Movies extra credit

Chasing Ice

I decided to watch a documentary called Chasing Ice as part of an extra credit assignment. The Film is about a National Geographic photographer named James Balog who had been photographing receding glaciers for two years before he founded Extreme Ice Survey(EIS). Balog wanted to record the effects of climate change on Glaciers so he could publicize that information. The original goal was to set up 25 cameras in different locations around the world that would take pictures of glaciers every hour over the course of three years. Each camera was hooked up to a microcontroller that told it when to take the pictures and the whole thing was connected to a solar panel. The end result of the project is quite astonishing. Balog’s work shows the glaciers are receding at a rate faster than ever before and not advancing at all during the winter like it was believed to. The film showed footage of an chunk of the Jakobshavn Glacier in Greenland breaking off. It is the largest and longest glacier retreating event ever caught on film. This glacier took 100 years to recede 8 miles and only took about 10 years to recede another 9 miles. In turn showing how drastic the effects of climate change are. It is so much that of the 1400 glaciers that were in the Yukon Territory, Canada from 1958-2008, only four advanced and over 300 are now gone. This film really shows undoubtable facts that climate change is effecting the world around us and we are not even noticing. I’m glad James Balog has been able to conduct this study and show this evidence to the general population.

Forks Over Knives

This documentary is about doctor Caldwell Esselstyn and professor of nutritional biochemistry T. Colin Campbell. Their careers focus on the importance of diet on people’s health. The film asserts that a whole food, plant-based diet can play a critical role in the prevention of many diseases. It also talks about the China-Cornell-Oxford Project in which Campbell concluded that the obesity, cancer, and diabetes result from a western diet that is comprised mainly of animal products. People in Asia do not have such a high risk of getting cancer or diabetes like in the USA because of the good diet they have. There were also numerous studies that also concluded that animal protein increased the risk of cancer. The two doctors are two of few that promote a whole food plant based diet to treat diseases rather that primarily focusing on prescribing medicine and nothing else. Some people don’t know how harmful eating fast food and a lot of meat can do to your health I have learned that it can cause many different diseases that no one wants to suffer. I am glad I have been vegetarian my entire life, even though I am vegetarian does not mean that I am the healthiest person. People should exercise more often and eat more healthier food they would not have those problems with health. Protein isn't necessary come from just meat, its a variety of different elements like : vegetables, seeds, fruit, and of course exercise.



An Inconvenient Truth

An Inconvenient Truth is a documentary about the effects of global warming on the world. It is shown in the style of a keynote presentation by Al Gore. He started off by going through a very basic overview of what causes global warming. There was a cartoon that showed how green houses gases produced by humans traps heat from the sun and causes the atmosphere to warm. Al Gore became interested in the topic of global warming since he was in college. His professor at Harvard University was Roger Revelle who was among the first people to study climate change, inspired him.
He was involved in the study that measured the measured the CO2 levels in the atmosphere. The devices were released up with balloons in the middle of the Pacific Ocean because it was the location that was most remote. That way there would be less variables from human CO2 releases. The results showed a continuous rise and fall of CO2 levels that that ultimately rose over time.

The End!

In this class I have learned about many environmental issues. These include climate change, energy conservation, pollution, waste, deforestation, and resource depletion. One of the most well known environmental issues is global warming, also known as, climate change. I believe global warming is the most important environmental issue today. Evidence shows that the Earth’s temperature is rising and humans are responsible for most of these recent climate changes. When the industrial revolution happened, humans started to burn a lot more fossil fuels and released many more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. These gases act as a blanket over the earth and don’t let energy from the sun to escape. The more greenhouse gases there are the more the planet’s temperature will increase. The Earth’s average temperature has increased by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1880. According to NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, the most recent decades have seen the greatest temperature increase. Glaciers are rapidly melting due to global warming. Montana’s Glacier National Park has only 27 glaciers compared to 150 in 1910.

