After viewing the Chapter 10 lectures on Waste and Waste Solutions, I realize how much hazardous waste I have put in the environment in the past through acrylic paints. Last weekend I was working on a new painting and I put a lot of the excess, watery brown paint in the trash. Reading the lectures, it made me realize that those actions had consequences beyond what I could see. I've decided to add another Ecological Footprint Reduction strategy to my Semester Project 1 on top of the ones I already have:
1) take shorter showers
2) have only what I need in my car
3) take good care of my possessions
4) turn off the lights when I leave a room
and
5) reduce the amount of hazardous waste I produce in my home (in the form of paints).
Adding on this fifth objective is manageable, and I'm excited to practice it in the coming weeks.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
Semester Project #1 Blog #2
I have addressed most of the strategies in my ecological footprint reduction plan, except for #2, having only what I need in my car. For swim I had to shave my head last week so that automatically reduced the number of minutes I stayed in the shower. For the past two weeks, I have been recording the number and length of showers I take and here is a summary of my results:
For the first week, I took 11 showers, ranging from 10-14 minutes each (I have to take a shower after swim to get the chlorine off my skin). If I take the max number of minutes (14) and multiply that by 11, I spent 154 minutes in the shower, or a total of 2.56 hours. I used about 25 gallons of water per shower, or 275 total gallons for the week.
For the second week, when I shaved my head, I took 7 showers, ranging from 5-7 minutes each. At the most, I spent 49 minutes in the shower, or 0.82 hours. Again, I used about 25 gallons of water per shower, so 175 gallons used total. That means (roughly) that by decreasing my shower time by 5-7 minutes, I used 100 less gallons of water, which means a lot of $ saved.
As for the other two points, I have remembered to turn the lights off when I leave the room, and at the end of the night I always turn off the printer or computer if it was left on. I have kept pretty good care of my paintbrushes and other art supplies, but I could save more money by reducing the amount of paint I use.
Questions:
1) What were the results of your footprint analysis?
My footprint analysis said that it would take 4.7 earths to sustain the population if everyone lived the lifestyle I do. By carrying out some of the points in my footprint reduction plan, I hope this number goes down and overall that I leave a smaller footprint on the earth. My school is running a book drive in the spring to raise money to buy trees to plant around the school and give back to the environment. Planting a garden or other plants in the spring/summer might be another good way to reduce my footprint.
2) Do you feel these results reflect your lifestyle accurately? Why?
At first, I didn't think the results reflected my lifestyle accurately, because I couldn't comprehend how it would take 4.7 earths to sustain the way I live. Looking back on it though, this number or the concept of it, does make sense. Through the readings and research for this class I have realized just how many resources I use on a daily basis and how much wasted materials I throw away or go unused. I definitely want to reduce this number and make my lifestyle more environmentally friendly.
For the first week, I took 11 showers, ranging from 10-14 minutes each (I have to take a shower after swim to get the chlorine off my skin). If I take the max number of minutes (14) and multiply that by 11, I spent 154 minutes in the shower, or a total of 2.56 hours. I used about 25 gallons of water per shower, or 275 total gallons for the week.
For the second week, when I shaved my head, I took 7 showers, ranging from 5-7 minutes each. At the most, I spent 49 minutes in the shower, or 0.82 hours. Again, I used about 25 gallons of water per shower, so 175 gallons used total. That means (roughly) that by decreasing my shower time by 5-7 minutes, I used 100 less gallons of water, which means a lot of $ saved.
As for the other two points, I have remembered to turn the lights off when I leave the room, and at the end of the night I always turn off the printer or computer if it was left on. I have kept pretty good care of my paintbrushes and other art supplies, but I could save more money by reducing the amount of paint I use.
Questions:
1) What were the results of your footprint analysis?
My footprint analysis said that it would take 4.7 earths to sustain the population if everyone lived the lifestyle I do. By carrying out some of the points in my footprint reduction plan, I hope this number goes down and overall that I leave a smaller footprint on the earth. My school is running a book drive in the spring to raise money to buy trees to plant around the school and give back to the environment. Planting a garden or other plants in the spring/summer might be another good way to reduce my footprint.
2) Do you feel these results reflect your lifestyle accurately? Why?
