Matt Siber - http://siberart.com/ - from his series The Untitled Project. Interesting work dealing with public advertising. Basically photographs a public space, removes all the signage, and displays them side-by-side.
One fact that stuck out to me the most in my reading of Lighting was, according to the author, “if every U.S. household replaced one light bulb with a compact fluorescent, the pollution prevention would be equivalent to removing a million cars from the road.” In other words, not only can the way we light our houses can minimize energy, but it can also minimize pollution as well, which is actually something that never occurred to me. This section focuses quite a bit on the use of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). LEDs, compared to incandescent light bulbs, do not have filaments that burn out easily and do not get hot. According to lab studies, LEDs can last up to 100,000 hours and have out-lasted incandescent light bulbs. LED’s are being designed in all different shapes, different uses of colors, as well as different levels of brightness. Through the use of optic fibers, Parans has come up with a way to capture light and bring it through the ceiling. This way of lighting somewhat mimics that of sunlight coming through trees in a forest. As the sun moves throughout the day, so does the light on the ceiling, creating a very naturalistic setting for any office building. The other project that caught my interest was one titled “Energy Curtains.” These curtains, also with the use of optic fibers, are drawn during the day to capture the day’s light from the sun. At night, the light captured is emitted from the curtains. This project was designed to make people more aware of the energy they could be saving and using.
What originally drew me to this chapter was the title. I think it might have been ADPI and it’s ever famous Stuff theme. The difference is that the chapter is about what happened to the stuff after it was bought. In the chapter, Gore points out that when we purchase our stuff, we are seeing the product at the end of it’s life cycle. What is left for that product is to be used and sent to the dump. I felt guilty the moment he reminded me of what happened to computers when they are sent to the dump. Gore mentioned the children and poor class picking through toxic materials of computers in order to recycle metals. From what I could understand, this meant that computers that where sent to be recycled where actually being sent to other countries to be disassembled. I always pictured recycling clean and done by machines, not dirty and done by the lower class. What I do not understand is how business owners could possibly treat their workers so poorly. It makes me wonder if the world of business really needs to go through some therapy. Since businesses are not going to change their products willingly, then it is understandable that Gore wants us to speak out by buying green products. Businesses will listen to sales but I am still saddened that they will not listen to their own ethics and morals. Someday I hope that the power of money will not be the only motivator for the human populace.
I chose to read the World Changing article on Lighting and it seems like humanity are finally realizing the destruction that they have cause within our earthly habitat, and are now trying to find a way to untie this knot that they have tied. It seems to be a great idea that they've found a way to mimic natural sunlight for the purpose of saving energy and money, but at the same time, this should also help them realize that all of things that are being manufactured are not helping us entirely, and some inventions are more so hurting us. I'm not saying that the idea of saving energy is a derogatory action to pursue solving, but to just be aware of the effects that “new” products are causing. Society makes its seems like everyone has an logical and meaningful answer, until that plan fails, and then someone else have to create some kind of miraculous idea. LEDS are a great idea if they can find a way to produce them effectively. One thing that bother's me about it is why must we try to manipulate nature so much? I believe that this is the reason why we have so many detrimental issues going on in the world today. We keep trying to find new solutions to problems that we can't understand how to solve, so we persuade audience to believe that we’ve got it all figured out, until reality slaps us in the face once more. Then we just steer away from the problem by inventing something that will distract our alert buttons for a while.
This Article discusses the top five ways individuals can take active steps to conserve energy. First, people should get a home-energy audit, which companies often offer for free. The evaluation measures the current cooling and heating systems and insulation, gages the air quality for problems with dust and dampness, and searches for drafts. The auditor will give each homeowner a variety of solutions for current problems. The second tip for conserving energy is to use dimmers automatic timers, and motion-detection sensors. All of these options are solutions for using less energy on light and are most helpful for those who forget to turn off lights. Another suggestion is lowering air condition costs by cleaning out filters frequently. Filters that are not clean cause the airflow to decrease so more energy is needed to work the air conditioner. A forth option to consider when trying to save energy is to make sure proper insulation is installed. This is important because when insulation works properly the heat it traps offsets the heat that is needed and lowers the heat and energy consumption. Finally, it is important to modernize windows to conserve energy. Windows that are not efficient leak heat and air-conditioning, where as triple-glazed windows save significant amounts of energy. If each homeowner worked to conserve energy through these five easy suggestions less energy would be consumed and a sustainable environment could be reached.
