More Trees (extra credit)

The presentation by Professor Dyer was surprisingly interesting. He spoke on the history of deciduous trees in eastern America over that past couple hundred years. He used a combination of informative slides and many informative graphs. I learned how that pre-colonization, most of the eastern half of our country was trees while today it is down to about 40%.

Professor Dyer also talked about the areas of different types of trees and how the dominant tree in certain areas has changed over the decades. He showed both a map by a university of Cincinnati from almost a hundred years ago and then one that he himself came up with that showed the dispersal of dominant trues over the eastern united states. It was interesting to see how dominant trees can change over such a relatively short time. It's true that he mentioned deforestation, but at least I would have thought that the trees that were prominent before would return as such, but instead it was the fast growing trees that have taken over. Professor Dyer said it was too early to know the true implications of this, but it seems that the forests of eastern America are changed for good.

Environmental Ethics from a Former Ant Burner

What is wilderness? This was the question posed to the class from our first reading and I’ve been contemplating it ever since. Strangely enough, this was the first time that I had deeply thought about my environment. Sure I had had discussions with family, friends, and classmates about topics such as global warming, alternative energy, and endangered species, but I had never truly understood what I was supposed to care about. I had never explored how I had felt about our planet further than mainstream media cared to talk about. This apathy goes back as far as I can remember. Heck, I was that kid who seared ants with a magnifying glass and thought it was cool. This class, Eng 308J, my junior composition class has not just taught me the definition of environmental ethics, something that I wasn’t aware even existed for the first 21 years of my life, but allowed me to explore my own views on the topic. Through the readings, the discussions, and a forced reflection on my views on how I think about our planet, my environmental ethics have changed this quarter.

I guess to get down to how my ethics to have changed, it first took an understanding of what environmental ethics is. The first things about environmental ethics that need to be considered are both whose interests count and whose interests matter. Originally I was simply anthropocentric, period. I cared very little about the interests of anything other than human beings, and even then I had nationalistic views. The only animals I cared about were the pets in my house; otherwise, animals existed either for my entertainment or for food. It was the same for the environment: it existed to benefit me in either materials or enjoyment. I cared nothing about what I could do for it. Thinking about this, I began to wonder where this position on the environment came from. It really started when I was a kid.

My ethics could be traced back to my childhood. I was the kid that I burned ants using magnifying glasses. I also used to catch spider and keep them in jars. It was out of a fascination with arachnids rather than sheer cruelty. However, my father sometimes encouraged a slight cruelty to animals. We used to have a squirrel problem in the summer. The squirrels were getting into our bird feeders, building nests in our attic and gutters and tearing up our deck canopy, so he would send me out with his slingshot to shoot a few, not killing them, but definitely inflicting discomfort. Thinking back, neither of my parents were very environmentally friendly individuals. Recycling was really the only conscious effort that they made.

Even though my upbringing didn’t encourage an environmentally friendly lifestyle, there were some events prior to taking this class that did make me appreciate the world that we live in. Starting when I was 12, I’d go visit my aunt who lived in Boulder, Colorado and she would take me mountain climbing. I was instantly addicted. Not only did I enjoy the feeling of conquering something as massive as a mountain, but also it was the first time that I had truly experienced the wonder of nature. The freshness of the mountain air, the feeling of devoting myself to a piece of earth for a day or two at a time was a completely new idea to me. But what really woke me up was the view. I’ll say this: there is nothing quite as breathtaking as the view from a mountaintop and it was the first time that I experienced this view that I felt any communion with nature. If I had any appreciation for nature before this class, it was brought about by my summers climbing.

Still, even with this appreciation of the beauty of nature, my values are still mainly intrinsic, a point of view that I only became aware of during this class which is a point of view that I only became aware of during this class, that means that I believe that those parts of nature are there for my benefit.. But it was this class that made me think deeper than the superficial views that I had developed throughout my life. Thinking back on it though, I’m surprised that I took such an interest in the environment. A subject that prior to this class, I could have cared very little about.

The aspect of this class that had the largest impact on me was the readings. In fact, it was the first reading, William Cronon’s The Trouble with Wilderness that immediately had me rethinking how I viewed the environment. Cronon’s essay made me rethink how I viewed the term wilderness. At first I had just thought of it as this dark, scary place where the bad guys from Disney movies lived and it was full of dangers, never to be enjoyed, but after reading Cronon’s essay, my view changed. He said that wilderness is a place that is untouched by human presence. This really got me to think about some of the mountains I’ve been on. Where there were no paths, no signs, no one but me and whoever I was with there. Sure others had been there before me, but it would have been difficult to tell. It was then that I felt a connection to the idea of wilderness, to areas where I can sit and experience nothing but nature, and even the danger that comes with some of those areas. The possibility that I could fall hundreds or thousands of feet and no one would be around to help. I immediately became more concerned with my choices regarding the environment because I truly wished to preserve those places that I considered my “wilderness”.

