Gasland 2 Documentary Review*Extra Credit Post*

Imagesource:http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/07/06/arts/06GASLAND/06GASLAND-superJumbo.jpg

 

No the above image is NOT a photo-shopped image you see, but a still from the documentary Gasland 2 screened on a movie night hosted by the Student Sustainability Collective at Riverside Community College. This homeowner's water supply could be set on fire just like most homeowners' water supply affected by fracking. I really had no idea what fracking was (which is what the documentary is about) and didn't really think it affected me. Now I've come to learn that there is big support and plans to have fracking in California. "In most states, fracking operations are designed to extract natural gas reserves. In California, it’s all about oil. California has the largest shale oil play in the nation- the Monterey Shale. It spans much of the Central Valley and Southern California. It lies below many of the sources of drinking water for Central Valley residents and contains an estimated 13.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil that have historically been too difficult to extract." Yes, alternative energy sources are important so that the U.S. does not have to be so dependent on foreign energy sources, but at what cost? After viewing Gasland 2 I can say that the repercussions of fracking are unsafe and harmful and I strongly oppose any plans for fracking anywhere! The one thing that really scared me about the movie was the way that government was portrayed. The government is actually under the govern of corporations and companies as evidenced by the film, and if we can't turn to the government for help where can we go? I highly recommend this movie!

Here are notes I took while watching the film, so you can get an idea of what the film's about:

• Gas industry denies water contamination and air pollution result of fracking, "We don't believe... haven't seen proof..."
• Families told not to fish or swim in ponds because of unsafe water, altering their lifestyle
• Victoria Switzer-property values decrease, "hey have to bring your own water"
• Cabbot Oil and Gas had contaminated Dimmick, Pennsylvania water with methane (causing it to be able to set on fire)
• EPA told pavilion residents not to drink their water
• natural filtration in ground wont filter fracking chemicals
• this isn't news, resource extraction at expense of indigenous people done for years in the history of the U.S.
• Some residents forced to leave their homes because house can blow up, or they were getting really sick. forced to take the financial loss
• Counterinsurgency, psy-ops techniques used by companies against public. military terms
• Cement failure within the fracking systems at high rates, allowing chemicals to escape into resorvoirs
• fracking cause of earthquakes
• natural gas good for weaning of fossil fuels
• sufficient clean renewable energy available (wind)- do not need to dig for fuels
• corporations have high influence in government more than ever
• court cases with angry homeowners settled with nondisclosure agreements
• EPA rep said they could not tell the truth (lied and said water was safe). They have to listen to the higher ups in D.C.
• oil control  business has so much money and power over what's going on with fracking
• own government afraid of a business

Sources:If you would like to learn more about fracking in California visit:http://www.cleanwateraction.org/fracking-california

Tap VS Bottled Water? Is One Really Better Than The Other?

 

 

Maybe your better off giving up bottled water!

imagesource:http://everythingsimpsons.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/boyscoutz3.jpg

http://bestepisodeever.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/9f22b.jpg

 

So this week's assignment is about where our water at home comes from as well as learning if bottled water is any better than tap water. After short investigation at the site http://www.riversideca.gov/utilities/water-wqr.asp I learned my tap water is "groundwater from wells in the Bunker Hill Basin and Riverside Basin." The Water Annual Report from Riverside provides a little more information about my water:

Riverside’s water begins as rain and snow that touches down in our local foothills and mountains and flows down through the earth into underground aquifers. With every storm, these water sources, located throughout the Riverside and San Bernardino basins, receive new water that is filtered through percolation, a naturally occurring purification process.

I learned that California's drinking water standards are among the highest in the U.S. That certainly makes me feel a little better about drinking my tap water.. if I had too. Lab tests are carried out daily to test for harmful chemicals as well. The tap water is safe to drink and has a safe amount of chlorine to prevent bacteria from growing in it (but the water can be filtered if the chlorine is an issue).

 

On another note, it is of interest to know WHO regulates our bottled water and tap water. Not surprisingly, the Environmental Protection Agency regulates tap water. They have National Primary Drinking Water Regulations and primary standards to protect the public by limiting the amount of contaminants in drinking water by enforcing maximum contaminant levels. Bottled water is regulated by The Food and Drug Administration. It appears that tap water might be the safest to drink after all because "Public water systems must also provide reports to customers about their water, noting its source, evidence of contaminants and compliance with regulations." The FDA seems to lack in  regulatory authority unlike the  EPA. "By comparison, GAO said, FDA regulates bottled water as a food and cannot require certified lab testing or violation reporting. Furthermore, FDA does not require bottled water companies to disclose to consumers where the water came from, how it has been treated or what contaminants it contains."