For this week in the World Changing readings I decided to learn a little about Vancouver. I have never been there before, but from what I have heard and seen in pictures I would love to spend a year there. It might be cold, but I think it would be a very beautiful city to live in. One of the things that this chapter spoke about was Vancouver’s use of cars; they try not to use them as much as possible. One of the things I found interesting was that they try to make it easier to walk or bike then to drive. They even try to cut down parking spots so it is harder to park if you have a car. Last year in class I found out that there are twice as many parking spots in the U.S. then there are cars. At first I thought that this statistic was shocking, but if there were only one parking spot per person it would be very hard to find a place to park. I struggle enough, as it is to find a parking spot now. But if it were easier to get around with out a car in Michigan I would prefer not having a car. It’s easier to get places in Ann Arbor, but when I go home there’s no public transportation what so ever. Another thing that I found interesting about Vancouver was the plans to turn their Olympic Stadiums into apartment complexes. There plan is to blend high priced apartments in with the less impressive houses so that you cant tell how nice they are from the outside. I think that this is a great idea for a way to keep areas of a town from looking impoverished or like its worth less then the rest of the city. By mixing classes together there’s no reason why any part of the city should look run down. I lived in Savannah two years ago, and they were a great example of a city with two sides. Half of the city was covered with Victorian Houses while the other was falling apart from lack of money. If they were to have found a way to fuse the two together and hide inside appearances of a house I think it might be easier to keep a city looking clean.
Chinese Cities of the Future on page 271 of the world changing book-discusses the belief that by the end of this decade that China will be one of the most technologically advanced countries in the whole entire world very soon! Not only, will China be extraordinarily advanced in technologically advanced they will be extremely advanced in ways that are the best for the environment or, at least that is China's plan. China population right now is over 400 million people and it is predicted that by 2030 all of these people are going to be flooding into the city areas of China, and the question is...will China be ready to fulfill the demand of all these people? The answer right now to this question is predicted to be yes. Because China is advancing almost as rapidly as there population is. Though, this challenge will not be easy to overcome and china is realizing that this will be a great challenge-their leaders are already aware and discussing ways to take on this challenge. The leaders are preparing for the increasing advancement and what is to come- and they are creating laws to increase the efficiency of this. Especially, in the rules involving buildings- because another issue is space- and physically finding space to shelter and take care of and support the needs of all these people. This is especially challenging because China is working to stay an "eco-green" city, which, is almost ironic for a city to be built in green ways because there is so much pollution that typically comes from cities and massive industries and just overall masses of people. It is unclear as of now whether or not China will be able to expand and stay with the sustainability plan but so far, there are being many efforts made to stick with this idea. China faces the most extreme environmental problems in the whole entire world due to the massiveness of their city and population. China's GDP has doubled since 1978 (p.274) -their economy has been growing as much as 10% in a single year. The world health organization has been focusing in on China to try to help them because the same pollutants effecting the environment are affecting the people as well! China is a huge world dominating country and I think the United States should try to take on some of the plans that china has in order to keep up with them and stay a dominating world power as well.-brynn kurlan
This week I chose to read an article called "Better Food Everywhere." This article definitely caught my eye because this is a familiar and ongoing issue in todays society. Majority of places serve unhealthy foods. It talks about places in which serving healthy food matters most, places such as schools or hospital cafeterias. Vast majority of schools serve unhealthy foods as well as hospital cafeterias, if people are hungry and the options are not ideal, then chances are they won't choose starving over an unhealthy meal, which they should do in such a situation, however it's if these places chose to serve more healthful foods everyone would be much better off. Then there is always the fact that healthier foods cost a lot more money than unhealthy foods. Why is this I wonder, when we all know that America is the fattest and unhealthiest countries in the world? I think strongly feel that the healthier foods should be cheaper than the unhealthy foods.
I read the passage titled “Local Greenhouse Forecast.” This is an area that I am very interested in, and though it fitting to serve as my last World Changing post. There is a lot of study on global climate change, and the results are daunting and leave us feeling hopeless. This passage talks about local governments examining the effects of climate change on their local environments. This is an important step in reacting to climate change because most people consider it someone else’s problem because the effects are global and not local. But examining the local changes that can occur will cause people to see that the issue is in fact close to home and that action in their very town is necessary. When I talk to people about climate change, I have been asked if it is actually real. When I discuss the effects with people, it seems they think the changes are too small to have any real effect on them. If I were able to point out changes in precipitation and temperature likely to occur in their hometown, I would get a better response rather than just brushing the problem off. It is important for more local governments to take on this initiative. It doesn’t need to be expensive as seen in England, where local natural history enthusiasts post their observations to a blog, and this data can be examined over time to find changes in the countries environments and biology. The push for such action by local governments should come from the citizens. This will show government officials that the public is interested in the information, and this would cause for such information to be readily available and even broadcasted to the public.
