In the mean time... take a look at these videos, see how inspired you are. Can we make a change? Or do we need a push in advertisements?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhbNktEC0YQ


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVRGefQQlS8

POLLUTION

Hey readers!


So... I know that we're all aware of what pollution is and where it comes from, but do we know enough to help solve the problem? Garbage waste, Industrial/Nuclear waste etc. have all affected our planet drastically more than we know it. I decided to make a questionnaire to study how two different students from Humber College to see how well they are aware of what pollution does or how much we're involved in the problem and how the use of television commercials have made a raise of awareness.


Interview 1-Lauren E

Thanks for your personal intake on my survey! Lauren was very well aware of how commercials are beginning to make awareness of our environment through many different problems. She believed pollution wasn't being informed enough as global warming or saving energy was, but through other ads like posters more. She was well aware of her household waste amounts; most people would not be and take that into consideration.


Interview 2- Rob

On the other hand, this survey was total opposite than the first. He was totally oblivious to that fact that pollution has greatly over powered the earth and us humans are all involved in making a change. I showed Rob some advertisements and commercials that he's never even seen before or was aware that they even existed.

My personal conclusions to this blog would be that... REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE!!! It’s a start in to help making changes for the future and making this world a better place to live in. Go on garbage hunts; keep our home a clean, healthy place to live.

Public Transit

Greetings!
Today we will take a look at a commercial created by the Environmental Defense Fund that encourages Americans to fight global warming by taking the public transit instead of driving.



The Environmental Defense Fund is a national non-profit organization that started in 1967 and now has over 500,000 members. This campaign is meant to educate Americans and give a wake-up call that global warming is a very serious environmental issue that is extremely dangerous and needs urgent help to fight it.
The organization creates commercials where American citizens can relate because of the familiarity but they add an element that strike viewers and try to impact their feelings to make viewers relate yet be enlightened by that striking element in the commercials.

We randomly selected 2 people in the cafeteria who volunteered to spend a few minutes of their time to watch the commercial and write the impact it had on them in a paragraph and this is what we got:

Sabrina
"The ad was very simple in portraying what they wanted at the end, in case people did not fully understand the commercial (like me). I am not so aware about the polar bears so I am guessing that they are becoming extinct like a lot of the animals in the world. But I do understand the main point of the ad is to take the public transit and carpool instead of driving and wasting the earth's resources. I already do take the public transit due to convenience and lack of money because I am a student. And I am aware that I am helping the environment and that is what makes me happy. I do try to do little things here and there like recycle when I can and conserve electricity and water at home because that is what I learned while growing up. It also burns my money if I do use too much of the resources also, so I believe that also helps me care more.
Overall, the ad was very well thought out and the idea is very memorable. The polar bears were really cute and I believe that helps the younger people connect to the message (like the little girl in the ad that ran to them)."

Milton
"The impact was more of a reminder for me since I am aware of global warming and have watched Al Gore's 'Inconvenient Truth' documentary about the polar bears. The documentary was quite shocking and left a big impression on me but even so, I don't believe I have changed much from what I usually do. From using public transit and my bike to get around to recycling my garbage and trying to be more green in my daily purchases and decisions, it's the same as I was before. But what the documentary did was helped broaden my knowledge about the world issue and share it with people to start caring and start doing something (even if it's small) about the environment.
The idea of the polar bears inflating over the subway vents on the street was really smart and I believe that it will work for all kinds of people because it's such a simple message and straight forward. And if all fails, the messages at the end will portray the meaning behind the ad, so it will not fail. I loved the ad and would share it with others."

The commercial is not promoting to change everyone's lives drastically but it helps people realize that something so simple as taking the public transit instead of the car will help make a difference. And with each small change that people do, it adds up to a bigger change for the world. The striking element in the normal familiar setting is the plastic inflatable polar bears that inflate on top of the subway air vents on the streets. The dull setting helps the white polar bears stand out and the filming of the people's reactions as they watch the polar bears inflate and move like they are alive shows that people are noticing the element. Even the little girl running to the polar bears show that polar bears are loved by the young generations that will take care of the world after us, so we must take action to save what our children and next generations love and adore.

Public transit has become a normal part of many of our lives to getting around Toronto but there is still not enough people. The fact that people find it inconvenient to go to the corner (already) convenient store and rely on the car tells us a great deal about the sustainable knowledge of the people and where we are heading. There needs to be more ads and awareness about being sustainable in local neighborhoods and more ways to motivate people to incorporating a more sustainable way of living.

