August
11, 2014
ENVIRONMENT STUDIES
Finally,
after 5 weeks I get the opportunity to share the information I have learned by
attending the Environment Studies class at Warner
pacific College. Five weeks really is not enough time to master all that someone
would need to be an authority on the environment, but what I have learned is a
good start. Who know that a vehicle powered by hydrogen would produce water
from its emissions? Maybe that’s the answer to our vehicle smog issues.
I’ve
thought about how I leave a footprint on the environment; I recycle plastic,
cardboard and the oil from the vehicles my wife and I drive. The garbage we
send to the land fill from our house is very little. Although we are a part of
helping the environment with recycling there is more we can do. My wife and I
have also made some commitments to not driving as much, conserving the use of
fossil fuels. This year instead of going camping on our vacation, we’re staying
home to clean our home and send unwanted items to recycling centers.
The Bureau of land
management (BLM) has more influence than any of our 50 states. The BLM
oversees 945 million acres of land, a force of thousands employees that oversee
landslides, mineral production, land policies and restoration of forest. I
believe their mission is a good one for the planet. I also believe that with
government support we could build on their programs that help preserve nature.
After all, isn’t taking care of our environment about taking care of nature?
I have learned over the last 4 weeks more about the environment
then I have over 55 years. What’s more startling is learning how bad the world
will be if we don’t do something about it. If we continue to cut down the CO, 2 makers, (trees) we will certainly
suffocate from lack of oxygen. As humans, if we continue to pollute our H2O, (water) we will die of thirst.
In
searching the web I found that you can actually make oxygen, right in the
kitchen of your home. “How to Make Oxygen and Hydrogen
from Water Using Electrolysis.” For $249 you can even buy a kit
for your car that produces hydrogen. What is interesting is that to produce the
oxygen in your kitchen, you must use DC power, which is a batter, manmade;
which is very harmful to our environment. It just boggles my mind; we take
manmade discoveries to make what nature has already provided to us. Why don’t
we trust nature, arrest the systems that destroy our existents.
Look at all the millionaires that built their homes on the edges
of a coast. The architects looked over the land; they bought permits, and paid
someone to build. Then one year a strong storm comes in and washes the costal
line away. Soon their property is destroyed and gone. Who was really the
designer of the costal edge? Surely not the architect, or the home builder. It
was, and is nature! Those that build their homes on hill sides, reap the same
rewards as the edge dwellers. Although we can never predict Mother Nature, we
can save ourselves agony by not presuming she won’t have an effect on our
lives.
The few watersheds we have should be preserved. Here in Portland, Oregon,
we have several open water reservoirs. On Mount
Tabor, there is one that has continuously been violated by vandals.
Sometime urinated in, or dead animals thrown in just to make some kind of dumb
statement or anger towards life in general. What about the companies that have
a history of creating toxins and hiding the factory excretion in our oceans and
rivers? How do we balance our effects on nature, yet provide life to those that
oppose change and accountability to the environment? Here’s one thing I thought
about! I have a fences around my property, about 175 feet. Now, with my understanding
of my foot print, I’m refuse to stain my fence. Why? Because the stain that’s
put on the fences, country wide, are eventually washed away by the rain. From
the rain water it can seep into our ground water, which eventually will return
to us though evaporation, condensation or well, river water. Another aspect of
change for our house is to not use lawn fertilizer on our property. The same
results and negative impact on our rivers and streams. United States geological surveys. (USGS). There is so much water on
our planet. How do we continue to live with all the pollution and survive?
I would challenges everyone to take a longer look at their own
environmental footprint. Others will say that one person can’t change the total
of many. I think that the change in one can, by hope. I believe that from this
class at Warner collage, there’s 6 people that will change how they see and
change how they impact the environment. There is also hope by the influence we
each have on others around us. Stop, remove a tossed plastic bottle from the
garbage and place it in a recycling can. One person can learn, others can too.
My children, grown up now, continue to tell their children to shut off the
lights, don’t throw paper in the garbage, and put it in the recycling bin. Once
a year I load up my truck with scrap metals, on my way to the mental scrap yard
I stop and both my daughters to get any metal. Once recycled I split the funds
between them both. Kind of a reward for not filling the garbage with recyclable
materials.
Reference
Warner Pacific College. (2014).
retrieved from http://www.warnerpacific.edu/admissions/adult-degree-program/
Wiki How To. (2014). retrieved
from http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Oxygen-and-Hydrogen-from-Water-Using-Electrolysis
The City of Portland Oregon. Mount
Tabor (2014). Retrieved from http://www.portlandoregon.gov/parks/finder/index.cfm?PropertyID=275&action=ViewPark
USGS for a changing world. (2014).The USGS Water
Science School. Retrieved from http://water.usgs.gov/edu/earthgwquality.html
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