John Muir Week 2012

This was definitely an interesting experience. Anytime I had trash, I had to carry it around with me until I got home and could put it in the bag. It made me much more conscious of how much trash I go through and in what areas I could reduce the amount of waste I produce. One example is bathroom paper towels; because I would have had to carry them around all day, I never used paper towels this week. I just shook my hands like a crazy person and let them air dry! I want to continue to do this because I feel that using paper towels to dry your hands is not necessary. Overall, it was an easier challenge than I expected, and an educational one as well!

Name: Eduardo Gonzales

Eco Challenge: Take Cold Showers

I knew it was going to be tough to take cold showers everyday in the week, and i was right. I dreaded the time before taking the shower. I feared the initial spurt of water and the continuation of it being cold. The dial to turn to hot water was laughing at my face while i shuddered and moaned. Since i was making weird noises while taking the cold shower, i had to do it during times when my suite mates were gone or asleep. Obviously i wasn’t going to stay under the coldness for a long duration of time, so i had to come up with ways to be in the water in less time. I decided to do a different portion of my body in the cold water, turn off the water, and resume with another portion of my body. In doing so, i hardly wasted any water during my shower taking AND i took less time taking a shower(i wanted to get the hell out of there). Overall though, i’m glad i did it for the environment and i will TRY to conitnue taking cold showers adding in a warm shower as a treat to myself.

Name: Eduardo Gonzales

Eco Challenge: Take Cold Showers.

Day2: Do you have any ideas on how to minimize the use of plastic bags and Styrofoam boxes? And why is polyethylene environmentally friendly?
-I think a some stores should boycott plastic bags and require their shoppers to bring in a reusable bag. Of coarse, i understand that its a big request and not all stores can do this. As long as some stores start dong it, it will be a step in the right direction.

-Styrofoam should just be replaced by boxes. I think Styrofoam really needs to be boycotted. 

- Polyethylene has the potential to be very biodegradable. At the moment, it can degrade but it can take a couple hundred years. As long as environmental scientists figure out how to shorten the degrading process, polyethylene will be more helpful towards the environment. 

Day 3: How do skyscrapers affect the environment?
-Well first of all, in order to make skyscrapers(because a city just can’t have one), land had to be sacrificed. Perhaps some trees were destroyed in the process. Also, there are more concentrated amount of people in a smaller area, which means there is a lot of pollution that can be caused by skyscraper occupants.

Day 4: Please list and discuss at least three ways that the meat industry affects the environment
-Breeding livestock in the masses affects the natural order of the animal cycle.

- The factories of the meat industry pollute the environment with co2 omissions.

-The factories may also be tainting the water with the products of their excess waste.

Day 5: What do you think are possible solutions for reducing the plastic vortex in the Pacific Ocean?

-This is a hard question, I agree with Jonathan Chan that international cooperation is needed to solve this Plastic Vortex. The problem is just too grand for just the U.S. to solve on its own. There needs to be a collaboration of very powerful organizations to influence people to take action on the the matter. A collaboration between countries may be the trick. Though it sounds easier than it may be.

I managed to go without using disposable cups for a week but it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. There were several instances where I wanted a smoothie or coffee from John’s and as I was about to order, I remembered my eco-challenge.

Sometimes, I would go up to my apartment and bring a cup down, but more often, I found myself just making my own drinks. This actually probably saved me money (dining dollars) too.

There were also a few instances at dining halls where they had run out of the reusable cups. I had my reusable water with me at those times though.

I am going to continue to avoid using disposable cups whenever I can and make it a habit to have my own cup with me.

Submitted by Eileen Hsu

For the John Muir Week Eco-Challenge, I want to try to become more aware of how much trash I produce and try to reduce that amount. To do so, I will confine all of my trash to the volume of a plastic shopping bag, forcing myself to be more careful before I throw something away.

As a life long vegetarian, i will take the extra step to go vegan this week! 

- Anna Morrow

Day 4: The meat industry can pollute in many ways. 1) Deforestation for grazing land. 2) Transportation of meat from industrial farms to slaughterhouses, processing centers, distribution, etc. 3) Growing all that food to raise animals for meat. There’s a lot of extra farming that has to be done to raise animals to “meaty” weight.

Submitted by Devin Ratelle

I will take my banana peels, orange peels, and other food scraps down to the community garden for compost and use the stairs instead of the elevator to decrease the amount of energy used to power them.

Submitted by Denisse Ruiz

Plastic bags can be cut down by using your backpack as a reusable bag when you go to the store. Other reusable bags are great too, but your more likely to have your backpack with you after class. Eating out less can cut down on styrofoam boxes, as can eating at different places that don’t have styrofoam. You can also try bringing your own reusable container as a substitute. Polyethylene is considered environmentally friendly because the high density polyethylene (HDPE) products constitute the number 2 recyclable plastics. They are one of the most widespread plastics recycled in curbside recycling programs. Low density polyethylene (LDPE), or number 4 plastics, are recyclable, but are accepted by fewer programs.

Submitted by Devin Ratelle

Quinlan Hampton

I challenged myself to take shorter showers. I used to take 30+ minute showers because I loved the warm water. However now I take 15 minute showers while still keeping clean! :D Cutting my time in half! 

Day2: Do you have any ideas on how to minimize the use of plastic bags and Styrofoam boxes? And why is polyethylene environmentally friendly?

Instead of using plastic bags, when I go grocery shopping I bring my backpack. That also help not hurt your hands. With styrofoam boxes, cardboard ones are much healthier for the environment and cheaper since you can just use recycled paper! Also Polyethylene is made to degrade and there are now biodegradable types.

