Yert the Movie

I am writing to share my experience on Thursday watching a movie thanks to my environmental science class. The movie YERT, which stands for Your Environmental Road Trip, was presented by RCC’s Student Sustainability Collective.

The film was about 2 friends and a girlfriend exploring environmentalist events and people in all 50 states for the duration of one year. While they are planning the challenge of collecting their trash throughout the trip however, the girlfriend Julie worries about the possibility of being pregnant.

The 3 friends visit houses made out of caves and even houses made out of trash. As she predicted, julie becomes pregant 3 months into the trip but manages to stay 6 more months. The 3 travelers face challenges minimizing their trash through fast food places but also triumphs as one employee even gives them sprite for free. They witness spontaneous events with a plastic bag costume and a man riding a wheel for bike to work day. They interview devoted people that inform them about crisis in their community like the limit of <350 which we have passed by 40. They were also informed by farmers that own worms for fertilization, cows for grazing, and pigs that the benefits of our world are at risk. One example of a risk is the Eskimos who worry about not having their 15 feet deep wholes cold enough in the future to keep their meat and dairy fresh.

My favorite part was that not only was there homes made of trash but there was services and artists who make furniture and a time machine out of trash. I also enjoyed watching the home that had a kitchen, dining, and bed all in one room because that is what I would want to do if I lived alone. At the end of the movie Julie has her baby and Mark and Ben's trip finishes with Mark deciding he wants a root beer in a bottle.

My Blog Post About Energy for an Environmental Science Class

Washing laundry with cold instead of hot water could save a person about $124 informs the article, "Reduce your Energy Costs" and eliminating a second fridge one might have could save a person an estimated $155. Using a clothesline once a week could save you around $69 and turning off game consoles when not in use could save up to $169. "Reduce Your Energy Costs" informs, that the features on electricity and gas bills vary depending on some common terms; for example, average daily usage, greenhouse gas emissions, charges for this bill and fixed charges.

I started the day off deciding it would be the day of my assignment where I would use the least energy. Thinking it would be an easy task since I was still sick and didn't expect to do much, I encountered many struggles.

Not using my cellphone was difficult because I had already decided to skip my morning class and felt unproductive and would be unable to check my online class activity. Though I checked my class on my phone regularly, I kept it at a minimum.

The laptop was not as difficult to ignore most of the day, besides 1 printing work that I didn't want to put off for the next day and end up forgetting. Television was the most doable because it's more of a luxury than a necessity.

After unplugging my room cords it became easier to reduce my electricity usage. I've tried before to minimize my cords but I feel like 5 barely gets me through the day. However, I have set the goal to not add another plug outlet even though often times I need to use all 5 at the same time. Advances in electrical devices today has made people feel like we need electricity but its really just an ease of access that we get accustomed to living with. For example,instead of using a wipe heater I can use my hands for heating wipes.

I showered as quick as possible for the assignment, then to succeed in using less energy, went to my backyard instead. Then I saw my trash can that I put on the grass a few days ago to clean. I started washing it with the hoes and realized how difficult it is to give up energy.

 I let the trash and shoes that I washed dry in the sun for the day.

Giving up driving was somewhat easy to manage since I don't have my licence. I took the bus to my night class which already had the a/c on for everyone. On the way back I usually drive with my mom and my permit but this day I carpooled with my sister while she was on her way home.

Throughout the day I used light as little as possible

In my room there's no a/c or heater so I covered up and wore footy pajamas at night.

Although giving up my laptop for a day was the easiest, the next change I would be willing to make is giving up TV.

When I look around my home, I can only think of suggesting to my family giving up things like the second mini fridge in our garage. But realistically, when I move out I will use the opportunity to make bigger energy efficient changes. For now I can definitely make the changes like air drying my clothes as often as possible.

 

References:

"Reduce Your Energy Bills."

      LivingGreener.gov.au. N.p., n.d. Web.

