Energy

In our environmental class we had to reduce as much energy as we could for a day. This means we had to stop using our phones and using our cars. Also, that means we had to minimize using hot water, lots of lighting, computer and a/c heater. I started my activity on Friday morning and it continued until Saturday morning. On Friday, I had to use my car for work. I only used two times that day. I drove to work and then back. In addition, I didn’t use my phone at all for the twenty four hours. It was hard at the beginning of my day, but I did it. The next day I had so many texts and people were wondering what happened to me. By the end of the twenty four hours I felt good that I didn’t have a phone. I felt relaxed that I didn’t have to answer my text and notifications all day. The other hard part was not using my computer. I have a lot of work to do and I got behind because I didn’t work on anything for a day, but it felt good to have a day off. Also, having to try to shower with cold water was something I could not do. I like my hot water and showers it relaxes me and would not change it for the world. Except when I do laundry I usually wash with cold water anyways, so that was easy for me to do. Another thing that was easy for me to do was to dry my clothes outside by hanging them. I am Mexican and I grew up drying my clothes outside. I did not have to change that. I hardly ever use the dryer. Another thing I did not have trouble with was using a/c. Only if it was really hot I would use it, but on Friday it was a little chilly at night and in the morning. I didn’t have to use a/c, so I had not problem in this area. One thing I need to practice on and even tell my husband to do as well was to turn off the lights of the rooms we were not using them. It was it constant reminder for us, but I tried hard. I know I walk into one room turn on the light and then walk to another room and do the same. I think by the end of the day I did okay. I felt okay making some changes it was hard for some of them, but I ended up doing it in the end. Like I stated before, I could never give up my long showers and warm showers. I work and go to school and that relaxes me at the end of the day. Another thing I could not do without is leaving my phone and car. For one day I only used my car twice, but on a regular basis I couldn’t especially with the hot weather. I cannot see myself riding a bike to work and night school. My phone is my Everything. I use it for everything. I don’t know people’s numbers by memory, so it helps me a lot with that and how to find places where I need to go. I also I check all my emails and sent emails with my phone. For one day it did felt good to disconnect from world, but I could not on a regular basis. Also, I don’t think I can stop using my computer and do most of my work on it and I need it just like I need my phone. On the other hand, I can change turning off the lights and appliances I am not using. I think one thing I can cut back that I been thinking about since we started talking about pollutants has been plastic. It’s been on my mind and I pay more attention of how much plastic I bring to my home and how it impacts our environment. I noticed for small things I buy at the store I collect so many unneeded plastic bags. I think in the future I will try to not use plastics anymore. Another thing I can do to help the environment is just really make sure I turn off all the things I’m not using at home and to also maybe start using more natural resources. One way I can increase energy efficiency at home is by switching to solar panels. Also by opening windows for cool air rather than a/c I think I reduce my energy. I also think switching to energy efficient lighting would be something I can do.

Field Trip To Amy's Farm

Field Trip to Amy’s farm On Saturday May seventeenth our class went on a field trip to Amy’s Farm. While there I learned that the farm has many different animals. For example, they have cows, horses, ducks, chickens, sheep, pigs, goats, and cats. Some of the animals are part of a petting zoo not for consumption. They also have turkeys, but only during Thanksgiving time. I also learned that only some animals are for slaughter at the farm. For example, turkeys and pigs are slaughtered at the farm when people want to take home to eat after they purchased the animal. Not all the pigs are killed some are kept in the farm to make more pigs. In addition, it was interesting to find out that anyone can care for the cows and have some of their milk. If you contribute to food and care for cows, the guide said you can do what you please with milk. I also learned that the cows there are milked daily. Glenda is one the cows from the farm and she makes about three to four gallons of milk a day. Donut is another of the cows there and is a smaller cow and she makes about two gallons a day. The farm also has Angus beef cows. Some of the cows are that raised at Amy’s Farm are owned by families or restaurants. They feed the cows grass no soy or corn. Also, Amy’s Farm grows produce. The farm has fruit trees, tomatoes, strawberries, kale, spinach, and many more. The farm has twelve avocado trees and also nectarines. All the seeds they use are purebred. Our tour guide said that some of the produce goes to restaurants from the community. I The farm is privately owned and it raises money to preserve land for agriculture. They use spin farming. They take up as much space as they can to grow. According to our tour guide,” Every time they plant the soil gets better.” People could also have a plot of land at the farm. Guide said it cost about fifteen dollars a month to have a plot. The farm has many volunteers that come and work here. Anyone is welcomed to go to the farm for visit or to volunteer. Overall, it was a great experienced. I enjoyed the field trip and learned a lot. I would want to go back again. It was interesting to find out many things a farm can do.

