Turn off, Turn on.

So this weeks class challenge was to lessen our use of electronics and other devices that contribute to the excessive amount of fossil fuels being burned. We had a certain set of guidelines to follow to help us reduce our use of energy. This challenge was only over a 24hour period, but I learned a lot.

First a quick review of the guidelines so you get a better idea of how we planned to reduce our energy usage.
        1. Unplugging stuff that isn't being used!
            This seems like such a simple thing to do, but it was a pain in the butt. I couldn't just turn on my lamp. I had to move my bed and then connect my lamp. I unplugged the coffee maker, the toaster, the microwave, my dads powertools, my laptop, my cool light up mirror, my piano, my stereo, the washing and drying machines, and a whole bunch of other things. In the past 24hours I probably get yelled at about 30 times. I had never realized how accustomed we are to convenience. I mean it wasn't like plugging stuff in was this arduous task, its just that its inconvenient.
        2. Why drive when you can...
             Not driving for those 24hours wasn't so bad. I took the bus to school, and back home. I walked to the grocery store, and then to a friends house. I liked not feeling like a zombie behind the wheel. We spend so much of our lives in a car, and in traffic. Not having that stress was pretty great. The 24hours felt easy, and calm.
        3. Turn it off!
            I got yelled at for this one too. Everytime I saw a light on in my house I would shut it off. My mom got pretty mad at one point. I turned off the light in the garage not realizing anyone was in there and she ran into some shelves. She's okay. A lot of the time the lights I turned off were just left on. No one was using the light, or even in the room for that matter.
       4.  Cold Showers SUCK!
            I didn't like this one. I tend to shower in the morning and I couldn't handle the cold water. What I did instead is use very little water. I timed myself to only have the water running for a total of five minutes. Now my complete shower took about twenty minutes, but my water use was reduced to five. So I would rinse, then turn off the water and soap up. I would just turn off the water when I wasn't using it, I was still cold.
       5.  Hang up your clothes.
           This is actually something I do already. I grew up with a rope tied to two poles where my mom would hang our clothes to dry. We don't have the rope up anymore, but I still hang my clothes to dry. I think it keeps the color of the clothes for longer.
       6. Hot, Hot, Heat!
           Being aware of the amount of energy usage that air conditioners and heaters use is important to both the environment and your wallet. My parents are very aware of their wallet, so they tend to do things to regulate the temperature of the house that don't require turning on the heating or cooling systerm. One thing my mom does during summer is put foil on the windows to reflect heat. Another cool trick for summer is putting a bowl full of ice in a room. It cools down the room without using any energy. During the winter the house doesn't get too cold. I think that's mostly due to the windows and insulation in the walls. Having a properly insulated house can save you big bucks.

Secondly, a quick reflection on the past 24hours.
         24 hours is only a short time. To think that my family and myself carelessly waste so much is bothersome. There were a lot of habits I noticed that I would like to change. I am going to keep taking the bus to school. I get time to read, or study and I don't add to carbon emissions as a single driver. I also want to implement the shorter showers. Less water, and less time. Keeping stuff unplugged is going to be a tough one. I'm going to have to slowly convince my family that this is a postive change. I can start by unplugging rarely used items. I also want to make my family very conscious of unused light. Turning off the light when you leave the room is such an easy thing to do. I think I can condition them to turn off the light. Going back to driving, I will have to drive sometimes. I will just do less unnecessary driving.

Thirdly, things that can be changed in the home.
         Well while I was turning off all of the lights I noticed we still use outdated, energy sucking light bulbs. This is something that can be easliy fixed. I think something that will help relieve the inconvenience of having to plug stuff in will be organizing things so that outlets aren't blocked. All it will take is a little reorganizing, and my mom's patience. Something I realized was how quickly my phone dies. I don't use it all day, but I leave apps open, and that kills it. Turning off my phone when its not in use will conserve the battery life, and then I won't have to plug it in as often. I have also heard that putting your phone on airplane mode helps conserve the battery. I would love to convince my parents to invest in solar pannels. Southern California is the perfect place for solar panels. We could also put up more mirrors to reflect the natural light that comes in through the widows.

To sum it up this experience has shown me how careless people can be. Every single person has an affect on this planet, and the future of our planets health. We can't disregard our individual responsibility, and, as I have explained, we can start by making small changes in our immediate environment. Okay, I have to go help my mom reach her crutches, she's still a little banged up from those shelves.

Bye!

Blog #10. Global Climate Change

According to evidence, is the climate changing right now?
- What does evidence say about humans’ roles in the changing climate?
- How is climate change likely to affect our society and our world?
The weather changes everyday. One day could be scorching, and the next day will have a light breeze, enough to make you wear a sweater. We know weather changes, but what about the global temperature of the earth?

According to the scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies the average global temperature from 1951-1980 was apporximately 57 degrees Fahrenheit. In the years that followed the global temperature rose. Global warming, a warming of the earth's global temperature, is a phenomena that can be scientifically attributed to human activities. According to studies done by the National Academy of Sciences and its affiliates, the global temperature has increased about 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the past 100 years, that increase was seen mostly in the past thirty years.

What has happened in the past thirty years? Let's take a look around the world. In the past thirty years the Chernobyl nuclear disaster took place, the first Gulf War occured, the release of Nelson Mandela, and the death of Michael Jackson. Quite and eventful 30 years. What has also occured is an increase in the burning of fossil fuels. The industrial revolution took place within the last three decades, and the Earth is having a negative reaction to industry.

Human activity, along with natural occurences, have caused a change in the permanent climate of the Earth.

Blog #9: Food!

Applesauce, it is yellow, mushy, and DELICIOUS. The ingredients are fairly simple, apples, water, and ascorbic acid. Wait, what the heck is ascorbic acid? Let's find out what is in our food, where it comes from, and how it gets to our mouths.

So, my first question was about ascorbic acid. What is it?
     Ascorbic acid is the official name of Vitamin C. Vitamin C is found in many foods and helps our bodies absorb iron. Vitamin C is used to treat colds and other infections. A lack of Vitamin C can lead to health problems, like Scurvy. Arrrghh (pirate voice). Thus far we know that applesauce is made up of apples, water, and Vitamin C.

My second question is, well, where did those ingredients come from?
     The brand of applesauce my parents usually buy is called FirstStreet. The label reads "Quality since 1871." The brand is owned by Smart and Final, Inc. and distributed by AMERIFOODS TRADING CO. located in Los Angeles, CA. I was unable to find where the apples used in the applesauce actually come from, but I did come across some interesting apple facts. First off, the top apple producers in the world are the United States, China, Turkey, Poland, and Italy. Secondly, the US exports one out of every four apples harvested. The apple business is booming.

The search for information seems to be growing more and more difficult.
I found that Smart and Final is owned by Ares Management, a private investment firm. I find it strange that our food is being handled by a firm focused on secrecy. I'm not sure I like where this is going.

At the start of this blog I was hoping to find out where my food came from, and who it was handled by. The more I searched the more confused I became. The search made me see that an odd secrecy is behind our food sources. Even apples have secrets, for goodness sake!