Water

I liked the approach taken in the water presentation to focus on ocean water.  Usually when we talk about water and environmental ethics we assume the water we drink, however, the group did a great job on presenting us with the environmental problems in the larger bodies of water we often forget about.  In fact, our world is made up of 2.7% freshwater and 97.3% salt water.  The ocean is used by humans for many things including recreational activities, tourism, energy, oil, and food through the fishing industry.    One of the biggest threats to the ocean environment is overfishing.  The fishing industry provides millions of people with jobs directly or indirectly.  It also provides the main food source for thousands of people living near the coast.  However, the current fishing practices being used are not sustainable.  Major fish populations are in decline and entire ecosystems are being affected.  Commercial fishing companies need to find ways to practice more sustainable fishing or risk extinction of their income sources.  If one species of fish becomes extinct, the rest of the underwater ecosystem will be affected.  Small family owned fishing companies should be supported as they are more likely to practice sustainable efforts.  Some of the other biggest environmental problems that the group addressed include ocean acidification, hypoxic dead zones and the great pacific garbage patch.  If we don’t find solutions to these problems soon, they may become irreversible.  The ocean is just as important to our well-being as freshwater drinking sources are.  Finding more sustainable practices for our ocean use are vital to a healthy and balanced ecosystem.

Shelter

The shelter presentation was given by my group.  Our main focus of the presentation was LEED Certification.  LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.   We felt that the nine categories which make up LEED touch on the most important points in sustainability and environmental ethics of shelters.  The nine categories included Sustainable sites, Water Efficiency, Energy & Atmosphere, Materials & Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Locations & Linkages, Awareness & Education, Innovation in Design and Regional Priority.  The research we did on our topic was a great learning experience.  My favorite quote was one from the U.S. Department of Energy, "buildings use 39% of the energy and 74% of the electricity produced each year in the United States".  The numbers prove that a significant amount of energy is being wasted each year.  They really show how important LEED certification is if we want to become a more sustainable society.  LEED certification not only saves money by reducing energy use and waste but it is also environmentally friendly as it focuses on reducing the amount we interfere with non-human life forms and their habitats by using sustainable practices.  LEED certification provides people in any construction situation from new constructions and major renovations to existing buildings and remodeling with a framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building designs and construction solutions.  Currently, becoming LEED certified can be an expensive process as some of the green products required are more expensive than standard products.  However, the money saved and the environmental impact make it worth it in the long run.  Hopefully as the green movement continues to expand and sustainability becomes a norm we will see a drop in these prices so LEED certification can become affordable for everyone.

Space

I found the presentation on space to be very informative. With an increasing population and the growing problem of carbon emissions, we must find a way to use space efficiently and lower environmental impacts.  One solution to the problem is the New Deal of 2009 which is a plan to create a national high speed rail system.  The system would be less dependent on bio fuels and lower environmental impacts. Although the system would reduce the amount of carbon emitted from cars driving long distances, it does not solve the problem of the short driving distances in everyday life.  The presentation also focused on sprawl and the suburbs.  I was surprised to learn that suburbs aren’t the fabulous places they are made out to be.  In fact, suburbs used to be for people of lower income.  After WWII, they began to boom as the invention of new modes of transportation allowed people to travel farther.  Suburbs were now a luxury because they were less congested then the inner city and people had their own private yards.  However, suburbs actually have a large carbon footprint and greatly impact the environment.  Neighborhoods grow outward instead of upward taking up more space and possible animal habitats.  The farther outward the suburbs grow from the inner city results in more driving to and from work, stores and other places of need.  Having a green lawn in your front yard does not mean you are living an environmentally friendly lifestyle.  In fact, it probably means your causing more damage to the environment then those living in apartment complexes in the inner city.  The presentation definitely gave me a new perspective on suburbs and may affect the choices I make in the future when it comes to buying my own home.  Although some solutions have been presented, we need to continue to find ways to reduce our impact on the environment and use the space we have available efficiently. 

Food

I found the presentation on organic food to be very informative and well put together. I learned many new things about organic foods I had never known before. It has never been proven that organic food is more nutritious then conventional foods however, evidence does prove that it is better for the environment. Using fewer pesticides and other sprays reduces the amount of waste and runoff into our water supply. It is also healthier for our farmers as they suffer from the effects of using pesticides. However, organic food may not always be local, which means it may have had to travel far to get to the supermarket creating carbon emissions. When buying produce, people should buy those that are in season as they are the most likely to be locally grown and better on the environment. The organic food industry has grown quickly in the past few years and continues to grow as more people are realizing the benefits of going organic. The premium prices charged are not a scheme for farmers to get rich fast.  Organic farming is a lot more expensive than conventional farming and produces a lot smaller yield forcing farmers to charge more to make a profit.  Hopefully in the future we can find ways to make organic farming less expensive so everyone has the ability to buy healthy environmentally friendly food products.  Before the presentation, I used to think of organic food as expensive and for those people in the upper classes of society. After hearing about all the great benefits to buying organic for my own body as well as the environment, it may be something will consider in the future if it means paying a little more for the products.

