IHSS Blog 2019-2020

Jordan chase Roddy IHSS March 30, 2020 Sustainability in Fashion  fashion week is a twice annual event that allows the fashion industry to preview their garments for publishers before the start of the season. However the fashion industry and fashion week are not sustainable. Fashion week was responsible for 37 percent of the carbon emitted annually. and the system in which manufacturers preview their product is slowly being faded out was fast fashion retailers can create whole collections in two weeks. more clothes are being made globally. Clothing production has  roughly doubled  since 2000. The fashion industry now produces  150 billion items annually. This increase of production is responsible for 10 percent of the carbon emissions. while it might seem that abolishing fashion week will solve the sustainability issue facing the fashion world but it would not eve dent the immense amount of waste created. in response what some fashion houses could do is re u...

Luke Kirchner      I chose to read the article "Objects Made by Prisoners in the United States". This was a very interesting article, as it showed what it's like to be in an American prison and how they make some objects. When Prisoners are in prison, the severity of their punishments can vary, but the lack of creative freedom is often detrimental to each prisoner. This lack of freedom can sometimes drive their creativity to make their own objects, showing off individual expression. Some items like pens and toothbrushes were not given in the full form, due to the fear of prisoners turning them into weapons. Instead, the prisoners thought about how they could fix these problems. The article says "The items shown here, made by inmates in the U.S. prison system, illustrate the severity of restrictions imposed on prisoners as well as the human instinct to persevere through creativity and invention" (The Atlantic).      They took the ink cartridge for the p...

Blake Peterson Mr. Roddy  IHSS 26 March 2020  15$ Minimum Wage  The article I read talked about a law passed in Seatle that raised the minimum wage from 9$ an hour to 15$ an hour. Almost instantly the new law had some good and bad effects on businesses and workers. One company the article talks about is a local restaurant named, Dick’s Drive-In. The employees working at dick’s decided to work fewer hours because of the increase in pay. With the employees working fewer hours, Dick’s had to rais their prices to be able to pay for more employees. At other businesses, employees said they felt like there was more moral to do their jobs well and they felt like they were more appreciated by their employer. Even businesses that were already paying 15$ an hour were affected. They had to raise their hourly wages to be able to compete for employees with the other companies. I think higher wages could be good because everyone would like to get paid more and it could make ...

Ariana Luk Mr. Roddy IHSS 26 March 2020 Innovative Minds of Inmates Life behind bars is restricting, not only in treatment and behavior but also in resources. Materials used in day to day life may not be allowed inside prisons limiting what the inmates may an may not use. An example would be toothbrushes  " Prison officials fear that the hard handles of typical toothbrushes will be converted into weapons." This inconvenient   restriction  forced inmates  to their  creative limits and thus produced  their own toothbrushes with limited supplies. Their  innovative  minds were not only limited to creating daily essentials  but could also make things for their   personal  wants, convenience  and entertainment. Some found objects were tattoo  guns, an electric water heater and dice. these items must be hidden or they would be confiscated  by the guards.  The restriction  of these items reflect  the ...

Connor Kissack IHSS Mr. Roddy  25 March 2020 Handmade Prisoner Objects The article that I read showed many objects made by prisoners. These objects were not made to be weapons of any sorts, but to be used to fulfill boredom and have other essential functions. Some of the objects that were shown were a dice, a tattoo gun, pens, electric water heater, a weight-lifting glove, a coffee kit, and a toothbrush. The creators of these items are pretty ingenious as they use materials that are non lethal or a way of an escape method by the inmates. In my personal opinion, I think that the creation of the dice is incredible because instead of being made by a rock material, which is easily confiscated by prison guards, the inmates have used hardened bread and mold it into the shape of a cube to create these dice. In the article it states that “The items shown here illustrate the severity of restrictions imposed on prisoners as well as the human instinct to persevere through creativi...