This week I chose an article about sustainable forestry. The reason I chose this article was because I found it interesting that environmentalist often make us believe that all logging job is as bad as clear-cut. They fail to address and acknowledge the emergence of sustainable forestry. Sustainable forestry aims to reap a steady harvest from the forest for generations. They also emphasize maintaining the habitat that develops within it. I have always heard of sustainable forests but never really understood both the benefits. The article discusses about the water in New York City. In the 1990s, environmental regulators told the New York City officials that their water was inadequate to drink because of the bacteria in it. The New York city officials hen took matters into their own hands and went to the source, Catskill Mountains. They helped developed forest managements and helped loggers harvest. This enabled home-owners who lived around the area to maintain a cleaner environment which will result in cleaner water flowing to New York City. When I think about how this applies to my everyday life, I think about the landslides and flood that happens in Indonesia during monsoon season. My parents had taught me that the reason why so many landslides happened was because there was very little trees left in the area to absorb the rainfall which then cause the water to run to the man made rivers (often clogged by trash) resulting in flooding all over Jakarta. The last thing I thought about as I read this article was the certification of logs taken from sustainable forestry. I feel like Indonesia never made the effort to have certification agents such as FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) to give the loggers a ‘thumbs up’ to take down specific trees. I think the reason for the lack of initiative is because of money. Not only do these companies need to take the time and money to contact the FSC, they also need to cut down on profits that each company would have received to once again replant those trees which (for a developing country) is not a priority.
New week, new chapter. This time I decided to read up on nanotechnology (on page 106). Overall I was underwhelmed. The chapter decided that it must make it know that nanotech will be green and nontoxic. Thanks chapter…that’s what I wanted to know about nanotechnology. Now that’s its tree friendly I can get right behind it. Where are my stories about super structures with tougher than current materials? Where are my stories about biomedical health swarms inside my body repairing damage? How about some good science fiction to get my imagination running picturing the world with this wonderful new technology? In short, I’m spoiled. I want better things than the stuff I have. I don’t think that it’s not unreasonable given the fact that nanotech is the relatively untouched form of opportunities. So it would be nice to imagine the options that shortly will be presented to us. Given how some of the chapters choose to go into great imaginations, I was rather disappointed that it was untouched. Ah well I am just ragging on it now. Perhaps it would have been hypocritical of the writer somehow to offer these ideas if he also decided to talk about avoiding doing anything without a firm grasp on how things will play out. This idea that we shouldn’t take blind risks does in some way rub me the wrong way. Maybe it’s because I am more willing to accept progress above making sure that my current life style is safe. At any rate the chapter and I can both agree on one thing. Nano machines are cool.
For this week’s World Changing article I read about Restoration Ecology. Earlier this semester, I want with my twin sister to Ives Road Fen where we cleared Glossy Buckthorn, an invasive species to the area, for her Restoration Ecology class. Even though I am not in the class with her I still wanted to go due to my involvement in similar projects during high school. It was refreshing to go out and get my hands, shoes, and clothes dirty. That is why I chose to read this case study because it provided me with more information about other practices that can be done as a part of this idea. The article touched on the importance of voluntary action and participation by citizens to restore local areas that have been damaged by industry or human impact. This practice includes such practices as re-introducing lost species or protecting mangroves that help reduce the impact of tropical storms to coastal regions. The concept of getting involved in a manageable project with the environment is something that I have always thought to be important. By participating in such programs as wilderness rehabilitation, a small improvement to the environment can be made a little at a time and it is these accomplishable tasks that become necessary in counteracting the negative impacts we have already had on the world around us. Although clearing Glossy Buckthorn does not seem like it would make a huge impact, it is the process of getting in touch with the local environment and completing a set goal that reinforces the idea that we can change our natural surroundings for the better by taking even just one afternoon to volunteer.
I decided to read the article "Reinventing the Refugee Camp" for this week's World Changing. WHn such large masses of people must live in such condensed quarters, coupled with lower hygeine and food/water resources, extreme measures must be taken to ensure their safety. The subsection that stood out most to me was about the LifeStraw. The LifeStraw is a fantastic idea. It provides refugees who do not have easy access to a clean water supply with the opportunity to get enough water by filtering and killing bacteria and parasites.
I also found the idea of the concrete canvas tent to be quite interesting. Add water to a bag, inflate, wait, and voila, you have yourself a shelter. I think having a studier structure like this would be very beneficial for getting aid and health treatments to refugee camps, however, I think transporting the bag of concrete canvas to the site, as well as disposal of the dome structure once it is no longer needed may be a bit tricky. Since it is essentially fabric laden wtih bits of concrete, it may be hard (or even impossible) to use again.
I chose this reading because this "social entrepreneurship" is something that I truly admire. It requires a great persistence and conviction in your cause and a willingness to give up so much for the benefit of others. What is most impressive about people that can do this is that they are completely defying the odds. It is a sad but accepted belief that one person cannot make a difference but there are some wonderful exceptions. The section discusses Grameen Bank, founded by Muhammad Yunus, which started by giving small, yet empowering, loans to Bangladeshi women, and with that little bit of money they created their own success for themselves and community, further proving that individuals can have a huge impact. Childline, the vision of social worker Jeroo Billimoria, is India's national child-protection system, and has since spread to over 65 cities. This is another prime example of an individual making a huge difference because of their dedication. When ambitious projects are created by people, the small initial scale mixed with their devotion is actually beneficial, as there is a personal touch which is pivotal for success. Another example of an impressive endeavor of an individual woman is Tateni Home Care, which trains unemployed youth to become paid home-care attendants to assist people with AIDS and other illnesses. This program was started by a woman who she herself came from very humble means and would have been in need of the service, which makes her accomplishments even more impressive.