Day 3: How do skyscrapers affect the environment?
Skyscrapers take up less land and are good workouts. (If you take the stairs, haha.) However they do block the sun and can cause pollutants when being built. 

Day 4: Please list and discuss at least three ways that the meat industry affects the environment.

1.The cows omit a lot of green house gasses. 

2. Uses a lot of land.

3. Copious amount of energy and grain used to take care of a lot of cows. 

Day 5: What do you think are possible solutions for reducing the plastic vortex in the Pacific Ocean?

Stop dumping waste into the Ocean is a no brainer and need to clean it up now. Like this second. :) 

It is easy being green!

Day2: Do you have any ideas on how to minimize the use of plastic bags and Styrofoam boxes? And why is polyethylene environmentally friendly?

Restricting or charging fees for plastic bags usually encourages customers to bring their own reusable bags—for styrofoam boxes, maybe including public announcement pictures showing how animals and the environment are littered or hurt by all the plastic trash that gets thrown out. Polyethylene is more biodegradable I think and so it accumulates less waste and allows for more recycling.

Day 3: How do skyscrapers affect the environment?

Skyscrapers can block the natural wind currents, and since our ecosystem is connected in more ways than we know, shifting wind patterns can have effects on agriculture or animal habitats. Also, skyscrapers block out sunlight from the city down below, making the environment have more artificial light for animals and people alike.

Day 4: Please list and discuss at least three ways that the meat industry affects the environment

The meat industry often pollutes the environment just from their packaging and mass production business model. Additionally, due to the trophic systems of the environment, meat production uses a lot more natural resources (grass, water) than a vegetarian diet would (because cows eat a lot of grass, don’t produce a lot of meat in comparison). Also, grazing farm animals can cause vegetation and landscape to deteriorate and damage the ecosystem’s balance.

Day 5: What do you think are possible solutions for reducing the plastic vortex in the Pacific Ocean?

International agreements on reducing plastic waste would prevent litter from spreading out into the ocean. Also, more detailed agreements against dumping trash in international waters would prevent the plastic vortex from increasing in size. Clean up of such a large trash heap would require cooperation and investment from all countries, so promoting strong diplomatic relations would help with that as well.

Submitted by Jonathan Chan

Day 4: The meat industry affects the environment in many different ways. 1) The large amount of land that is devoted to raising livestock. 2) The large amounts of the greenhouse gas, methane, produced by cows. 3)Possible water contamination from diseased livestock feces. 

Day 5: Implementing plastic bag and water bottle bans would be a very effective first step to reducing the amount of plastic that ends up in our oceans. Plastic bags and bottles are two of the most common items found within the vortex, and their absence should make a noticeable difference in the rate of expansion of the vortex. 

I pledge to take lukewarm or cold showers to motivate myself to make them shorter, to be vegetarian for the week, and to confine all my waste (trash, recycling, food, etc.) to a 10” by 12” box. This is going to be hard. I already put a big empty milk carton in there.

Name: Eduardo Gonzales

Eco challenge: Take Cold Showers

I think this will be pretty difficult because i just really love my warm showers. I think i can do it as long as i take really quick showers. I tried doing this before when i was in like middle school, but couldn’t go longer than a few weeks. I hope i can last the week.

Day 2:

Plastic bags can be minimized by bringing your own reusable grocery bags when shopping. If you don’t have enough, you can also request paper bags instead. Pressure your local restaurants to change to greener food storage alternatives to decrease styrofoam. Also, avoid ordering more than you can eat - consider splitting with a friend if you know portions are large. Polyethylene isn’t really eco-friendly, as it has to be strongly treated to degrade. However, recently, there have been more biodegradable versions of polyethylene that have been developed.

Day 3:

There are both pros and cons to building skyscrapers. One advantage is that it takes up less land, and allows for other things (i.e. room for trees). However, skyscrapers can block sunlight as well as natural breezes, which can cause more stagnant pollution closer to the ground.

Day 4:

One effect of the meat industry is deforestation to provide more land for cattle grazing. Another effect is greenhouse gases. Cattle release a lot of greenhouse gases and it takes fuel to transport meat. A third effect is that more grain is needed to feed livestock. This is actually causing a problem in water quality.

Day 5:

There doesn’t seem to be a quick fix. The best way to deal with it now is to find some way to remove the waste and allow it to degrade. But whenever you’re at the beach and you see litter, you should pick it up.

Submitted by Eileen Hsu

Day2: States can make plastic bags illegal (they already have somewhere, I want to say San Jose), and do the same thing with styrofoam. This way, people will have to turn to alternatives.

Day 3: They can trap air pollution, or so I’ve read. D:

Day 4:1) Takes a lot of land. 2) “Cow farts” - greenhouse gas emission 3) Takes a lot more energy/plant matter to grow a full cow than to feed as many people with vegetables that the cow would feed. So not efficient use of resources

Submitted by Melissa

‎Day2: Do you have any ideas on how to minimize the use of plastic bags and Styrofoam boxes? And why is polyethylene environmentally friendly?

Day 3: How do skyscrapers affect the environment?

Day 4: Please list and discuss at least three ways that the meat industry affects the environment

Day 5: What do you think are possible solutions for reducing the plastic vortex in the Pacific Ocean?

Participating in the Eco-Challenges of John Muir Week 2012? Submit your answers here! Don’t forget to include your full name so we know who you are! 

The submit button is on the last button on the right! :)

If you have trouble submitting your answers, reply to this post and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible!

From Eileen Hsu

For my challenge, I will not use any disposable cups this week. I have a slew of reusable cups, but sometimes, I’ll be lazy and get the disposable cup. So either I will use a reusable cup or I won’t get a drink!

I also want to avoid using disposable dishware, but cups will be my main focus.