 

There are also a lot of concerns and drawbacks with water bottles. Their has been a lot of media on the impact of plastic water bottles. Apparently the most environmental thing you can do is carry around your own reusable water bottle filled with tap water. A spokesperson for the Natural Resources Defense Council says roughly 70% or more of water bottles end up in landfills and incinerators, "That's 170 bottles per year for every man, woman and child in America,". You also have to think about the money and energy going into manufacturing the bottles as well as transporting them. The most alarming factor is the chemical bisphenol A found in plastic bottles that may alter the hormone levels in your body.

 

In conclusion, " In study after study, bottled water has been proven to be no cleaner than tap water, and has the added disadvantage that it isn't nearly as well regulated as your tap water." Let's not forget your tap water is cheaper than bottled water.

 

Additional Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/07/09/09greenwire-fewer-regulations-for-bottled-water-than-tap-g-33331.html

 

 http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/

 

http://www.culturechange.org/cms/content/view/181/62/

Riverside -Corona Resource Conservation District First Class Fieldtrip

On April 4th, my environmental science class went on it's first fieldtrip! Seeing as this is college, no, my classmates and I were not transported by a big yellow school bus unfortunately (I rather enjoy school bus rides). Seeing as we are adults we drove to the location , which was conveniently 5 minutes from Riverside Community College. It's literally right at the base of Mt. Rubidoux. I never knew such an interesting place was so close by! They have this neat outdoor Land Use Learning Center  which is a 3 & 1/2 educational facility (that I believe is still in construction by the looks of some of it) "that demonstrates four important plant communities of the inland empire: coastal-sage-scrub, chaparral, oak woodland, and riparian." This project is only one of the many things the RCRCD contributes to the community. The district also :conducts educational, technical assistance, and on-the-land conservation programs. To become involved contact them at (909)683-7691.

Before we got to venture into the habitat models in the Learning Center, we got to learn about pest control from a Dr. David Morgan. He had a British accent I believe? Any who it made the mini-lecture more enjoyable, at least for me seeing as how I love accents especially British ones.
Here are some notes from the lecture:

• find a predator or pathogen that kills the insect/pest.
• has to reproduce more rapidly than the pest to control it
• the solution predator must be tested in the new climate to which it has been relocated to make sure that it will survive where the problem prey is habituating
• has to be tested to make sure it only preys on the pest
• lots of tests done in quarantine
• have to apply for a permit to bring in the new predator, requires 75 pages of research: geographic range, etc. 
• have to do follow up studies after pathogen/predator released
• Permit goes through. find a way of producing/storing/releasing the good pathogen/predator.
• hard to control pests in urban areas, most insecticides not allowed in urban areas
• birth of bio-control @ University California Riverside

My tour guide  went on to discuss the conservation work:

• Santa Ana Sucker-threatened fish, so impacted by pollution, human development
• the district propagates the fish and releases(populations separated genetically because of adaptations to certain habitats)
• Brown Headed Cowbird-Invasive species. parasite nests of other birds
• double door system to avoid infestation
• overpopulation? species within a habitat will naturally downsize (talking about the fish)

At the end of the tour we reached the agriculture demo area:

• Agriculture can't succeed without good soil and access to water
• And the craziest thing my guide said that I don't know  if it's true but it certainly got my attention and sorry for the run on sentence was  "There are more organisms in a handful of soil than people on Earth."

Here are some shots I took at the Learning Center:

 

Environemntal Science in the News!

Image from:http://www.mixerplanet.com/allarme-spreco-alimentare/
One thing that really rubs me the wrong way is when I see perfectly good food being thrown out.
When my siblings are about to throw out a lot of food still on their plate I make them feel guilty by saying "Think of the people starving in Africa!", That usually makes them shove down a few more spoonfuls and it makes me feel better even if it makes them feel sick from being too full!  As for me I have a bad habit of eating far more than I should because I hate to see a lot of food that my mom cooks get thrown away, and as much as I hate wasted food, it doesn't make much sense for me to become overweight because of this guilt of wasting food so I've learned to marginally control this eating behavior. For our assignment in class, we are to choose an online news article that pertains to an environmental science-related topic and I'm choosing an article on waste disposal, specifically food. This assignment is now 3-4 days late I'm not sure. I don't know why I always procrastinate on these posts since I actually enjoy writing them. I must have a problem with deadlines... but back to the topic!  Here is a summarization of the article I chose:

