reflections

1) How do you currently, or plan to in the future, contribute to a more environmentally sustainable economy?
I will try to cut my energy costs when it is affordable to me. I will also try to make the move to a eco friendly car or utilise public transport more. I will buy locally and organically to support local farmers and get rid of the transportation CO2

2) Are there local sustainable business that you support?

I have not found a sustainable business that I support, take in mind though that I come from a small town and our business' are not too big. With that would like to see more sustainability coming to small towns and spreading across the nation.

3) Have you considered your financial investments and their ethics?
I have not, but when the time comes I really think my decisions will be based on two things. The final value of the investment and it's effect on the environment and my feelings behind that. I want to make money yes but there is no good things that come from destroying the environment.

ted talk

For my activity I watched Sylvia Earle's TED Prize wish to protect our oceans.  She starts by explaining what she has done and learned from the oceans.  She learned to scuba dive in 1953.  She used many different techniques like submarines  to discover the ocean's floor.  The ocean is our life support system.  We are drawing out our resources faster than they can replenish themselves. This is a great problem. The only way a problem like this will get fixed is if we could see the decline with our own eyes. We must explore and protect the ocean in ways that will restore its health and give it many years to grow . Build up our fisheries again so we are not running out of fish is a good step.  In 50 years we've eaten 90 percent of the big fish in the ocean,but that's not all the problems we have.  Excess carbon dioxide is driving global warming and causing ocean acidification.  We are clogging the ocean with excess plastics.   We are killing organisms that drive our nitrogen, carbon and oxygen cycle. There must be a way to fix this. Well now we have marine reserves, but they make up only 0.8% of 1% of the ocean, it is not enough.  We must leave the oceans for its resources and let it grow again. May it be by marine reserve, harsher laws or company ethics, the oceans need to be saved and explored.

I found this Ted talk interesting and helpful. They talk about the diminishing population in our oceans due to human use, consumption and waste. I really found it sad to see the numbers related to the oceans. As an avid snorkeller I have seen and been to many different reefs and marine reserves in the pacific and Indian ocean. The difference of the fish and wildlife is incredible. What we need is more protected marine reserves in all waters all around the world. That means hot or cold, even the non resourceful waters must be protected. If we don't stop what we are doing, there will be no more fish to see, eat or admire, and that's just the beginning of it

Environmental justice is an idea that came to play in the 1960's. During these times coloured people had less justices and rights and therefore their environmental and health rights were not respected. Big companies started building landfills, incinerators and factories that have big health and environment issues, right next to the growing black community. This is at a time and place where blacks made up 20 % if the population. Can you imagine that? These companies couldn't have put it anywhere else and made it a environmentally racist act. From those days people have pushed for equality in dealing with the environment.  The National Black Environmental Justice Network is a group today helping coloured people be environmentally equal. They have made way be winning relocations and by getting a clean air act passed.

 Environmental justice is a social movement in the whose focus is on the fair distribution of environmental benefits and burdens. All members of society will receive the same burden/benefits unlike as was with the incinerators in black communities.

3. Our Stolen Future (S29)

The author beings the piece talking about our many, many years experimenting chemicals on animals and how those days are catching up to us. It seems that most of the synthetic chemicals that we produce have not only seeped into animals bodies but ours as well. We have accumulated persistent synthetic chemicals in our body fat, just like all other animals This is very concerning because smaller doses of these chemicals can do lot more damage to us. Not only are people getting sick and dying but hormones and braincells are dying or changing which damages our population as humans even more.

No, I don't think cancer is the only thing we have to worry about. There are thousands of diseases and infections that are life threatening and made by us man in a lab somewhere that we should worry about. Fire proofing, plastic raps and preservatives are all examples of things we should not trust as much as we do. If we keep abusing our planet with synthetic chemicals, we will have a whole lot more than cancer to worry about.

2.Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment (S28)

Sandra Steingraber begins talking with unique examples on adoptees showing the same hereditary traits as their adoptive parents. Now of course Sandra found out that it was no real but she did find something very interesting. At a young age the adopted Sandra found herself diagnosed with bladder cancer. By tracking down her adoptive parents side she saw that cancer was wide spread through her adopted family. With many years of research she came to the conclusion that cancer is more of an environment disease. PCB's & DDT are still in the air as well as many carcinogens that we cannot even name or keep track of. Everything you by today is packaged and treated with chemical. This is why I don't find the rise in cancer alarming.