Sustainability in the Fashion Industry      As Fashion Week comes to an end in New York, many are concerned with a big problem in the Fashion Industry: sustainability... or, lack thereof. Presented on the runway were many different collections made with things like recycled fishnets and reusable water bottles; there was even a show that was entirely inspired by rising sea levels.      Though raising awareness for pollution and advocating for sustainability is a wonderful thing, advocating for environmental sustainability at Fashion Week couldn't be more ironic. According to an article on Gizmodo.com, " New York Fashion Week alone was responsible for 37 percent of the 241,000 tons of carbon emitted annually." But the events of Fashion Week alone aren't the problem here: it's the fashion industry itself. " It will have to to do more to clean up its act than putting on a few eco-conscious shows and buying some carbon offsets here and there."   ...

The United States has a massive prison system containing around a quarter of prisoners worldwide, in 2019 alone 2.3 million people were incarcerated. America's prisoners are kept in the almost 7,000 jails, which are not cheap it reportedly costs 80 billion dollars annually to run these facilities. 80 billion dollars might seem like a lot, but it has to be shared by all 7,000 prison. This lack of funding is reflected in the poor conditions seen in these facilities, and though you don't want a prison to be comfortable many argue that the current standards are inhuman. incarceration rate, sometimes keeping people in jail double the time they might serve for the same crime in another country. Combined the longer sentences, poor conditions, and lack of resources have caused prisoners to be forced to get creative when they need or want something. A recent article by the Atlantic showed off 7 inventions made by prisoners. The items ranged from small simple things like the toothbr...

     As of the February New York Fashion week this year, it has been made clear that a big new trend is starting with designers: sustainability. This is extremely important because a recent report on how much carbon the industry emits each year for travel related to New York's fashion week alone showed that it is responsible for a whopping 37% of the 241,000 tons of carbon emitted annually. The problem however has proven not to be at the fault of the events, but it is at the fault of the industry as a whole. There are two Fashion Weeks each year, one in February and one in September, and they were originally designed to give fashion editors and buyers a chance to preview the collections from the designers that were to-be-released six months later. As the industry has changed over the years that original system has become outdated. Production of clothing globally has sped up a lot in recent years and has been shown to have doubled since the year 2000. This means that compa...

A new theme of New York's Fashion Week seems to be sustainability, with models donning reused plastics and other products. The irony of this trend is that the process and production of these pieces don't support its environmental message since Fashion Week is responsible for 37 percent of the global yearly carbon emission. Fashion Week takes place twice every year for a week to showcase new designs, but with the emergence of fast fashion where designs are taken from the catwalk and being sold in retail, some brands in different cities are having shows weekly in order to keep up with the demands for the changes in trends and styles. As the increase in production has pushed the rest of the industry to come out with more clothing every year, the way that people have responded to this movement has had a major impact on the environment. Fashion Week's statement about sustainable fashion can raise awareness for the preservation of our environment, but if they aren't using the...

Leon Hoang Mr. Roddy IHSS 26 March, 2020  Prisoners design what they can't buy Usually in prison, there is not much to do besides daily activities so some prisoners must find a way to pass the time. Other times they need essential items and sometimes prisons do not allow the use of some objects for fear of them becoming weaponized. This means some of the prisoners have to create their own items out of unexpected materials. Outside research has determined that only a few objects are allowed in prison, books, musical instruments, gaming devices, and strangely birds as pets. In New York, there was a museum that had a exhibit dedicated to showing items made by prisoners that they could not obtain. This shows the limitation of these people but also the creativity so that they can make these objects. Some examples include; pens, toothbrushes, tattoo guns, dice, and others. To create a pen, the casing was removed on a pen to avoid being melted down to create a weapon, so the in...

