It’s Trendy to Save the Environment!

Look at our Polar Bears!

Supporting world peace and world hunger was so 5 years ago. Now, the trendy thing to support is the cause for global warming! Don’t get me wrong, there are still billions of us out there supporting numerous causes. Just look for the ‘Coexist’ and ‘Save the ta-tas stickers… on the back of our Toyota Prius’ and hybrid cars of course! This sudden kick to stop global warming has hit the United States hard and fast. But limiting the amount of oil you burn in the winter to warm up your house isn’t going to be enough to save the oh so cute polar bears our children study about in school. So what do we do and why are we even doing it?

The idea is simple. Mother Earth has been sweating up a storm, about a 1 degree F. increase, over the last 100 years. People are concerned because this temperature increase changes rainfall patterns, melts glaciers, and a bunch of other things that will increase the sea level. If we keep destroying the earth with our man made inventions, the green that we walk upon will no longer exist.

In order to make citizens happy, the United States government created a Climate Policy. This policy includes concepts like using voluntary based programs to reduce emissions and promote the reduction of greenhouse gas. There are companies like Energy Star, Climate Leaders, and Methane Voluntary Programs to encourage those to limit the amount of emission they produce. The concept of global warming will not have a huge effect on us, personally. However, in a few thousand years, the changes we made to reduce emission will save the green of our earth.

It’s Getting Hot in Here: Global Warming is Heating up Hollywood

Global warming is one of the hottest issues in the media today. The issue is discussed heatedly in the political arena along with being a hot commodity in providing entertainment in Hollywood.

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An Inconvenient Truth

Academy Award winner for Best Documentary, this movie is based on Al Gore’s personal journey, this movie gives us facts and future predictions of global climate change. This documentary film shows us that this is no longer a political issue, but a moral one as well.

Fact or Fiction?

An Inconvenient Truth is an eye opening experience of the effects of global warming. But are the issues present in the movie accurate?

  • According to Washington Post journalist Robert J. Samuelson this movie gives us an illusion that we know enough to solve the problem. He says we can’t do much about it until we’ve discovered new technology.
  • The facts presented in the film seem to be mostly correct, according to National Geographic.
  • On the other hand, information presented by Al Gore at the recent Copenhagen climate change summit are questionable according to a New York Times article. This clouds our judgement on his accuracy during the film.

It’s up to you to believe what’s presented in the film as accurate. Unfortunately, the only thing hot in this movie is the weather.

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The Day After Tomorrow

This movie may show the chilling effects of global warming, but Jake Gyllenhaal brings enough heat to the screen to satisfy the viewers. The movie captures the thrilling story of a climatologist trying to save the world and his son after abrupt climate change unleashes cataclysmic weather patterns.

Fact or Fiction?

Although filled with special effects keeping the audience sitting on the edge of their seat, could events shown in the movie be a result of global climate change?

  • According to Jeffrey Masters, Ph. D, the movie is based on scientific fact that global climate change affects weather patterns but the sudden climate shift would not cause the instant weather disasters depicted in the movie.
  • The PEW Center on Global Climate Change agrees that the extreme weather depicted in the film is not realistic.

This movie has made over the issue of global warming Hollywood-style. According to CNN and MSNBC this movie spurred many questions and concerns over the issue.

Is the Fear Justified?

  • More than 14,000 people died in France in 2003 because of a heat wave
  • 160,000 people are dying every year from extreme weather conditions, and this number is estimated to double by 2020

Climate change definitely provides Hollywood with good material that will attract viewers. Could this be our future?

Suppress the Will to Till

One very little known fact about global warming prevention is that soil plays a significant part in the process.  Simply put, soil retains carbon dioxide that would normally be in the air.  Therefore, the tilling soil may actually hurt the environment.  According to a Fairfax County document, no-till practices can be a good short-term fix for large amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

No-till farming is accomplished by high crop rotations and cover crops.

The benefits of no-till practices are:

  1. Reduced labor requirements
  2. Time savings
  3. Reduced machinery wear
  4. Fuel savings
  5. Improved long- term productivity
  6. Improved surface water quality
  7. Reduced soil erosion
  8. Greater soil moisture retention
  9. Improved water infiltration
  10. Decreased soil compaction
  11. More wildlife
  12. Reduced release of carbon gases
  13. Reduced air pollution

This video talks about how properly handled soil can help our climate change problem:

Soil & The Environment

Organic farming also prevents global warming, according to the Rodale Institute.  They say: “The key lies in the handling of organic matter (OM): because soil organic matter is primarily carbon, increases in soil OM levels will be directly correlated with carbon sequestration. While conventional farming typically depletes soil OM, organic farming builds it through the use of composted animal manures and cover crops.”

A Warming Economy

“The politicization of science is tantamount to killing it.” – Apollo 7 astronaut Walter Cunningham.

As my fellow writers have noted, there is a lot of media attention concerning global warming/climate change initiatives at the policy level. Carbon emission regulations, mandated offset programs, etc. the list goes on. But, is forcing companies and peoples alike to change by way of law the quickest, best solution?

