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.