My Environmental Science Class Post on Climate Change

      The overall agreement from scientists is that climate is changing and rapidly. However because of the inherent details of the warming, doubt and disbelief often occur. Heartland for example, does not believe climate change is an issue we should be concerned about. This opposing argument is that warming change already has reduced and forecasts of future climate increases are unreliable; and the positives of a moderate warming are likely to outweigh the costs.
     Evidence of climate change is in websites such as Climate Change at the National Academies which shares that a new report expands on the U.S. security problems that may perhaps occurr. These problems are caused when events related to climate like droughts, heat waves, and storms go above the capacity of harmed populations to adjust. This report, Climate and Social Stress: Implications for Security Analysis, informs that the accumulation of scientific evidence indicating that the global climate change is moving outside the bounds of past experience and can be expected to put new stresses on societies around the world. In the last few years, the US intelligence and communities have started to examine a number of possible scenarios through which warming might cause or change security risks.
     Evidence sites that humans cause the climate warming by producing carbon dioxide. United States EPA Climate Change site warns that small differences in the average temperature of the planet can equal big and possibly dangerous shifts in temperature and weather. Thought this century, human hobbies have produced large quantities of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. Most of the greenhouse gases produce from burning fossil fuels used to make energy, although deforestation, industrial procedures, and some agricultural procedures also produce gases into our atmosphere.
    One way that our climate is likely to affect our world and society is by changing our procedures and our land. United States EPA Climate Change Site states our, "human societies have adapted" to the partially stable temperature we have lived in since the last ice age that occurred  several thousand years ago. A rising climate will bring difference that can change our water quantities, agriculture, power and transportation procedures, the natural environment, and our own health and security. Throughout these past 100 years, in the southwest, the average annual temperature has increased an estimated 1.5°F. The yearly climate is predicted to increase an additional 2.5-8°F by the end of the century. Rising temperature in the Southwest is predicted to be highest in the summer. Another example of how global warming is affecting us, is that in 2000-2003, the mixture of severe drought and dramatically "high temperatures led to high die-off of piñon pines in the Four Corners region of the Southwest."
      I think a possible reason for the skepticism is that research done from short periods started the opposing stance. The stance was kept and still exists because it can be hard to change a stance once it has been made and became controversial. If we continue with our current path I think that in 50 years the climate will have increased half of what it had increased the last century. Therefore the rise of CO2 will have more effects and make global warming an issue evident to those who do not know of it.

My Field Trip Experience

I am writing this blog to share my experience of what the my overall intake was of the Landfill tour field trip on Friday was like. Some of the first information was given by our tour guide about the Badlands Sanitary Landfill's history. Our guide shared that the place opened as a burn site in 1966 but changed to Landfill to reduce to pollution in 1970. The landfill is designated as a class 3 facility which she said means it is the last of the last place that our trash goes. We were then lead to the sight where there are the lowest to the highest piled trash covered by tarps to prolong ate the existence of the landfill and therefore save more airspace. The trash not covered by tarps was flooded by birds which she stated doesn't happen that often. She also explained that the dirt we were standing on was previously trash. The sight also included two different pipes that contained gas and water throughout the landfill. Once the landfill is completed they must check up on it for 50 years to make sure dirt bikers or trespassers haven't removed dirt from the top layer to reveal the trash. The second place we were lead to was the recycling area where sorting takes place to prevent dangerous chemical reactions. This staff also reuses hazardous items and makes sure that no hazardous items are being sent to them. The items sorted are then transported to certified off-site recycling. Our second tour guide shared that this off-site recycling certificate was one he was hoping to get. The last sight(the picture) we were guided to was where the gas migration is being monitored and controlled.Lastly, our tour guide shared that besides giving us tours and yearly information about the landfill, her job was to design the landfill for result that won't flow towards the cell. An important goal for the staff is to prevent leakage from polluting the water for our crops.

My Exploration of Hot Cocoa

For my environmental class I was assigned to research a food choice. With hot cocoa, the main ingredient is chocolate. Most chocolate, hiefer.org says, comes from the cacao fruit, is grown on trees and starts off as a green cacao pod then turns yellow when it's ripe. The inside of the fruit is white with seeds and supposedly already sweet according to Jason Woods. While the fruit is cut and fermented for a week, the white membrane is taken off hense the color. The seeds are turned into powder then paste. The specific chocolate I used in this instance is Dove Milk Chocolate, sugar, and water. Vanilla is recommended in hot chocolate for flavor but I couldn't find the vanilla in our cabinet. The water I used was filtered from tap. I tried to not add to much sugar but then it'll taste to much like chocolate and water.