The other part of the class that had a large effect on me was watching the movie Food Inc. I had a very general understanding of the conditions of America’s food industry, but this movie shocked me. It is one thing to read about the horrid conditions that the animals are kept in and the stranglehold that the corporations have over the farmers, but it was a whole other monster to hear and see it in this movie. I couldn’t believe that famers were being forced to put their animals in poor conditions by large companies. The example from the movie was the woman who worked for Purdue Chicken that was being forced to go from ventilated chicken houses to closed ones, which are much less sanitary and less humane. But what made it worse was knowing that it was fast food chains such as McDonalds that dictated these conditions (Food Inc). This was because since McDonalds was the primary buyer of meat products, they got to decide how things were done and they chose efficiency over humanity.

As much as it angered me to hear about the helplessness of the farmers, the true effect came from seeing the conditions the animals are kept in that made me want to change some of my habits. I still was not upset enough to become an activist, but there were a few things that I did after watching Food Inc that I feel distanced myself from those large companies. Now I try to avoid fast food whenever possible. I can’t bring myself to support a business that treats both people and animals like that. I also try to avoid buying products that are made by larger corporations. This is slightly harder because being a college student I try and buy the cheapest products possible, but I am now willing to pay an extra dollar or two if it means a clearer conscience.

After doing the assignment where I had to find the environmental possibilities of my major, I had developed a hope that I might be able to do something on a larger scale than just boycotting companies that mistreated animals and their employees. My major, applied mathematics has made a few contributions to the field of environmental sustainability. Statistical analysis is behind the UN’s Environmental Sustainability Index, which rates the sustainability of the practices of countries. Math is also a major contributor to the field of engineering which is constantly working on forms of alternative energy, which is the one part of sustainability that I am passionate about. The fact that my major is a part of these critical processes makes me want to pursue my field even farther to see if I can make a difference myself.

My ethics have changed over the past ten weeks, there is no doubt about that. If nothing else I have become more aware of the world around me and the affect the choices I make have on it. I have decided to act in a slightly more “green” manner by buying from more local or sustainable companies, I will try to encourage others to recycle, and be more conscious of my energy usage. In all reality I’m being selfish. I’m doing these things to preserve the things I love and to help clear my conscious, but does it really matter what my motives are? I’m making a difference, no matter how small. I still haven’t figured out my true environmental ethics, but I can only develop them through the life experiences that have yet to come.

Work Cited

“The Pilot Environmental Sustainability Index”, ENVSTATS, Alex de Sherbinin and Marc A. Levy, Jan 2000, http://unstats.un.org/unsd/ENVIRONMENT/issue8.htm 14 Feb 2011

Cronon, William. "The Trouble with Wilderness." Saving Place. Ed. Sidney Dobrin. New York: McGraw Hill, 2005. 203-213. Print.

Food, Inc.. Dir. Robert Kenner. Magnolia Home Entertainment, 2008. DVD.

what i have so far

Environmental Ethics from a Former Ant Burner

What is wilderness? This was the question posed to the class from our first reading and I’ve been contemplating it ever since. Strangely enough, this was the first time that I had deeply thought about my environment. Sure I had had discussions with family, friends, and classmates about topics such as global warming, alternative energy, and endangered species, but I had never truly understood what I was supposed to care about. I had never explored how I had felt about our planet further than mainstream media cared to talk about. This apathy goes back as far as I can remember. Heck, I was that kid who seared ants with a magnifying glass and thought it was cool. This class, Eng 308J, my junior composition class has not just taught me the definition of environmental ethics, something that I wasn’t aware even existed for the first 21 years of my life, but enlightened me on my own views on the topic. Through the readings, the discussions, and a forced reflection on my views on how I think about our planet, my environmental ethics have changed this quarter.

I guess to get down to how my ethics to have changed, it first took an understanding of what environmental ethics is. The first things about environmental ethics that need to be considered are both whose interests count and whose interests matter. Originally I was anthropocentric, period. I cared very little about the interests of anything other than human beings and even then I had nationalistic views. The only animals I cared about were the pets in my house; otherwise, animals existed for my entertainment or for me to eat. Same for the environment, in my previous opinion, it existed to benefit me in either materials or for me to enjoy. I cared nothing about what I could do for it. Thinking about this, I began to wonder where this position on the environment came from. It really started when I was a kid.

