Travis Chan

Air Pollution

Last week in class we were put into various discussion groups to brainstorm what our sustainability pillar is and how it correlates back to our sustainability issue which is how the environment is impacted by pollution. Environmental sustainability is our group’s pillar and it basically involves the environmental impact from the usage of renewable and nonrenewable resources in that ecosystem. My project topic pollution relates to the pillar of environmental sustainability because after using renewable or nonrenewable resources they have different effects which could lead to greenhouse gases, acid rain, damage to the ozone layer and etc. When visitors first see my chime they may be thinking “How does this have to do with pollution and what do these everyday objects represent?” well my chime’s glitter, brown clouds and blue paint represent the atmosphere and how beautiful the air in our environment is without pollution. Then there are black paint splattered amongst the chime representing the toxic cloud of gases as a result of pollution. I will also have various items attached to my chime that represent how ordinary items can end up fueling the fire of pollution whether we realize it or not. The objects used in my chime are plastic spoons, a battery, crayon box and a plastic figure keychain. The spoons are made of plastic and when burned can emit a very toxic fume. The battery’s production emits exhaust and other harmful pollutants that hurt the atmosphere. The crayon box represents when crayons are used with other by products they can produce low-carbon pollution that harms our environment. Lastly the plastic key chain production also emits harmful gases up into the atmosphere. Many of these everyday objects are so popular amongst our society but very few of us know how harmful it could be to our environment. My chime’s goal is to specifically spread awareness to the issue of pollution and to help people realize that it needs to stop not later but now. Air pollution can look like many things like a busy freeway with many cars, factories, power plants, waste removal sites and etc. Air pollution is usually seen in densely populated cities such as Los Angeles. Many of you may be thinking, “Okay I know there is air pollution, so what?” Well air pollution affects our community’s health without us realizing it until the very end when it hits us all at once with diseases such as lung cancer, stroke, ischaemic heart disease, etc. Take the frog in the boiling pot for example. The frog gets placed in a pot (environment) and slowly has the heat turned up at a constant rate (rise of pollution) but the frog doesn’t realize it is slowly boiling to death until it is too late. My goal is for people to be shocked from my chime and realize how important the issue of pollution is and how they could take responsibility in fighting against it.