Read 'n' Seed 2: First quarter of "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight"

So far I've read the first quarter of my book, which has equaled out to 90 pages.  This translates into 8 chapters.  Mainly the author has focused on how the world has gotten to the state of complete ecological collapse.  We're running out of oil, we're cutting down all the trees (therefore running out of oxygen), we're running out of food (on land and in the oceans), and cheap and clean water may be an item of the past. To be honest, thus far the book is quite the downer.  It's interesting and important information, but it makes our current ecological crises look hopeless.

I learned a bit about the Carboniferous Period.  It occurred 400 million years ago and lasted about 70.  It was called the Carboniferous Period because there was significantly more carbon in the air during that time then there is today.  Also, the temperature was quite a bit higher than it was today.  Due to those conditions plant life grew like crazy!  The author described the vegetation as rising hundreds of feet in the air! This vegetation is what eventually would turn into fossil fuel (millions of years later).

I also learned that the U.S. only contains 6% of the population but uses 25% of the world's energy.  That's a pretty sucky statistic.  It's also desturbing that we are cutting and burning down our rainforests (thousands of acres every hour) when they are our major source of oxygen and carbon dioxide removal.  Still we continue to destroy them.  Another startling fact is that TB, a disease most people associate with third world countries, is alive and well even in the U.S. and kills more people each year than AIDS, malaria, and tropical diseases combined. 

So what are the implications of what I've read? The book pretty much says that unless we change our culture, and change the way we think we're going to destroy everything we have and I totally believe it.  So much of what we rely on just for day to day survival is on the brink of collapse and we still have a government unwilling to recognize it.  All and all, this book is painting a rather terrifying picture of the earth (or lack there of) in the very near future.  Most of the problems he's discussed in the book are likely to occur in our lifetime...scary.  We need to change. 

Check out this really realistic video about the end of the earth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZMwKPmsbWE

Share & Voice: BigBelly Solar Compactor

We all make trash and then that trash has to be collected.  Well what if it had to be collected less often?  Less frequent collections would mean reducing carbon emissions from giant waste management trucks.  How do we make this happen?  Well UMD already is!  Our campus, along with many others across the nation, have started to use something called a "BigBelly Solar Compactor".  This thing is the smartest trash can you'll come across!  As it fills with trash it uses the power from its solar panels to compact it.  By compacting the trash right where it sits BigBelly goes from a normal garbage can holding 35 gallons to having the ability to hold 150 to 200 gallons of trash!  Not only that, but it sends a text to the city when it's full and needs to be collected!  No extra trips and it frees up city workers to do other things.  Besides having BigBelly trash cans, the campus also has BigBelly recycling bins.  This is great for all the same reasons as the trash can, but the added bonus of street recycling!  You don't see as many recycling bins when you're walking down the street as you do trash cans, that's for sure; however, BigBellies are a part of the solution.  Look for UMD's BigBelly Solar Compactor outside the Sports & Health Building!

One group who has had a lot of success with the placement of BigBellies throughout their city is Philadelphia. They're estimated to save $875,000 a year!  Check out BigBelly for yourself, all the information came right from their website!   http://www.bigbellysolar.com/ 

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 2: Weekly Update

My SMART goal is to use reusable bags 100% of the time I shop.  I would say I had about a 66% success rate this week.  This is because I went shopping three different times.  I went to grocery stores two different occasions just to pick up a few small things and I went to target once.  The grocery store was the first place I went after creating this SMART goal.  I only bought two things and I didn't have a reusable bag with me so I just used my purse so that was one plastic bag I easily avoided.  I went to Target later in the week and picked up a number of items.  Of course I forgot my reusable bag in my car, but I was reminded of my goal as soon as I went up to the registers because of the reusable bags they sell. I bought one for $1 since I didn't want to fail at my goal and I figured I needed a few more anyway for when I do my serious grocery shopping.  However, it was yesterday when I went to the grocery store that I messed up!  I went with a friend and we took her car so I didn't have my reusable bags in my back seat as a reminder.  I went up to the register and didn't even think about it.  It wasn't until the cashier was throwing my things into a plastic bag that I just thought "Crap!".  The funny thing was after the put my items into a plastic bag he asked if I wanted paper or plastic.  I mean a little late to ask, right? I would have said paper (because it can be easily reused and recycled), but he didn't even give me a chance.  I was kind of pissed.  I was mad at myself for forgetting, and mad at the cashier for not asking me.

I learned from this week that I just have to be more mindful about my goal.  Also, maybe if I got my roommates and friends into the idea of only using recycled bags they would all start keeping them in their car.  This would not only help me, but I would be helping the environment by sort of paying it forward I guess...haha!  That will be my plan for this week!

Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 2 hosted by Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy.

Eye Opener: CSPI

For this eyeopener I took a tour of our food supply.  This actually coincides pretty well with the section of my book I'm reading.  It's all about our food supply, water supply, and the cattle industry.  After reading some of the facts about our food supply it seems to me that many of our problems involving food and how it relates to the environment stem from the cattle industry.  We clear and burn down much needed rainforests just for grazing ground for more cattle that will eventually be shipped to the US, we use trillions of gallons of water to grow feed for them, and we pump them full of antibiotics that end up creating strains of micro-organisms that are antibiotic resistant meaning that when they infect humans, treatment becomes very difficult.  A fact that I found even more stunning is this: "Livestock are often fed newspapers, industrial sludge, sewage, and other trash. The feeding of cattle remains back to cattle, a practice now banned, led to mad cow disease, which causes always-fatal brain disease in humans."  Although something might be "banned", it doesn't mean it still doesn't occur.

When I leaved in England for 9 months many of their meat and dairy products offered choices entitled "Free Range".  This means that the animal who laid this egg, or this piece of steak is from an animal that wasn't caged up, feed trash, and pumped full of antibiotics.  I never really paid much attention to it, but now that I've gained some environmental knowledge from this class, I realize the importance of free range animal products. Click here to check out an article about the EU banning antibiotic use!