coledarland

[coledarland]

The Story Of

In this post I am going to talk about a very interesting website called storyofstuff.org. This website showed me the real story behind everyday things like bottled water, electronics, and cosmetics. This site reveals the impact these items have on the environment.

In “The Story of Bottled Water” I learned a lot about how large companies are pushing us to buy the things we don’t really need. For example the video tells us about the Fiji water campaign that backfired. They thought that consumers would think that Fiji was a good marketing strategy and claimed that their water is named Fiji because it’s not bottled in Ohio. So in Cleveland they did a some test and compared it to tap water in Cleveland. These tests show that Fiji water lost taste test to the tap water and tested for lower quality while it cost way more. Bottled water is less regulated than tap water and is worse for the environment. An interesting fact I learned from the video is that “people in the U.S. buy more than half a billion bottles of water a week”. Water bottles are sold cheaper in huge quantities which promotes buying large quantities which wastes more plastic. This is largely the responsibility of the economic system we have in place. Large companies like coke and pepsi that own water companies like Aquafina and Dasani use advertising to make us believe tap water is bad for us. These companies have enough money to control the information we have access to regarding tap and bottled water. Along with that, pictures of mountains and streams are put on most water bottles when one third of all water bottled in the United States comes from the tap. The only thing they are doing to the water is filtering it. When we buy plastic water bottles we are affecting the environment in more ways than one. The plastic is made of oil which can be very harmful when burned. You would think that the United States would handle their waste responsibility but instead 80% is put into landfills and the ones that are not recycled are burned. This is a very large problem for me because I truly care about our ocean's health and burning plastic is a direct cause of ocean acidification that could kill all sea life. I think that drinking tap water could make a very positive impact on the environment.

In “The Story of Electronics” I learned interesting facts about the electronic industry. Most electronics, as you probably know break and need to be replaced fairly quickly. This is a marketing strategy for these companies. This strategy is even used by Apple, they slow down older devices to force people to buy the new products being released. This causes a large amount of electronic waste every time there is a new technological advancement. There are toxic chemicals such as lead in all of our computers, phones, and TVs. These chemicals are sent to landfills or to other countries to be broken down. When these products are broken down toxic chemicals are released into the ground and into water sources. This lead can leak into the drinking water of less developed countries that aren't responsible for recycling this electronic waste. If we were in charge of recycling our own goods it would be more sustainable and cheaper to design these products to last long, less toxic, and more recyclable. If we handled our own waste we would become much more conscientious of the detrimental effects of harmful substances. If someone designed one of these products that lasted longer and was safer for the environment it could compete with big name companies to give the people a greener option for electronics.

The “Story of Cosmetics” brought to my attention a lot of information I had never really thought about before. When deciding which soap and conditioner to buy I never would think it would have an effect on my health. This video taught me that less than 20% of chemicals in cosmetics have been assessed for safety. Some of these contain carcinogens that can cause cancer. Along with carcinogens, neurotoxins and reproductive toxins that can affect brain development and reproduction. These toxins are getting into all of us and it’s not by accident. On cosmetics labels they often put words like “herbal”, “natural”, or “organic” but these have no legal definition and mean nothing. That means that they can put whatever they want in a bottle and call it natural. These products don’t just target adults, these toxins are but put in everything from baby soap to female hair products. These products do not seem to be toxic when used in small amounts but females in the U.S. on average use about 12 personal care products per day. These products can carry a dozen or more chemicals. The FDA does not require cosmetics to list all the products on the label. This information was mind blowing to me and really opened my eyes to what was going on. These problems are not our fault are mostly the fault or large corporation. We need to work together to pass laws that take into account the health of the people.

Sources:

https://www.storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-bottled-water/

https://www.storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-cosmetics/

https://www.storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-electronics/

[coledarland]

The American Way

America has always had pride in the coal and oil industry but unfortunately the impact of these two industries is detrimental to the earth. By producing products such as coal and oil we are emitting fossil fuels into the atmosphere. We have been working very hard to keep the energy in our states running and trying to find alternative forms of energy that produce less byproducts. We produce products such as plastics that take a very long time to decompose and emit fossil fuels in order to be made. America will use any form of energy in order to make money for the time being, even if it has a negative impact on our planet. It seems to be that America is so focused on making money that they aren't concerned with the people who are drastically affected by the processes we go through to make plastic or energy. In a ted talk I watched the speaker, Van Jones, describe how America’s idea of what happens to recycled plastics is not always right. I learned from this ted talk that America does not deal with their own trash. Instead we ship it to other countries where their idea of recycling often means burning it. This means that the plastic won’t end up in our oceans but instead in the air we breathe. This causes not only a problem for the planet but for us as humans too, by hurting the Earth we are hurting each other. Unfortunately the poor and lower classes are the ones that are affected the most. In the ted talk they describe a place called cancer alley where the people that live there are affected by the petrochemical industry taking oil and making it into plastic. This causes the people of cancer alley who live right next to this production to be more likely to have health issues and on average have a shorter life span. The people that are less fortunate don’t have the luxury of living in a healthy environment. It seems very unfair to me that the poor are forced to live in places where their lives are at risk for the purpose of producing more plastics that are not good for our planet. It is hard for me to understand how big corporations can not only get away with hurting the planet but people as well. These industries are not the only ones affecting people's health and it is sad to see big corporations are affecting the world. In an article from Salon I read about how America has been exporting food with insecticides, insecticides that were banned in 1989 for having harmful side effects. The United States has banned its use here in America, but it still remains legal to export to other countries. These insecticides were responsible for the loss of life and linked to large amounts of bee and bird deaths. Not only just people but innocent animals are forced to deal with the lack of regard for other forms of life from humans. Animals do not contribute to the destruction of our planet, only humans who are fueled by greed. America is responsible for allowing these chemicals to have continued use outside of our country and is responsible for killing 23 Indian school children 20 years after the insecticides were banned from America. The part of the story that I found most interesting is that the insecticides were in food that was exported back into America. The problem that we created outside of the US was now being brought back showing how wrong this idea of allowing others to suffer as long as they aren't one of us. The idea that we are all people and just because we send our trash away does not mean it won’t be burned into the air and affect us all. Just because we ship insecticides that kill people to other countries doesn’t mean that their insecticide won’t one day be shipped back to us. It is clear that what we do affects the people that live on this planet and when you damage the earth the people are the ones truly affected by it. Another form of energy that has a very negative impact  on residents living nearby or working for, is the nuclear power plants we use for energy. The radiation emitted from these power plants affect many people's lives because it is shown to have a direct link to cancer. In Southern California there is a nuclear power plant placed on the sand of the local beach I surf. They have decided to get rid of the waste since the plant has not been running for six years. They now have no place for the 3,600,000 pounds of nuclear waste. Now I am thinking to myself about how me and my family could be living in the next cancer alley. The world we live in needs to make major changes or we will all be living in the pollution and destruction of these big corporations.  