It is hard to tell if something is carcinogenic in humans because there are many factors that can be involved. Temperature, quantity, purity and time all play big factors. Some chemical may react differently in a colder temperature. Quantity depends on the amount of the chemical you are absorbing. Purity is hard to keep a hold of because in the air everything mixes together which could create a volatile reaction. Lastly we have time. Time is a tricky one because there in no way we can know what a chemical will do to us in 30

5. Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services (S17)

human use and impact has made us more and more greedy when it comes to taking things out of the water. Human impact can relate directly to the diminishing populations of our fisheries. In this article we first found out the roles of biodiversity in maintaining the ecosystem service to humans. We see our fisheries diminishing directly caused by exploitation, pollution, and habitat destruction, or indirectly through climate change. These changes are all human backed which will slowly decrease the number and diversity of species in our oceans in fisheries and the stability of the ecosystem itself. After many experiments the team concluded that with a higher and more diverse population an ecosystem grows much stronger and stable,  there's a positive correlation between ecosystem diversity and population and species recovery. The more diverse the ecosystem is,then the higher the species count, when the count is higher the different population work together in a manner to boost its ecosystem. If not the loss of diversity brings many horrible things such as; algal blooms, oxygen depletion, shellfish and beach closure. Other problems that could arrive are fishery collapses that is on the everyday rise.

1. Collapsed fisheries recover better in high-diversity ecosystems because it is found that  there is a 20 to 30% enhancement of resource use efficiency.  A diverse ecosystem is much more stable, it is observed to either increase resistance to disturbance or enhanced recovery afterwards. The more diverse the ecosystem gets the more stable it will be

1. Ecosystems and Human Well-being (S 10)

This article talked about the great and ever changing relationship of man and the various ecosystems, The article first gives us the idea that we lack a change in an ever changing environment, It talks about crop land and fisheries to add to that idea, They then go on to talk about the people and how a good environment helps them and what is found in them.In a healthy human environment there should be no hunger and no widespread  poverty, disease and child mortality rates would also be down, The article then goes on to talk about ways we can help and try to build our dying ecosystem back up. Agriculture, fisheries, water and forestry are the industries to work with. If we build on those then our ecosystems builds and brings in new population which then causes biodiversity.

1. I think the hardest part of managing ecosystems sustainably is that they're also ways in multiple constant changes. Our ecosystems are always changing because it is comprsismised of so much natural things such as animals and flora. With all the new advancements in technology it is still hard to see if the world is changing or if we are changing it?

Oceans

My big concern about the ocean is the massive pile up of waste growing everyday. We cannot see what is happening under our big blue waters but we can tell from the fish and birds that are coming out of it, that it is no good. The response we need to take is to clean and prevent the run off and waste and solid wastes being thrown into our oceans. Our oceans are big ecosystems that sometimes remain untouched and undiscovered. The reasons i think we don't pay enough attention to the ocean would be broken down to two things; politics and awareness. Because the ocean is international waters no country has responsibility for their damage to the oceans. Awareness is a big issue I find because, if you were able to see al the garbage in the oceans one would have a better understanding to the magnitude of the situation by comparing the amount of garbage on land. Other concern to waste I have is nuclear waste. The run off from the plant in  Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is creating an emergency disaster in the pacific ocean. Radiation is entering our fish and rainwater and slowly travelling to our coast. Hopefully Japan will smarten up and fix their problem before it becomes all of ours. The best thing to do is raise awareness because their isn't much I can do being landlocked. If i lived by the beach I could do a shore clean up or something of the sort.

Six Theses on Saving the Humans

an interesting article i read today

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/19872-capitalism-and-the-destruction-of-life-on-earth-six-theses-on-saving-the-humans

enjoy

food systems

When it comes to food, the two major issue that come up for me is the taste or freshness. Often if i can find organic for a low price I will buy it instead but it is hard to find real organics in the supermarket. When it comes to meat , I enjoy buying free range and ethically butchered meat, which i get from my local butcher. Right now as a student cost is the number one reason why i might be eating good food, but I now have knowledge and the ability to make those better decisions later on.

-saraj

zoo

The other day in class we talked abut zoo's and their role in our society. I raised the point in class and want to talk about it here too. For me zoos are an ethical place to keep native species in their environments for everyone to see. I don't believe exotic and non native species should be locked in a cage modified to their environment. Even if one points out the fact that zoos are conserving or rehabilitating the exotic and non native animals , that is just an illusion. When an animal goes to a zoo hurt or abandoned they will stay at that zoo for the rest of their lives. That troubles me. If a human were to get sick or orphaned he is kept till he is 18(ready for the wild) or until he is no longer sick. We don't go to hospital and stay forever, why do animals in zoos.


