Since the 1400s. Assignment 3

I followed myself around for a whole day and recorded my daily use of single products. Noting that each product inherently comes from the earth, given that I don't use meteor residue on a daily basis. The following is a list of Items that I used this one particular day:

• Water Bottle
• Gum
• Water
• Fish Oil
• Coffee
• Meat
• Eggs
• Noodles
• Classroom
• Library
• Desk
• Chair
• Carpet
• Computer
• Car
• Freeway
• Shoes
• Pants
• Backpack
•  Socks
• shirt
• Bag
• Satchel
• Headphones
• Safety Goggles
• Pen
• Pencil
• Laptop
• Paper
• Calculator
• Books
• Notebook
• Soap
• Toothpaste
• Watch

From this List I was able to derive certain Core Resources that intertwine across the Items I used. Fundamentally, I was mainly using plastic which comes from petroleum, my car ran on Fossil Fuels, gasoline, and synthetic oil. I used a whole lot of Paper which comes from wood. The Clothes I wore were mainly made from cotton. My Laptop battery uses Lithium Ion, I drink water which comes from Water, the freeway is mainly blacktop which is made of asphalt concrete. One Product that was really interesting to me, is Coffee which comes from the Coffea Plant.

To further explain coffee, I mainly used wikipedia as my source, so bear with me. So, coffee comes from roasted seeds of the Coffea Plant, it contains caffeine and psychotropics. It is primarily used as a beverage. It is cultivated in over 70 countries, Primarily Latin America, Southeast Asia, Africa, and South Asia; with Brazil as the world leader in coffee Production.

The traditional method in preparing coffee is to plant 20 seeds in each hole during the "rainy season" However, Brazil used a different method which involves raising seedlings in nurseries, then planted outside for 6 to 12 months.

My body mainly absorbs all the coffee that it consumes, then it defecates or urinates it out later; that's what happens to this substance when it is no longer useful. It has certain effects on me, such as bad cholesterol, less sleepiness and an overall higher awareness level. These effects are much the same amongst consumers of coffee.

There is a method known as sun-cultivation which is known to cause deforestation and, pesticide pollution, habitat destruction, soil and water degradation.

This product was indeed available 100 years ago, in fact it was available since the 1400s.

 The only other alternative to Sun-Cultivation is shade-cultivation, which proponents of claim that it avoids all the environmental problems brought on by sun-cultivation.

After researching coffee, I was surprised by some facts about it. I had no idea that it would be considered a psychotropic. I was also completely unaware of the environmental issues that the production of it causes. This has led me into realizing how the majority of Production of ANYTHING in general has swayed from sustainable to environmentally hazardous. Even something like coffee that was available in it's exact form since the 1400s has changed in the way that it is cultivated that somehow randomly ends up ruining the environment.

Blog Assignment 2

I went out to Heritage park located in Jurupa Valley. The City of Jurupa Valley used to be a part of Riverside City, but it separated, but it is still part of Riverside County. After taking a few pictures of what I saw, I took a seat and zoned in on the things I could observe from that one seat. Heritage Park was the first place that came to mind, when this blog was assigned. I've met with friends here, rollerbladed here, exercised here, but I've never went beyond to explore it's “back door”. I hiked for a long while, then right after I took a seat and observed what was in my immediate sphere.

Here is a list of the abiotic things that I observed: rocks, dirt, trash, strong wind, mountains, hills, Traffic/freeway noise, holes, bricks, concrete, sun, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide, blue skies, clouds, cars. Of the biotic things I observed: squirrels, cactus, bees, grasshoppers, trees, flies, lizards, plants, spiderwebs, butterflies, birds, processed wood(trash), sunflowers, Fallen dead leaves, grass. The hole were my favorite; probably mole rats, squirrels, or gophers; but definitely some kind of biotic thing. The wind pushed down the leaves, I noticed, all while the dirt is absorbing the nutrients of those dead leaves and the toxins of the human waste. The trees absorbing the carbon dioxide of the Cars driving by, supplying me with enough oxygen to breathe. The lizards eat the flies, the bees pollinate the plants. All in all, while the sun warms me and energizes everything around me. This was a touching experience for me.

The heritage park was dedicated to the Community of Jurupa Valley, mainly the individuals in the Glen Avon area for working together as a whole to defend their community from environmental hazards. Years ago, many businesses decided to dump as much battery acid waste as possible in a Reserve located in Jurupa Valley. This became a common dump site for businesses all over the country. This was an environmental hazard for everyone living in the area, it even contaminated the water supply. To make a long, mournful story short; eventually the Community joined together and forced the government into submission to give justice to the people of the Glen Avon Community. Even though I don't live exactly in the Glen Avon community, it was still in the General Jurupa Valley area. I was very upset when I first heard of this incident, but I was glad that the Members of the Community joined together and fought until Justice was dealt. To this day the dump site remains contaminated. Riverside seems to absorb all of the countries waste for some reason; it's one of the most polluted areas in the World. Growing up in Riverside has given me a strong passion to pursue Environmental Justice all around the world. I am glad to have been born in Riverside; otherwise, I might not have been so passionate about the environmental issues our world faces today.

Seeing trash in the Heritage Park gave me some sort of uneasiness, given that it's supposed to symbolize both synergy and environmental justice.

I've uploaded pictures below.

BLOG ASSIGNMENT 2 PICTURES