As I stated above, I was that kid I burned ants, I also used to catch spider and keep them in jars, but that was more of a fascination with arachnids than sheer cruelty. My father even encouraged a slight cruelty to animals view. We used to have a squirrel problem in the summer and he would send me out with his slingshot to shoot a few. Neither of my parents were very “green” individuals, I mean we recycle, but that is about it.

Even though my upbringing didn’t encourage an environmentally friendly lifestyle for me, there were some events prior to taking this class that did make me appreciate the world that we live in. Starting when I was 12, I’d go visit my aunt who lived in Boulder, Colorado and she would take me mountain climbing. I was instantly addicted. Not only did I enjoy the feeling of conquering something as massive as a mountain, but it was the first time that I had truly experienced the wonder of nature. The freshness of the mountain air, the feeling of devoting myself to a piece of earth for a day or two at a time was a completely new idea to me. But what really woke me up was the view. I’ll say this: there is nothing quite as breathtaking as the view from a mountain top and it was the first time that I experienced this view that I felt any communion with nature. If I had any appreciation for nature before this class, it was brought about by my summers climbing.

Still, even with this appreciation of the beauty of nature, my values are still mainly intrinsic, which is a point of view that I only became aware of during this class. But it was this class that made me think deeper than the superficial views that I had developed throughout my life. Thinking back on it though, I’m surprised that I took such an interest in a subject that prior to this class, I could have cared very little about.

The aspect of the class that had the largest impact on me was the readings. In fact it was the first reading, William Cronon’s The Trouble with Wilderness that immediately had me rethinking how I viewed the environment. The reading made me rethink how I viewed the term wilderness. T first I had just thought of it as this dark, scary place where the bad guys from Disney movies lived and it was full of dangers, never to be enjoyed, but after reading Cronon’s essay, my view changed.

The Big Yellow One is the Sun

You walk outside in the middle of July and can instantly feel the effects of the big yellow ball in the sky that we call the sun. Light so bright that you may need sunglasses and mid-summer heat that reduces one to shorts and flip flops are just some of the more noticeable results of being in the presence of our closest star. What is less apparent is that sunlight sends more energy to earth in “one hour than the world uses in one year”. This is according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), which is part of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and works on finding and improving renewable energy systems. At a time when “85% of the United States energy supply (is) coming from fossil fuels” (Sota), which are nonrenewable resources, it is imperative that we come up with alternative forms of energy before those fossil fuels run out.

Solar energy is one of the most readily available forms of alternative energy, not just because the sun isn’t going anywhere for billions of years, but because we already have technologies that can harness the sun’s energy. Solar energy can be used to heat water in homes. Electricity can be created using solar energy through a process known as Photovoltaics . It can also be used as both a heat source and a way to cool your home (NREL). This technology is not limited to homes and small businesses either. Industries have begun to use solar energy along with other forms of energy to reduce costs and improve efficiency. On an even larger level, there are technologies being developed to harness the sun’s energy to power entire cities (NREL). If we can begin to integrate more solar energy into our energy production, then we can reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, which will benefit our environment greatly and improve the sustainability of our lifestyle. Solar power is a readily available system and has the potential to become our country’s main source of energy.

Before we can talk about the benefits of solar energy, it is first important to understand how solar energy is collected. There are three basic methods that are used to collect solar energy; flat-plate collectors, focusing collectors, and passive collectors (Godwin). There is also a fourth method known as photovoltaics. Flat-plate conductors consist of a large plastic plate which covers a dark colored box made of either copper or aluminum and painted with a special coating that is better at collecting sunlight than black paint. It collects the sunlight, and then the box is insulated to retain heat. How flat-plates work is that the sunlight passes through the protective plastic cover where it is converted into heat energy by the absorber plate, which is usually surrounded by water. The heat is then transferred to the water causing a rise in temperature (Heating). This lends itself to the typical use of flat-panels, which is as a water heater because “flat plate collectors are sized approximately one-half- to one-square foot per gallon of one-day's hot water use” (Heating). These are typically used by large families that need a lot of hot water for showers and laundry. On a larger scale, businesses such as Laundromats, car washes, and restaurants employ this technology. Another application of flat-plates is that they can be used to heat buildings, especially ones that are in areas that are prone to power-outages or aren’t on a power grid. These systems have a huge benefit because normally, the hot water that is used by these families and businesses is heated by either electricity, which in America is created mainly through the burning of fossil fuels, or by natural gas, which itself is a fossil fuel. As for cost efficiency, a solar water heater has the potential to save between 50%-85% on the hot water part of the utility bill and will pay itself off within four to ten years according to Washington State’s Energy Program.