Free-market Philosophies:
Interestingly enough, most of the Constitution framers were libertarians, free-market thinkers. However, there is a problem with that old mindset. As the book Natural Capitalism notes: Up until very recently, capitalism has not recognized that our natural resources are limited. Fortunately, that mindset is changing, and people have begun adopting new, more sustainable ideas for living and business.

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Government regulation issues:
Free markets rely on people being convinced of the importance of an issue and using their creativity to fix it. Wedding science to politics not only makes people frustrated; as Cunningham suggests, it causes science to lose credibility when people look to it to solve all their problems. Gerard Baker reports for TimesOnline that policies forcing change on the issue will “allow enterprise to be choked to death in a panic of suffocating regulations.”

What are the solutions?
Some have adopted trading Carbon Credits like money. In such a market, companies either gain credits by lowering carbon emissions, or they pay other companies to decrease their emissions (carbon offsets). Clearly, programs like this require some government setup – but not micromanagement. Take for example the offset issue in Europe. The U.N. wants to force companies to be less dependent on offsets, but Italian energy giant Fulvio Conti argues that $100 dollars spent on carbon dioxide abatement technologies in China is much more economic than doing so in Europe.

Government or Free-market? You decide.

Is It Hot Enough For Ya?

 global_warming_by_teabing

Wonder why it’s a little colder than usual in the winter? Why it’s a little too hot in the summer? The answer is global warming and climate change. Global warming and climate change are two subjects that have become major issues in the world today. Yet, many do not know the facts behind the emergence of global warming and climate change which may lead some to be skeptics.

 Global warming and climate change are due to an average increase in the temperature of the atmosphere near the Earth’s surface and in the troposphere, which can contribute to changes in global climate patterns and increase in greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases lead to warming in the Earth’s climate leading to global warming. However, some regions may experience cooling or wetter weather.

 Effects of Climate Change

  • More extreme weather patterns, super storms
  • More hurricanes
  • Longer dry spells or intense rains
  • Dramatic increase in greenhouse gases
  • Massive extinction of species will aggravate the environmental crisis

 What Can You Do?

  • Seal and insulate your home
  • Use green power which is environment friendly electricity generated by renewable energy
  • REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

 Global warming and climate change effect people, plants, and animals and protecting the environment from access greenhouse gases and pollution will insure that we have a better world for the next generation

 More information on Global Warming

The Cycles of Recycling

The History of Recycling, especially its relationship with the media is a story that is full of changing perceptions. Recycling has progressed significantly since the Chang Dynasty of China began recycling bronze into weapons in 200 B.C., then again, so has the mass media. Here are some of the highlights of their rocky relationship during the last 100 years:

Phase 1: Recycle or Bust!

In 1907 Cosmopolitan Magazine ran an article extolling the manner in which “even/ possible substances we use and throw away come back as new and different material – a wonderful cycle of transformation.

1916-1918: Due to shortages of raw materials during World War I, the federal government creates the Waste Reclamation Service with the motto “Don’t Waste Waste – Save It.”

Phase 2: Use it or Lose It

1955: Life magazine ran a two-page article glorifying the idea that single-use items are necessities of a modern lifestyle. Ease and convenience become the two most desirable qualities in product marketing. A negative side-effect: parks, forests. and highways are littered with trash.

1961: Sam Yorty successfully runs for mayor Los Angeles, promising the eradication of recycling

Phase 3: A Re-commitment

1970: In response to the excess trash being accumulated from plastics, the first Earth Day focuses attention on environmental concerns. Also, recycling’s chasing arrows logo is introduced and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is created.

1980: Per capita production of waste reaches 8 pounds per day, up from 5 pounds in 1970

1990’s: More stringent standards for waste use are adopted by governments.

Phase 4?: Re-Design-cycles?

Biological and Technical Cycles

More recently, the book Cradle2Cradle argues that our current philosophy is flawed because our industrial processes produce hybrid “monsters” of man-made and biological goods which don’t actually recycle but down-cycle into less useful materials.

The authors suggest implementing technical and biological production cycles in which a material is either completely biodegradable or completely man-made for industry.

A “Com-Post”

According to biosolids.com, composting is a process in which solid organic materials are broken down by micro-organisms in the presence of oxygen. Biosolids are mixed with sawdust, wood chips or other organic material. High temperatures generated during this process kill harmful micro-organisms. A rich, soil-like product is the end result.

Composting is something that can be done easily in your own backyard, as Laura Kelly explains in this YouTube video: Backyard composting for vegetable garden

According to the Sierra Magazine, composting can be an easy way to help control global warming. The article says, “In the oxygen-deprived environment of a landfill, rotting food produces methane, a gas with 72 times the global-warming potential of carbon dioxide. Landfills are the largest human-made source of methane emissions in the United States, with a greenhouse-gas impact equal to one-fifth of that produced by the nation’s coal-fired power plants.  ‘While we’re working on getting cars off the road and shutting down coal plants, composting is the fastest, easiest, cheapest way to deal with greenhouse-gas emissions right now’, says Linda Christopher, executive director of The Grassroots Recycling Network.”

