Blog Assignment 10

I really don't produce much waste in the way of measurable, "trash". I use BPA Free, refillable water bottles. And we Americans would accomplish SO MUCH IF we were to eliminate the practice of drinking water in cheap disposable plastic, and replaced it with some Stainless Steal or something. A lot of people already do that, noticing the economic benefits as well. Bag Or Plastic? I say, "No Bag, Please". And I trust that my Bank Accounts keep a clean, well detailed record of my purchases and transactions so that I don't have to throw away receipts. E-Mail, and "paperless" Communication helps keep things Tidy, Plus I'm more of an E-Mail person. Payment Reminders, Electronic Statements, are also beneficial; I mean, half the time I don't even open the Hard Copy Mail that is sent to me. Keeping a Record of what I've wasted over the Course of three Days; Here's what I got -- BUT First, how I kept track. The Rule was to Make note of everything I dispose of, and either goes into a trash can or a Recyclable Bin.

First Set of 3 days: 7 Tissues, 11 Disposable Plates, 40 Sheets of Hygienic Paper, 12 Napkins, 4 Disposable Cups, 1 Q-Tip, 6 disposable spoons. This List is excluding some packaging Items, because I didn't throw that stuff away, but if I were to divide the weight evenly by the number of Individuals that the Packaged items were divided amongst then it would be about 1/4 of a Pound. None of which were recyclables, or reusable.

On a regular day, but not on those 3 days, I probably would've used at least 1 plastic sandwich bag. I can reduce that by using non-disposable containers.

The Next 3 days, I started using more reusables such as regular dinner plates, I also gave in to a special remedy to alleviate my illness which made way for using NO facial tissue at all, I also cleaned my room, which helped me as well, but the Dust was also waste that I threw away. I stopped putting band-aids on my hands as soon as the cuts were healed.

So in the Next 3 days, I managed to waste about: 9 Band-Aids and their packaging, about 2 square feet of restroom Paper Towels, 43 sheets of Hygienic paper. The Dust I threw away came about to be 48 Cubic Inches (Dyson putting in Work). 2 Whole Orange Peels, 4 Banana Peels, 3 Napkins, 2 disposable spoons. The Peels were Biodegradable, and that will give you a hint as to where they went.

And Normally there would be something coming in a Box for me, at least once a week, but those 6 days, nothing. I can see, how maybe I can group Items more together, so as to arrive in less Boxes, that I will start and try to continue.

Blog assignment Number 9

In 50 years if we continue with our current path and do nothing to slow the rise of CO2 levels in our atmosphere, I think there would be more people with Asthma, increased levels of respiratory malfunction in general. In a couple of years about half a billion people in China are going to want their own car, just like here in the United States. And that's almost double the population of the United States. In 50 years, probably 1 billion of the Chinese Population will press to have their own car. And there will be more and more CO2 emissions, we can't necessarily blame them. But we as Americans, living in a technologically advanced domain can blame ourselves for not setting the standard of both environmental hygiene and clean, renewable energy. We American's are the ones doing it now, we as world leaders should be in charge of setting the bar and pressing for a more Environmentally safe earth.

The Heartland's Institute's Argument, is somewhat Scientifically based, especially when they mention the DATA collected by NASA. However, their argument is more intuitive based than it is scientific. The truth is, however, is that everyone knows what happens to the "masses" when a crisis is upcoming. I believe these arguments might still exist to keep the people away from fear. Obviously, these researchers, and scientists are being funded to attempt the "inconclusive" or "controversial" method. This Method is geared into suggesting that there are many disagreements within this specific topic, rather than actually providing definitive proof. Polluting Businesses know they can not definitely provide proof against the substantial evidence for Global Warming, so they attempt the inconclusive method, to gear society into believing that the data is inconclusive. This helps businesses because, people feel less guilty for polluting the environment, and if it is actually successful it may keep Environmental enthusiasts and lobbyists off their back.

Climate change will likely effect our world in the way of a decreased biodiversity. The Polar Bear is a clear example of this, the Northern Poles are getting hotter, giving the Polar Bear less ice land to travel on.

As Carbon Dioxide emissions increase, so to does the climate, that is an established correlation. Humans release carbon dioxide just by breathing, more so when they're driving their car. So humans, do play a pivotal component of climate change.

 The Climate is definitely changing even the, skeptics agree that the climate is changing, perhaps the clearest evidence of this is the polar bears and their recent threat.

BLOG Assignment 8

I learned that only very few chemicals have been rigorously tested for hazards. There's a present dispute between Chemical Manufacturer's, their consumers, Environmental Enthusiasts, and everyone whose health is effected by these Chemicals in circulation. Notice how some people don't even have to make choices to be effected by this, much like Second Hand Smoke. That's one problem; the other health problem is that Consumers of these chemicals often times aren't introduced to the negative side effects of these chemicals, or at least not the important stuff; but it's these very ingredients that Chemical Manufacturers would argue that are made to benefit the consumer. One Example that I know is Red-40; Red-40 has been proven to be a carcinogenic, among with other food dye's. Red-40 is used in some medication to give a brilliant Red Color, so that consumers can intake the medication without any hesitation. Because without Red-40, the medication will look very gross (yet still effective) and the consumer might even believe that it is rotten, and thus the consumer will probably hesitate and even refuse to intake the medication putting a delay in their recovery. In this light, Even though Red-40 is a carcinogenic it is also used as an "enticing" additive, and thus "good".

One other problem is the synergistic impacts of any chemicals that are pushed into circulation. According to Annie Leopard, there is no such chemical that has been tested completely for synergistic effects. Meaning that chemicals haven't been tested to show that they will not produce a harmful chemical if they were to interact with other chemicals already in circulation. Synergistic Health Impacts testing is good because people can live freely, mix their favorite concoctions of food, consume all kinds of medicines, and take all kinds of vitamins and will hardly ever have to worry about "Spontaneous Human Combustion." Many Environmental and Health threats can be avoided even, Global warming could've been avoided completely if synergistic health impact testing (and Regulation) had been implemented and enforced. However Synergistic Health Impact is likely impossible. In the 1970s there were about 62,000 chemicals in commerce, It would take literally a "bagillion-Zegafagillion" years to test all the permutations and combinations of just THOSE chemicals, not including the ones that came into circulation AFTER the 1970s. The Horror is not that it can't be done, the horror is that things have gotten this horrible.

http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/newscience/synergy/mixtures.htm

http://dev.storyofstuff.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/annie_leonard_footnoted_script.pdf