Class Presentations

Please put your name next to whichever class presentation you want to do, starting next Thursday, May 28th.
1. Do Oral presentation at the start of class
2. Put up written presentation on class blog afterwards

Thursday, May 28th : The Best, Most Innovative and Useful, Recently Invented Product - MILENA
Tuesday, June 2nd: The Most Useless, Recently Invented Product - ALEJANDRA
Thursday, June 4th: The Best Way To Communicate - ALVARO
Tuesday, June 9th: The Worst Way To Communicate - PRISILLA
Thursday, June 11th: The Best Ways To Fundraise - FABIOLA
Tuesday, June 16th: The Best Ways to reduce teenage "boredom" and in turn, teenage delinquency. - PABLO

"Red Eye Frogx an Eco-Friendly Company than sells Organic Clothing and Apparel" by Pablo Q.

The company offers stylish eco-friendly clothing and apparel at a reasonable price. The also donate 80% of their profits to the Vida Marina Foundation in Drake Bay. Vida Marina Foundation was founded in 2004 in order to create and maintain a protected marine area off the coast of the Osa Peninsula, on the South Pacific side of Costa Rica. In the future, the company plans on working with other foundations in Costa Rica who are dedicated to preserving the environment and species.

They offer men’s t-shirts, made of 70% bamboo, 20% organic cotton and 10% cannabis. They have women’s organic cotton and hemp v-neck shirts and tank tops in multiple colors. The company also has organic cotton tote bags and hats made of bamboo and cotton.

Prices are expected to range between $1200 and $5000, depending on the product. They said that prices are elevated but “it's for a good cause”.

The company plans on having their products in stores throughout the United States and Costa Rica. Launched online in September 2008, the site offers a range of eco-friendly fashions including men’s t-shirts, women’s shirts and tank tops, tote bags, and hats.

The company’s goal is to provide customers with eco-friendly fashion while also bringing public awareness and support to Costa Rican foundations who are working to preserve the environment and species.

DULL

Class Vocabulary to check out - please google and extend this whenever a new word comes up in class

orondo,-a :
fat, fatty
self-confident

anchorage :
the condition of being secured to a base; "the plant needs a firm anchorage"; "the mother provides emotional anchorage for the entire family"
a fee for anchoring
a city in south central Alaska; "Anchorage is the largest city in Alaska"
place for vessels to anchor
the act of anchoring

groan:
a low sound associated with extended suffering, sorrow and complaint

New eco-packages arrived to the country

By Alejandra Vargas

This new product is made 100% with natural fibers, but it costs 80% more than plastic ones

In order to decrease contamination produced by plastic and glass packages, a new material basically made from african palm (Elaeis guineensis) arrived to Costa Rica.

One of the properties of this product is its degradation period that naturally takes 90 days, and produces water, carbon and humus (superficial layer of the ground).

The product was created by a Chinese enterprise named Ecological Packaging and it will be distributed in Costa Rica the next month by the firm Musa Green.

This material is biodegradable and non toxic, so it can be used to make different types of packages to wrap fruits, vegetables and other cold and hot comestible products.  It has the permission of the FDA, the North American agency that approves each drug in the market.

The packages can be stores for months and begin to discompose only when it enters in contact with light or water. The result of this decomposition it organic fertilizer, so recycling is not necessary.

The price is 80% more expensive than then one for normal packages mad of plastic and glass. For example: if a plastic plate normally costs ¢30, this one made with fiber would cost ¢36.

The production process of this material is catalogued as an industrial secret. However, it is known that the fiber is taken from the bunch and fruits (coconuts) of the African palm. Then, the fiber is crushed to get a bulk that is molded and put at high temperatures. “This material has neither special additives nor colorants: it’s 100% natural” pointed out Mario Wong, from Musa Green. 

Nature Air by Prisilla

Nature Air
Prisilla Lopez


Nature Air is an environmentally Friendly Airline that works in Costa Rica since 2004 . The main objectives are to promote ecotourism in the country, support local initiatives , support organizations that develop Sustainable Tourism and activities related with environment preservation.
Also the airlaine use a 1% of their earnings in proyects related with enviroment conservation such as restoration , recycling , enviromental campains in education centers , renovacion soil etc .