     In 2014, Seattle passed a minimum wage law that would increase its minimum wage over time from $9 per hour to $15 per hour. Minimum wage is one of the most relevant topics in today's topics, especially now during the democratic primaries. During these 6 years, several things have been happening, some of which I think are bound to have happened. In a fast food restaurant, workers have been working fewer hours and the restaurant had to raise their prices for the first time in a long time. Another restaurant business had to actually close its doors because it became too hard to pay the expensive rent for the property. On the other side of the spectrum with the workers, they seem to be having a much better time. According to minimum wage worker Martin Johnson (who actually works three different jobs), all of the workers seem to be living much happier lives and have higher self-esteems. Having high morale also means that working is easier and therefore more efficient. ...

Tyler Holland Mr. Roddy IHSS 26 March 2020 Recovering Ecosystems A large challenge for stopping the increasing problems that we face with air pollution and other environmental problems, is that humans are natural control freaks. People try so hard to invent new ways to control the risks that our Earth faces instead of just trying to let nature do its work. Isabella and Charlie, a couple who owned farmland in England, came to the realization that nature solves its own problems, after they had a run in with a feared weed for many farmers. Once they discovered the 'cursed thistle' in their farms they feared the worst as it spread so quickly, but they had decided to let it happen because using pesticides and chemicals was not an option for them. After a while they started to see a flourishing environment in their acres that they had not seen there before, painted lady butterflies flew across the land and after a while caterpillars were crawling all over their 60 acres and ea...

Nora Mayral Boyle IHSS 26 March 2020 Unsustainability in the Fashion Industry The fashion industry is unsustainable, producing a monstrous amount of garments every single year- 150 billion every single year, or about 20 garments for every single living person. Even more, people are getting rid of and replacing clothing at an increasingly higher rate. Since 2000 the lifespan of the average garment’s lifespan has gone down by about  30-35%, meaning that garments are also being thrown away at higher rates. Since garments are worn less, more is thrown away. Every second, a truckload worth of clothes are burned, or dumper in a landfill. Considering manufacturing and disposal, this industry is worth about 10% of global carbon emissions. New York’s fashion week is shown to be responsible for about 37% of these emissions.  Fashion week was created to allow buyers to see upcoming collections. This week happens twice a year and would showcase a fall/winter collection and a sp...

Raising Minimum Wage In this article, it talks about how Seattle passed a law in 2014 to raise the minimum wage to $15/hour by 2021. But, as positive as this seems, this has left implications with most businesses in the Seattle/Tacoma area. For an example, when this law was first passed in 2014, a local burger-joint's employees began to work less hours, even as their wages rose. The president of Dick's even mentioned that that the company had to raise their food prices overall, to makeup for the cost of the labor by itself. Some other businesses similar to Dick's have also seen their costs go up, and even though Dick's already gives their workers above minimum wage pay, the pressure for higher wages brings businesses to various predicaments, even if they're already above the minimum threshold.  Seattle's law has also opened an even larger debate about wage increases, and it's greater impact. This debate has become a central issue with the top two Democra...

Jeremy Chen Mr. Roddy IHSS 25 March 2020 Electric cars and gasoline cars I read an article about how electric cars are better for the environment than a 50 mpg gasoline car. A 2018 study found that only 6% of Americans live in a region where electric vehicles power generation emissions are worse than a 50 mpg car. The study analysed the emissions from fuelling and driving both types of vehicles. In the more pollutant heavy regions of America, the average electric vehicle would only emit as much as a 39 mpg gasoline car. The article also talked about how emission ratings of electric vehicles are improving every year as the 2018 estimates are an improvement on the data from 2016. 94% of Americans live in a region where driving an electric vehicle produces fewer emissions than driving a gasoline car. The study also used a 2020 Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus which was the "most efficient electric vehicle". Lastly, the study confirms that a larger electric vehicle is ...

Ellery Germain 4/25/20 IHSS Throughout the years there have been many discussions about how electric cars are better for the environment than Gasoline cars. One of the problems for gasoline cars is that workers have to extract oil from the ground. For an electric car, there is no need to extract oil for the car. On the transportation front, electric cars lower America's transportation emission numbers. While the nation continues to find more renewable sources of energy, electric cars will continue to improve their emissions ratings. Following that, 94 percent of Americans are living in an area where driving an EV produces fewer emissions than a new Toyota or Honda would. With a wider look, as the electric cars are improving, the power grid is also improving with it. Electric cars also help with global warming because electric cars will produce less than half the global warming than gasoline models. With all of that, it is seen that electric cars are found much better for th...

