Awesome great new rap video!

"Started From" Lyrics

Chorus:

Started from the country now I’m here
Started from the country reppin’ straight John Deere

Started from the suburbs now I’m here
Started from the suburbs now I’m stuck driving everywhere
Started from the city now I’m here
Started from the city all my needs are near

Verse 1:

I done kept it rural from the jump

Livin’ in the sticks using mother nature every month
I was trying to conserve it on my own
Working all day, no traffic on the road
And mother nature callin’ me like where ya at?
I’ll show you stream and we can hike our way back
I just think it’s awesome how it grows!
Managing our forests, growing crops for the green world

Chorus

Verse 2:

Boys tell stories about the burbz
They say that caring for the environment is absurd
We could turn the burbz into a better land
I aint gonna lie, we got mad solar panels here
We just want the credit where it’s due
Ima worry about the Earth, show you all up

Chorus

Verse 3:

No long drives people don’t do that

Nine cat lives urban pets and rats

We don’t got that problem of commuting

Public transportation stops polluting

No big farms got my food nearby

No small houses, got apartments real high

We never have to worry about expenses

Services everywhere come to your senses

Chorus

Robin:

 

One of Ithaca’s most unique features is the fact that it’s not only a city, but a college town as well.  In fact, over half of Ithaca’s population (roughly 35,000 students) stem from Ithaca College and Cornell alone.  Cornell University currently owns 11,000 acres in Ithaca (745 as the “center campus”), 6,000 acres in other parts of New York, and 2,000 acres in other parts of the country.  It owns an incredible total of 19,000 acres.  Cornell also owns more than 420,000 acres of mineral rights.  As a wealthy Ivy League university, Cornell’s incredible influence and phenomenal wealth has done wonders for the city overall.The natural beauty of Ithaca is also worth mentioning.  Its place on Cayuga Lake has done wonders for the tourist economy, especially given the close proximity to such beautiful gorges and waterfalls.  It’s ideal make-up and build has solidified it’s reputation as “Ithaca is Gorges”.   

Travis:

As some of you know I, Travis Petit, am from a small agricultural based town Tully, NY.  My town has been a great place to grow up and become interested in the environment.  I will discuss a few things that make my town good for the environment.  One of the great things about Tully is the amount of farmers markets around making it very easy to get fresh local food.  This cuts down on fossil fuels used to obtain fresh vegetables and fruits.  Not only are there many farmers markets right outside the town, but there is one right in town.  The Kings Corner Market is open during the summer months and sits in the most central location in town.  It is located right off Rout 80 which makes it easy for passer-byes to be able to get fresh food as well as the locals. (thevillageoftully.org)  The school also is a huge supported of getting students involved with the environment and becoming more sustainable.  About five years ago the environmental science class made a windmill/solar station that would generate enough power to run the scoreboard for sporting events.  Also the school has a greenhouse that students are able to use for class.  Some of the vegetable grown are used for the school lunches.  In 2011 the school took a big step in the sustainable direction by installing an electrical car charging station to the green house.  This charging station would be powered by the wind/solar station as well.  This is one of its kind in the local area.  No other school that I know of has such innovative projects mostly run by the students.  Tully is a very unique town and much could be learned from its students and teachers alike.

Andrew:

The town of Livingston can serve as a model for other suburbs on how to treat the environment. Livingston does many great things that have influence my life to make me interested in the environment. The town encourages all of its residents to be green in various ways and even teaches residents how to be greener. The Green Team can help a person learn to compost or just learn what can be recycled. But the town goes beyond just helping the residents and actually sets an example. Recently solar panels have been placed on all municipal buildings and on telephone poles, has switched to hybrid buses, and plants trees and shrubs continuously.

However the progress does not stop there. My home town is currently at the end of its “5 Year Strategic Plan” to continue to make Livingston a better place to live. In this short period of time I have seen the town change and shift toward making a community that not only cares about the environment, but is more educated about how each person can help. I have been to the workshops that teach people about rain water collection and composting and I have seen the signs spring up around town asking people to not idle their cars.

Livingston is different than other towns because people are willing to use their money to make a better community and most suburbs have residents who are not (Loker et al, 1999). In most cases what holds back a suburban community is that people are not willing to invest in management plans because they do not see it as feasible economically. My home town has been able to implement campaigns to manage the deer population, changeover to more efficient light bulbs in street lights, buy community hybrid vehicles and much more all with investments from the people of my town. Livingston truly is a model suburb town that many other towns could learn a lot from.

Check out these bloopers of our upcoming hit rap!

Check out this video about the towns we come from and feel free to leave your comments about your home town.

Also, please check out one of our recent interactive surveys in which people across the country answered the question of "what is the most sustainable lifestyle"?

http://storify.com/janinelover1/murica#

 Robin:
The Ithaca Gun factory sits atop Gun Hill, a local residential area in Ithaca, New York.  It was closed years ago but the ruins remain behind.  Back when guns were being produced in large numbers, guns were fired off the cliff to make sure they worked.

 

 

The problem is that the factory sat over Ithaca Falls, a large waterfall that contributes to Fall Creek, a long creek that spreads throughout the Ithaca downtown past many residential homes.  The water is toxic in many areas from the gunpowder residue still in the water.

Travis:

One of the local farmers in my area invested in a wind mill to cut down on the electricity bill.  The farmer said since they installed it in September the windmill has provided about 70-75 percent of the farms electricity.



    Agricultural can cause serious erosion of fields.

Andrew:

Even mid day in the suburbs there is always traffic because people need to drive to get everywhere.

However, the suburbs are not all bad. People in the suburbs do care about the environment and put up solar panels. Businesses, residents, and the town all put up solar panels around the town.

Welcome to my life,

My name is Andrew Sussman and I am attending SUNY ESF working on a project to educate that masses. The goal of our project is to show people that there are pros and cons to living in every type of society; rural,  suburban, and urban. I am from a suburb of New York City and I will be representing the suburban voice in this project.

A glimpse at the life of Robin Trumble

Hi there, I'm Robin Trumble.  As a SUNY ESF freshman, I'm currently finishing up my first year of college in Syracuse New York.  I'm majoring in Conservation Biology, and so far it's a blast.  I'm working with two of my friends on a project analyzing the benefits of urban, suburban, and rural environments.  What exactly is sustainable?  The perfect lifestyle is hard to determine, but it's an analysis worth doing.

A little about Travis Petit,

I am a student at SUNY ESF and two of my classmates and I are working on a project together.  We are discussing the pro's and con's environmentally of different living styles (Rural, Urban, Suburban)  I come from a rural background.  I live in the small agricultural town of Tully, NY.