In my environmental science class I was asked to talk about climate change. I was asked to look at certain websites to find information and then answer three questions. These are the following websites I am supposed to use to answer three questions. Climate Change at the National Academies http://nas-sites.org/americasclimatechoices/ United States EPA Climate Change Site: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/index.html United Nations Climate Change Information Kit: http://unfccc.int/resource/iuckit/cckit2001en.pdf Center for Climate and Energy Solutions http://www.c2es.org/ Yale Project on Climate Change Communication http://environment.yale.edu/climate/ These are the questions I am supposed to answer: - According to evidence, is the climate changing right now? - What does evidence say about humans’ roles in the changing climate? - How is climate change likely to affect our society and our world? Now this is what I found: 1. According to the evidence right now and the United States EPA Climate Change Site, “Temperatures are rising, snow and rainfall patterns are shifting, and more extreme climate events.” Also the site states that we are having “heavy rainstorms and high temperatures that are already affecting society and ecosystems.” 2. Evidence says that humans are speeding up climate change. According to the evidence from the United States EPA Climate Change Site, says “changes in the climate can be linked to the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, caused largely by people burning fossil fuels to generate electricity, heat and cool buildings, and power vehicles.” 3. Climate change is likely to affect our society and our world having “an increase or decrease rainfall, influence agricultural crop yields, affect human health, cause changes to forests and other ecosystems, or even impact our energy supply (United States EPA Climate Change Site).” Also according to the United Nations Climate Change Information Kit Site, “Food security is unlikely to be threatened at the global level, but some regions are likely to experience food shortages and hunger. Water resources will be affected as precipitation an evaporation patterns change around the world.” Also I was asked to look up why some people are skeptical about climate change. I found out that people are skeptical about climate change because according to the Heartlands Institute Website, “Climate is always changing, and every scientist knows this. Our emissions and alterations of the landscape are surely having impacts on climate, though they are often local or regional (like heat islands) and small relative to natural variation.” Also, the Heartland Institute Website says, and “concluded concern over the possibility of catastrophic global warming was being manufactured to advance a political agenda. We then took upon ourselves the task of publicizing the scientific uncertainty behind the global warming scare and documenting the high costs of reducing greenhouse gas emissions – economic costs as well as the loss of freedom.” I agree with most of the websites listed above and I know that we do have a problem. I think that the pollution we create has a lot to do with climate change. I also think that all the oil and chemical runoffs causes climate change. All the chemicals evaporate into the atmosphere and cause the climate to change. I also think that if the world continues the way it is there might be a lot of problems in the future. I think we can face a food scare and I think we will also lose many species. Specially, animals in the ocean will be affected. I learned that climate change causes coral bleaching. I think in the future climate change will make many species extinct in all parts of the world not just in the hot spots. In fifty years I think the Earth will have a limit of resources we can use due to climate change. Works Cited United States EPA Climate Change Site: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/index.html United Nations Climate Change Information Kit: http://unfccc.int/resource/iuckit/cckit2001en.pdf http://heartland.org/ideas/global-warming-not-crisis