-saraj

suistainablity and happiness

With all the films we are watching in class to help us get a sense of what sustainability is really making me think on the things I do in everyday life. I think for me to promote sustainability and happiness in life i'd have to give up the amount I travel, increase my use of composting and remembering to be scarce with electricity. I'd like to cut the amount of fossil fuels I use when driving from home and to school. I could start carpooling more and taking the bus as means of transportation. That will cut the amount of CO2 I use individually. If i increase my composting, which is hard because i live in an apartment, I will be able to re-fertilize and use the end product on growing my own sustainable garden. My residence and the long winters make it hard for me though. The last on my list can be easily fixed by constantly reminding myself to turn the light off. They're many times when I forget to do so and come home to a light home. I realize as small as a problem it is it still is a big one. I can't just be wasting electricity for no reason. So these are my sustainability problems and I plan to fix them !

-saraj

canadas dirty economics

I had done some more reading on the tar sand recently and it saddens me too see our governments fighting one and another. On one side the conservatives want to expand and build more and more pipe lines ( which remind me of the republicans in america) for corporations to feed them money. On the other hand the liberals and ndp are fighting to stop and minimize the harm we are doing our land from the pipe lines and tarsands.

reading reflections 3

1) Could Food Shortages Bring Down Civilization? **(S 25)
The article uses many examples such as the rise in grain prices due to poor harvests in the 20th century. We see different trends starting which increase or decrease prices of things we stole from the land. This shows us that if we run into harvest problems they maybe will lead to failed states in countries that cannot sustain their population. This happens because of rapidly increasing population whom are tapping into the countries food supply. While we need to make meets to the demand of food our own interests come first. We are now growing grains for fuel not consumption when there are people to feed.  They also talk about rising trends that come with the building price. Falling water tables, eroding soil and rising temperatures all play an effect on foods prices. If we keep neglecting, not restoring and not helping our land maintain sustainability, states will fall because of food shortages and not having the ability to farm their own product. We must tackle the issues such as poverty, CO2 emissions and population control which would come with restructuring the world energy economy. If this is all done it will be one step of restoring our lands to maintain civilization.

2)The biggest threat to global political stability is the decreasing security of food. Countries will slowly stop exporting their food which in turn will be fewer imports such as medicine, industry and education.

Women’s Indigenous Knowledge and Biodiversity Conservation (S 37)
The article talks about the women and their connection to the environment. The author starts out by talking about the difference between man and women when it comes down to farming and cooking. Women treat things differently which help them by doing many things not just specific things to create a change. It then goes into the talk about women farmers and their work with hybrid and seed planting for centuries and how they do not get accredited for it. With the rise in GMO or corporation seeds women are losing their touch of preserving biodiversity to wide scale agriculture. Women have been the part of agriculture for thousands of years. It means what they were doing was keeping our biodiversity alive not like it is now.
1) An ecofeminist is a woman with strong passion to the connection of domination of women and the domination of nature. They use their past of being oppressed by mean to try to understand the environment and find was to fix and liberate it.

Human Domination of Earth’s Ecosystems (S 9)
The article starts by talking about man’s domination over earth and how we have changed with the industrial revolution, to change landscapes and ecosystems. The first point the authors talked about is the increases in land transformation. We learn about the widespread epidemic of land transformation to have their goods and services. In the end it is just driving us further to the loss of biodiversity worldwide and changing our environments on a huge scale. As we have altered the oceans by over fishing and exploitation on its resources more and more harmful organism grow and all because the exploitation of the oceans fisheries. The article then goes into the biogeochemical cycles that we have altered as humans, such as carbon cycle with our increases in fossil fuel use. Change to our water cycle with our manipulation of water ways and systems to our own beneficial use. Increase of nitrogen for added fixation and other cycles such as sulfur, phosphorus and synthetic organic chemicals. The article talks about the effects on humans and the land from those cycles we altered then goes into the life we altered on the planet. By this they talk about extinction of species and rate it is increasing. Then they talk about invasive species and the unhealthy mix and takeover of non-native species. The article concludes with the message that humans will continue to rule the earth until we destroy it.
 2) No I think if the human population was reduced we would have all these problems still. We would still be exploiting our lands and oceans for our own economic gain. It isn't like we only take what we need when it comes to earths resources so why would the problem change with a diminished population. The amount of people is not the problem, man’s chase of wealth is.