For this weeks world changing response I read Green Power. This passage spoke about different ways we could get energy without harming the environment. The first section spoke about buying green power answering many basic questions. Organizations like the Us Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency have online databases of green power suppliers for each state for people who are unsure how to get green power. Many people believe that renewed power is more expensive than fossil fuel power however wind power for example is much cheaper. One source of power that I think we should further look into is solar power. There are two types of solar energy: solar thermal systems which collect radiant energy to produce heat and photovoltaic cell systems which convert direct sunlight into a stream of electron to produce electricity. Using any of these systems can save a lot of energy if place in large cities. Wind power has also become very popular in farms. It is the cleanest alternative energy source. Although it is expensive to continue to have wind-powered machinery if more farms start to use this then the price will come down. The US department of Energy has reported that the world’s wind could generate more than 15 times as much energy as the world is currently using. Finally the last form of power that I thought was interesting and did not know was tidal power. Hydrokinetic power systems use the flow of tides, and waves to generate power. I am not exactly sure how the process works, but with the upcoming engineering I believe this type of energy will become more popular in places by the water.
For this week’s World Changing response I chose to read the article titled Future of the Small Town. This article discussed the decline of the small town but also the rise in recent years. This article attributed the rise of rural areas in recent years to the lower price of living and beautiful scenery that provide an ideal setting for older people searching for non-corporate job offerings. The article also addressed ways of making more productive use of farmland that may be struggling to stay afloat or may be unwanted. As I read through this article I could not help but take notice to the fact that even our most rural land could use some technology to stay in business.
When I think of a farm, I typically think of fields and barns and an extreme lack of technology but even this article suggested to technology as a means for modern farmers to make extra money. The article discussed the cost and benefit of installing modern day windmills on farmland and for some reason I found this odd. If I was asked to picture a farm with a windmill, I would picture an old rusty metal or wooden windmill next to a barn but now these windmills are into an entirely advanced realm of technology that can cost up to $750,000 dollars per turbine. Does it really cost this much to make a farm more profitable and do we really need this extra technology added to something that I have always seen as rural beauty? Unfortunately, I cannot answer these questions alone.
In the essay, Rethinking Refugee Reconstruction, the issue of how to deal with refugees is addressed, mainly the fact that construction of housing for refugees is inadequate and often unavailable when needed. The article also talked about how one of the first things provided for refugee children is not houses but education. The idea is that education brings stability to an unstable situation. The article suggests that getting psychological stability is more important than building homes. This is furthered by providing access to technology. One technology the article suggests is a cheap video camera to record stories to help healing; and similarly, the use of radios to spread knowledge and to organize a community. Freeplay is a radio that requires no power supply and can be used for education, and information. I believe that these two ways of bringing stability to a refugee camp are important. I do question the importance of education at a time of distress, when building homes might be more important. However, I think that the use of radio technology is far more important and worthwhile than a video camera is because it provides education and information. In the current United States we don’t experience refugees up close. When hurricane Katrina came through, displacing countless people from their homes in the south, we experienced refugees for the first time in decades. Refugees were brought close to us, helping us understand what was needed in the situation and hopefully giving us an understanding of what we can do to help refugees around the world.
Renewing trash is a great way to reduce the impact, which we have on the earth, and also allows all people to use some sort of creativity in the process of constructing the new object from the waste. The concept of using trash to make new and usable things, or even art is not a new concept, but it is one that should definitely be preached more to the public, in order to get more people to participate. One example of reusing trash in order to create art would be the Heidelberg project in Detroit, which utilizes trash to make the run down, abandoned homes and environments more aesthetically pleasing. At first this project was greeted with hostility, but un time, members of the community were able to see that this project was focused around the idea of using our trash to create a nicer environment for the community as a whole, while also celebrating the cultural heritage of the community members. Even television shows, such as DIY promote the idea of doing tasks around the home by yourself, and using trash in new and innovative ways around the home. As said in the book, these projects allow all people to get involved with the creative process, and also give a sense of pride and satisfaction after creating a new object with their own hands. Since the reduction of waste and the impact, which we, as a human race have on the earth, I believe that the reusing of trash may be one of the most practical and effective methods of achieving some progress in that direction.
