (2020). Globalization: A very short introduction, Oxford University Press.