For part of last week and part of this week, I was in Texas. For the first few days, I was in Austin, my birthplace and for the last couple days, I was at my grandfather’s ranch. While I was in Austin, I met up with some of our old friends, and got to meet a puppy, but we are going to talk about when I was at my grandfather’s ranch. While I was in his ranch, my dad took Alex (my brother) and I on many “safari” rides. On these outings we saw: wild boar, deer, black buck antelope, zebra, porcupines, armadillos and vultures. On our last night, we decided to go for one more outing: the whole time we were there, we hoped and hoped to see a wild boar, but never saw one until our last-night outing. We went out, expecting to see nothing, it was extremely cold, for Texas at least, and we started to poke around with our jeepy thing*, when all of a sudden two dark-haired, small wild boars were right in front of us! We followed them and after they ran under thick brush, we decided to turn around. It started raining, the rain hitting our faces like rocks. As we drove back, two armadillos crossed the road in front of us.  We were very excited when we got home, but we had to go straight to bed because it was 9:30pm.

(the picture is not ours; I got it off the internet)

WILD BOAR PICTURE

I learned that wild boars are nocturnal, meaning that they are active during the night and are asleep during the day. I noticed that there was a tree that all of the cranes in the ranch nested together in. There  is also this tube thingy, it goes through the bottom of the lake there and when there is too much water in the lake, it sucks the water up, (not all of it) and spits it out of the other end and thus, create a little stream. They are trying to get rid of the wild boars because they are really destructive. What is the diet of a wild boar? Are they solitary? Do they fight for territory?

For the past week we have been doing a multi-age unit, learning about trash and its effect on our planet. The beginning of going zero waste is when you come to realize the effect of pollution and trash on our planet. People who go zero waste shop in the bulk section of stores, they also bring their own jars and bags. Lots of people decide to make their own products; deodorant, bars of soap, general cleaner, toothpaste, mouthwash, etc. When you switch to zero waste you can’t really get takeout anymore, so you have to cook your own food: sauces, almond milk (optional, but more zero waste), some people grow their own garden, etc. When going to a coffee shop you should bring your own mug, instead of them giving you a one use cup. Most people who go zero waste have a compost in their yard, to put old food scraps in. The founder of Norte, Ty, got rid of his driver’s license, and switched to biking. He made sure his house was near a school, and grocery store when he moved to Traverse City. This means that he has reduced his carbon footprint.

https://www.google.com/search?q=zero+waste&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS731US731&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj-1trQ4PXfAhVD4IMKHfbzBLQQ_AUIECgD&biw=1536&bih=723#imgrc=6-4Pvl3KoaYZPM:

I have learned, and become more aware of our usage of plastic and our food waste. Did you know that 20% of landfill space is food waste? Did you know that the average person throws away 4.4 pounds of trash per day? Some of the people who go zero waste keep their little bits of trash in small mason jars. Check out trash is for tossers, a website created by Lauren Singer, a 4 year zero waster. Consider, and try to answer the following questions (you may want to check out the links): why should you go zero waste? What are three good zero waste recipes? Why should you buy second-hand clothing?