What Nature Air does to protect the enviroment ?

Nature Air reduces the impact on the environment in the daily work with activities such as :

· Invest the dollar equivalent to offset dioxide carbon emissions in forest restoration.
· Recycle all papers or plastic they use to work.
· Provide bus transportation to their employees to avoid cars contaminating the environment.
· Promote car pooling.
· Use bio fuel insteadof normal fuel.
· Reduce carbon foot print .

How they promote Ecotourism?

They promote ecotourism using air transportation with bio fuel instead of normal fuel , also it avoid cars on the streets that contribuites to the air pollution producing CO2 .

With the different destinations Nature Air succeed in making our country a Beautiful place to visit and also helps to create conscious about how human is destroying the nature. Nature Air shows you" How you can travel in Costa Rica without affecting the environment ".

Nature Air destiations are:

• Arenal
• Barra del Colorado
• Golfito
• Liberia
• Limón
• Nosara
• Palma Sur
• Puerto Jimenez
• Punta Islita
• Quepos
• Samara
• San José
• Tamarindo
• Tambor
• Tortuguero
• Peninsula de Osa
  
  Is necessary to mention the economic and social guidelines that Nature Air applies , as a policy to reduce impact in the enviroment .
  
  Economic Guidelines

· Assess economic impacts before making decisions.
· Maximize local economic benefits by increasing linkages and reducing leakages.
· Ensure communities are involved in and benefit from our operations.
· Assist with local marketing and product development.
· Promote equitable business and pay fair prices

. Social Guidelines
· Involve local communities in planning and decision making.
· Assess social impacts of tourism activities.
· Respect social and cultural diversity.
· Be sensitive to the host culture.
· Provide complimentary air lift for local communities in case of emergencies.
· Develop English Language Schools thru Nature Kids Foundation.

Nature Air flights has been increasing every year, and had become an important and recognize airline in Central America since the people has known what has been happen with the environment . Their sales increased in 5%in 2008 and they hope a increase of 2.5% in 2012 .

This Airlaine is a real example of enviromental friendly business in Costa Rica , it is a guide that many companies ccould follow to reduce the impact in the nature .

Let’s try and help the environment!

Glosary

Foot print : foot print are all the activities done by the human that has as a result CO2 emissions , for example the car’s engine when burn fuel produce CO2 or when you use electricity in your house watching TV , using the microwave etc . Having as a result the global warming or green house effect.

Global warming or green house effect : global warming or green house is produced by gas emissions such as methane and ozone that destroy the ozone layer. Ecotourism: ecotourism is called ecological tourism, where they promote to visit places without having impact in the environment, having respect for nature, and an important objective is that tries to help the community around the places that people visit .

"Pilot" (30 Rock episode) by Pablo Quirós

30 rock is a comedy series created by Tina Fey. Tina Fey is a North American writer, comedian, actress and producer. The series takes place behind the scenes of a fictional live sketch comedy series depicted as airing on NBC, not too dissimilar to Saturday Night Live, Fey’s previous occupation. The name “30 Rock” refers to the address of the NBC studio (30 Rockefeller Plaza). The show sports a brand of quirky, offbeat humour and with it they tackle political issues as well as the inner workings of a comedy show and the particular personalities it takes to pull it off week after week.

In the first episode two of the main characters were introduced. This episode was called “Pilot”.
In this episode Liz Lemon (Fey’s character) and her producer Pete meet with “The Girlie Show”'s new network executive Jack Donaghy, brilliantly played by Alec Baldwin as a stern capitalist and life-long republican with questionable corporate ties to the government. Jack asks Liz to hire Tracy Jordan (played by Tracy Morgan, one Fey’s former SNL’s colleagues), who is a star of the film “Honkey Grandma Be Trippin'”. She is skeptical as Tracy has a history of problematic, childish behaviour. Jenna will also be introduced in this episode, as the current star of the show within the show, she portrays the typically insecure actress that requires Lemon's attention more often than the rest of the cast and crew.