Blog 9 Favorite Food

In my environmental science class I was asked to research a food I like to eat a lot. I choose to research my favorite Veggie Sticks. Veggie sticks has many ingredients. For example, they are made out of potato flour, expeller pressed safflower oil, rice flour, tomato powder, spinach powder, salt, beet, powder. The label on the back says it has all natural ingredients, nothing genetically modified, no trans fat, and gluten free ingredients. I was not able to find where they are made. I wanted to call the company and ask, but the product does not have any number where you can reach them at or website. The product labels say it is organic and that all ingredients are natural. It does not say if it was grown or raised. I tried researching it and I had no luck. The product is considered to be veggie chips. I also found out that according to the label in the back this product is manufactured with soy, wheat, and milk derivatives. The label also says it is distributed in Grandville, MI. It gives an address to the place where they are distributed. I could not find anything that says who produced it, or manufactured it. Online I cannot find any type of information besides ingredients just like on the label. I had no luck finding any type of information that would tell me what kind of impact the product produces. The only thing that I can think of is that it does have an impact to the environment because it comes in a bag like regular chips. Also, I think that it does have an impact to the environment because it is distributed in another city and state and it is brought to California. Therefore, it causes pollution because most likely they are brought in big trucks that release pollution into the air. In addition, according to Livestrong Website, veggie chips are not as healthy as we think. They do reduce in fat, but they are not healthy because you get a good amount of sodium. People still need to watch the amount of intake from the veggie chips. It is only a small difference between veggie chips and regular chips. Livestrong Website says, “veggie chips contains 134 calories and 6.6 grams of fat, of which 0.5 gram is saturated and potato chips contains 154 calories and 10.3 grams of fat, of which 1.1 grams are saturated.” Also, this product is tasty and salty. I like them, but now I know to watch my intake. Works Cited http://www.livestrong.com/article/397941-are-veggie-chips-healthy/

Reduce Your Waste blog#8

In my environmental science class I was asked to keep track of my waste for two days and to measure it. I was also asked to find other strategies to reduce my waste and try and implement those strategies for two days and this is what I found: I found out that in a two day period I create 65 pieces of trash in my bedroom trash can. I consumed 11 pieces of paper, 2 pieces of trash that can’t be recycled, 17 pieces of trash that can be recycled, 15 pieces of food waste and 20 pieces of plastics and packages. Then I found strategies that can be used to reduce waste. What were in most of my trash were plastics and items that I can recycle, but I don’t. Reduction Waste strategies: - According to the Zero Waste Home Website we need to, Use our “5Rs right: Refuse what you do not need, Reduce what you do need, Reuse what you consume, Recycle what you cannot Refuse, Reduce or Reuse, and Rot (Compost) the rest.” - Also according to the Zero Waste Home Website we need to find, “alternatives to disposables (paper towels, garbage liners, wax paper, aluminum sheets, disposable plates, cups, etc....): Swap paper towels for reusable rags, swap sandwich baggies for kitchen towels or stainless containers, drop garbage liners all together (wet waste is mostly compostable anyways).” - Shop less and buy foods that can you reuse like jars/ reduce package waste. - Shop at farmers market and take your own reusable containers/ bags. - Recycle anything that can be recycled. - Prevent food waste by planning meals ahead and only cook in small amounts to reduce leftover food. - Find ways to restore or reuse old clothes and appliances. For example, you can have a garage sale or take your stuff to a thrift store or organizations. You can also take them to a place where they recycle appliances and electronics. Attempting to Reduce my Waste: For two days I have attempted to reduce my waste. It has been hard. I could only try to attempt a few things that I listed above. My biggest challenge is mastering the 5R’s. I tried not buying package goods from the store it has been hard. Mostly everything comes in plastics. I also went shopping to a farmers market bought only small amounts of food. Less than what I bought at a regular grocery store because I am also wasting food. I am not eating it and I throw it away. I am willing to keep on trying to go to farmers market, plan for meals, and buy less stuff including food. Maybe try not to buy many plastics or packaged stuff. I also separated my trash and put the trash I can recycle in the blue trash that I have at home. In the blue trash can I put like more than half of the items I had in the waste basket. In the end I reduced my waste by only having 25 small pieces of trash in my waste basket. I reduced a lot of my waste in two days. The most difficult trash to get rid of was small pieces of trash like small plastics and food waste. I need to keep on working on my food waste because I realized I’m wasting food. I need to also start using reusable items or start taking cloth bags to the store. Works Cited http://zerowastehome.blogspot.com/p/tips.html http://zerowastehome.blogspot.com/2010/01/zero-waste-grocery-shopping.html http://reduce.org/home/index.html Picture from Zerowaste Home website