Thanks for your time!

EnviroG4

PLASTIC WATER BOTTLES

Hello readers!

This week we will be focusing on limiting the amount of plastic we use on a daily basis, especially in regards to plastic water bottles. One of the easiest ways to minimize your carbon footprint is to stop drinking your water from plastic bottles and invest in a refillable bottle. It may not be something we think about, but as you can see in the picture above, the empty bottles do add up quickly over a period of time.

I looked around Humber and talked with two different students, Marium and Simone, to show them a Brita commercial that demonstrates why we need to reduce the amount of plastic water bottles we drink from and see what their thoughts were on the subject.

This is the commercial they watched.

Although this commercial seems to put more emphasis on buying their product, it does show the viewer why we need to stop using water bottles in a clear and concise manner that is easy for everyone to understand. When I did ask the students if they used Brita filters in their own homes, both of them said that they do not and didn't feel any more inclined to do so after viewing the commercial.

Here is what Marium had to say:

"They [Britia] should provide more to this ad that has to do with health. People prefer convenience over the impact their actions will have on the earth. If you tell them they are going to die, they go crazy. Then again, scare tactics are also bad advertising. I don't normally use water bottles anyways and the information they provided was something I already knew so this commercial doesn't make me think twice about my own habits."

Simone's thoughts contrasted to this:

"You hear from other places that tell you to get into the practice of using one of those stainless steel bottles instead of regular water bottles but it does sort of hit you after watching this commercial. I admit to drinking from water bottles almost daily and now this commercial has guilt-tripped me into thinking twice about using plastic bottles.

Environmental commercials like this one really can help to get people to start evaluating how they can start living their lifes in a way that preserves this world for the future.

Thanks for reading another installment of our blog and hope everyone is having a good time in the warm weather this long weekend!

EnviroG4

Earth Hour 2010

Hey everyone!

EnviroG4 would like to thank all those who took initiative and participated in 2010's Earth Hour!!!

Here are some fun facts about earth hour:

• It started in 2007
• It's celebrated on the last Saturday of March
  
• 121 countries took part this year
  
• This year the A.C.C. turned of there exterior lights during the Leafs vs the Rangers game

For more information please visit http://earthhourcanada.org/earthhour/

David Suzuki Powerwise Commercial

Here is our featured commercial of this week.

(please keep in mind this video is a product of power wise and the David Suzuki Foundation)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDi6R2a-r0c&feature=related

More commercials and information can be found at www.davidsuzuki.org

ELECTRICITY

Hey I'm back and this week our topic is on electricity!

Over the course of this week I went around school interviewing people about the different ads they have seen. Not to my surprise many people mention David Suzuki and his Power Wise ads. Many of the people I interviews enjoyed these commercials due to their humor and the simple fact that a celebrity was making a difference. I later asked if the commercials seen were inspiring them to want to make a change. One girl in particular, Gina, stated that these commercials have made her think about the energy that her and her family consume and the amount of that energy they have wasted. I went further with this and asked the students if they felt other people were getting the message as well. One guy, Jamie, felt that people were getting the message but feels there needs to me more awareness for the younger generations. I asked him to elaborate and he moved further to state that the younger generations will at some point have to face the repercussions of their wastefulness. Young people should be conserving in order to ensure a better life for themselves and for their children.
When asking how these commercials could be more affective and acknowledged many people suggested that more celebrities should be involved in bringing awareness because it feels as though someone familiar is inspiring them to get the message.
Earth hour is this weekend, March 27th at 8pm, I asked the students if they would be participating in this activity. Many of them said yes because its something fun, efficient, and they enjoy the fact that its something to celebrate.

I hope that everyone will be joining in the power save during earth hour and I will be presenting a brief post of my experience on March 27th!

Hope you all enjoyed today's post

Thank you
EnviroG4

WELCOME

Hi Everyone!

We are a group of 4 Students from Toronto, Ontario studying the environment.
Our goal is to discover if people are aware of the ads that are being presented to us today about the environment and if they are really helping people to be aware of what is truly going on out there.
We will manly be focusing on television ads.

Every week we will have a featuring topic such as pollution or electricity and through our studies at Humber College we will interview fellow peers to find out their opinions on the ads. At the end of each week a video regarding our featured topic will be posted to inspire people as well as during each week we will presenting posts based on the information we have collected from our peers.


We hope this blog will also inspire you, the reader, to want to make a difference and to truly understand the things that are going on today in order to protect our future for generations to come.

Thank you

EnviroG4
The World Is In Your Hands