Environmentalism: Air Pollution

We take in a breath about once every 4 to 5 seconds. Without air, we could not live. Since air is the element that fuels are bodies to work, don’t you think we should be knowledgeable when it comes to it? Air pollution is a serious issue that our world is facing, and there are many things that contribute to it. Acid rain, smog and greenhouse gases are things that commonly come to mind when you think about air pollutants, but there are a substantial amount of air pollutants that could be right in your own home. Tobacco smoke, cooking and heating appliances, and vapors from building materials or paints. Not only are these effecting you and your family personally in ways such as asthma, bronchitis, upper respiratory infections and possibly even lung cancer, but they are also effecting the entire global environment. So what do we do? In many countries, legislation is being passed to control the amounts of pollution produced by factories that is going into the air. As well as scientific experiments to access the actual damage that the pollution is causing specifically on plants, animals and humans. Business managers and owners are being investigated and fined by health departments all throughout the United States for releasing too many toxic emissions into the air at their industries. Although it seems like actions need to be administered by the government, there are many things you can do as well to prevent pollution and cut down our carbon footprint such as turn of the air-conditioner, dry your clothes and your hair naturally instead of using electricity, take the bus or just turn off a light. Whenever you conserve electricity, you are preventing pollution, so we must pay close attention to our actions that ultimately effect the environment. Reducing pollution will not happen by itself. It is our responsibility as individuals, legislation, scientists and business leader to take control and work toward less wasteful and polluting lifestyles.

Overpopulation

             Overpopulation has become an increasingly widespread problem in our world. There are over 6.8 billion people living on Earth today. An estimated one-billion of those inhabitants do not have the sufficient amount of food for themselves to stay properly nourished. That is 1/7 of our population that is starving. This problem does not only create inhumane lifestyles, but it is also causing damages to our environment. Pollution is becoming worse as more people drive cars, produce and throw out trash, cut down trees ect. Our Earth does not have the resources to infinitely sustain this large amount of people. With the outstanding number of people born each day increasing constantly and the damage caused by this, a solution needs discovered. Some radicals suggest limiting the number of children that you are allowed to have, forcing abortions or putting chemicals in the water that will sterilize people. These are controversial issues especially to free democratic countries because solutions such as these limit us of our freedoms. Many people agree that the most fair way and efficient way to resolve this issue is continuous education on pregnancy prevention. Educating young women on the ways to prevent pregnancies is the most basic and simple step in the solution. As well as un-educated women living in under-developed countries, and showing them that there are ways for them to contribute to their country other than having children. We cannot be sure which actions we take are proper and correct, but one thing is for sure, we must take action or there will soon be no world to save. We all need to come together and strive for new ways to suppress this growth so we can protect our environment and prevent the destruction of Earth.

Environmentalism: Fresh Water Shortage

            “Unless we dramatically change our ways, between one-half and two-thirds of humanity will be living with severe freshwater shortages within the next quarter-century.” -Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke, Blue Gold: The Fight to Stop the Corporate Theft of the World's Water
               A problem that the entire world may have to face someday, is being overlooked by much of society today. The fresh water supply on earth is a scarce source, less than 1% of Earth’s water is fresh. There are many problems contributing to this shortage but some of the major issues are rivers are being polluted, global warming and the privatization of water. Aldo Leopold said “The way we treat rivers reflects the way we treat each other.” We live society where our morals are becoming diminished by our high expectations and mass producing ways. We live our lives by convenience and sometimes disregard the consequences that our actions leave behind. Things such as the pesticides and fertilizers used in agriculture, sewer overflows, and the oil and grease from the roads, are running off and ending up in the water systems. We are not taking mind to these pollutants entering our rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal waters that is ultimately adding to our shortage of fresh water. Another factor that many scientist believe is significantly contributing to our water shortage is global warming. Global warming is an increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere, which results in flooding and more runoff during the rainy season, but also less water held as snow and ice in the mountain for use in the dry season. This is depleting the amount of water on Earth. Lastly, privatization of water can foster corruption and result in increased bills for water, poor customer service and a loss of local control and accountability. With such a scarce source as fresh water, our communities need to assume the responsibility of making sure it is not wasted and is affordable for all. There are 31 countries and over 1 billion people today that to not have access to clean drinking water, and the number are and will continue to rise unless we take action.

