Issue: Coal Ash Contamination

One hundred and ninety-seven known coal ash-contaminated sites are found around the United States. Nine known sites are located in Tennessee alone. Coal ash is the byproduct of burning coal and is polluting local rivers, stream, ponds, etc that leak into our drinking water. The toxic chemicals found in coal ash are linked to causing cancer and other health problems. These cancer causing agents can be protected from our drinking water by using "synthetic liners and leachate collection systems." Unfortunately, there are no environmental regulations ensuring these safeguards are used. Additionally, most coal ash waste sites are not monitored and the majority of contamination goes unreported or unnoticed.

All of the information in this blog was taken from an EarthJustice article.

Food Waste Problem/ Solution

Working in a restaurant I encounter a lot of food. As I am constantly scraping, what I consider perfectly good food, off peoples plate straight to the trash, I often find myself saying "what a waste." Though there is no quick fix to recovering leftover food off of customers already picked over plates, there is a great new solution to recover leftover food from restaurants, caterers, conventions, etc. The answer is in a student created iphone app that allows restaurants, caterers, and conventions to notify local community organizations when they have excess food that they would otherwise throw out. Though this far from solves the solution for food waste, but it is a positive step in the right direction toward a smarter, less wasteful society.
Flash Food App Article

Plastic Solutions

What are some solutions? Well, the obvious solution is to use other recyclable materials rather than plastic. Another effective solution is for grocery stores to stop using plastic bags altogether. Instead they can sell reusable bags for a small fee. Now, this might sound extremely obnoxious, but after talking to a fellow Canadian friend she said that it only took a couple of times forgetting her bags and having to buy new ones before she started always remembering. As long as we make bringing your own bags, (or maybe even cups in the future), a habit than we won't think twice about having to "lug" around bags or water bottles. I think the key to cutting our consumption is to encourage habits of bringing our own cups, bags, etc. so that we do not have to have a constant disposable supply on hand.

Plastic, Plastic, Plastic

I recently watched a documentary, Bag It, about how we have come to use plastic bags in almost every aspect of our lives. Unfortunately, all those plastic bags have to go some place, and they often end up polluting all areas of our earth, not just the garbage bins. Not only are we running out of space to dispose of the plastic bags but we are wasting our already depleting oil supple on manufacturing them. Additionally, research is beginning to reveal that toxins from all the plastic we are using are causing hormonal imbalances that are causing other health issues.

Nutrition: Problem/Solution

I could list dozens of shocking facts from the plethora of documentaries I have watched on health eating and the slow food movement. Each documentary has been important to building my interest in healthy eating; however, one book has really stood out to me. Clean is an amazing book about a three week cleanse that reveals all the toxins your body is exposed to and opens your eyes to a new way to think about eating. The "green" movement is growing with an increasing number of people asking how their company or lifestyle can be altered to be more sustainable. The one thing we forget to ask is, what are we doing to sustain our bodies? We fill our bodies with foods we "crave," but these foods are causing us to be bloated,cranky, and tired. Though I haven't done the complete cleanse, I have paid close attention to the "elimination diet" doing my best to avoid certain foods and to eat more liquid meals. Just taking little steps has already created noticeable differences in my energy and mood.

We can also connect sustainability to eating healthy because when we do not farm sustainably the nutrients in our soil becomes depleted. Fruits and vegetables that are grown in nutrient depleted soil are inflamed, causing the animals that eat the plants to be inflamed as well as the people that eat the animals or the fruits and vegetables to be inflamed. I encourage you to read this informative book and check out the website (I got some great shake recipes here).

Taking Political Action

So what do we do to prevent negative legislation from being past? The obvious answer is to write or call your local representatives and let them know how you feel about the legislation. Keeping yourself informed on the issues that your local representatives support can help you to know when it is time to speak out. As for a bigger, more long term solution...well I'm still working on that.

This quote from JP Leous in the Climate Action Blog applies perfectly to this post, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

Negative Legislation

Environmental concern is growing throughout the world because there is a increasing amount of data and research supporting the negative impacts of various toxins found in common household products and cosmetics. There is also a growing amount of evidence of the massive environmental and health destruction caused by irresponsible waste disposal of various companies.
Today I learned about a shocking piece of legislation that will soon be voted on by the House of Representatives. This bill, the "Red Tape Reduction and Small Business Job Creation Act," will essentially cut regulations for workplace safety, cut energy efficiency standards, prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from enforcing Clean Air Act standards for cement and power plants, and lead to the inability to enforce various other measures to pursue environmental and safety regulations.
Read more about this legislation

Urbanization: Some Solutions

The documentary, Urbanized, by Gary Hustwit presents the problems associated with urbanization and some unique design solutions that hold the people's needs at the heart of the decision making process. His documentary also show that the public can have a say in the development projects that take place in their cities.

Find out more about the film

His documentary highlights the importance of creating meaningful change by starting at grass root levels.

Urbanization

This issue was inspired by a documentary I recently watched, which I will detail about tomorrow.

It's no secret that our population is growing and our world is staying the same size. The rate of population is growing faster than we are able to develop or adapt. Not only is the population growing, but it continues to grow denser and denser rather than spread out because people move to crowded cities in search of job opportunities. The resulting issues are lack of adequate housing and increase in pollution. Additionally, our environment suffers as habitats are destroyed to make room for new development projects. Finally, the people who are most effected by new development projects are often left out of the decision making process.

Here's a site I found on the issue.

What's it all about?

My interests are broad and I love to learn about new social/environmental issues and new solutions or ideas to better our future. Therefore, I have decided to attempt a blog that reflects my new learning and other issues that have already sparked my interest. I will attempt to make posts brief, and provide links for more information, so if a post sparks your interest you can read more about it. Maybe one day this blog will awaken other's interests and motivate them to be a part of a movement for a better future.