As consumers, we do not always take into account of how the products that we purchase for our everyday use can be harming the environment. It’s typical for a consumer to focus on what is needed for the current moment, rather than considering the effects of the product in the future. They contain ingredients and other components that consumers are not always aware of, in terms of the complex names listed in the ingredients area on the product. These products can create cycles of unhealthy and harmful effects that not only effect the environment, but a great deal of living organisms.

One of the products that is used in my daily regimen is: Neutrogena’s Oil- Free Acne Wash Pink Grapefruit Foaming Scrub. The purpose of this product is to cleanse one’s face and smooth away roughness without over-drying and irritating the skin. Typically, I use the product 2-3 days out of the week. The product requires the use of water in order for the product to work properly. Although this product can be beneficial to my cosmetic need/wants it contains ingredients and other components that are harmful to the environment. The first active ingredient listed on the product is Salicylic acid, which serves as the acne treatment. Some of the inactive ingredients include: Water, Glycerin, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Polyethylene, and the list continues. I, personally, am unaware of more than half of the ingredients that this product contains! I am certain that the majority of consumers are not aware of the ingredients and other components that are used in the products that they purchase.

Neutrogena is a brand of the Johnson & Johnson Family of Consumer Companies and manufactures and markets their products in over 70 countries. I am unsure about the exact process that takes place to manufacture this certain product, however most facial washes and scrubs are mass-produced in a factory with the help of machines. The products are then packaged in large quantities and shipped out. The factories require a lot of energy, like power, in order to produce these products in large quantities. There are multiple machines in the facility that are operating at once, so you can imagine the amount of power needed to keep them functioning.

The main concern with the product that I chose do discuss is that it contains microbeads. There has been great controversy about products containing microbeads because they are negatively effecting our environment. Microbeads are tiny spherical particles that are made of plastic and are used in many products like: body scrub, facial washes, exfoliants, and some toothpastes. These items require water in order to rinse off the access product after use, which is then are washed down the drain and entering the water systems. Since the microbeads are so small it is difficult for them to be caught by wastewater facilities that treat the water. This is a major problem because the microbeads will eventually appear in river, lakes, and oceans. Fish often mistake these tiny particles for other things and consume them. These fish then become toxic and are consumed by humans and other animals. This creates a cycle of unhealthy and harmful effects not only to the environment, but many living organisms.

You’ve reached the end of the products functional life, once there is no product left. You then are left with the plastic tube that it comes in. Neutrogena’s Oil- Free Acne Wash Pink Grapefruit Foaming Scrub is packaged in plastic tube, which itself contains many chemicals that are harmful to the environment. They also are not recycle friendly and are unable to break down completely turning into microplastics, which animals can choke on. In order to reduce these negative impacts that these products cause companies need to eliminate the use of the microbeads! They should also consider using containers that are eco-friendly and recyclable instead of plastics that contain chemicals. However, due to the great amount of controversy the United States enacted a ban on the use of microbeads in products. Johnson & Johnson already began to phase out microbeads in their products, which means as did Neutrogena since they are a brand of Johnson & Johnson. As of right now if you were to go to Neutrogena’s website you will see that this product no longer contains microbeads, however there are other companies like Amazon and eBay where you are still able to purchase it with microbeads. Another desirable goal would be to discard the products out there that still contain microbeads and make them unavailable for purchase.

https://www.sciencealert.com/microbeads-are-causing-the-fish-we-eat-to-become-toxic-study-finds

