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For about a year now I have been thinking about ways to move EnvirocareLA forward and I have decided that that new way is through podcast. Envirocast is my brand to podcast on everything from Environmental Science to Environmental Politics. New Episodes come out weekly, on Mondays. You can listen to my podcast wherever you listen to podcasts or you can listen below right now! I hope you enjoy!
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.With world trade and economics becoming more global, it is becoming harder for consumers to find out where the raw materials for their products are coming from. This ends up making it really hard for consumers to hold companies accountable if their materials and products contribute to lots of co2 emissions. This is really hard for soy, chocolate, coffee, and meat, which are the products that mostly attribute to world deforestation. Make these companies be held a countable with Trase. Trase is an online platform that uses algorithms to connect products from where they came from to where they end up. This shows you what companies buy raw materials that produce the more deforestation and emissions and the companies that are sustainable enough to buy the raw materials the least. Use Trase, and start making sure that companies are being held accoutable for their choices.
For many people staying home is hard, including me, but our earth is very happy. As a result of staying home, people across the planet have been driving less and buying less. This has resulted in less pollution from cars and manufacturing. People around the world were devastated by the Australian wildfires and by how much Carbon Dioxide was emitted because of the fires. Many people saw that Climate change was not only real, but some felt like this was the tipping point for everything and felt like everything was over. But now we are staying home and polluting less, and people finally see what it is like to have clean air. This has given me hope that people will start to fight more for that clean air now that they know what it looks like. This has also given me hope that we will not take up most of our carbon budget for this year because we are polluting less. This will allow us to make up for the pollution we gained from the Australian wildfire. In the midst of this pandemic, just remember that the most important family member is very happy, mother nature. As we continue to use the we more, there is a way to still help the environment. There is this app search engine, called Ecosia. Every search engine makes money from adds, and sometimes they can get creepy, but Ecosia uses the money from the adds to plant trees. Next time you look something up use Ecosia and help plant more trees. Watch the video below to learn more about their work and what they have done. I am so sorry that i have not posted a blog in a long time. As we continue to get used to this new normal of being stuck at home, the one thing that gives me hope is what will happen after this is all over. It is very important that we do not go back to life the way we did before, and use this virus as a restart button. Use it to look back, and make changes, and to not take anything for granted. I hope that as I get more accustomed to this new way of life, I can right more. Continue to have hope, we will get threw this, if we work together.
The fires in Australia have been happening since September, 2019, and are still going on. The fires have actually changed the amount of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere. This fire has also put a lot of species on the brink of extinction, but the wildlife conservation crews have done a good job saving most of the animals. Most people blame climate change for make the bush drier than usual, which is true. A lot of people also blame Australia's prime minister, Scott Morrison, for his avoidance of fighting climate change and keeping Australia's economy dependent on mining and selling coal, and coal accounts for a large amount of pollution. I am sending my good luck vibes to all the firefighters working on the fires and all the people who have been affected by the fires.
I know I have said this before but I am going to say it again because it is very important: don't buy what you don't need. When you buy what you don't need this is known as over consumption. When we think of over consumption we usually think of the material make used to make the product being wasted but we never think of the carbon footprint of the transportation and of it ending up in the land fill. In this blog post we will look at all the steps of the life of a toy and that steps carbon footprint. 1. First all the material that is needed to make the product is shipped to the factory. If the product is made from wood, while it is better than plastic, still contributes a lot to climate change. While the process to turn trees into wood does not contribute a lot to climate change, the impact is still there. The tree that was used to make the product was contributing to taking carbon dioxide out if the air, which is helping fight climate change. Scientists say that 15% of growing levels of carbon dioxide is due to deforestation. If your product is made out of plastic, then the climate footprint is noticeable. First things first, the plastic is made from oil, which we need to stop using so much if to fight climate change. Secondly, the process to turn oil into plastic uses a lot of toxic chemicals and pollutes a lot.
2. Then the product is made. For most products, the manufacturing of them emits large carbon emissions. This means that this stage leaves a large carbon footprint. The factory could also have bad working conditions and while that does not leave a carbon footprint, is still a large problem in modern civilization.  3. Then the product is transported to the store. Now in days a lot of our products are made in low wage Asian countries. That being said that means that most of our products have to travel a long way to get to the store. Not only is there the carbon footprint of the cargo ships or planes used for long distance transportation but also the trucks used to get your toy from the harbor or airport to the actual store. If you order online then your product has to go not only on those long distance ships or plane but also on trucks or even more planes to get to you. Some say that ordering online has an even larger carbon footprint that ordering in store.