Lighting:
ReplyDeleteOne fact that stuck out to me the most in my reading of Lighting was, according to the author, “if every U.S. household replaced one light bulb with a compact fluorescent, the pollution prevention would be equivalent to removing a million cars from the road.” In other words, not only can the way we light our houses can minimize energy, but it can also minimize pollution as well, which is actually something that never occurred to me. This section focuses quite a bit on the use of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). LEDs, compared to incandescent light bulbs, do not have filaments that burn out easily and do not get hot. According to lab studies, LEDs can last up to 100,000 hours and have out-lasted incandescent light bulbs. LED’s are being designed in all different shapes, different uses of colors, as well as different levels of brightness.
Through the use of optic fibers, Parans has come up with a way to capture light and bring it through the ceiling. This way of lighting somewhat mimics that of sunlight coming through trees in a forest. As the sun moves throughout the day, so does the light on the ceiling, creating a very naturalistic setting for any office building. The other project that caught my interest was one titled “Energy Curtains.” These curtains, also with the use of optic fibers, are drawn during the day to capture the day’s light from the sun. At night, the light captured is emitted from the curtains. This project was designed to make people more aware of the energy they could be saving and using.
Stuff p.29
ReplyDeleteWhat originally drew me to this chapter was the title. I think it might have been ADPI and it’s ever famous Stuff theme. The difference is that the chapter is about what happened to the stuff after it was bought. In the chapter, Gore points out that when we purchase our stuff, we are seeing the product at the end of it’s life cycle. What is left for that product is to be used and sent to the dump.
I felt guilty the moment he reminded me of what happened to computers when they are sent to the dump. Gore mentioned the children and poor class picking through toxic materials of computers in order to recycle metals. From what I could understand, this meant that computers that where sent to be recycled where actually being sent to other countries to be disassembled. I always pictured recycling clean and done by machines, not dirty and done by the lower class. What I do not understand is how business owners could possibly treat their workers so poorly. It makes me wonder if the world of business really needs to go through some therapy.
Since businesses are not going to change their products willingly, then it is understandable that Gore wants us to speak out by buying green products. Businesses will listen to sales but I am still saddened that they will not listen to their own ethics and morals. Someday I hope that the power of money will not be the only motivator for the human populace.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI chose to read the World Changing article on Lighting and it seems like humanity are finally realizing the destruction that they have cause within our earthly habitat, and are now trying to find a way to untie this knot that they have tied. It seems to be a great idea that they've found a way to mimic natural sunlight for the purpose of saving energy and money, but at the same time, this should also help them realize that all of things that are being manufactured are not helping us entirely, and some inventions are more so hurting us. I'm not saying that the idea of saving energy is a derogatory action to pursue solving, but to just be aware of the effects that “new” products are causing. Society makes its seems like everyone has an logical and meaningful answer, until that plan fails, and then someone else have to create some kind of miraculous idea. LEDS are a great idea if they can find a way to produce them effectively. One thing that bother's me about it is why must we try to manipulate nature so much? I believe that this is the reason why we have so many detrimental issues going on in the world today. We keep trying to find new solutions to problems that we can't understand how to solve, so we persuade audience to believe that we’ve got it all figured out, until reality slaps us in the face once more. Then we just steer away from the problem by inventing something that will distract our alert buttons for a while.
ReplyDeleteThis Article discusses the top five ways individuals can take active steps to conserve energy. First, people should get a home-energy audit, which companies often offer for free. The evaluation measures the current cooling and heating systems and insulation, gages the air quality for problems with dust and dampness, and searches for drafts. The auditor will give each homeowner a variety of solutions for current problems.
ReplyDeleteThe second tip for conserving energy is to use dimmers automatic timers, and motion-detection sensors. All of these options are solutions for using less energy on light and are most helpful for those who forget to turn off lights. Another suggestion is lowering air condition costs by cleaning out filters frequently. Filters that are not clean cause the airflow to decrease so more energy is needed to work the air conditioner.
A forth option to consider when trying to save energy is to make sure proper insulation is installed. This is important because when insulation works properly the heat it traps offsets the heat that is needed and lowers the heat and energy consumption. Finally, it is important to modernize windows to conserve energy. Windows that are not efficient leak heat and air-conditioning, where as triple-glazed windows save significant amounts of energy. If each homeowner worked to conserve energy through these five easy suggestions less energy would be consumed and a sustainable environment could be reached.
World changing
ReplyDeleteNovember 30th 2010
For this week in the World Changing readings I decided to learn a little about Vancouver. I have never been there before, but from what I have heard and seen in pictures I would love to spend a year there. It might be cold, but I think it would be a very beautiful city to live in. One of the things that this chapter spoke about was Vancouver’s use of cars; they try not to use them as much as possible. One of the things I found interesting was that they try to make it easier to walk or bike then to drive. They even try to cut down parking spots so it is harder to park if you have a car. Last year in class I found out that there are twice as many parking spots in the U.S. then there are cars. At first I thought that this statistic was shocking, but if there were only one parking spot per person it would be very hard to find a place to park. I struggle enough, as it is to find a parking spot now. But if it were easier to get around with out a car in Michigan I would prefer not having a car. It’s easier to get places in Ann Arbor, but when I go home there’s no public transportation what so ever.
