Application Assignment #1

 Environmental and Health impacts

After reading the article by Mark Schleifstein and Tristian Baurick about the impacts of continuing to use oil as a source of power, we start to see the many downsides oil has on the environment and our health. According to the article, "..A wide variety of animals live in or near the water’s surface, where sheens appear. Young fish and sea turtles likely suffer widespread harm.." After Hurricane Ida the oil was visible from the sky in the gulf of Mexico which shows how extreme the situation is. What makes this so difficult to control is the oil companies are not taking any responsibility and cleaning up. According to Yoder, a healthy Gulf scientist, "..multiple spills can be more difficult to find and clean up, and the responsibility is harder to pin down.." If the regulators stepped up there would be severe consequences that no company would want to deal with fixing the problem. Every Hurricane that happens just makes the situation worse for the animals that call these waters home. In the picture below, the Heron is coated in oil making it almost waterproof. The oil makes it difficult for the bird to regulate its body temperature and causes harm.  Abandoned wells from oil companies harming environments because they are no longer in use but still contain crude oil. According to the article, "..unless someone else had reported them to the federal agency since Ida, are numerous abandoned oil wells that the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources has not yet inspected.." This makes it extremely difficult for the Coast Guard to pinpoint areas that need to be cleaned up. The inhabitants of these waters should not pay the price for our mistakes. As stated in Schleifstein's article regulations need to be put in place so oil spills are less frequent and companies wont feel like they can get away with it.  

   An Oiled Heron in contaminated waters photo by the Louisiana  Department of fisheries and Wildlife 

Oil Industry Vs. Plastic Industry 

As we all know, to make plastic you need oil. We as consumers use or come into contact with plastic everyday, along with filling up our tank with gas. Our reliance on oil has become unhealthy to the world and ourselves. In the article by Erin McCormick she brings up the disposal of our plastics and where they end up. In the article, she states "Last year, the equivalent of 68,000 shipping containers of American plastic recycling were exported from the US to developing countries that mismanage more than 70% of their own plastic waste." This is a startling number considering how advanced our country is. We should be the ones dealing with our recyclables and not throwing it on the backs of other countries. Other countries are struggling to manage their recyclables, adding more to this will be detrimental in the long run. The oil companies supply plastic companies with the needs to make their product meaning the plastic industry relies on the oil industry. Plastics are everywhere now even in our bodies which should show people plastics do not go away and are here forever. Yet we still find ourselves using disposable plastic goods like silverware and water bottles that are one use and meant to be thrown away. The real change needs to happen inside these industries as they look for more efficient materials that are better for the earth. This will not happen overnight but is within our reach as humans. 

              Solid waste in Mulago, Kampala by SuSanA Secretariat 

Typical Consumption

Keene State College over the years has worked hard trying to "go green" however we are not perfect. A typical student goes to the dining commons at least once a day and maybe Lloyds. The DC is filled with paper cups, plates and plastic silverware. Most students when getting more food receive a new plate along with a new cup. This is an unnecessary amount of resources being consumed in just one meal. When students are finished they throw their trash into either a compost bin or a recycling bin. As we learned in class recycling plastic causes more environmental harm than producing new plastic. Lloyds is worse filled with plastic bottles, food items wrapped in plastic and cardboard boxes that seem to be getting bigger each year. There should be better options. Plastics are never going away that is why I think we should invest in plates and silverware that are not single use. This would eliminate the need for trash bins full of contaminated plastics and recyclables . This would mean more work for the school but less waste overall. We look at these products as easy and convenient because they are but they have significant downsides as well. Our focus as a society needs to change to look at products that are more eco friendly and be an educated consumer. In other words buy from companies that work at saving the environment instead of adding to the mess. 

                 Zorn Dining Commons by Blake Gumprecht