Joe - Green Careers

Joe's presentation today about the amount of green careers was very informative. I had no idea the amount of jobs that are available to help keep the earth green. The types of jobs like a environmental lawyer. Also, the information he gave out is very easily accessible. The website he gave out Eureka is very cool and gives you lots of information on hundreds of careers. The types of magazines that he brought and presented seemed like helpful magazines that one can use to learn about careers and learn about the needs that will be needed in the furture.

Earth Day

I believe that earth day is a good thing to be celebrated. I think it can spread and give out lots of information. The environment is a big issue right now and many people don't know whats happening. They do not know the consequences that are at stake. Also, they do not know what simple changes can be made that would be a great deal of help. Earth day can give out this knowledge and give out ideas of changing simple things like light bulbs, different filters, ecofriendly products. Giving and receiving this information can also be contagious and spread. Earth day is a great way to do this and i think it works. Walking around at sierra during earth day, I read and learned some things that i had no idea about. It was interesting and kinda like 'wow'. Earth day is very important and needs to keep getting bigger.

Ray Darby

I liked Ray Darby's presentation. I thought the information he gave was very interesting and important. It was easy to see where energy was lost, wasted, etc because of all the charts he had. It was surprising to see how much energy was wasted and unused. Then also he gave some interesting soultions that we could do to help out some. Transportation being number one but the most expensive. Solutions like heating and water heating seemed doable though and not to costly.

Perspective

I think my viewpoint has changed a little during this course. Before, I felt like I did some little things to help the enviornment. After, I have learned more about the effects we have as a whole and as individuals and how one person can spark change. I have done some more things to do my part to help like riding my bike more, better lightbulbs, recycling and being a more conservative driver. I see now how much we are hurting the enviornment with what we do. I've learned more about what is happening not with just the air but animals, rivers, oceans, and people. I think this course is one that more people should take. It is very interesting, informational, and helpful. I think it can help many people open their eyes to what is happening and the effects we have. Also, I think taking this class can help spread the word and get more people involved in helping.

Laird Thompson

His presentation was interesting but he seemed monotone and I zoned out a couple times. He knew his stuff though. He has been in the oil buisness a long time and seemed to know what really goes on like whats good, whats bad and stuff. Thought it was cool that he helped build that one oil drilling station that was in the ocean. It does sound that the company he works for is doing a good thing with there synthetic oil and all. Kinda seemed like he was trying to sell the product to us. Overall, he was a very knowledgeable guest speaker and was open to all questions he was asked.

My view

I think most of my viewpoint of the enviorment comes from the media and actually being outside. I love being outside, camping, sports, looking at the stars, and just hanging out. Loving to be outdoors, I would like the enviornment to be clean. At my elementary school there were many field trips that were outdoors. Such as a walk to the park down the street. I dont think my parents are too interested in the enviornment. There wasnt much news of it and much going on when they were younger. I want to see people take more of an interest in helping do their part. Being outside when it is sunny is awesome. Lot comes from personal expierences and Al gore, seeing his video opened my eyes even more.

Vernon Martin

Martin's presentation was really interesting. It made you think twice about things that are around you every day. After hearing about ways people try to see nature like the rain forest cafe i think would help encourage people to go out and see the real thing. After hearing his presentation, I feel more inclined to to get out and check out. Like I should be more part of it, help preserve it and not just buy things in stores and put them in my house and say i'm all about nature. I like this speaker, really makes you think and gives you a different perspective on how to view nature.

Toxins

I think it would depend if I found out if there were toxins in my enviorment. It depends on the type of toxin. How hazardous is it? Deadly? If it was something that wouldn't affect me is very minimal ammounts then i dont think I would care to much. If they're deadly then it's a different story. If they aren't harmful to me but are to plants and other parts of the enviorment, then I would care also. I strongly agree that some sort of action should be taken to clean up the mining waste. We shouldn't wait till we see the effects of the waste start to take effect. We should locate the mines and look for waste and clean up if there is. Waiting can bring lots of damage to the enviorment and people. Scary thing is people that live in an affected area probably don't know it because of money. So I how think we should take issue after seeing how toxic to the enviorment and us it is. Will it have a major affect, cause death, significantly hurt the enviorment. I know money is a big issue right now, but this isn't something you should wait too long for. When the toxic is cleaned up, it should be dissposed of properly. I'm not sure how this would be done, but take caution and not take something like this lightly. To try and avoid adding more toxins to our enviorment, we need to take more interest in the affects they may have. Develop ways that are more friendly to us and the enviorment. Cleaner machines, cars, fuels, and more efficent ways to produce what we need. I wasn't really aware of this issue before Mike Thornton came in. After hearing his presentation you start to think about and wonder what the consequences may be due to these toxins. People need to become aware of this issue as they may as well be living in a toxic area.