After wondering where sugar comes from I discovered that 55% of sugar comes from India and Brazil, says a source from theecologist.org and is usually from sugar cane plants. Sugar cane plants have such a great environmental impact that it has been accused for great loss of biodiversity for the reason that it uses large places. The sugar cane plant is water intensive and the world bank averaged its worth to 11.6 billion each year. So not only does it harm people, it also harms the other living species by invading territory. Additionally, sugar is tasty but too much is very unhealthy especially for people with diabetes. There are myths of some sugar alternatives like synthetic sweeteners but there is no study yet to prove them healthy or not. These alternatives Joslin.org says, are under the brands Sweet 'N Low, Splenda, Sweet One or Sunset . However, there are sources like theecologist.org that says that healthy alternatives are ones like Stevia, Xilitol, Coconut Sugar, Date Sugar, honey, maple syrup, fruit juice, molasses, brown rice syrup and Barley malt syrup.
If we take an even closer look at the ingredients, Dove Milk Chocolate is made of even more sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate, skim milk, milk fat, lactose, chocolate processed with alkali, soy lecithin and natural and artificial flavors. Alkali processed or, Dutched, means that a large percentage of the nutrients are stripped. Sugar and chocolate are my favorite ingredients which is why I chose hot cocoa. But it's important to remember that if sugar is not taken in moderation, our health is affected badly.
References:
The ABCs of Sugar Substitutes." Joslin Diabetes Center. N.p., n.d. Web.
Briggs, Mark. "Top 10 Alternatives." Ecologist. N.p., n.d. Web.
Greger, Michael. "Healthy Chocolate Milkshakes." Nutition Facts. N.p., n.d Web.
Woods, Jason. "Where Does Chocolate Come From?" Heifer. N.p., n.d. Web.

Water Pros and Cons

I'm writing for my assignment to find out where my home water comes from. To find out where my water comes from, I went to the website “City of Corona” and from there to the water department and clicked a picture saying “want to know where your water comes from?” There were offers for tours with dates to find out how our Corona’s water is created. Our water comes from a trade Association of municipalites that help with recycling services. In the image above from Layperson's Guide to California Wastewater each letter stands for a step; A: Homeowner/Business Sewer lateral, B: Sewer Cleanout, C: Collectors, D:Trunk Sewers, E: Local Collection Pump Station, F: Interception and Pump Station and lastly, G: Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The International Bottled Water Association informs that, "The FDA regulations governing the safety and quality of bottled water must be as stringent as the EPA regulations which govern tap water." The website shows concern over the interest of the public with bottled water safety. The information on here acknowledges the controversy of bottled water versus tap water and claims that there are many myths including tap water being better regulated than bottled water.
 
United States Environmental Protection Agency stated that, "Primary standards protect public health by limiting the levels of contaminants in drinking water." Proving that tap water is carefully regulated these standards note of any contaminants in the S.

 

The two sources seem to be very well regulated now but after watching the trailer and preview of the film Tapped, it seems that bottled water has had a negative reputation for not running enough tests and avoiding the topic as well.

References:

"Bottled Water." Bottled Water. International Bottled Water Association, 2013. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.

"Facility Tours." DWP:. Ciy of Corona, 15 Oct. 2013. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.

Layperson. "California Wastewater." Abridged Ed. Water Education Foundaion, n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.

"Drinking Water Contaminants." Home. EPA, n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.

Earth Resources in a Day

①First I   woke up at 6 and watched recording of Toy Story with my son Jovanni then went back to sleep.
②Then, I woke up again at house of parents with black long sleeve and shorts.
③Next I took a shower with warm water and changed to gray long sleeve and blue jeans.
④Later I had coffee, water, sugar, milk and waffle with nestle syrup and change to gray shorts instead
⑤Later I microwaved chicken nuggets and ate some with ketchup
⑥Walked with stroller to library at 1pm on 6th street and bought 4 baby magazines. There, I did homework and printed a total of 5 pages
⑦got back to house and ate a vanilla ice cream cone and a guava fruit.
⑧took bus on 6th St. to RCC tech building
⑨took bus back on 6th St.
⑩Ate a cheeseburger from a Mcdonalds bag that was on the kitchen table
⑪Did some homework and watched TV
⑫Slept in parent’s home on bed

