Oil Versus Limestone
As a consumer and a surfer one of the most important products to me is a wetsuit. I don’t buy these regularly but the multitude of different professions and hobbies that require one creates a wide scale demand. This demand creates experimentation with the different materials and chemicals which certainly have their implications on the environment. The most common material used in wetsuits is neoprene.
Neoprene is a synthetic rubber based material which is now being produced on the industrial scale. Neoprene is so popular because it was the first synthetic rubber developed with a unique balance of physical and chemical properties. It has good weather and ozone resistance, aging resistance, low flammability, strength, and adhesion to many substances. For these reasons neoprene can be used in many different areas and has taken over the rubber industry.
As the possibilities of neoprene increase the possibilities of adverse effects to the environment increase. The highest potential for release into the environment lies within the transfer, manufacture, and storage process. The two types of neoprene are limestone neoprene and oil based neoprene. Oil based neoprene is commonly made from polychloroprene rubber chips which are melted and mixed together with carbon black and baked in an oven until it expands to make a foamed rubber. The chips themselves are made from chloroprene monomers which are reacting small molecules. These molecules produce the macromolecules that make up rubber. In the 1960’s limestone neoprene  was developed by Japan’s Yamamoto Corporation to convert calcium carbonate from limestone into chloroprene rubber chips, resulting in limestone neoprene. Limestone neoprene is favorable for several reasons; one being it is much less dense than oil based neoprene. This produces a more impermeable, more durable, more stretchy, lighter weight, and warmer wetsuit.
The most common method used to make neoprene is derived from petroleum. The many implications of this oil based product on the environment include the release of gases and synthetic chemicals into the air. Oil exploration, drilling, and extraction result in crude oil spills that have a direct and noticeable effect on the health the surrounding ecosystem. Both oil based and limestone wetsuits are nonrenewable resources that end up in a landfill somewhere.
The other method which is less commonly used is derived from limestone. The limestone is mined, crushed, and fed into a furnace at extremely high temperatures. This process is energy intensive but significantly reduces dependence on oil based products. A limestone spill is also much easier to clean up then an oil spill. Limestone based wetsuits might slightly reduce environmental impacts for a significant reduction in impact neoprene itself must be replaced by another material. The evaporation of chemicals used in adhesives and solvents must be replaced by a new innovative approach to minimizing environmental footprint.

Have you ever wondered what to do with your prescription bottle/container that has some medication left? The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) periodically hosts National Prescription Drug Take-Back events where collection sites are set up in communities nationwide for safe disposal of prescription drugs. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has developed guidelines to dispose medication responsibly through the Take Back program. If people do not have access to that program, he or she can just throw out unused medications, but there is also a list known as the “flush list” where excess medicines from this list should be flushed for public safety. Product formulations listed on the most current version of the flush list contain the following 13 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs): buprenorphine, diazepam, fentanyl, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, meperidine, methadone, methylphenidate, morphine, oxycodone, oxymorphone, sodium oxybate, and tapentadol. Characterizing by their effects, the thirteen APIs can be broken down into one benzodiazepine (diazepam), one respiratory and central nervous system stimulant (methylphenidate), one central nervous system agent (sodium oxybate), and the remainder being opioids. Out of all items on the flush list, opioids are dominating the list. Perhaps it has been done so reduce the accidental ingestion by children. We are in the midst of opioid epidemic so quickly disposing excess opioids is highly recommended to avoid non-medical use of opioids by adolescents or accidental ingestion of sodium oxybate by children, which can result in rapid sedation. Pets are also at an elevated risk to these potentially hazardous medicines.

These APIs are listed in the flush list due to their severe toxicity and documented poison cases. But a large problem remains: even when flushed as it can remain in and poison our water system and soil. The effect of the existence of these APIs in the environment on human health is not yet fully understood, but researchers are assuming that this has a negative impact on health and are demanding an alternative to flushing these pharmaceutical ingredients.