At first, I didn't think the results reflected my lifestyle accurately, because I couldn't comprehend how it would take 4.7 earths to sustain the way I live. Looking back on it though, this number or the concept of it, does make sense. Through the readings and research for this class I have realized just how many resources I use on a daily basis and how much wasted materials I throw away or go unused. I definitely want to reduce this number and make my lifestyle more environmentally friendly.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Semester Project #2 Blog #1
For my 2nd Semester project I have chosen to participate in Project Squirrel. As I read through the list, this one caught my eye right away, and I'm excited to start (soon) collecting data for the scientists! I have two dogs, Howie and Rudy, and they always chase the squirrels in my backyard. One time Howie caught a rabbit and put it in my bedroom closet right before school. Rudy has almost caught a couple squirrels, but sometimes it looks like the squirrels enjoy the chase.
Here are my answers to the first six questions, since I haven't started collecting any data yet.
1. Which citizen science project have you chosen? Why?
I have chosen the Project Squirrel citizen science project (http://projectsquirrel.org/participate.shtml). I chose this project because my neighborhood has a lot of squirrels, and the project is very flexible. The name of the project pulled me in right away because I thought it was funny.
2. What are your responsibilities as a volunteer?
As a volunteer my responsibilities are to, at least four times over the semester, record different data on the squirrels in my neighborhood, and submit my findings to Project Squirrel.
3. What data will you collect? How is data submitted?
I will collect data on the number of individual Gray and Fox squirrels I see. I also have to record the different kinds of trees that are in the observation area (there are a number of possible observation sites and data can be collected from almost anywhere). Other necessary data includes the type of food the squirrels gather (if any), the number of squirrels compared to last year, and the absence or presence of dogs. Data is submitted by completing an online form and then turning in to Project Squirrel.
4. What research question is the project attempting to answer?
Squirrels can us about our local environments, so Project Squirrel is gather research data to gain a better and well-rounded idea of neighborhood ecology.
5. How does the project apply the scientific method?
Project Squirrel is largely an observational citizen science volunteering program, so with the scientific method the program is heavily based on Observations and Recording/Reporting Data. The admins or heads of Project Squirrel are the ones in charge of the hypothesis, and as a citizen science volunteer I am helping them collect data to either prove or disprove that hypothesis.
6. Which part of the scientific method does your participation address?
Answered mostly in #5. My participation addresses the observational side of the scientific method and recording/reporting those observations in the form of data in an online survey.
Yeah squirrels!
Here are my answers to the first six questions, since I haven't started collecting any data yet.
1. Which citizen science project have you chosen? Why?
I have chosen the Project Squirrel citizen science project (http://projectsquirrel.org/participate.shtml). I chose this project because my neighborhood has a lot of squirrels, and the project is very flexible. The name of the project pulled me in right away because I thought it was funny.
2. What are your responsibilities as a volunteer?
As a volunteer my responsibilities are to, at least four times over the semester, record different data on the squirrels in my neighborhood, and submit my findings to Project Squirrel.
3. What data will you collect? How is data submitted?
I will collect data on the number of individual Gray and Fox squirrels I see. I also have to record the different kinds of trees that are in the observation area (there are a number of possible observation sites and data can be collected from almost anywhere). Other necessary data includes the type of food the squirrels gather (if any), the number of squirrels compared to last year, and the absence or presence of dogs. Data is submitted by completing an online form and then turning in to Project Squirrel.
4. What research question is the project attempting to answer?
Squirrels can us about our local environments, so Project Squirrel is gather research data to gain a better and well-rounded idea of neighborhood ecology.
5. How does the project apply the scientific method?
Project Squirrel is largely an observational citizen science volunteering program, so with the scientific method the program is heavily based on Observations and Recording/Reporting Data. The admins or heads of Project Squirrel are the ones in charge of the hypothesis, and as a citizen science volunteer I am helping them collect data to either prove or disprove that hypothesis.
6. Which part of the scientific method does your participation address?
Answered mostly in #5. My participation addresses the observational side of the scientific method and recording/reporting those observations in the form of data in an online survey.
Yeah squirrels!
Rudy
Howie & Rudy
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Semester Project #1 Blog #1
Here are my four footprint-reducing strategies for the semester (Question #3):
1) Turn off lights when I leave a room
2) Only have what I need in my vehicle to increase fuel efficiency
3) (Reuse) Take good care of my possessions to make them last as long as possible (specifically my paintbrushes)
4) Take shorter showers
1) Turn off lights when I leave a room
2) Only have what I need in my vehicle to increase fuel efficiency
3) (Reuse) Take good care of my possessions to make them last as long as possible (specifically my paintbrushes)
4) Take shorter showers
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