4. This is the step of the life of a product that we usually forget but leaves a large carbon footprint. This is when you throw away the product. When you throw away a product not only does the trash truck leave a carbon foot print but when it gets to the landfill, there is a huge carbon footprint. The landfill compacts everything. This process turns all the food that could be compost into methane, one of the strongest greenhouse gases. Scientists say that methane from landfills account for another 15% of growing carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere. Another problem is plastic takes 1,000 YEARS to decompose. That means all the plastic that has ever been made hasn't even decomposed. This is a huge problem. Lastly, even of you have a non-plastic product, the product has probably been in contact with many toxic chemicals. If any of those chemicals leak into the ground, it could kill whole eco systems.  While we can't live without some of the products that make this carbon footprint, we can get less of these products and buy more products that don't make this large of a carbon footprint. Next time you go to the store ask yourself, "do I really need to buy this?". You can also try to buy more local. This will get rid of the third step of life, which is one of the most polluting of the steps. We are getting close to the holidays and most of the time we buy people physical gifts. This holiday why don't you make a donation to their favorite organization in their honor. This will not only help more people throughout the world but it will help the environment and ensure a healthy planet for the rest of humanity.
I told you to stop using plastic but plastic is integrated in our daily lives. This makes it hard to stop using plastic. Here are some things that you can use instead of single use plastic.
1.These straws are the best. They are not made out of plastic, or weak paper, but they are made out of metal. They can be used over and over again and are very durable. You can carry them around in your purse or pocket and it comes with a little pouch to keep them clean. Buy them here. 2. Plastic wrap is very bad for the environment, especially for animals. It is very easy for it to blow away and if it ends up in oceans it blends in so animals accidently eat it. Then it stops them from breathing. This product is very ingenious and can be used over and over again. Buy it here. 3. Disposable plastic water bottles are very bad for the environment but it is very hard to not get a bottled water every now and then. If you need to get bottled water try to get JUST water or BOTTLED WATER IS BETTER. These bottled waters are packaged in paper bottles and are way better for the environment. There are many more products and solutions that can replace plastic and these are just three. If you have any more ideas please write them in the comments below. Plastic is a big problem. It takes 1000 years for some plastic bottles to decompose! Only 10% of plastic bottles are even recycled. If you really care about the environment and my future take the no plastic pledge. If you do pledge then you will only use single use plastic once a week. You can eventually build up to once a month but I know right now that plastic alternatives aren't very main stream yet, but do the best you can! Sign it below To fight climate change one thing we have to do is to stop burning fossil fuels. But after we stop burning fossil fuels all of the fossil fuels we burnt are still up in the atmosphere. How do we get them all out of the atmosphere. This video will show you how. Hint: It is technology that is older than humans. As you probably know, the UN climate change convention is happening this week in New York City. Greta Thunberg a 16 year old activist from Sweden gained popularity by sitting outside the Swedish parliament on Friday instead of going to school. Greta Thunberg recently spoke at the UN climate change convention. I think that it is very powerful and will make change. Check it out. When your computer screen goes black when you haven't used it for a ling time, that isn't saving electricity. When you leave a room or don't use it, turn your whole monitor or computer off. This simple act can save as much as 1,090 pounds of CO2 per year. You can also download called CO2saver. This software will adjust your computers settings to save as much energy as possible. Since the publication of this software it has saved 434,000 pounds of CO2. Unfortnatly this software
Yesterday, on September 20th, millions of people around the world, mostly youth, skipped school to march for climate justice. It happened in cities from LA to Tokyo. Most of the time climate change and climate justice has been pushed aside. I hope this shows law makers around the world that the generation that will be voting in the 2020 elections really cares about climate change and there future/
This is the last of the Aspen Ideas Festival blog posts. I hope you enjoy.