Blog two: Personal Change

                There are probably many things I could change in my day to day life to live more sustainably. The short amount of time I’ve been in this environmental class, I can’t help but notice the different things I do in routine everyday that has a negative impact on the environment around me. One main thing that sticks out to me is the way I waste water. A good description of this is not being “water wise.” I found this saying in an article I read on how much water we waste daily. The article I came across made me feel better and worse. I was able to see that I’m not alone when it comes to wasting water, but also seeing how much damage it can do in the long run. The main way I waste water is my showering technique. In the dorms sometimes, it takes a minute for the water to get warm. I will let the water run while I am doing other things, like straightening up my room. I usually don’t let it run that long, but it takes around 5 minutes for the water to get to bearable temperature. I never really thought of the amount of wasted water that is until thinking from a sustainable standpoint. This water is being wasted and running back to the water treatment facility or the sewage. Compared to other countries in the world we have one of the best access to clean water, and for me to literally let it go down the drain is not very considerate on my part. Another way I am not “water wise” is throwing away bottles of water that still have water in them. This can also be bad because I don’t recycle the water bottles when I do throw them away. That’s another personal change I could make. When I drink the water out of the bottle I never finish all of it and it ends up sitting on my dresser. When I am thirsty again I want a cold bottle out of the fridge. This repetitive cycle ends up with me having about 5 bottles sitting around with room temperature water that I don’t want to drink. I usually end up throwing these bottles in the trash with the water still in them. I really take water for granted when I think about it. For both scenarios, there are other options that I can utilize. With the shower water, I can try to not run the water for so long. This is easier said than done.  With the bottles, I can be more resourceful and put the unfinished water bottles in the fridge right when I am done with them. Also, I can recycle the bottles! This change should not be that hard and should positively impact my life and the environment. I should be able to keep up this life style being that I am really the only one who controls this. I will be able to limit the amount of wasted water, which might not be a huge difference when we are speaking worldwide but every part counts.

Alexis Waters-Peterson

Topic: News

Leahy, S. (2018, February 01). Polar Bears Really Are Starving Because of Global Warming,                  Study Shows. Retrieved February 07, 2018, from https://news.nationalgeographic.com/                  2018/02/polar-bears-starve-melting-sea-ice-global-warming-study-beaufort-sea-                          environment/

As I was searching for topics to give my current event presentation on, there was not much that caught my attention. I scrolled through many mainstream media popular pages to no avail, thinking that if there was nothing that caught my attention, it would be impossible to catch my audience’s attention. I wanted to report on an article that would make people want to change their ways.

I scrolled past a National Geographic article of which the title caught my attention. “Polar Bears Really Are Starving Because of Global Warming, Study Shows.” I always knew that the polar bears were becoming endangered due to the warming of the planet, however I never realized that it was due to starvation. It reminded me of a video that went viral through Facebook, being shared along with sad faces and words of disappointment. The video showed a polar bear on an iceless plot of land, lacking in fur and life, struggling to walk due to starvation. The bear is seen looking through trashcans for something to eat, but finds nothing. The photographer of the video was later interviewed and said the entire crew had tears rolling down their faces. I decided that this would be an interesting topic that would get my audience to pay attention.

Polar bears burn more than twelve thousand calories a day meaning they need to eat more than that in order to survive, especially if they are more active while finding food. This creates a sort of catch 22. In order to get the calories the bears need to catch calories, they need to burn more calories, which means they need more calories. Seals are polar bears main form of food. When seals come up to the surface to breathe from cone shaped holes in the ice, the bears smack them on their head and drag it to the ice where the seal then becomes dinner.

Polar bears are not incredible swimmers, especially compared to seals. So because the Arctic ice decreases by 14% each decade, seals no longer need to come up for air at these cone shaped holes. This makes it impossible for a polar bear to reach the seals.

The study done by Anthony Pagano shows shocking results. The study began by capturing 9 female polar bears in an area known to have many seals. These bears were equipped with video cameras and GPS trackers and were observed over an 11 day period. By the end, four of the five bears had failed to catch a single meal, one bear losing 44 pounds during her hunt. To me, these results are painful. Climate change is occurring rapidly due to the human race, which is literally starving other animals on this planet. It is extremely selfish of us.

This source is valuable in that it was published by a prestigious news source. The study is recent and shows accurate, thought-provoking results. The author, Stephen Leahy, co-won the United Nations Global Prize for Climate Change Reporting, which shows he is extremely qualified to write on this topic.

One of the worlds leading car manufactures is also one of the worlds most ecofriendly companies. When you think of car companies you probably think of Ford, GMC or even Honda, but the company that is leading our way into the future is Tesla. Tesla is a car company known for their ecofriendly rechargeable battery, bit they also have invented many different things that make them extremely ecofriendly. Tesla’s company is a perfect example of a company who is aware of the triple bottom line.