With the icecaps melting and the sea levels rising, humans and animals alike will be at risk. The rise in sea levels could flood small islands and coastal cities. Wildlife that live on the Earth’s poles, and coral reefs that are very sensitive to temperature changes will also be at risk.

Things we can do to reduce global warming are to reduce fossil fuel use. This can be achieved by using alternative energy sources like solar and wind power that do not pollute the atmosphere. We can plant trees and reduce deforestation to help offset the CO2 emissions. Another thing is to reduce the amount of waste that is produced because its decomposition also releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This is actually something I can do as an individual. Reducing my own waste production as well as recycling can help reduce global warming.

In this class I have learned so much about the environment and how our activity affects our planet Earth. We have done debates throughout the semester and have had field trips in which I haven’t been able to attend to at all. In class we have different activities in which it makes the class more fun. I got to know really good people in this class. This class was definitely a hand full but totally worth it!

Finally.. The 3 R's

Reducing Trash!!

Hello everyone this is the almost to last blog that I’ll be doing for this class.

For this assignment, I had to analyze my personal trash output for two days. After that I looked for ways that I could reduce the amount of trash I produce and measured it for another two days using the trash reducing techniques I came up with. Since I don’t produce too much trash I thought it was going to be difficult to reduce that amount.

Here is a list of the trash items I threw away over the course of two days

• Paper towels
• napkins
• fruit/vegetable peels, stems, cores
• food packaging
• paper
• toilet paper
• water bottles*
• store receipts

*recycled items

Some ways of reducing your trash is by using the “Three R’s”

• Recycle
• Reuse
• Reduce

I could recycle the papers instead of putting them in the trash. Some of the food packaging could be recycled as well. I could reuse the water bottles a few times before putting them in the recycle bin. I use paper towels for when I clean the kitchen. I could use rag that I can just wash and reuse instead of paper towels. Receipts are another thing that I didn't really care where they went. Those will go in the recycle from now on.

The things that I cannot really do anything about are the napkins, toilet paper, and organic waste. I don’t use very many napkins so I’m okay with that staying the same. I can’t really eat the orange peels and stuff like that so I don’t feel bad about putting those kinds of things in the trash. Lastly, everyone needs toilet paper so I won’t be using less of that anytime soon.

Here is what my trash production looked like for the next two days.

• napkins
• fruit/vegetable peels, stems, cores
• food packaging*
• paper*
• toilet paper*
• water bottles*
• store receipts*
  
  *recycled items

There are a lot more items that I recycled as a result of the waste-reduction strategies. I didn’t use paper towels so those were not part of my trash production.

After researching for ways to produce less waste, I have decided to try my best in reducing my waste and reusing and recycling more. The three R's.

Climate change!!!

Hello everyone! As many as you known by now the class I am currently taking has is do blogs about various topics, last week we did on chemical hazards and human health. This week we have to do it on climate change.

Evidence shows that the Earth’s temperature is rising and humans are responsible for most of these recent climate changes. Human activity over the last 150 years or so has increased the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. This started with the industrial revolution when humans started burning much more fossil fuels to produce energy. These greenhouse gases trap energy in the atmosphere causing it to warm. The excess of these gases can lead to a dangerous rise in the Earth’s temperature.

There are many factors that a warmer climate can change. These include our water supply, agriculture, transportation, the Earth’s ecosystems, and the health and safety of humans.

Even though there is so much evidence of global warming, there are still some people who doubt or even deny that it is actually happening. These “doubters” seem to only exist in the United States. These people don’t deny global warming altogether. Instead, they deny that the apparent change in the Earth’s temperature is not caused by human activity but rather, the Earth natural warming and cooling cycles. A lot of the denial is for political reasons. They don’t agree with making the issue a way for people to make money such as selling carbon credits and “environmentally friendly” products like hybrid cars.