Sofi Savarese Mr. Roddy  IHSS 3/26/20 Is Fashion Week Bad For The Environment?   Recently during fashion week, a new trend is beginning to start, promoting sustainability. Fashion week is a time where designers can show their collection that they will be selling in the upcoming season, so that fashion editors, buyers, and magazines have an opportunity to preview the collection that they could be representing. Because this is such a big event, New York's Fashion Week was responsible for 37% of the 241,000 tons of carbon that is emitted annually. Even though the singular events are very problematic, they are not the problem, the entire industry is. In the past, there have only been two main fashion weeks, but due to higher demand, fashion weeks have been occurring more often. Because of this, the clothing is being made globally at a more rapid pace. Since 2000 the production rate has doubled with 150 Billion clothing items being produced a year. This amount of p...

Kilali Latter Mr. Roddy IHSS 26 March 2020 Raising Minimum Wage In 2014 Seattle passed a $15 minimum wage law that would progressively raise minimum wage until 2021. This minimum wage law has led to varied results for businesses and workers. The pay raise has also boosted morale and brought more dignity to the workers. Workers are feeling more appreciated when they do something for $15 compared to when they do that same thing for $9. Although there is higher pay some workers have opted for fewer hours or were only offered fewer hours. For businesses, there were many different results from this minimum wage increase. Fire & Vive Hospitality decided to change their business model to work with the minimum wage increase. Since they have changed their business model they have seen tremendous growth and this wage increase was more beneficial than hurtful to them. On the other hand, some businesses have been unable to pay for the higher labor costs as well as their other expens...

Emilio San Vicente Mr. Roddy HISS 26/3/2020 Objects that were Made by Prisoners So for this topic I will like to introduce how interesting and creative can humans be in any circumstance whether it is their homes or in the prisons. So we said that the human can solusionate problems with some tools and creativity but how about we go prisons how interesting will be to know how does this people can live without to many options to create something, well you might think that if they have any opportunity to create something it would a weapon, but actually there are cases were it is funny to see the creations of the prisiones. Well in the article that I read, it is called “Objects Made by Prisoners In the United States” and actually it was very interesting to read because it explains the different materials that the prisoners used and also the functions that every piece of object can do. For example we can find toothbrushes, coffee kits, Weight-lifting gloves etc. In some case...

Adrian Perez  Mr. Roddy IHSS March 25th, 2020 Prisoner Designs https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/03/viewfinder-made-in-the-usa/605527/   The article I read was about everyday things prisoners have made while in prison. Prisoners don’t have the privilege of everyday items. A museum in New York had an exhibit dedicated to the modern world. The objects shown in the exhibit were made by prisoners in the U.S. Prison System. They illustrate the restriction that prisoners have, but also the creativity used to make these objects. Many of the things on this list are things we take for granted. Things such as pens, coffee kits, toothbrushes, to even weight-lifting gloves. Most of us when were need another toothbrush, could go out and buy another one. These prisoners don’t have that privilege. They have to use the things guards give them to make these everyday things. Prisoners aren’t given already made things because they could make weapons out of them. Priso...

              America as a country is increasingly turning our focus towards environmental standards. The latest revolution in protecting the environment is the electric car. While they produce no emissions while driving, the emissions associated with creating the power used for the car is lower than gasoline cars by a large margin. By 2018 data, only 6% of Americans lived in an area where the power generation is worse environmentally than a 50 MPG car. The place in America where electric vehicles have the lowest MPG equivalent is still 8 MPG better than the average gas car. The cars are only looking to become more efficient. They improved their emissions by 10% from 2016 to 2018. Anyone who is looking to make a significant impact for the better should purchase one of the electric vehicles. If most people took to driving an electric car, emissions would be halved.                The electric vehicle revolution i...