The most common thing that comes to mind when you think Tesla is their cars. While still achieving 5 star safety ratings, they are completely run on electricity meaning very little emission of fossil fuels and green house gases. While this isn’t a complete no emission of green house gases it is a step in the right way. One way they limit it is by running their cars on one hundred percent electricity, and the use of solar panels at their recharging station also helps limit emissions. Their car is a perfect example of Tesla thinking of the triple bottom line. Their cars are affordable, better for the environment and also offer a good profit line for the tesla company itself.

They are also producing other non-car products. The founder and CEO has founded a reusable rocket that was built for under half of any rocket ever before. He also has just recently reveled Tesla’s Semi which would lead to taking away some of the least fuel efficient cars being taken off the road, while also saving companies millions in gas, due to being electric. These things also help support the triple bottom line and make it obvious that Tesla is at the forefront of ecofriendly manufacturing.

They have also come out with solar panel roofing that looks extremely similar to normal roofing, while being much more durable. They are also affordable due to the money you would save with the electricity bill. This could help make solar panels available for more than just the wealthy. This has been a common theme through out Tesla’s business plan, making ecofriendly products more available for the common person. This all relates to the idea of the triple bottom line. They are attempting to make the best solar panels for the people while also keeping their profit line sustainable.

The triple bottom line is a concept that people around the world are pushing. It is a framework where a company focuses on the People, their Profit, and the environment. I believe that this is extremely important for companies around the world, and for a company like Tesla to be so successful both economically and environmentally it can be seen as a framework others should follow. With the world changing at the rate it is now it is not only going to take ecofriendly companies but also eco friendly consumers. People need to invest in solar panel roofing and electric cars to help make our way of living more sustainable for the future.

I am originally from Georgetown, Kentucky. My home town is quite small, and there isn’t much to do there except eat and shop. The restaurants are mostly fast food or extremely unhealthy chain restaurants. Unfortunately, this doesn’t produce a very environmental sustainable habit, however, that is not what I will be focusing on in this blog post. In this blog post, I will be focusing on my relationship with nature and how it has recently, within the last few years, progressed. While living in Kentucky, there really weren’t any natural parks or areas that weren’t over 3 hours away for me to go to and enjoy. Summers there are extremely hot with no wind whatsoever, spring is full of rain, winter is misty and 20 degrees, and fall, the best season in my opinion, is 50 degrees and blue skies. So as you can see, I was also not a fan of the weather there either, unless it was Fall. This prevented me from doing a lot of stuff outside. My relationship with nature was almost nonexistent as the only time I wanted to go outside to do anything was during the fall, and even then, it wasn’t completely away from technology.

My attitude and relationship with nature has changed drastically since moving to Charleston, South Carolina, for college. There are constantly events going on here, festivals, farmers markets, concerts, etc. Constantly having something to do, somewhere to go, was what immediately made me fall in love with Charleston. Unlike my home town, most of these events that I go to, are actually outside. I’m not really sure if it’s the weather here that has brought this change, but I am constantly wanting to do some physical activity outside like jogging, biking, or walking my dog to the battery. My connection with nature has seriously improved/gotten stronger. I spend as much time as possible outside.

While I do spend more time in nature now, I usually am still connected to my phone because I like to listen to music while doing these activities. So I decided to go to the beach, and leave my phone in the car the whole time. I had no access to any technology. It was honestly one of the most peaceful moments I have had in a while. I walked down the beach with my dog and then eventually laid out a towel and sat.  I listened to the waves and just relaxed. It was soothing. I felt refreshed when I left. I now am going to leave my phone in the car every time I go to the beach because I felt more in touch with my surroundings. Having this kind of encounter with nature should be a more regular thing for everybody. It is extremely important for each person to have a strong connection with nature. Not only will it cause a person to develop healthier habits by easing stress due to lack of access to technology, but it also has some effects people don’t necessarily think of immediately. It will cause one to care more about our environment, to take care of it, and to encourage others to do so. This relationship improves all aspects of you life, mental health, physical health (getting more Vitamin D from sun, being more active), etc. It also impoves