For your last blog entry of the year, share your photos, stories and experiences of Ec(h)o!I actually don't have any photos taken from the art show but I can share all my experiences! Well this was my second year participating in the art show, last year it was for construction tech, and this year it was for media arts and design tech. Oh boy, working for two different art course is tough! Especially if you have ALL your quest units out-standing forcing you to stay after school and changing your schedule every minute. Once the art show was up and running I quickly took tours for myself before my shifts for security guarding started, and I was in awe everytime I walked into an art area. The art work this year was just... wow, I can't believe that students I see everyday can come together and create such beautiful artwork with the help of one or two teachers. I have to say that the art show is something I would never forget about Mary Ward, with all the effort and dedication everyone puts in, it's truly inspiring. I must admit art show week was my most hectic and stressful week for me this whole year because I was only able to get my quest units for my art courses done and all my other units had to put them off until the next week, but experiencing the art show for myself truly relieved all the stress I had. Great job in the art show everyone! I can't wait to see next years!
Living in the 21st century with a whole new line of technology in electronics, that we have easily adapted to, has caused us to rely more and more on certain programs that gives us the service that we are in demand of. Since the innovation of mp3s everyone has been relying on programs such as Limewire and Ares to get their desired songs for the price of nothing.
How do you feel about this practice of downloading anything you want for free?
I feel many emotions when it comes to the topic of downloading anything you want for free. I know for a fact that many people choose to use Limewire to download all their songs because I'm one of those people. I know that music downloading for free is wrong because it doesn't allow the artist's albums to be bought. For example if everyone were to download Alicia Key's whole album from Limewire for free then she wouldn't be able to gain profit from her albums that are being sold in stores. But from a different perspective if peope were to download songs for free it's another way for the artists to deliver their music to consumers because not all consumers have the money to purchase their cds. Although it's unfair to the artist, purchasing songs online is unfair to consumers. Companies such as Itunes sell songs for about $1 each, which is, personally unreasonable and waste of money. $1 may not seem like alot but, in our society alot of people listen to music and if we were to purchase a playlist consisting of even just 200 songs (which honestly is not alot of songs) then we would be spending $200 just to listen to approximatly 2 hours of music. Without programs like Limewire that gives us music for free I honestly believe that not alot of people would interact with the media. Downloading music, videos, and games for free through file sharing programs has both it's pros and cons, it all depends on your ethical behaviour towards them.
What kind of footprint do you leave on our planet?
According to the the Ecological Footprint Quiz my footprint is 62.92 global hectares, and if everyone were to live like me we would need 4.01 planets.
How do you feel about this footprint of yours?
Discovering that my footprint was quite large and that we would need approximatly 4 planets made me feel guilty and uncomfortable. It made me feel this way because it made me realized that I, just as one individual leaves such a negative impact on our planet. To be honest, I always believed that all the things I purchase and the things I try to do (like recycling) have always been good enough for the earth. But after completing this quiz it makes me realized that I should be putting in much more effort into reducing my ecological footprint.
If you could change anything about the way you live to lessen your impact, what would it be?
As humans we all have the ability to make a difference in our world, depite the dramatic effects. Changing for the environment is one of the biggest issues our world has today, but if we all choose to do even one task like recycling then the negative impacts we have on the earth will surely lessen. If I were able to change anything about the way I live to lessen my impact, I would probably begin small like, turning off the lights when I'm not in a certain room, making sure all the taps are shut tight so no water is being wasted, and recycle all recyclable products. Starting off small is personally the best way to make a change in bad habits and keep consistant. Once I'm able to maintain a more "green" household, eventually I can begin making better/wiser purchases on all products, and even contribute to organizations that are developed in making our environment a better place.
Do you think that this interactive website is helpful in bringing about change for our future? Why or why not?