The article I decided to read was about how companies in Seattle have been able to continue working since the raising minimum wage. In 2014 a law was passed in Seattle to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2021. In 2014, the minimum wage in Seattle was $9.19, in 2020 the minimum wage goes from $13.50 to $16.39. By increasing the minimum wage businesses thought that this would ake workers work more hours to get more money. They were completely wrong since the pay increased some workers wanted to work fewer hours. Other workers such as Martin Johnson, who work multiple minimum wage jobs feel that the increase in the pay makes them feel needed and important. Multiple stores and restaurants have had to close due to the increased minimum wage. Since the increase in the minimum wage, there has also been an increase in leasings and mortgages. I found it interesting that some of these minimum waged workers decide to work fewer hours to make the same amount of money that they did make ...

Isaak Townsend Mining has been part of our world for a long time but is it time to look to another place to do it, the ocean floor. The floor of the ocean opens up a vast expanse of land to mine more than whats on the continents. The idea of mining on the ocean floor is an interesting one the eminence pressure would cause a lot of innovations to be made, it would without a doubt be a very profitable business once it got running. There are some ethical issues associated with it, the procedures that they are proposing would involve taking in a large amount of sediment then filtering out anything of value then expelling the unnecessary sediment back into the bottom of the ocean the problem with this is that the sediment contains minerals such as lead and other minerals that are toxic to marine life and this would kill fish and disturb ecosystems for many miles. This way or mining and disturbing ecosystems would not just harm fishermen but it could harm the air, around 80% of the total am...

Ariela Kluk Mr. Roddy IHSS 3/ 25/ 202 Fashion week goes environmental Designers are trying to use recycled materials for their designs, they have presented collections using recycled fishing nets and water bottles. New York fashion week was in charge of 37% of the hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon which are added to the environment every year, their are two shows a year in two big cities. The pollution added to the environment is not comparable to the eco friendly fashion shows they are having to try to reduce the pollution. The point of Fashion week is to give buyers and editors a chance to see the collection 6 months prior to when they are released. Recently the industry has changed because new trends have occurred and new fashion lines are coming out in under two weeks. Designers have upgraded their collections to the trends and quickened their process of production because after fashion week, fake brands steal their designs and make replicas before they can sell t...

Possible Minimum Wage Growth This CNBC article about minimum wage discusses the raise of minimum wage to fifteen dollars in Seattle, and how this would work in the rest of the country. The article has some evidence that workers tend to work less when their wages are raised drastically, which caused some companies to have to raise their prices for the first time in decades. The minimum wage in Seattle in 2014 was around nine dollars, and a bill was passed that said that by 2021 the minimum wage would be $15 dollars. All of the evidence used in this article comes from Seattle because their minimum wage is now around $14 and nearing its set point for next year, however Seattle is a very booming economy right now as said in this article, so it would be very difficult to use this for judging what the federal minimum wage would be. Personally, I think that raising minimum wage to 15 on a federal level would not be a very smart decision in the eyes of our country as a whole, because many ...

Andres  Yengle Mr. Roddy IHSS 25 March 2020 Electric Cars The article I read was about electric cars and how the electric cars in America produce much less carbon emissions than a 50 mpg car. In America a study found that only 6% of Americans live in an area where a 50 mpg car produces less carbon emissions than an electric car. This study wasn’t focused on the carbon emissions produced while the cars are driving but the carbon emissions of what is used to power the car. For a gasoline car, that means looking at emissions from extracting crude oil from the ground, moving the oil to a refinery, making gasoline and transporting gasoline to filling stations. For electric vehicles, the calculation included both power plant emissions and emissions from the production of coal, natural gas and other fuels power plants use. When looked at all the factors for both electric vehicles and gas vehicles it was shown that electric vehicles produced much less carbon emissions. In some parts o...