Journal Week 1

1. What is service-learning? What does it mean for different stakeholders? The community you are serving? The faculty teaching the course? The DSS program? And yourself?

Service-learning is a broader umbrella that encompasses community service, field education, volunteerism, and Internship. It is a form of education that involves reflection and hands-on experience, which address societal needs. It promotes learning under historical, sociological, cultural, economic, and political issues. 

For me as a student in a curricular program, by engaging in a project that satisfies community needs, service-learning becomes an excellent opportunity for me to achieve my desired learning goals, while also strengthening my general disciplines, such as group collaboration, communication, and decision-making skills. 

Reciprocity can be defined as the position for service-learning educators or different stakeholders. They are in partnership with the community, balancing the needs and wants of both the institution and the community. Being both the contributor and beneficiary, reciprocity ensures that all the services are conducted for the needs of the community. 

On the other side of the reciprocity, the community we are serving is also the contributor and beneficiary in service-learning. The community engaged in the program contributes in a way to provide valuable environment and resources for students to investigate. Being the client of service-learning, they also benefit from these services, namely, extra assistance and energy, new solutions to existing issues, additional research, budgetary savings, and so on.

In terms of pedagogy, the faculty teaching the course sees service-learning as a powerful educational tool, ensuring that students are learning while performing hands-on experiences. Their job is to regulate students’ service-learning activities that best fit their education goals.

2. Time is very precious in our busy modern-day life. Why are you devoting your precious time to community service?

Just like what the reading elucidates, Service-learning is also a philosophy of “human growth and purpose, a social vision, an approach to community, and a way of knowing” (Kendall, 1990, p. 23). It is a philosophy of reciprocity since all parties benefit from the community service. By performing such services, one moves “from charity to justice, from service to the elimination of need”(Jacoby, p. 5).

3. Research about plastic, what types of plastic exist? how do you recognize it? 

According to the classification system established by The Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI), manufacturers place an SPI number on each plastic product, usually molded into the bottom. This allows consumers and recyclers to identify different types of plastic.

1) PET(E)/Polyethylene Terephthalate: 

  • Commonly recycled
  • used to make many common household items like beverage bottles, medicine jars, rope, and clothing
  • sometimes absorbs odors from foods and drinks that are stored in them

2)HDPE/High-Density Polyethylene: 

  • Commonly recycled
  • very safe and are not known to transmit any chemicals into foods or drinks
  • Items made from this plastic include containers for milk, motor oil, shampoos and conditioners, soap bottles, detergents, and bleaches
  • never safe to reuse it as a food or drink container if it didn’t originally contain food or drink 

3) PVC/Polyvinyl Chloride 

  • Sometimes recycled
  •  used for all kinds of pipes and tiles, commonly found in plumbing pipes
  • should not come in contact with food items as it can be harmful if ingested

4) LDPE/Low-Density Polyethylene 

  • Sometimes recycled
  • a very healthy plastic that tends to be both durable and flexible
  • used as cling-film, sandwich bags, squeezable bottles, and plastic grocery bags

5) PP/Polypropylene

  •  Occasionally recycled
  • strong and can usually withstand higher temperatures
  • used to make lunch boxes, margarine containers, yogurt pots, syrup bottles, prescription bottles, plastic bottle caps
  1. 6)Polystyrene/PS 
  • Commonly recycled, but difficult 
  • Items such as disposable coffee cups, plastic food boxes, plastic cutlery, and packing foam

7) Code 7/Other 

  • Difficult to recycle
  • used to designate miscellaneous types of plastic not defined by the other six codes
  • Polycarbonate(PC) and Polylactide are included in this category
  • PC is used in baby bottles, compact discs, and medical storage containers

4. What is trash? Where does it go? How does it affect our environment? Discuss how landfills, and the toxicity they create — methane, leachate, greenhouse gases — impact our environment. Why is leachate in our aquifers a bad thing?

For me, trash is anything that is deprived of meaning and without existence. I do recycle trash, but when I throw something away, it is useless and meaningless to me. It is no longer my possession anymore. I believe most people are like me (most new yorkers), they do not care about where their trash goes or the aftermath of them. Whenever the topic of environmental impact is brought up, they will admit and lament on the toxicity landfills create, the pollution trash causes, and the low awareness of recycling. However, after that, they are still indifferent to trash, throwing them away as quickly as possible.

 

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