Grizzly Man

Grizzly Man is a great documentary about a man named Timothy Treadwell who lived amongst grizzly bears for 13 summers studying their habits and ways of life. Timothy truly believed that these dangerous and ferocious animals were his kind and loving companions. He felt it was his duty to protect the grizzlies from our society who would only cause them harm. Timothy wasnt always this way however, he was actually an alcoholic and an accidental overdose of pills that nearly killed him is what changed his persona and way of life. From then on, every summer, a pilot would drop Timothy off at the beginning of the summer in the grizzly habitat of Alaska and pick him back up at the end of summer. At the end of the thirteenth summer, the first summer Timothy had ever brought a human companion on his adventure with him, the pilot returned to find only the dead bodies of the Timothy and his companion Amy. They had been mauled by a grizzly bear at their campsite, a fate many had expected for Timothy. Timothy's adventures into the wild to "protect the grizzly bear" bring about several environmental questions and views. Was Timothy really protecting the bears or was he causing just as much harm as anyone else entering the bears’ habitat? The argument could be seen from both ways. While Timothy did believe he was protecting the bears from poachers and other people entering their habitat, the bears he was studying were living in a federally protected land area. Grizzly bears like to be left alone and not disturbed within their territory but Timothy was entering this area anyways as he felt it was his job. Timothy may have been causing more harm than good by scaring the bears and stressing them with his presence.  Overall, Timothy's fate may have been the consquence of his adventures however, his video clips and studies do provide people today with up close knowledge of the big, beautiful grizzly bears!

Environmental Justice

A society that distributes environmental benefits and burdens equally is considered to have environmental justice. However, in many societies, this is not the case. Often times, a society places the environmental burdens on people in the least advantaged positions. This type of distribution is considered environmental racism. For example, in the U.S. if you are a minority, you are more likely to live in a area with landfills and toxic waste dumps than if you are white. The topics of environmental justice and racism are becoming more of a concern as our population rises and the amount of waste we generate increases. One of the biggest concerns is what are we going to do with all the waste we create. Many landfills are filling up quickly and toxic waste sites must be chosen carefully as we want to produce the least harm on our society. I personally found the case we analyzed in class about the Goshute Native Americans and nuclear waste storage very interesting.  The Goshute tribe lives in poverty on a barren wasteland in Utah and the federal government sees this area as the prime location for temporary nuclear waste storage.  To the Goshute, who would be given a yearly grant for the storage of the waste, this plan seemed like a great opportunity to rebuild their tribe.  However, many other people, especially the government and citizens of Utah, are opposed to this idea saying that the Goshute do not fully understand the potential dangers of waste storage and that it could have harmful effects on the population.  I think these people are right.  We should not try to push our waste onto people with financial issues by promising grants.  These people are so desperate for money that they do not see the real issues nuclear waste storage could cause.  Instead we should provide these people with financial relief in other ways and clean up our own waste.  If cities have to be responsible for the cleanup and storage of their own waste, they may have an incentive to reduce, reuse, recycle and make changes to the production of products.  If we continue to rely on the dumping of waste onto other people, we will never change until it is too late and the only dumping sites left are our own backyards!

Into the Wild

Into the Wild tells the story of Chris McCandless, who later renames himself Alexander Supertramp, and his adventure into the Alaskan Wilderness.  Chris comes from a fairly wealthy family and a college fund of $24,500.68 upon graduation.  However, unlike the average American teenager, Chris has no desire for material objects.  He refuses a new car from his parents and gives $24,000 to charity.  With the $500.68, which he later burns,  he sets out for his adventure to find truth and freedom in the wild.   Chris's adventure starts in the South and becomes a long journey of hitchhiking and pit stops to the Alaskan Wilderness.   Chris meets many people along the way who become an important part of his journey and helping him achieve his goal of making it to Alaska.  When he finally does reach his destination, Chris enters the Alaskan wilderness, finds an abandoned bus and lives of the land where he enjoys the freedom and simple beauty of nature.  Chris never does make it out of wild, as he dies of starvation.  However, his journey did help him to find one truth, "happiness is only real when shared".

I think Chris can be viewed as a good example of a deep ecologist.  He recognizes the unity of people, plants, animals and the Earth.  He is not caught up under the spell of materialism but rather uses what he needs to live off the land and connect with nature.  He realizes that both human and non human life have intrinsic value and that humans should this value except to satisfy their vital needs.  Chris's journey and lifestyle show his appreciation of his life rather than the need for a higher standard of living and material goods.  Although Chris becomes "trapped" in the wild in the end, his journey was an important one of knowledge and discovery.