Another thing that I found interesting about Vancouver was the plans to turn their Olympic Stadiums into apartment complexes. There plan is to blend high priced apartments in with the less impressive houses so that you cant tell how nice they are from the outside. I think that this is a great idea for a way to keep areas of a town from looking impoverished or like its worth less then the rest of the city. By mixing classes together there’s no reason why any part of the city should look run down. I lived in Savannah two years ago, and they were a great example of a city with two sides. Half of the city was covered with Victorian Houses while the other was falling apart from lack of money. If they were to have found a way to fuse the two together and hide inside appearances of a house I think it might be easier to keep a city looking clean.
Chinese Cities of the Future on page 271 of the world changing book-discusses the belief that by the end of this decade that China will be one of the most technologically advanced countries in the whole entire world very soon! Not only, will China be extraordinarily advanced in technologically advanced they will be extremely advanced in ways that are the best for the environment or, at least that is China's plan. China population right now is over 400 million people and it is predicted that by 2030 all of these people are going to be flooding into the city areas of China, and the question is...will China be ready to fulfill the demand of all these people? The answer right now to this question is predicted to be yes. Because China is advancing almost as rapidly as there population is. Though, this challenge will not be easy to overcome and china is realizing that this will be a great challenge-their leaders are already aware and discussing ways to take on this challenge. The leaders are preparing for the increasing advancement and what is to come- and they are creating laws to increase the efficiency of this. Especially, in the rules involving buildings- because another issue is space- and physically finding space to shelter and take care of and support the needs of all these people. This is especially challenging because China is working to stay an "eco-green" city, which, is almost ironic for a city to be built in green ways because there is so much pollution that typically comes from cities and massive industries and just overall masses of people. It is unclear as of now whether or not China will be able to expand and stay with the sustainability plan but so far, there are being many efforts made to stick with this idea. China faces the most extreme environmental problems in the whole entire world due to the massiveness of their city and population. China's GDP has doubled since 1978 (p.274) -their economy has been growing as much as 10% in a single year. The world health organization has been focusing in on China to try to help them because the same pollutants effecting the environment are affecting the people as well! China is a huge world dominating country and I think the United States should try to take on some of the plans that china has in order to keep up with them and stay a dominating world power as well.-brynn kurlan
ReplyDeleteThis week I chose to read an article called "Better Food Everywhere." This article definitely caught my eye because this is a familiar and ongoing issue in todays society. Majority of places serve unhealthy foods. It talks about places in which serving healthy food matters most, places such as schools or hospital cafeterias. Vast majority of schools serve unhealthy foods as well as hospital cafeterias, if people are hungry and the options are not ideal, then chances are they won't choose starving over an unhealthy meal, which they should do in such a situation, however it's if these places chose to serve more healthful foods everyone would be much better off. Then there is always the fact that healthier foods cost a lot more money than unhealthy foods. Why is this I wonder, when we all know that America is the fattest and unhealthiest countries in the world? I think strongly feel that the healthier foods should be cheaper than the unhealthy foods.
ReplyDeleteI read the passage titled “Local Greenhouse Forecast.” This is an area that I am very interested in, and though it fitting to serve as my last World Changing post. There is a lot of study on global climate change, and the results are daunting and leave us feeling hopeless. This passage talks about local governments examining the effects of climate change on their local environments. This is an important step in reacting to climate change because most people consider it someone else’s problem because the effects are global and not local. But examining the local changes that can occur will cause people to see that the issue is in fact close to home and that action in their very town is necessary. When I talk to people about climate change, I have been asked if it is actually real. When I discuss the effects with people, it seems they think the changes are too small to have any real effect on them. If I were able to point out changes in precipitation and temperature likely to occur in their hometown, I would get a better response rather than just brushing the problem off. It is important for more local governments to take on this initiative. It doesn’t need to be expensive as seen in England, where local natural history enthusiasts post their observations to a blog, and this data can be examined over time to find changes in the countries environments and biology. The push for such action by local governments should come from the citizens. This will show government officials that the public is interested in the information, and this would cause for such information to be readily available and even broadcasted to the public.
ReplyDeleteThis week I chose an article about sustainable forestry. The reason I chose this article was because I found it interesting that environmentalist often make us believe that all logging job is as bad as clear-cut. They fail to address and acknowledge the emergence of sustainable forestry. Sustainable forestry aims to reap a steady harvest from the forest for generations. They also emphasize maintaining the habitat that develops within it.