The Earth has a long history of climate change. There have seven cycles of glacial advances and retreats in the last 650,000 years. Seven thousand years ago was the end of ice age after that modern climate era began, that includes human civilization. Many of the Earth’s changes are because a very small variation in the orbit has change the amount of solar energy that we receive in our planet.

In fifty years our planet won’t look the same. Many of the wild animals will vanish from this Earth if we continued to treat it the way we are. We need to save our world, we only have one!

Hairspray.. Good or bad?

Hello everyone! As you may know by now we have a blog to do every week about various topics. This week we are talking about chemical hazards and human health.  As an assignment we need to choose a personal or household product of our everyday life and research potential risks associated with chemicals found in them. I've decided to do mine on hairspray, because I use hairspray every single day. I didn't know how many chemicals are being used and how it affects my life.

Hairspray is a common personal care product used by millions of people everyday. There are various different brands that all have different ingredients but certain ingredients that most hairsprays have in common have been linked to negative health effects.

Hairspray contains a polymer called polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). This Polymer is what gives the hairspray its glue-like properties. PVP is known to cause allergic reactions on some people. Other polymers often found in hairspray are vegetable gums and gum Arabic. Hairspray also has alcohol and hydrocarbons that serve as solvents. Propellants are also present to force the solution out of the aerosol can’s nozzle. Until 1974, vinyl chloride was used as the propellant in aerosol spray. According to the National Institutes of Health, vinyl chloride is a known carcinogen linked to angiosarcoma of the liver in humans.

Although vinyl chloride is no longer used in aerosol cans, other risks still exist when using products like hairspray. According to Drug Information Online, inhalation of denatured alcohol, hydrofluorocarbons and other hairspray ingredients can lead to acute poisoning, which is marked by symptoms like low blood pressure, breathing difficulty and coma. Irritation of the skin, eyes or lungs may also occur in sensitive individuals.

If you want to be more eco-friendly(and safe) this is a way to do it! By making your own hairspray made out of lemons!

- First, get yourself a lemon

- Cut the lemon into wedges.

- Put the wedges into a pot with two cups of water.

- Boil until only ½ of the liquid is left.

- Let the mixture cool. Strain and pour into a spray bottle.

- The mixture will keep in the fridge for one week.

- Now that's how you make your own hairspray .

Tap Water VS. Bottled Water

Hello everyone! my name is Lina, I attend Riverside Community College at this moment and taking an environmental class. Many of you may not know this but we have weekly assignments about the environment so we do blogs of various topics, right now we have to do about water.

Where does the city water comes from? the water in your house? is it underground water? municipal water? Well, I currently live in San Bernardino. San Bernardino gets their water supplies from state water project, ground waters, and local streams and reservoirs.

http://www.water-ed.org/watersources/community.asp?rid=8&cid=659

The FDA Regulates that bottle waters have all the requirements on the label, also that all of the bottles are in sanitary conditions such as no bacteria, chemicals and other contaminants. They have a process to ensure that all water is safe from chemicals and bacteriological.

http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm046894.htm

Bottled water has many benefits such as versatility and quality control but it also has negative effects on the environment. We need to protect this planet because we only have one.

Bottled Water Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Monitored and regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).	The Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) claims plastic bottles contain phthalates, which can leach into bottled drinking water.
Versatile and easy to take places.	According to NRDC, there are no strict limitations as to the number of contaminants that can be found in bottled water, such as E coli, arsenic, or pthalates.
According to Competitive Enterprize Institute (CEI), special treatments to remove impurities—such as distillation or ozonation—are performed on top of municipal filtrations by certain bottled water manufacturers, such as Aquafina and Dasani.	Seventeen million barrels of oil are used to make and deliver bottled water. According to the website, Ask Pablo, that amounts to 22 cents for every imported bottle of water.
According to CEI, bottled water offers consistent quality control, as each bottle is of the same quality as the previous one.	According to a 2005 MSNBC report, 40 million bottled a day are going into the trash and only 12% of plastic bottled are recycled, which is hard on the environment.
Lead levels for tap water are lower for bottled water than tap. According to Mama’s Health, tap water is set at 15 parts per billion (ppb) and bottled water is set at 5 ppb.	.According to the NRDC, bottled water manufacturer’s do not have to list the water’s source, so bottled water could conceivably come from one of the 170,000 municipal water
Bottled mineral water offers health benefits.	According to the NRDC, bottled water manufacturer’s do not have to list how the water has been treated. Moreover, bottled water undergoes less testing than tap