Food and drink:
Coffee, water, sugar, *milk* and waffle with nestle syrup
Housing and other buildings:
Parents house, Corona Public Library, RCC tech building
Transportation and roads:
Bus, Sixth Street, car 91 freeway back
Clothing:
Black long sleeve, shorts, gray long sleeve, dark blue jeans, dark gray shorts
School supplies:
Paper, folder, pen,
Personal care products:
Soap, shampoo, conditioner, lotion
Leisure acitivities:
Breathing oxygen, guava fruit

Milk is the item I chose to expand on because it makes for a lot of my daily resources. I have never thought to much into how milk I'd made besides cows and farms. So I googled milk process and eliminated the bad resources. This lead me to a website with information on how milk becomes the milk in our stores. After the milking in the farm, which is sometimes done by robots, the milk is first pasteurized by getting heated to kill bacteria. Then it is combined with creme and mixed thoroughly. When it is no longer useful to me it will go into my stomach fats because it is a want and not a need. This product makes me happy and sometimes sleepy. Other people like it or hate it completely. Milk is good for animals if they are babies and have no other alternative food. Alternatives that I can use instead is tea .

I was surprised to learn that milk is processed at such a high demand. I was also surprised to learn that milk is mixed with centre and then deteriorated again to make sim milk and sour cream. Most of what I ate on this day had some form of milk for example, ice cream.

How Sustainable is our Campus?

>Factors of Ecological and Economic Productivity<  

To determine how "green" our campus is I would assess what our student store is selling, what our clubs are about, and what our students are thinking. I would ask if or why our student store doesn't sell lunch waste friendly items. Instead of having such convenient wrappers and packaged meals there should be more options for lunch containers. Our clubs should all be involved in recycling as much as we can while we are on campus and I would ask our environmental clubs for some tips. Clubs are for sure the most involved students and spend a lot of time on campus which I think makes the most difference whether or not they are ecofriendly. I would ask students what they are thinking while they are on campus and if they would support it if our campus became more energy saving. For example, if they would be willing to donate old cellphones or buy organic items being sold.

>Another Campus Discussing the Issues<

Although we are discussing the issues at our campus within great clubs and inside fun science classrooms, a campus that has done extremely well with these three factors is the University of Colorado. The campus assesses the factors I stated of store items, club meetings, and students thoughts. They are doing this by having faculty use resources in the curriculum toward the goal of using environmental school supplies. Their motivation comes from the teachers interest in sustainability of their campus. This assessment is a collaboration of students, teachers and faculty management for informing the rest of the individuals at UC. The campus also offers multiple science degrees to inform students about their ecological impact.

>The First Factor<

My assessment plan for our student store would be to sell containers with less of an ecological footprint, like glass containers and variety of reusable shopping bags. I would talk to Arturo Alcaras from the human resource staff of RCC and ask what we can do about advertising reusable items sold at the bookstore and I would ask if we can assist the students with more options in the store. I would measure it by the amount of students that said would be interested in buying ecofriendly items. I would provide the labor of creating advertising films or graphic posters and post it on all directions of the campus. To do all of this I would get permission from someone from the board of trustees like Samuel Davis and would ask for a part on the school’s website to encourage support from everyone including management.

 

          For my environmental science forth blog assignment, I sat outside in my backyard like I do often with my 1 year old. I push him on the swing for a while and get to sit and relax and observe. This time was different because I was observing other interactions more closely. I was excited to look for birds but it was 7pm and mostly quiet.

 

 

        I observed my dog and noticed that she stayed by her house. Usually she would be interacting with her mom but our other dog died about 3 months ago. The birds were nearby and quiet too but they just sat separately in the same cage. Lastly, to my right was my little sisters toy house with a pile of dead bees. This is the craziest part because they started coming about two weeks ago out of the blue.