A new report states that up to HALF of the world's food is WASTED. To be more clear, of the annual 4.4 billion tons of food that is produced only half of it is actually eaten. This report is by the British Institution of Mechanical Engineers. If we want to meet future food demands, this type of wastage cannot continue. Food is wasted by harvesters, storage, transportation, markets, and consumers. Food production and consumption practices were studied in Europe, China and Africa. Waste occurs on a global scale but in less developed areas the waste happens at the farmer producer end while in more developed areas the waste happens at the wholesale and retail levels. Consumers throw away as much as half of what is bought to eat. Entire crops are rejected by supermarkets because they do not meet their standards of size and appearance. Promotions are constantly persuading consumers to buy more than what they really need which they end up not eating but why not? 2 for 1 is better than 1 right?

Here is a link to the article:http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/10/world/world-food-waste/
(the link to the report by the Engineers does not work on the CNN website, but if you google "institution of mechanical engineers food waste pdf" the first link that appears is the actual waste report)

I do believe this is a reliable information source because it is a "news" website. "CNN.com is among the world's leaders in online news and information delivery. Staffed 24 hours, seven days a week by a dedicated staff in CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, and in bureaus worldwide, CNN.com relies heavily on CNN's global team of almost 4,000 news professionals." It is also updated continuously throughout the day. I found this statement at http://www.cnn.com/about/ . I believe the information presented is reliable because it is presented objectively without the reporter's opinion. There is a LONG list of who runs the site which can be found here http://www.cnn.com/about/dotcom_executives.html . Extensive bios of the CNN Digital executive team are included on the page as well!

A claim made by the article is, "Up to half of the world's food is wasted, according to a new report that found production inefficiencies in developing countries and market and consumer waste in more advanced societies." I certainly was convinced by the claim because of the continuous evidence and facts that were provided in the article. The only logical fallacy I can find is in the last sentence of the article, "Moreover, sales promotions "frequently encourage customers to purchase excessive quantities," which they don't eat, the study said." It seems like a generalization, I'm sure not ALL consumers throw away food when they have excess.

My initial reaction to the article was "aha! I was right!" but I would have much preferred to be wrong than to have my suspicions of food waste validated. It seems almost hard to think you can make an impact on this when half the world is wasting food! But fortunately you can help! You can volunteer or donate to a Food Bank near you! "Food banks acquire donated food, much of which would otherwise be wasted, from farms, manufacturers, distributors, retail stores, consumers, and other sources, and make it available to those in need through a network of community agencies. These agencies include school feeding programs, food pantries, soup kitchens, AIDS and TB hospices, substance abuse clinics, after-school programs, and other nonprofit programs that provide food to the hungry."



Chemical Hazards & Human Health For The Modern (eco-friendly) Woman

image courtesy of: Rachel Carter, http://www.flickr.com/photos/raggle/

For this week's assignment, we are blogging about potential risks associated with chemicals found in common personal and household products. Before I let you know what household product to be wary of, I want to inform you of two chemicals to be more aware of. Maybe you've heard the word Methylparaben tossed around in conversations but never really knew what it was. Methylparaben is a chemical that destroys fungus and is an antibacterial agent so naturally is used in products to extend shelf-life. There are plenty of risks associated with this chemical that is commonly found in cosmetics products. The scary thing about this chemical is that it seeps through the skin when applied on the surface, and escapes out of our intestinal tract spreading into our bodies. This chemical has actually been found whole within breast cancer tissues. Researchers even "suggest that Methylparaben may increase risk of breast cancer, or accelerate the growth of these tumors." It has been suggested that because Methylparaben behaves like estrogen in the body, the "parabens can cause decreased sperm production and motility"(motility meaning the ability for sperm to swim properly toward an egg.) So maybe if you and your partner are trying to conceive, you might want to try staying away from products that list this chemical as an ingredient!
Source:http://www.livestrong.com/article/21581-dangers-methylparaben/

Paraffins (a by-product of petroleum) are also chemicals that should be checked for on labels. Parrafins have multiple uses such as coolants, lubricants, plasticizers, and as flame retardants. What's concerning about this chemical is the growing alarm "over the prevalence and health risks of short-chain chlorinated paraffins" so much that Paraffins now hold "a prominent spot on the Environmental Protection Agency’s short list of chemicals that pose an unreasonable risk to our health and the environment." The use of Parrafins is widespread and at high volumes, so much so, that it's found in "human livers and breast milk, plastic and rubber products, the fat tissue of freshwater fish and marine mammals, and the water and wastewater of four continents: North America, Asia, Europe and Antarctica". Scientists have found that the chemical is toxic to some aquatic animals and that it "can cause cancer and liver, thyroid and kidney damage in some mammals. Paraffins accumulate in tissues, prolonging our exposure and worsening the effects."
source:http://www.motherearthnews.com/nature-and-environment/epa-investigates-paraffin-risks.aspx