Tap water has it pros and cons and why you should use it. Tap is regulated by different sources such as  EPA and SWDA and many more. Some studies have shown that people prefer to drink tap water than to buy it. Sometimes just bad advertisement can make something so simple bad. This graph shows the pros and cons about tap water.

Tap Water Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Monitored and regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).	Some water is carried in lead pipes from utility companies to homes, which means lead can leach from pipes into the water.
Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SWDA)of 1996 have made drinking water safer.	The EPA allows tap water to have 10 parts per billion (ppb) of arsenic in it, although scientists now know there is no safe level of arsenic.
Numerous tests are conducted to ensure safety of tap water and there are drinking water standards for regulated contaminants.	Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products as Pollutants (PPCPs) get introduced into the water supplies by individuals or agribusiness either through sewer lines, regular use of the products, or improper disposal.
Water system operators have to be certified.	Higher lead levels are allowed in tap water than bottled water because lead pipes usually carry water from utility companies to homes. Tap water lead levels are set at 15 ppb and bottled water is set at 5 ppb.
To make water safe, bacteria and other organisms are killed when chlorine or another disinfectant is added.	Potential health affectsfrom microorganisms, disinfectants and their by products, inorganic and organic chemicals, and radionuclides include everything from eye/nose irritations to kidney and liver diseases.
The EPA gives you access to your annual local water quality report.	Giardia and Cryptosporidium are resistant to chlorine and can make their way into tap water if there are sanitation breakdowns.
No recycling issues as is the case for bottled water.

http://www.newrinkles.com/index.php/health/pros-and-cons-tap-water-versus-bottled-water

Got Milk?

Hello Everyone! again. I am going to be talking about cow’s milk. Although milk has several health benefits, its processing has an impact on the environment.

The milk we buy in stores generally comes from cows on dairy farms that are treated with growth hormones. In order for cows to continue to produce milk, they must be bred. The female offspring is separated from its mother a few days after birth. This way the bond between the mother and calf will not be as strong and therefore be less stress on the calf. This also reduces risk of disease and makes milking the mother easier and sooner. The calves are fed a whole milk substitute based on dried milk powder. This formula is less cost effective than whole milk. The calves are either bred or artificially inseminated when they are over a year old thus, starting the cycle over again.

The milking of cows, processing of the milk, and bottling requires a lot of energy. There is a lot of electricity used not only for milking and processing, but also for refrigeration afterwards. Next is the issue of packaging and the effect is has on the environment. Most milk is packaged in plastic bottles which are not always recycled by the consumers which can have a negative effect on the environment. In the earlier days, milk came in glass bottles which were highly recyclable compared to the plastic bottles of today. The transport of milk across the country requires fuel which adds milk production’s carbon footprint.

Milk is known for the great source of vitamins and minerals, especially calcium. Milk is important for bone health. Many nutritionist have recommend milk a part of a healthy balance diet.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/aug/07/milk-environmental-impact
http://www.sheknows.com/health-and-wellness/articles/807900/the-health-benefits-of-drinking-milk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/aug/07/milk-environmental-impact

How Sustainable is Our Campus?

Hello fellow reader many of you don’t know me,my name is Lina Gil. I am taking environmental science, as a class we are going to be doing blogs as an assignment ,  and for this assignment we have to talk about how sustainable our campus is.

Is Riverside Community College (RCC) an eco friendly school?