This talk was about growing food in a changing world. Because of climate change, it is becoming harder to grow produce and farm animals. Land is drying up, while other land is getting flooded more frequently. Because it is getting hotter in more areas, it has allowed bugs to inhabit more parts of the world, infesting the plants. Also the growth of plants and animals has a toll on the environment. Pesticides and GMO used on plants is not good for the environment, while overfishing, the methane from cows and pigs, and over growth is not good for the environment either. What I’m saying is, it is becoming harder to grow farm animals, and do it all responsibly. This is not good, especially since the demand for food is growing rapidly. Three people, Uma Valeti, Will Clem, and Nicholas Genovese, noticed this problem and came up with a solution. They call it Memphis Meats. Memphis Meats grows this meat from the cells of the animal. They have created everything from meatballs to chicken. This way of growing meat from the animals cells is way more sustainable. Cell based meat uses less land because you don’t need to have grazing land. You also don’t need to water all that grass, meaning it uses less water. It also uses less food and water since you don’t need to feed and hydrate a whole animal. When you feed an animal food the food doesn't just make the animals grow, it also makes the brain and bones grow. With cell based meat, the food only makes meat. It also does not contribute to climate change as much. When food breaks down in a cow’s digestive system, the cow lets off methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas, and is one of the strongest. With cell based meat, there is no digestive system, you're just growing the meat, so there is no contribution to climate change(unless you count transportation, which conventional farming also has). Over all, this is a more sustainable way to grow meat. But for now, while they continue to perfect the process for large scale production, you can turn into a vegetarian or vegan. This was the second talk I went to. It was all about the psychology behind Climate Change. What differentiates Climate change form other massive issues is that it has really become political. That is because it affects everything in our everyday lives. It effects our jobs, our homes, our trips, like I said everything has to do with the environment.
Because of that political barrier most conservatives are going to lean more towards going against climate change because that is what their party says. But climate change effects everybody so we still need their help. what they talked about was approaching people differently. Some people may love animals, and some may have gone threw a natural disaster that was unnaturally large because of climate change. When you use these different paths, you can turn a non believer of climate change into a believer threw a different cause. Another thing they talked about was why we're not taking action quick enough. Humans were made to act to immediate problems. Kind of like when the twig snaps behind you, you immediately turn around. With climate change, we can still feel the effects, but there is no immediate problem. If you would like to see the statistics from the climate change poll click here. If you would like to listen to the whole talk click here. When I was in Aspen, I went to a Conference called the Aspen Ideas Festival. There were multiple topics like health and politics but I focused on the talks about Climate Change. Here is the First conference called Climate Change: Cities Lead the Way. Enjoy.
This talk was about what San Jose and New York City were doing since the Mayor of San Jose and The Climate Change Policy and Programs Chief Resilience Officer of New York City were talking. What I found was that New York, A city with amazing diversity in there transportation system, focused more on renewable energy and San Jose, a city with multiple cars like LA, focused on enriching their transportation system. They also talked about an idea that I call Policy vs S.E.S. It is basically this. Imagen you want to put a new policy in place that taxes plastic straws. It most likely wouldn’t affect the upper and middle classes, but it might affect the lower class who might want to use straws but are only close to stores that sell the more expensive plastic straw. Now the idea is way bigger than that but that is the concept. To learn more go https://www.aspenideas.org. America's birthday is coming up and people are getting ready to party. But wait.
More than 74 million Americans are planning to barbecue for the 4th. Why can't you be different? Try something new. Meat is so bad for the environment and so much meat is eaten during 4th of July. 150 million hot dogs are consumed during the Fourth of July weekend, we buy and eat 750 million pounds of chicken leading up to the 4th of July, and Americans buy and eat 190 million pounds of red meat or pork in the lead up to Fourth of July. Why don't you use plant based meat? It tastes exactly like animal based meat and its way better for the environment. A few options are below:
You can also find great plant based meat options at your local super market. Happy celebrating. This post was originally published in December of 2017. I think that this post is very important because getting a new car is change that is in your hands. No matter what Envirocarela does, getting a new car is your choice. I hope you are considering getting a eco friendly car. This list is here to help you with your big decision.
Another way to save resources is by getting a fuel efficient car. The fuel of the car doesn't have to be gas. It can be a fuel cell or electricity too. Here is a list of some hybrids sold in America.
When you see a restaurant or store doing something that's bad for the environment, speak up! Restaurants and stores rely on you, the customer, for business. Use your power as the customer to make change. One less restaurant using straws or styrofoam to-go packaging and one more store selling more local clothing or good really makes a difference.
If you can, install an instant hot water faucet. This will not only save water bills, because you have to keep the water running to heat it up, but it will also save gas bills.
**You may love to recycle. You might have your recycle bin fill up faster than your trash. But only a fraction of your recyclables end up being recycled. Here are a few rules for recycling:
When filling a bathtub, plug the drain before turning the faucet on. This way you don't waste any water. You can change the temperature of the water as it fills up.
When you need to buy things, like clothing or furniture, consider going to a second hand store or a yard sale to buy them. Not only does it save materials but it also saves packaging and pollution from the transportation of the item having to replace the one thrown away. If you have items that you don't need, instead of throwing them away, donate or them to your local second hand store, or sell them in your very own yard sale.
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