total time: 8 hrs.
4/9 & 4/12: Volunteered at the Bernard Field Station in Claremont. Dr. Jennifer Gee, the new interim mgr. allowed me to help clear some trails and remove invasive plants. Also made food for hummingbirds. Then, I dug out part of an old, dry pond to revitalize the habitat.
total time: 7.5 hrs.
4/16 & 4/17: Went to Caroline Park & Prospect Park in Redlands to pick up trash. Collected little in Caroline, but a lot in Prospect. Mainly cigarette butts and food wrappers. Found one recyclable can.
total time: 7.5 hrs.
4/23: Went through Thompson Creek Trail in Claremont to pick up trash. Found very little. Just a few gum wrappers and an old baby shoe. A few grubby, blue things too. Good thing I used the bag to pick those up . . .
total time: 4 hrs.
4/28: Volunteered again w/ Dr. Gee at the Field Station. Dug out the rest of the pond. Had to remove an island of dirt in the middle. Also set up hummingbird feeder.
total time: 2 hrs.
4/28: Went to Vale Park and Cahuilla Park in Claremont to pick up trash. Not much trash at Vale, but plenty in Cahuilla.
total time: 1 hr.
L) a:
“I, Kaitlyn Grayson, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.”
b:
I cleaned up 5 different parks/trail areas and joined 3 organizations that aid in habitat conservation: The Urban Conservation Corps, The Bernard Field Station, and The Apprentice Ecologist Initiative. In the process, I have recycled 1 can and 4 plastic bottles. Also, I picked up around 3 lbs. of trash, primarily waste paper and chip bags. I helped a team of 2 other people plant 30 trees too. Lastly, I helped to partly restore a pond ecosystem back to the way it originally was.
I)
The significant parts of my work represent 30 hrs. of work due to the fact that the areas of the parks and trail areas were large and I had to comb the entire place looking for litter to pick up. Also, The pond that I restored had been drained and turned into a vegetable garden by the Field Stations previous owner, thus I had to remove all of the dirt from it and uproot all of the vegetables planted there. As for the tree planting, I was with a large UCC group that had to drive to the forest and hike 1/4 mile to Sheep Mountain and split into smaller planting groups of 3. We had to grab our shovels and then collect 10 trees from the cooler, and make sure each planting site was approximately 18 ft away from other trees. The area had a lot of large rocks and hard soil, so it took a while to find and dig into each spot. We also had to shade each tree partly with rock piles we put up to ensure their hydration and survival.
A)
It helped me answer my E.Q. in the sense that I was only looking at the whole big concept of sustainability before. In a way, not seeing the forest for the trees. I learned that sustainability isn't just reducing energy or water use, it is a whole conglomeration of different aspects that require a sustainable person to get involved in matters outside of their lives. We need to not only protect ourselves, but the life around us. The only way to do that is to take part in conservation and protection. It means that we ALL need to take responsibility and clean up not only our own messes, but others' as well. The wild areas on our planet can't clean themselves. So, if others won't clean up the mess, those who are being sustainable will have to.
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