Environmentalism: Hungary

          Nearly one million cubic meters of toxic sludge, flooded many towns in Hungary, after a wall containing a reservoir full of toxic waste ruptured. The 12 ft. high flood swept cars off the street, killed many animals and at least 4 people, and left many people suffering from chemical burns. The red sludge in the reservoir was a byproduct of refining bauxite into alumina. The Plant was run by the Hungarian Alumina Production and Trading Company. Police examined photos of the reservoir Tuesday and have reason to believe that this disaster could have been prevented. In the photo you see the reservoir leaking small amounts of a faint red substance, that the inspector from the Government Environmental Agency ignored as they inspected it just two weeks before. Disaster commissioner Gyorgy Bakondi said, “They had found everything in order.” They plan to find experts in the field to examine to photos to further investigate the cause of the toxic flood. The possible long term environmental effects are concerns to Hungary. The Sludge was possibly radioactive and highly corrosive material contains toxic heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, arsenic, and chromium. Emergency workers rushed to pour 1,000 tons of plaster into the Marcal River in an attempt to bind the sludge and keep it from flowing on to other bodies of water. “This is an unprecedented incident that effects deeply the ecosystem, wetlands and surface water bodies of the region as well as pointing out the fragility of our drinking water reserves,” said Gabor Figeczky, the Deputy CO of WWF-Hungary.

Environmentalism: Ball State University's Alternative Energy

            Ball State is taking yet another step in leading the way in becoming an environmentally friendly campus. The university is creating the largest closed geothermal energy system in the nation. The system will provide energy for more than 45 of its buildings on its 660 acre campus. This project is expected to take 5 years and they anticipate it being complete in 2012. This system will have approximately 4,100 boreholes drilled in borehole fields around campus, but the campus’ beauty will be restored with the completion of the project, and the boreholes will go unnoticed. The switch to this alternative energy will be also go unnoticed by students and staff, and there will be no differences in the temperatures of the dorm rooms or the classrooms. When completed, the university will be saving 2 million dollars a year in operating costs and the energy system will replace 4 coal burners. By using Earth’s natural ability to produce and store energy, Ball State will be cutting its carbon footprint in half. This is just one of the many ways that Ball State University is again taking charge and responsibility to create not only a cleaner campus, but a cleaner world as well.

Environmentalism: Ball State University

                Ball State University is one of the top leading colleges taking the initiative to create an environmentally friendly campus. It has been nationally recognized on more than one occasion, and is consistent in its work and commitment to sustainability. Ball State was in The Princeton Review, as 1 of only 286 colleges to have an eco-friendly campus and has been recognized in Kiwi magazine as an eco-minded school. Ball State has also been received the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Recycling presented my former Gov. Frank O‘Bannon in 2000, and the Lugar Energy Patriot Award presented my Sen. Richard Lugar in 2007. Available transportation alternatives, its new buildings designed to be LEED certified, the credit opportunities in environmental studies degrees, and its current geothermal project are some defining factors in Ball States sustainability approaches. Ball State strives for excellence in every program and project they complete, but when it comes to being economical, they have mastered the trade.

Environmental Responsibility: Bottled Water

           Many Americans, without myself excluded, buy cases of bottled water almost every time the visit a grocery store. Bottled water is convenient for a quick refreshing on the go drink, but this popular bottled drink is causing a lot of damage to our environment. Americans buy more bottled water than any other nation in the world, but many do not realize the damage and waste that doing so is causing. Information about reducing and conserving is being pounded into our brains all the time, but we rarely hear the how the production of what we buy is creating environmental damages, so let me break it down for you. It takes about 17 million barrels of crude oil is to manufacture these bottles. If you fill a water bottle 1/3 of the way up with crude oil, that is about how much it took to produce the bottle. Nearly 7 times as much water is used to produce the bottle than is actually in the bottle. It takes nearly 2000 times more energy on average to produce bottled water than treating and delivering that same amount of tap water. Hopefully a few of those statistics give you an idea about how wasteful producing bottled water actually is. So why is it so hard for us to give up our bottled water? One major reason is convenience. We live in a society where the world is at our fingertips, and we expect quick consumption of everything ranging from our food to our news, but will the knowledge of the damages caused by bottled water help us to find news ways? Another reason we purchase the bottle water is some people believe that it is cleaner than tap water, but that is very untrue. In the United States, local government have strict regulations to make sure the water from our faucet is safe. There have actually been studies that suggest that the chemicals in the bottle itself may contaminate the bottled water. There are many ways you can stop your habit of purchasing and drinking bottled water such as purchasing heavy duty plastic bottles and refilling them, ordering iced tap water at restaurants, pick up your glass at home and fill it up for guests, but if you do happen to purchase a bottle of water, be sure to recycle it!