Scientific Blogging adds to this issue of global warming saying, “Applying organic fertilizers, such as those resulting from composting, to agricultural land could increase the amount of carbon stored in these soils and contribute significantly to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, according to new research published in a special issue of Waste Management & Research.”
Composting is a very easy way to fertilize a garden or yard while reducing amount of waste in landfills and helping the problem of global warming.  Why shouldn’t you do it?

I Want YOU to Recycle

recycling

Remember learning about the three R’s in elementary school? Remember reading books such as the Great Trash Bash? Remember watching television shows like Sesame Street and learning the importance of recycling? Through educational books and television shows is how most kids learn about the importance of recycling. But now that we are grown up, what are the real benefits of recycling and how are some practical ways to apply the education we learned about in elementary school?


Top 10 Reasons to Recycle (According to the EPA and the National Recycling Coalition)

1.Recycling reduces the need for landfilling and incineration

2. It saves energy

3. Conserves natural energy such as water and timber

4. Decreases emissions of greenhouse gases

5.  Protects and expands U.S. Manufacturing jobs

6. Increases U.S. Competiveness

7. Protects wildlife

8. Reduces waste

9. Good for the environment

10. Helps sustain the environment for future generations!


So we know recycling is both beneficial and useful. Numerous publications, such as Recycling Today magazine help inform consumers about the latest issues concerning recycling. The media also informs citizens on steps companies are taking in helping recycle. For example, according to Greentech Enterprise, Sony launched Greenfill, a place where consumers can bring their old electronics and recycle them. This positive press helps to encourage citizens to recycle on a daily basis.


So What Can YOU Do as a Furman Student?

  • Look for the blue recycling bins in the Dining Hall and PalaDen to dispose of plastic bottles, aluminum cans, and paper
  • Ask your RA about putting a recycling bin in your room
  • Dispose of recyclable items in the marked bins by the dumpsters!
  • Buy recycled products

What do I recycle?

The NRC says the top 5 items to recycle are:

1. Aluminum

2. PET plastic bottles

3. Newspaper

4. Corrugated cardboard

5. Steel cans


All of the recycled items at Furman are collected every week and transported to the recycling center where distributers can sort them and give them to manufacturers who can turn them into useful products.

It’s so easy a caveman could do it! So start recycling!!

Can There Ever Be Too Much Recycling?

 

 Could recycling really hurt more than it helps the environment? There are some critics who believe that recycling in excess can be detrimental to society.  One of those people is Daniel Benjamin an economist who wrote an article titled “Eight Great Myths of Recycling.” In this article he describes the 8 myths that lead people to believe recycling is the ultimate answer to environmental well being such as:

  • Our Garbage Will Bury Us
  • Our Garbage Will Poison Us
  • Recycling Always Protects the Environment

However, there are negative factors of recycling that do support Benjamin’s claim that the listed above are not infallible such as:

  • Abandoned dump sites for recycling, when left unmanaged, damage the surrounding environment
  • Harmful chemicals in the trash can mix water into soil causing water and soil pollution
  • Paper recycling can be costly because it takes different industrial processing such as bleaching to make it usable.

Though he does point out the negative and contradictory aspects of recycling he states that informed and voluntary recycling conserves resources and helps our wealth, while mandatory recycling only leads people to do what they know is not sensible and hurt society rather than help it. In respects to Benjamin’s opinion I also believe that we should not blindly recycle or do any other measure to conserve the environment without looking at its causes and effects.

Don’t Hate, Donate!

Organizing clothing donations for Hurricane Katrina victims.
Organizing clothing donations for Hurricane Katrina victims.

            Everyone wonders why teenagers are so difficult to handle. Maybe it is because they don’t have the latest cell phone, the newest John Mayer album downloaded on their iPod, or mom refused to buy the expensive pair of sneakers that everyone at school is wearing. The concept of socialization drains money out of our wallets like Niagara Falls. So what’s the trick to keeping your teen happy and a padlock on your wallet? Donating of course!

            The Council for Textile Recycling states the average family can produce about 4-10 bags of no longer worn clothes every year. Just look in your teen’s closet for the clothes that are “so last month.” These clothes can be donated and tax deducted, meaning money… well it doesn’t go back into your wallet, but less is taken out from taxes! In 2003, taxpayers deducted $5.8 billion alone from donating clothes. Every year about 8.75 billion pounds of post-consumer textiles gets chucked in the trash because people think they can’t be reused. Think again!

  • 8.75 billion pounds thrown out textiles
  •         4.13 billion pounds recovered
  •                    2.15 billion pounds recycled as secondhand clothing
  •                    1.12 billion pounds converted into fibers
  •                     860 million pounds becomes wiping and polishing clothes

            Companies like The Salvation Army and Goodwill are great places to donate. They take used items like clothing, appliances, electronics, and furniture, and sell them in their retail stores, where 100% of the proceeds go to charity. Around the holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving, the media loves to promote the good cause of donating in order to inspire the public to help those less fortunate. During the regular year, however, the media mostly portrays the scams associated with donating. This is partially because:

  • Media looks good reporting on charities.
  • Viewers love drama.
  • Viewers may get motivated to donate.

So how do we motivate everyone to donate no matter what time of the year it is? I haven’t figured it out yet, but I’m starting by spreading the word.