Mike Thornton

Mike Thornton's presentation about Mining's Toxic was very surprising in ways. It seems scary to think that public places such as parks and schools can be contaminated and we may not even know. Then we may find out and people do not want to clean it up because of costs. That seems like a lame reason to not help the well being of people that may being living or playing in a contaminated area. Mike's presentation really helped to give information about how and why this is happening. Also helped give good info how to help spread the word about the risks that are involved with envoirment and health of humans. I would hope people would think twice about mining and what it can do to in the long run and is it worth it.

Gary Noy

Gary Noy had a very interesting presentation. I learned alot about the Sierra Nevada. Before I had very little knowledge about the Sierra Nevada. I had no idea how popular it was and all the interesting thins it contains. It is cool to know how popular the Sierra Nevada is to the rest of the world. I have never biked, hiked or anything there but would really like to now and check out how beautiful it is up there. The way he presented his information was cool, it kept me interested and he was very knowledgeable about the Sierra Nevada. After hearing it, I now have a new found respect for this Moutain Range that is so close to us.

Choosing

I think chosing and what makes a species more valuable than others is sort of the same. Ones that we should choose to conserve are ones that are more important to other species and help keep the circle of life, and food chain stable. Species that we seem to choose more are cute, beautiful and loving species like pandas, tigers, polar bears. I think a clue that shows its not a part of evolution is if there loss affects other species and there way off life. Like the video in class, no one thinks about endangered insects. Insects affect many things like plants, bigger species, humans. I think we should try to get introduced species back to there natural type of locations. By moving them, they adapt to the new enviorment and will not have the same traits as they would if they were living in there natural habitat. Then other species from there natural habitat may not be able to live without them around. Animals live with each other, and taking into consideration species that have a greater effect on others as a whole I beleive are the species that we should take into account helping and saving first.

My Ecological Footprint

After taking the quiz, my ecological footprint was 5.04 earths.
Carbon Footprint: 68.3
Food Footprint: 78.9
Housing Footprint: 24.6
Goods and Services Footprint: 23.6
Each footprint was below average except for my food footprint. I agree with the results I received because I know there are ways to help be more green but don't carry out with them. I drive a Dodge Dakota which gets 13.7mpg. Its horrible, but I love it. Its my first car and its pretty nice. I always go back and forth between selling it and not selling it. I know getting a new car would help, but money would be an issue too so I always fall back to keeping it. I have started to ride my bike alot recently, and I really like it. I'll ride my bike to do small errands like go to the bank, get a thing or two from the grocery store, drop something off. Now I tend to do just for the exercise, its relaxing to put on my ipod and just bike.
My food footprint is above average and I totally agree. I love to eat meat, I usually miss breakfast though but make up for it later in the day. I really don't buy organic foods, but I rarely eat out. Housing seemed fair, we have 5 people living in my house. Most of our lights are energy efficient bulbs, we keep all windows closed if the ac/heater is on. My dad is stingy about that. We try to limit the ac use. We have a whole house fan which sucks in air from the outside. My family is pretty good on recycling, we recycle all cans, glass/plastic bottles. Why not? You get money for them.
I feel like I can change things to help lower my footprint, I would be cool with buying some organic/natural foods, eating salads more. It would also be healthier, seems like a win win situation. For my car, I don't plan on changing it anytime soon, but will change driving habits to help conserve. Around the house turning off all computers, unplugging small appliances, use only what I need to. I will try to follow through with these, I want to help the earth and do what I can for the future.