Sources:

https://img.thedailybeast.com/image/upload/c_crop,d_placeholder_euli9k,h_675,w_1200,x_0,y_0/dpr_2.0/c_limit,w_740/fl_lossy,q_auto/v1493050907/articles/2012/02/13/latest-accident-at-san-onofre-nuclear-plant-worries-activists-residents/san-onofre-reno_qgcofi 

https://www.salon.com/control/2013/08/09/thanks_for_pesticides_america/ 

https://www.ted.com/talks/van_jones_the_economic_injustice_of_plastic#t-45933

Corbett, J. (2006) Communicating Nature Island Press: Washington D.C. 

[coledarland]

Environmental Treatment

The way that we treat our environment in the years to follow will have an impact that will be felt by our children and future generations. In the past few days I have learned a lot of new information about how humans have had an effect on the environment and how much of an impact we really cause. I found it very interesting that environmental issues are not something new, and have been around since my parents were kids.The difference now is that people are wanting to educate themselves on the issue and see how they can help. The industrial revolution has caused such an impact on our planet that we will never be able to reverse. But we can use the knowledge we have now to stop the further destruction of our planet. The inventions and machines that came about after the Industrial revolution were created to make life easier, but unfortunately they had an alternative effect we didn’t see coming. The intention of new technologies has changed completely from the original idea because people are trying to make as much money as possible while keeping information concealed to avoid these technologies from being seen as harmful. The way that we view nature and the experiences that we have can play a large role in how an individual may treat the environment. After reading just a couple of chapters from the textbook, “Communicating Nature” I started to understand why so many people care about nature. In the chapters it discusses how most people have some kind of childhood experiences involving the outdoors. These memories may stick with us for the rest of our lives, driving us to want others to have the same, or similar experiences with nature. When you see a place that you feel a special relationship with become damaged or destroyed, it feels like a piece of yourself is being damaged as well. Some individuals may think there is nothing you can do, but that is not always the case. When I was a kid I would go to the beach with my family every weekend. We would dig in the sand and everyday we would find endless amounts of trash. When I got a little older I began surfing different beaches and found that there was just as much trash on the sand as there was in the water. The runoff from the city would drain to the beach which happened to be the same beach that my high school surf team practiced at. Being in the water my whole life makes the ocean feel like a second home and something worth protecting. Not only is it the right thing to do, but it personally affects me because it will impact my children and family. When I try to revisit my favorite places with my future family I would be devastated to find they are being destroyed. So it's important to me to educate myself and others now so that the detriment can be prevented. A few days after a storm me and my friends went surfing and the water closer to the shore was warmer and had a fish like smell to it. I will never forget when I turned around to paddle for a wave and there was a diaper in the water next to me. It was something that convinced me the join a beach clean up group and start cleaning beaches every weekend. Our surf team coach taught us that it is important to take care of the things you love and he made everyone pick up ten pieces of trash everyday after surf practice. 

It became a routine to pick up any trash I found after surfing. This was a lesson that inspired me to want to work with the environment as a career. Since we live in a time where the internet helps connect people based on their interests, I have watched several YouTube videos about the pollution in the ocean. Some videos by “GOOD Magazine” peaked my interest because they mention how much plastic America is wasting and gives really informative facts on how much plastic is really being used. A fact that I found very interesting is from the “GOOD: Use Less Plastic” video that informed me that every plastic ever made is still here today. Another good video is the “Water Conservation | GOOD” video that discusses  various alternatives to save water for things I had never really thought of before such as how simple swaps like tea over coffee can save water. Another good example of this is when they show a cheeseburger contains 672 gallons of water while a salad only has 31 gallons. The most important video was the “Water by the Number | GOOD” this showed some outrageous information that made me feel horrible about wasting water. It states that “1⁄6 of the population does not have access to safe water”. It takes about the death rates from water related diseases and shows how much water is wasted by simple things like a toilet. There are changes that need to be made not only in people’s daily life but a change in society that takes account for the planet we live on and the less fortunate that after greatly affected by it.  

Sources: 

Corbett, J. (2006) Communicating Nature Island Press: Washington D.C. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ71svh1RVo&list=PLE7EBB5F57EA9F190&index =14 

GOOD Magazine (2010)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOLf2RbxmzE&list=PLE7EBB5F57EA9F190&inde x=18  GOOD Magazine (2009)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW5eBfZhE4M&list=PLE7EBB5F57EA9F190&ind ex=44 GOOD magazine (2008)