 

 

         I had never seen so many bees together untill I saw them all piled trying to get into the cracks of my little sisters play house. But now they were dead and everytime we opened the doors more start coming towards her house. Within the 20 minutes, my two sisters came out and talked to me and jovanni but that was the most animal interaction I observed. However I learned that birds don't show up as much at night time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Assignment for Environmental Science

Environmental Science in the News – Information Literacy

 The online news article I chose for environmental science is, http://www.psmag.com/environment/childrens-books-increasingly-ignore-natural-world-39391/. The specific topic it pertains to is production because the quality of production is said to be changing. The article Children Books Increasingly Ignore Natural World is a summary of the changes that have taken place since the times when books were filled with natural-like pictures and stories.

This is a reliable information source. Tom Jacobs is a staff writer and a veteran journalist at daily newspapers. He has worked as a staff writer for Santa Barbara News-Press and The Los Angeles Daily News and other reliable News. Pacific Standard runs the site and last updated it in 2013. The credentials make the information not so reliable because it is not run by a "org" corporation. The mission of this site is to attract viewers and share the most current information. One claim made by the article is that, "A group of researchers led by University of Nebraska-Lincoln sociologist J. Allen Williams Jr. studied the winners of the American Library Association’s prestigious Caldecott Medal between 1938 (the year the prize was first awarded) through 2008". There is sufficient evidence provided to support this claim because the name  and the place is shared. There are no logical fallacies made because everything makes sense and has statistics. My reaction to this article is interest and concern because I have never realized that books don't involve nature too often.

References:
Jacobs, Tom. "Children's Books Increasingly Ignore Natural World." Pacific Standard. N.p., 30 Jan. 2012. Web. 13 Sept. 2013.

      I am writing this blog about chemical hazards and human health for my environmental science class. A product in my household with dangerous chemicals is hairspray. The product Aquanet professional hairspray is very cheap and easily found in most drugstores. Aquanet professional hairspray uses dimethyl ether and alcohol 40-b also called alcohol denate. 100% safe to human's health.Dimethyl ether has shown to cause dizziness in people(Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet). Alcohol denate was tested and proved to kill mice after 24 hours of exposure.(Cosmetic Ingredients Expert Panel) Another popular product that uses Alcohol denate is sunscreen. An alternative product to my hairspray that I found is Demorganic hairspray. Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate is in demorganic hairspray but this hairspray includes no alcohol(Ulta). An alternative with even less chemicals and no fragrance is homemade hairspray. Homemade hairspray can be made just using water sugar and if desired additional essential oils(Adrienne). There shouldn't be a problem with bugs because of the mixture and water but citronella oil can be added as a natural bug repellant.

(Adrienne)

References:

Adrienne. "Homemade Alcohol-Free Hairspray That Works." Whole New Mom. N.p., 22 Apr. 2013. Web. 10 Sept. 2013.
 Cosmetic Ingredients Expert Panel. "Final Report of the Safety Assessment of Alcohol Denat., including SD Alcohol 3-A, SD Alcohol 30, SD Alcohol 39, SD Alcohol 39-B, SD Alcohol 39-C, SD Alcohol 40, SD Alcohol 40-B, and SD Alcohol 40-C, and the Denaturants, Quassin, Brucine Sulfate/Brucine, and Denatonium Benzoate." NCBI. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2013.
Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet. New Jersey: Department of Health and Senior Services, n.d. Jul. 2002. Web. 10 Sept. 2013.
"Ulta.com - Cosmetics, Fragrance, Salon and Beauty Gifts." Ulta.com - Cosmetics, Fragrance, Salon and Beauty Gifts. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2013.

Biography

I was born in Anaheim and have been living in Corona for 15 years. My plan is to major in film television and my ultimate interest is an Art associate’s degree. This is the beginning of my third year at RCC however I have been invested in the Norco Campus most of the time. I am now a member of the EOPS club in the Riverside campus. I would like to pursue career in film editing or anything that is interesting and requires some art skills. I have one kid the turned one on August 7th. I am taking this class because it seemed the most interesting and convenient in my schedule. I also realize that there is information in this topic that I could learn a lot more about. I am interested and would like to know more about how animals are different from humans.

 

My footprint results:

citation:

Your Ecological Footprint. 2013. Photograph. N.p. By Global Footprint Network.

 

My response:

If everyone lived like me, it would take 4.2 earths to supply enough resources

The aspect of my life that accounts for the largest part of my footprint is services.

The one thing that I am able to do to reduce my footprint is to use all energy efficient appliances.