Cary Fowler: One seed at a time, protecting the future of food

Cary Fowler talks about an issue that very unheard of. His talk started with the issues of extinction but in relation to apples. As he got into the article he talked more and more about the different breeds and the diversity of seeds. All the information was new to me, like the 7000 different types of rice. Cary then talks about conserving and preserving the different seeds to keep the seed biodiversity. He argues that with climate change coming we might need different adaptable types of seeds uncase of new diseases, climate and pests. With that argument Cary has built a seed bank in the mountains of Norway for preserving different seeds from around the world of the same species. Many include rice, wheat and other crops that have been around for ages. At the end of the talk he tells us that he has seeds from every county in the world. I think what he is doing is a great thing. You don’t see too much conservation and preservation of crops as much as we do flora or in animals. To be honest I didn’t know there were such different breeds of common seeds all around the world. His motive is smart as well; if we don’t protect these natural seeds the invasive and corporate seeds will take over and destroy the diversity.

blog 2

REFLECTION
I think Churchill's Wapusk park is a great example of a land protection and assessment. As we learn't in class Wapusk park is located on the tip of Manitoba not too far off from Churchill. It is know or polar bear and bird breeding. The way they have protected this park is by basically cutting it off from human interaction. The only way to get through this park and remember that this is a   1,475-square-kilometer
park is by helicopter or buggy.  I think by separating the line from preserved nature and man, that the protection of this park will be very successful. When parks are open to humans it brings infrastructure, noise , pollution and light pollution , which are not things we want to have around if we are trying to save he dying species of polar bears.


10. Consider your reliance on fossil fuels. Are you comfortable with your level of dependence? Do you feel that this is sustainable for the next 10 years? Are there steps you would like to take to reduce this reliance?

I feel my reliance on fossil fuels while living in the city of Winnipeg is very bare compared to when living at home for the summer because of public transport. While in Winnipeg I always try to carpool or catch the bus, if I need to go somewhere that is not in biking or walking distance. I feel comfortable with this level of dependence and the amount of gas I use in a month. How ever I feel that when winter approaches I will walk less and run my car more for heat therefore using more fossil fuels than I should. As an individual I am okay with the amount of fossil fuels I rely on in the city but when traveling from city to city either by car or airplane ( which I do often ) my dependency sky rockets. I feel like my reliance could be sustained  for the next 10 years but not too much longer than that.  Steps I could take to reduce my reliance could be from anywhere of  indoor parking in the winter, sticking to public transport and traveling less. I try to keep my use down because with rising prices and a student budget I am saving money and the world !

 The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis talked about the rise in religion bringing mans appreciation of nature down. Lynn White talked about how Christianity led man to believe he was better than nature and that it was this their for his use. He goes on to talk about the rise in technology and the easier ways to do things made us exploit the land that we once appreciated and shared. Saint Francis gets mentioned as a saint who tried to make his followers rethink their place in this planet and give more respect to nature. He concludes the piece by talking about maybe changes to our religions will change our society to respect nature.


1)The purpose on nature to me is a gift left by a higher power to show us that we are just one of many things in this world. Nature is supposed to surprise and marvel you. It shows us that we aren't as great as we think and there is a lot more amazing things than the human race. We must not exploit it for its resources or tear it down for it's use of land. We must protect and respect nature. I feel as if it is our duty as the highest form of intelligent beings to help secure and conserve the landscapes and life in them. We must conduct more studies on ecological effects in developing and exploiting. We keep taking too much and not caring about the great gift of nature.


A Sand County Almanac excerpt

Aldo Leopold begins this piece with a story from his past that changed the way he looked at life in nature. He tells the event of killing  mother wolf and seeing the life die in her eyes. He then goes on to relate the destruction of mountains to the increase of deer and cow due to the loss of the huge wolf species in the states. He then goes to talk about mans disregard for nature and compares philosophically their ethics to ecological evolution. He talks about how humans used to only harm nature for their good uses. It is now as we humans are destroying it more and more for unjustifiable and petty reasons. Then he goes on to talk about how land has depreciated to us humans over the years. We don’t have respect for the land and we only look for economical gain. WE only take and are interested in what can benefit us.

2) I think land ethics relate closely to ordinary ethical systems in many ways. When a man owns land he tries to make it most healthy and fertile. If he puts in the work to make his land good it will reward him with good crop and therefore economic gain. As soon as the land erodes and dies out the farmer with have no obligation to fix ti and move to more land. Our ethics in land should be use and reuse to a point where the land can take it.  The lands have given us so much throughout history and we are working on conserving and keeping nature alive for those many gifts we stole.


 A Path to Sustainable Energy by 2030

In this piece the two authors talk about our growing energy problem and ways to meet its demand in a more sustainable fashion. As population increases dramatically more and more energy is being using by burning fossil fuels. The burning of fossil fuels is highly toxic for our environment but we do it anyways with gasoline , coal and natural gas. AS studies show , there a many ways to meet our energy needs using only wind, water and solar power to harness the energy. Nuclear plants and coal plants must be eliminated by 2030. They also talk about how a lack of resources might lead to the downfall of electric everything. The worlds supply of lithium is running low so recycling parts takes a big toll here. With predictions of lower prices in solar energy and in wind, I agree with the two authors and think we will be self sustainable with our energy demands by 2030.