Against her own judgement, Lemon meets Tracy at a restaurant, but when Tracy discovers that he does not like the food they go to another restaurant. Liz tried to convince Tracy not to join The Girlie Show, but amidst all the chaos, Liz also learns that Jack fired Pete earlier that day. Later on, Liz Lemon sends Tracy out on stage to talk off the last bit of the show, much to The Girlie Show studio audience's delight and Jenna's shock. Backstage, Liz forces Jack to rehire Pete and to promise to guarantee pretty prima dona Jenna job security. And hence are introduced the basic team dynamics of the show.

Mar viva foundation, by Milena

Mar viva is a foundation which is in charge of protecting the seas, all the marine resources and the coasts. It helps to implement laws to protect and save the marine resources, from people or companies which want to exploit the natural resources. They work in order to establish more and new reserves and to look after the obey of the laws and all the restrictions.

They are not against the use of the marine resources, they believe in it but in a sustainable development, this resources are from all of us, so it doesn't has to be own for only one person. Another thing they want to emphasis is that we are not along, there are others species which need this resources to live too.

Mar viva has offices en Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Spain and Mexico. They have their own director, and protect the Pacific and the Caribbean coast.

In Costa Rica they are in charge for the protection of the Coco's Island and Osa Reserve, where they provide patrol actions in order to prevent illegal fishing, legal and technical assistance, promote the protection of the areas, alternative ways of fishing and give money to others organisations to help in the protection of the natural areas.

Environmentally Friendly and Productive Development in Upala by Fabiola

Upala is a village in the North of Alajuela which is located near the border with Nicaragua. It is an agricultural area that produces mainly rice and beans. It has a population of more than 25000 people and there is a 18.3% of analphabetism.

Since January 2009 the Upala's Development Associations Union is executing a new project which is financed by the European Union, the Central American Bank of Economic Integration and other state institutions and local organizations. The project is called "Environmentally Friendly and Productive Development" and will last 22 months.

The project goal is to create 100 production plants or farms which will benefit 100 families who live near the border with Nicaragua. It promotes the local food production, looking for quality products which contain enough protein, minerals, vitamins and carbohydrates. The idea is to cultivate different kinds of vegetables, fruits, and the breeding of chicken and pork for the consumption of each family by using low cost and environmentally friendly technologies. These families were living in extreme poverty and all of their members suffer of malnutrition.

The families will receive medical attention and workshops on how to produce food and eat healthy, this way they can start improving their life quality. It is expected that at the end of the project they will continue producing food for themselves indefinitely.

Environmentally Friendly Project by Alvaro Chacon V.

This project is about a wood furniture design company that decided to do a research on the route that one tree follows after being cut down. It’s a very interesting initiative for me especially because there are Costa Rican people connected with the idea and that’s the kind of news that we have to know.
This project is located in a small indigenous community in the tropical forest of north east Nicaragua with the idea to find adequate solutions for the development of the industry at a time of concern about climate change.
The project picked up Nicaragua from a list of countries that included Tanzania, Tajikistan, Vanuatu, Tonga and Yemen well know all round the world by their richness in natural and wood resources
The research showed that in Nicaragua 99% of the trees that are cut down are to make way for planting and pasture land and only 1% is cut down for its wood from which just the trunk is used, while in Costa Rica 94% is used on different kind of products and just the 6% is wasted.
In the project developed every part of the tree were going to be used: the leaves, the bark, the branches and the roots. They designed furniture, craft products, lamps, planks, plywood and energy.
The indigenous were taught with new technologies to improve the process of wood industry and they passed on their knowledge with the idea of finding a balance to create a new environmentally friendly process of development. Nowadays Nicaragua’s indigenous from the community can be seen driving Mercedez and BMW because of the high profits.
The community, the people and the government were transformed in a positive way and they began to exploit their forests in a sustainable way.