(flasolar.com)

Along with flat-panels, focusing collectors can be used to collect sunlight and convert it into energy. Focusing collectors are a bowl shaped object that use special mirrors called heliostats to focus the heat from the sunlight that can reach temperatures up to 4000 degrees Celsius (Oracle). This heat is then used to boil water to create steam. The steam is then forced through a generator that creates electricity. However, because of these high temperatures, the silicon that is used to create the plates can be damaged leading focusing collectors to be used infrequently and mostly in colder climates (LLC).

The third system of solar energy collection is called passive collecting. According to Passive Solar Design, a company that has been designing solar technologies for 16 years, passive collection is “the use of the sun’s energy for the heating and cooling of living spaces. In this approach, the building itself or some element of it takes advantage of natural energy characteristics in materials and air created by exposure to the sun.” These systems are considered to be the least complicated solar energy systems because there are very few parts to them. Because passive solar energy is such a simple system, it can be easily implemented. It uses a more scientifically based. They have methods such as Operable Windows, which are just windows that open which help with ventilation, or thermal mass, which are just materials such as stone or other forms of masonry that retain heat and can prevent sudden changes in temperature in the house which would reduce the need for electrically run temperature control systems. Passive systems also employ thermal chimneys which use the fact that hot air rises to control temperature and increase airflow. The cost of designing a building that incorporates passive collection is usually similar or barely greater than traditional costs and the masonry that is used is normally considered an aesthetic benefit (Passive). This system is the most environmentally sustainable of all the solar systems because it does not use anything that would not normally be used to build a structure, but it rather changes how the building is constructed.

As convenient as a simple system is, the big need is still electricity production and that is were photovoltaics, which is the science of transforming sunlight directly into electricity comes in. The main component in this process is the use of semiconductors which are otherwise known as photovoltaic solar cells. Many of these cells put together make up what is commonly known as solar panels. The most common semiconductor is silicon and what it does it that it converts the solar radiation from the sunlight into electricity by creating an electric field with the radiation. It does not take much sunlight for the solar panels to create electricity, so they can operate even on a cloudy day, but the brighter the light, the more energy that is produced. This system of photovoltaics is a significantly cleaner process than that of burning fossil fuels. In a ratio of grams of carbon dioxide per Kilowatt-hour, the process of creating solar cells produces only 9.1% as much CO2 as burning coal and 9.6% as much as burning oil. This is important because carbon dioxide is considered one of the leading contributors to global warming (Photovoltaic). What makes these systems even more environmentally friendly is that the materials they are made of are recyclable, allowing used cells to be converted into new ones. Photovoltaic cells also have a very short return on the energy it takes for production. It only takes one-and-a-half to three years for the cells to produce as much energy as it took to make them (Photovoltaic).

(renewablesmart.com)

Solar energy is only one of the forms of renewable energy, but it is by far the most abundant. It is also second only to wind energy in how little carbon dioxide it produces, making it the second cleanest form of energy available today. Scientists are researching more way to use sunlight and turn it into energy and they are also looking for ways to improve upon the efficiency of the current systems. It is important that we put more effort into installing solar energy systems to replace ones that use fossil fuels not only to reduce our dependence on dwindling stocks of nonrenewable sources of energy, but also to switch to a form of energy that puts out one tenth of the amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Who knows? Maybe that big yellow ball in the sky will power our entire planet.

Work Cited.

“Solar Energy Basics”, Renewable Energy Sources, NREL, 7 Oct 2009, http://www.nrel.gov/learning/re_solar.html 21 Feb 2011

“Renewable Energy” Sokol Sota, http://www.greenscreen.org/articles_sr/Energy/Renewable%20Energy/Renewable%20Energy%20-%20Sr.pdf

Feb 15 2011

“Methods of Collecting and Storing solar Energy”, Tim Godwin, 20 August 2009, http://www.articlealley.com/article_1043840_27.html , 22 Feb 2011

“Solar Water Heating” , Washington State University Energy Program, http://www.flasolar.com/active_dhw_flat_plate.htm , Feb 23, 2011

“An Introduction to Solar Energy”, LLC, 2010, http://www.leedintl.net/solar_energy , 24 Feb 2011

“Science of Photovoltaic Energy”, DuPont, 2011, DuPont 2011http://www2.dupont.com/Photovoltaics/en_US/science_of/ , 24 Feb 2011

http://passivesolar.sustainablesources.com/#guidelines

“Photovoltaic energy”, EPIA, 2007, http://www.epia.org/fileadmin/EPIA_docs/publications/epia/Epia_Techno_leaflet_FINAL_WEB.pdf , 24 Feb 2011