2) I think the most effective way to cut back on greenhouse emissions is  to enforce stricter regulations on how much gas you can burn and the amount of carbon releases. I know they have carbon taxes for big companies but I think that the law should address issues as the big companies keep wasting gas to get more gas. This is obviously a short term thinking and as the progress with technology will slowly fade the coal and gas industry away from the energy sector and replace it with ecological friendlier ways

Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis (S 23)
This article was written for the intergovernermental panel on climate change due to a great rising problem of greenhouse gases. Studies show that the rise in CO2 is directly related to industry and the rise in methane and nitrous oxide are due to agriculture. It goes on to show that us humans are just speeding up the natural gas cycles of the earth. The evidence is all there too . The world is changing so fast around us. Everything is heating up and melting and the ocean keeps rising. That along with many other factors make climate change a part of our lives everyday. More and more problems are arising and we all know the cause.

2) Yes we should defiantly act now. If we keep on waiting we might not have the means to fix the problem but if we try not fight and prevent a true disaster from happening it will be much better than  cleaning up and trying to find out how to “fix” the atmosphere.

3. Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis (S 23)

COLLAPSE

Jared Diamond explains how with great power come great responsibility. No matter how great our society becomes there is always chance of doom. He talked about ancient civilizations that left us with wonders but they disapeared and research show that it may have been caused by ecological disaster. With great destruction comes alot of death and migration of people and beings that live in that society.When disasters happens I think it is the way of the earth telling us we are doing something wrong. He also talks about when one place has a disaster another place usually gains from that said disaster. Money does not come from saving the planet it is from benefiting and exploiting our planets resources.



I do think that the environments that damage their self are doomed for destruction in the long run. From what we our seeing now with global warming and air pollution. Sea levels are rising which will lead to our major city's, which our usually based at sea will flood. With our air quality the chemicals will increase and spread causing diseases and poison throughout humans and all beings everywhere. Eventually natural disasters will increase and our citys will fall just as what has happened in the past.

class reflection

After this class i really think my view on life as a being is more ecocentric. This world around us controls us as individuals. If our world collapses we will fall aswell. I think it is more of a priority to help our world rather than ourselves first. Like the saying we are setting world for our grand kids, we came to this world as great as it is let us leave it that way

John Francis Walks the Earth

This ted talk was a very interesting video. The man whom it was about, John Francis is an environmentalist with a quirky story. When he was younger he stopped using motor vehicles because of an oil spill he witnessed. A couple years after he stopped talking and walked across america. On his journeys he went to different school and gained his PhD in environmental studies with some gracious help. I think he is trying to spread his message that even little changes that one person makes can affect him greatly in the long run. From city hopper to UN goodwill ambassador and a renowned environmentalist John Francis changed the world and inspired many to do the same with some small changes!

human carrying capacity

This article talks about logistic growth of organisms that connect to large scale extinction to another community of organisms. The article uses Easter Island as the main example. The island that is in complete isolation is now inhabited by humans with the help of technology. The population raised from 50 to 10 000 in less than 1300 years. Because of this the balance of the environment was thrown off because of overuse which lead to erosion f the islands fertile lands, limited fresh water and deforestation. With the increasing movement on the island which brought rats and diseases diminished corps and spread small pox throughout the islands. The shortage of food and the epidemic brought the population down. When the balance is thrown off it will out it way out to even eventually. I think this was nature was of fighting back from overuse and the natural way to reduce population if an environment cannot sustain it.

1. Carrying capacity is the maximum size f a population of any species that an environment can sustain given its resources, habitats and space. Another way of describing carrying capacity is that it is the environments highest sustainable population.

tragedy of commons

The article tragedy of commons showed us another way to look at the ways we handle world to help eliminate over consumption, lack of resources, over population. By basically abolishing welfare and letting the world set a biological course for humans. The other point in the article that the commons grounds of the world are not helping anyone but slowly making the world worse. This is because of over-grazing, over fishing and bad management of our natural parks.


2. Examples of resources that have been overused in common by the citizens of society would include, pollution and over consumption of water, our air quality and our fisheries. With the pollution and the over consumption of water we risk either making our water unsafe or no water at all. With all the chemicals from industries, motors and  agriculture we are polluting the air everywhere with no concern for anyone else. With the oceans being a common ground we as humans are over fishing. Fishes are on the rapid decline and some even on the verge of extinction just because its a resources no man controls.