I am going to say that it’s in the process of becoming more eco friendly. Some of the aspects of the campus that I looked for were cleanliness, waste management, bathrooms, and methods of transportation.  As I walked around campus since day one, I noticed our campus very clean. There is no trash on the ground, and there are many trash cans every few meters. Although there are many trash cans I saw very few recycling bins. This lack of recycle bins does not affect the clean grounds but does affect the campus’ ecological footprint. I saw that there were in fact recycling bins in the offices but not in the classrooms. I would find out how much recyclable material is used per month at RCC. This includes paper, cardboard boxes, bottles and cans, and other recyclable material. Next I would measure the amount of recyclable waste that is produced every month I will approach the custodian and ask how many times a day they clean the restrooms, change toilet paper, change trash can bags , and how much recyclable material they dispose of.

When I think of a eco friendly campus I think of Cal State San  Bernardino (CSUSB). As I walk around CSUSB, I’ve noticed that right next to almost every trash can there is a recycling bin. I believe that CSUSB is a great example of eco friendly campus we really need to find a  way to make our campus a better place.

http://websites.rcc.edu/greeninitiatives/environmentally-responsible/

This website shows ways that our district has enforced eco-friendliness on the campuses.

Riverside Community College, these are some ways to make our campus into a more eco friendly.

• fake grass
• more energy efficient lights
• recycling of paper
• automatic hand dryers (air)
• electronic textbooks
• recycling bins
• waterfree urinals
  
  

Nature observation

Hello Everyone, in case you haven’t read my previous blog, my name is Lina Gil. Well, this blog is about nature. This weekend I went to visit my boyfriend. He has a beautiful backyard. When I stepped outside I decided to do my twenty minutes of nature in that beautiful backyard. I saw all these little birds flying around so I decided to sit on the hammock and admire nature. As I’m sitting down and listening to the nature around me I heard birds singing, birds drinking water from the water fountain and drinking honey from bird feeders. I saw hummingbirds flying to get food. There were flowers of all colors and sizes, and fruit trees. They had grapefruit, apple, lemon,and fig trees. The breeze was amazing and I got to see the sun go down. Everything just looked amazing and felt right.

Introducing the author of this blog

My name is Lina Gil. I was born and raised in Mexico until the age of ten. I came to this wonderful country for just one weekend to visit my father who was working here at the time. I remember I came on a very hot summer day. We came prepared for just one weekend, we didn’t know that we were going to stay here. Next thing I know, we were getting enrolled in school. It was hard at first because we didn’t speak, write, or read English. It took me a year to finally learn English. It was hard for me to practice my English because I was scared people would make fun of me. After a while I ended up speaking, writing, and reading it. After 12 years of living in the US, I have finished middle school, and high school. When I graduated from high school, trying to start college was tough. I didn’t have a lot of luck getting into classes so I started working and focused on that. Two years later, in the spring of 2012, I was finally able to get classes and start my college career. I would like to be a social worker to help all those kids that have bad parents and are being mistreated and placed them in better homes with people that will actually take care of them. Right now I’m taking Environmental science we have to do a blog every week about various topics. My first assignment is do a biography and ecological footprint to see how many planet Earths it would take to sustain life if everyone lived like I do.

This blog has to do with Ecological Footprint you go to Global Footprint Network and start by creating your own character.

In this website they ask questions about my lifestyle.

It even ask you what kind of house you have, although i thought that it didn’t matter. Apparently it does. It matters because of how much electricity you’re spending per month etc.

It asks you what kind of food you buy. If its organic or processed . I never knew how much harm it can do by buying all those products and harming all those animals.

After finishing this quiz it gives you the results of how many planet Earths you'll need to sustain life if everyone lived life like you .

My results were that I would need 3.3 Planet Earths to provide enough resources if everyone live like I do. After seeing my results, I'm going to try to reduce my ecological footprint by using the 3 big R's (recycle,reduced, and reused).