I took a look at the ingredients in my Aveeno Shave Gel (which I l-o-v-e) and unfortunately for me, it contains Methylparaben!All is not lost! You can still have the silky smooth legs you desire because there is an alternative to using harmful chemical laden shaving creams! The easiest option would be to switch to a natural ingredient shaving cream like "Crave Your Shave". You could also make your own homemade shaving cream:
http://everydayroots.com/homemade-shaving-cream
You would think waxing would be one solution but common wax used in hair removal actually contains the chemical Paraffin as I talked about earlier but there are a few natural ingredient waxes to be found. Some salons actually offer a more eco-friendly wax consisting of only sugar, lemon, and honey. You could even make the wax at home!:
http://tipnut.com/body-sugaring/
The process of using this wax with cloth strips is called "sugaring", I have yet to try it but my sister has made her own and says its not as painful as regular waxing. Of all the alternatives the one I'm most excited to try is the homemade shaving cream.

My Calculated Ecological Footprint

So I took the online quiz at www.footprintnetwork.org/calculator and I was not really shocked at the results because I already had a feeling I was not being very eco-friendly. (I plan on changing though! Promise!) Here are my results:(click the image to see it bigger!)

I explored scenarios and checked the ones I REALLY thought I could do:

after making the changes I was shown :

Overall I thought the quiz was very interesting and helpful! I live with my parents so I pretty much have to convince them to buy energy efficient appliances if they buy them (which is RARE). The second change is a bit harder. The "purchasing products that use less packaging" bit is hard because sometimes you NEED a certain product and you don't want to switch to something different. I usually like trying new products so I could work on that. The first change is EASY PEASY because I RARELY eat meat. I considered going vegetarian at the start of the year but it's tough! If given the choice I would definetly choose a vegetarian or vegan meal.



spread the science!

AS I learn about more websites and blogs related to Environmental Science I will add them to this post and update it!

• I don't know about you but I didn't really know what CAN and CAN NOT go into the blue recycle bin that goes in my front yard every Thursday until recently. This website is for Riverside residents only and lists what you can recycle: http://www.riversideca.gov/publicworks/trash/recycling-what.asp 
• 
•  image: screenshot from the website

   
• This second link is what you CAN NOT recycle and put in the blue bin: http://www.riversideca.gov/publicworks/trash/recycling-what-cannot.asp
• 
•  image: screenshot from the website

   
• and this one is for hazardous household waste that requires special disposal: http://www.riversideca.gov/publicworks/trash/HHW.asp
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    image: screenshot from the website
• This website was provided by my professor. The Footprint Calculator will let you know "How much land area does it take to support your lifestyle?" You take an online quiz "to find out your Ecological Footprint, discover your biggest areas of resource consumption, and learn what you can do to tread more lightly on the earth."
• http://www.footprintnetwork.org/calculator
•  image: screenshot from the website
• Not to sound like a 13 year old girl but this next link is" really cool". It's a service where you pay to have a box with sample products that are natural. organic, and GMO-free delivered to your home! The site explains it better: "How It Works: Conscious Box helps you discover healthier choices. Our personalized subscription service lets you sample the best natural, non-GMO products, every month. Find something you like? Pick up full-size favorites at deep discounts. It’s that simple. Conscious Box makes living healthy easier than ever. We Read Labels. We sort through hundreds of natural goods like snacks, beauty and cleaning products and pick only the best. Every product must meet our standards. That means all natural ingredients and zero GMOs. We always aim to support sustainable, fair trade businesses. Discover Healthier Choices.You choose a box type: Classic, Vegan or Gluten-Free. Then we send you a boxful of our top picks every month. Find new favorites to fill your home with healthier options. Let Us Know What you Think. You have opinions. We want to hear them. It helps us make your box even better. Every month, rate your products and you'll earn points. Save Money (And Maybe The World)Use your points for discounts on full-size versions of your faves. Shop flash sales for deals on products in the current month’s box. Support the ethical, eco-friendly companies that are making a difference in the world." It's less than 20$ for a year or less subscription!
• http://www.consciousbox.com/
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   image: screenshot from the website
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