ReplyDeleteI have always heard of sustainable forests but never really understood both the benefits. The article discusses about the water in New York City. In the 1990s, environmental regulators told the New York City officials that their water was inadequate to drink because of the bacteria in it. The New York city officials hen took matters into their own hands and went to the source, Catskill Mountains. They helped developed forest managements and helped loggers harvest. This enabled home-owners who lived around the area to maintain a cleaner environment which will result in cleaner water flowing to New York City.
When I think about how this applies to my everyday life, I think about the landslides and flood that happens in Indonesia during monsoon season. My parents had taught me that the reason why so many landslides happened was because there was very little trees left in the area to absorb the rainfall which then cause the water to run to the man made rivers (often clogged by trash) resulting in flooding all over Jakarta. The last thing I thought about as I read this article was the certification of logs taken from sustainable forestry. I feel like Indonesia never made the effort to have certification agents such as FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) to give the loggers a ‘thumbs up’ to take down specific trees. I think the reason for the lack of initiative is because of money. Not only do these companies need to take the time and money to contact the FSC, they also need to cut down on profits that each company would have received to once again replant those trees which (for a developing country) is not a priority.
New week, new chapter. This time I decided to read up on nanotechnology (on page 106). Overall I was underwhelmed. The chapter decided that it must make it know that nanotech will be green and nontoxic. Thanks chapter…that’s what I wanted to know about nanotechnology. Now that’s its tree friendly I can get right behind it. Where are my stories about super structures with tougher than current materials? Where are my stories about biomedical health swarms inside my body repairing damage? How about some good science fiction to get my imagination running picturing the world with this wonderful new technology? In short, I’m spoiled. I want better things than the stuff I have. I don’t think that it’s not unreasonable given the fact that nanotech is the relatively untouched form of opportunities. So it would be nice to imagine the options that shortly will be presented to us. Given how some of the chapters choose to go into great imaginations, I was rather disappointed that it was untouched. Ah well I am just ragging on it now. Perhaps it would have been hypocritical of the writer somehow to offer these ideas if he also decided to talk about avoiding doing anything without a firm grasp on how things will play out. This idea that we shouldn’t take blind risks does in some way rub me the wrong way. Maybe it’s because I am more willing to accept progress above making sure that my current life style is safe. At any rate the chapter and I can both agree on one thing. Nano machines are cool.
ReplyDeleteFor this week’s World Changing article I read about Restoration Ecology. Earlier this semester, I want with my twin sister to Ives Road Fen where we cleared Glossy Buckthorn, an invasive species to the area, for her Restoration Ecology class. Even though I am not in the class with her I still wanted to go due to my involvement in similar projects during high school. It was refreshing to go out and get my hands, shoes, and clothes dirty. That is why I chose to read this case study because it provided me with more information about other practices that can be done as a part of this idea. The article touched on the importance of voluntary action and participation by citizens to restore local areas that have been damaged by industry or human impact. This practice includes such practices as re-introducing lost species or protecting mangroves that help reduce the impact of tropical storms to coastal regions.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of getting involved in a manageable project with the environment is something that I have always thought to be important. By participating in such programs as wilderness rehabilitation, a small improvement to the environment can be made a little at a time and it is these accomplishable tasks that become necessary in counteracting the negative impacts we have already had on the world around us. Although clearing Glossy Buckthorn does not seem like it would make a huge impact, it is the process of getting in touch with the local environment and completing a set goal that reinforces the idea that we can change our natural surroundings for the better by taking even just one afternoon to volunteer.
I decided to read the article "Reinventing the Refugee Camp" for this week's World Changing. WHn such large masses of people must live in such condensed quarters, coupled with lower hygeine and food/water resources, extreme measures must be taken to ensure their safety. The subsection that stood out most to me was about the LifeStraw. The LifeStraw is a fantastic idea. It provides refugees who do not have easy access to a clean water supply with the opportunity to get enough water by filtering and killing bacteria and parasites.
ReplyDeleteI also found the idea of the concrete canvas tent to be quite interesting. Add water to a bag, inflate, wait, and voila, you have yourself a shelter. I think having a studier structure like this would be very beneficial for getting aid and health treatments to refugee camps, however, I think transporting the bag of concrete canvas to the site, as well as disposal of the dome structure once it is no longer needed may be a bit tricky. Since it is essentially fabric laden wtih bits of concrete, it may be hard (or even impossible) to use again.
Social Entrepreneurship, page 352
ReplyDeleteI chose this reading because this "social entrepreneurship" is something that I truly admire. It requires a great persistence and conviction in your cause and a willingness to give up so much for the benefit of others. What is most impressive about people that can do this is that they are completely defying the odds. It is a sad but accepted belief that one person cannot make a difference but there are some wonderful exceptions.