Recently endocrine  disrupting compounds are also found in the drinking water. And Drinking water which serves or about 28 million people were tested for fifty-one different kinds of drugs  by  Mark J. Benotti, Rebecca A. Trenholm, Brett J. Vanderford, Janie C. Holady, Benjamin D. Stanford and Shane A. Snyder. Water was contaminated with not only different kinds of drugs but also other organic compound which is definitely pose risk for plant or animal  plankton, fish and human as well. Pharmaceutical compond such as atenolol, atrazine, carbamazepine, estrone, gemfibrozil, meprobamate, naproxen, phenytoin, sulfamethoxazole, TCEP, and trimethoprim were found.  Researchers also stated :

“The typical compound concentrations were less than 10 ng/L for these top eleven with an exception for sulfamethoxazole at 12 ng/L, However, TCEP levels at one drinking water treatment plant was detected to be at an absurdly high level of 120 ng/L, showing wide variance in these concentrations. Atenolol, atrazine, DEET, estrone, meprobamate, and trimethoprim can also serve as indicator compounds to represent potential contamination from other pharmaceuticals and EDCs and can gauge the efficacy of treatment processes.”

As mentioned earlier, FDA  suggested guidelines about disposing drugs in household trash. It says to mix the capsule/tablet with cat litter or used ground coffee and put the mixture in a sealed plastic bag. Any personal information on the medication must be scratched off before disposing the original medicine packaging container.

If anyone is interested to know how to dispose drugs, he or she may visit the following link.

https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/BuyingUsingMedicineSafely/EnsuringSafeUseofMedicine/SafeDisposalofMedicines/ucm186187.htm#Flushing

A hot line is available for the consumer to provide information about disposal of drugs .Consumers may directly call 18008829539 to get DEA Office of Diversion Control’s Registration Call Center to reach the drug collector in the surrounding area. Although there is no evidence that the presence of in nature in significant amount and contributing to ecotoxicology, we hope that all our unused medication can be disposed and stored safely in certain areas so that they will not pose any threat to the environment or to the public.

Source:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28787777

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969717313773?via%3Dihub

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es801845a

There has been what is called a “catastrophe” in a self-governing Palestinian country, called the Gaza Strip. Ever since 1967, there has been an impending problem with the security of their needs in the community. A group called Hamas, which is considered as a terrorist group to countries including the United States, has kept the people of Gaza hostage. The group governs the country, and they have been keeping their hundreds of millions of dollars for international aid, and used it to carry out acts of terrorism. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees was notified in January, that the United States was not contributing their already discussed $65 million towards an installment in aims to help them. This has created a huge problem for the people of Gaza, and they are not able to require basic needs to live. 1.2 million of the residents of the country do not have access to clean water. And for the ones who do have access, almost all of the water is not suitable for drinking. Pollution of sewage and salt has taken over the waters, and it can’t be reversed because the country’s water purifier comes from salt in the seawater. The lack of water that the country is facing, is contributing to increasing fatality and unemployment rates. There have been many cases of diarrhea and other waterborne disease in the area. In response to this issue, there is no one to help, because of the countries circumstances. Due to the shortage of drinking water, hospitals closed down, and doctors have been forced to quit doing surgeries. Population growth is another factor that has been making the country suffer even more, because there are not enough resources to meet the needs of the country. Climate change has increased as well, and the rainfall is consistently decreasing per year. There have been plans proposed to the country, but Gaza cannot upkeep them, because they do not have enough resources such as electricity to run them. It is said that the answer to this crisis is to rebuild a robust sewer and drainage system. It is not a simple solution however, because the country is not able to control their money because of the Hama organization, and the country will not be receiving the expected help from the United States from the United Nations relief efforts. Political and governmental issues also discouraged improvement when President Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capitol of Palestine, because the Palestinian President Abbas wanted to push for Gaza to become independent from Palestine. It is crucial for the country to secure clean water and resources, to stop the fatality rate and to increase the well being of the community. It has not gotten any better in over 50 years, and the country has reached an extremely bad state of affairs. Because of the United States major withdrawal from the UNRWA, the people of Gaza will continue to suffer, and the water crisis will increase. This report relates to our class, because we have discussed the effects of population growth and population.

Lederer, Edith M. “UN Gets Report on What Palestinians Say Is Gaza Catastrophe.” CTVNews, 15 Feb. 2018, www.ctvnews.ca/world/un-gets-report-on-what-palestinians-say-is-gaza-catastrophe-1.3804086.