The section discusses Grameen Bank, founded by Muhammad Yunus, which started by giving small, yet empowering, loans to Bangladeshi women, and with that little bit of money they created their own success for themselves and community, further proving that individuals can have a huge impact. Childline, the vision of social worker Jeroo Billimoria, is India's national child-protection system, and has since spread to over 65 cities. This is another prime example of an individual making a huge difference because of their dedication. When ambitious projects are created by people, the small initial scale mixed with their devotion is actually beneficial, as there is a personal touch which is pivotal for success. Another example of an impressive endeavor of an individual woman is Tateni Home Care, which trains unemployed youth to become paid home-care attendants to assist people with AIDS and other illnesses. This program was started by a woman who she herself came from very humble means and would have been in need of the service, which makes her accomplishments even more impressive.
For this weeks world changing response I read Green Power. This passage spoke about different ways we could get energy without harming the environment. The first section spoke about buying green power answering many basic questions. Organizations like the Us Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency have online databases of green power suppliers for each state for people who are unsure how to get green power. Many people believe that renewed power is more expensive than fossil fuel power however wind power for example is much cheaper. One source of power that I think we should further look into is solar power. There are two types of solar energy: solar thermal systems which collect radiant energy to produce heat and photovoltaic cell systems which convert direct sunlight into a stream of electron to produce electricity. Using any of these systems can save a lot of energy if place in large cities. Wind power has also become very popular in farms. It is the cleanest alternative energy source. Although it is expensive to continue to have wind-powered machinery if more farms start to use this then the price will come down. The US department of Energy has reported that the world’s wind could generate more than 15 times as much energy as the world is currently using. Finally the last form of power that I thought was interesting and did not know was tidal power. Hydrokinetic power systems use the flow of tides, and waves to generate power. I am not exactly sure how the process works, but with the upcoming engineering I believe this type of energy will become more popular in places by the water.
ReplyDeleteFor this week’s World Changing response I chose to read the article titled Future of the Small Town. This article discussed the decline of the small town but also the rise in recent years. This article attributed the rise of rural areas in recent years to the lower price of living and beautiful scenery that provide an ideal setting for older people searching for non-corporate job offerings. The article also addressed ways of making more productive use of farmland that may be struggling to stay afloat or may be unwanted. As I read through this article I could not help but take notice to the fact that even our most rural land could use some technology to stay in business.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of a farm, I typically think of fields and barns and an extreme lack of technology but even this article suggested to technology as a means for modern farmers to make extra money. The article discussed the cost and benefit of installing modern day windmills on farmland and for some reason I found this odd. If I was asked to picture a farm with a windmill, I would picture an old rusty metal or wooden windmill next to a barn but now these windmills are into an entirely advanced realm of technology that can cost up to $750,000 dollars per turbine. Does it really cost this much to make a farm more profitable and do we really need this extra technology added to something that I have always seen as rural beauty? Unfortunately, I cannot answer these questions alone.
In the essay, Rethinking Refugee Reconstruction, the issue of how to deal with refugees is addressed, mainly the fact that construction of housing for refugees is inadequate and often unavailable when needed. The article also talked about how one of the first things provided for refugee children is not houses but education. The idea is that education brings stability to an unstable situation. The article suggests that getting psychological stability is more important than building homes. This is furthered by providing access to technology. One technology the article suggests is a cheap video camera to record stories to help healing; and similarly, the use of radios to spread knowledge and to organize a community. Freeplay is a radio that requires no power supply and can be used for education, and information.
ReplyDeleteI believe that these two ways of bringing stability to a refugee camp are important. I do question the importance of education at a time of distress, when building homes might be more important. However, I think that the use of radio technology is far more important and worthwhile than a video camera is because it provides education and information. In the current United States we don’t experience refugees up close. When hurricane Katrina came through, displacing countless people from their homes in the south, we experienced refugees for the first time in decades. Refugees were brought close to us, helping us understand what was needed in the situation and hopefully giving us an understanding of what we can do to help refugees around the world.
Renewing trash is a great way to reduce the impact, which we have on the earth, and also allows all people to use some sort of creativity in the process of constructing the new object from the waste. The concept of using trash to make new and usable things, or even art is not a new concept, but it is one that should definitely be preached more to the public, in order to get more people to participate. One example of reusing trash in order to create art would be the Heidelberg project in Detroit, which utilizes trash to make the run down, abandoned homes and environments more aesthetically pleasing. At first this project was greeted with hostility, but un time, members of the community were able to see that this project was focused around the idea of using our trash to create a nicer environment for the community as a whole, while also celebrating the cultural heritage of the community members. Even television shows, such as DIY promote the idea of doing tasks around the home by yourself, and using trash in new and innovative ways around the home. As said in the book, these projects allow all people to get involved with the creative process, and also give a sense of pride and satisfaction after creating a new object with their own hands. Since the reduction of waste and the impact, which we, as a human race have on the earth, I believe that the reusing of trash may be one of the most practical and effective methods of achieving some progress in that direction.
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