Schmale, Matthias. “Restoring U.S. Aid Crucial to Avoid a Water Catastrophe in Gaza.” – Global Issues, 21 Mar. 2018, www.globalissues.org/news/2018/03/21/24040.

In an article publish by reputable news source The Guardian on Monday, reporter Gabrielle Canon discusses the controversy surrounding the opening of a “hidden Starbucks” in Yosemite National Park. Canon describes that outside of the typical urban feel of the Starbucks, consumers and park visitors can hear the beautiful, natural sounds of Yosemite falls. Despite any signage for the new Starbucks location, park visitors have managed to find the 27,000-franchise strong coffee shop. While many people are outraged at the installation of a commercial coffee giant, other park visitors have enjoyed a hot coffee or tea during their cold or rainy visit to Yosemite.

David Freireich, who is a spokesperson for Yosemite Hospitality, the group that works to provide upgrades for “concessions and facilities” at the national park, described to Canon that his group was responding to park visitor requests for a facility such as Starbucks, and that it is the responsibility of Yosemite Hospitality to meet visitor needs and requests. He described that the installation of the Starbucks was part of a recent and ongoing upgrade project to the infrastructure of Yosemite, which includes concessions options and availability. According to Freireich, these updates were long overdue.

Photo taken from the article.

Photo taken from the article.

In response to the planned opening of the Starbucks, former Yosemite National Park tour guide Freddy Brewster organized a petition to try and stop it from happening. He was able to gather more than 25,000 signatures on his petition. While the opening of the Starbucks still happened as planned, Brewster and his colleagues are still working tirelessly to protect the purity of Yosemite and to prevent any more infrastructure and commercial changes to the National Park.

I thought this article was very interesting, and it relates to many of the topics that we have been discussing in our class this semester. The opening of a Starbucks franchise in Yosemite National Park represents the challenge between government (which includes big business) and the environment. As Brewster mentioned in the article, “The government is increasingly dependent on major corporations. Time and time again.”. This serves as another example of big business infiltrating the preservation and purity of there natural settings we are so fortunate to have in the United States, such as Yosemite. Furthermore, when looking at the chain of consumption, pollution will be brought into the national park as deliveries come to the Starbucks, bringing coffee, processed foods and syrups, and coffee cups. These coffee cups are not recyclable, and contribute to the disposal arrow of the linear chain. More trash is introduced into the park, resulting in the ultimate degradation of the natural setting, even if not intentional by consumers and park visitors. Many people do not see how the small action of getting a coffee at Starbucks contributes to the pollution and degradation of the environment.

Thinking about the nutrition lecture that we had in class today, the Yosemite Hospitality group could have decided upon a healthier alternative to have in the national park rather than a Starbucks. Starbucks sells many processed, fat and sugar heavy food products that can lead to the development of chronic disease. In a national park where visitors come to experience nature and get exercise, healthier foods, such as whole, plant based foods, should be those offered to park visitors.

If the Yosemite Hospitality group still found it necessary to have a coffee shop as part of the concessions offerings at the park, they could have instead chose a local coffee business, that would have then contributed to the stimulation and sustainability of the local economy.

I believe that this battle between big business and the environment will be one that continues to cause problems and controversy until everyone realizes the importance of conserving the beautiful natural world.

Throughout this semester Environmental and Sustainability Studies has introduced me to the importance of change now. Personally I’ve realized that in order to motivate yourself to be a part of the greater good you must habitually and actively take part in addressing certain issues that you are passionate about. There are many ways to become involved such as citizen science, volunteer work, recycling, buying locally, and educating others on the importance of this issue. For me I have recently tried to change aspects of my lifestyle that have become habitual and are continually a threat to myself and the environment around me.
Upon seeing how many earths I would need to live sustainably I knew that I had to make a change in my lifestyle. Addressing consumption, wastage, and certain activities that have become second nature was the first step. I have recently been trying to go through my day as normal but maintain a sustainability conscious mindset. An example of one of the changes in my routine would be cooking food at home instead of buying out. I would have never realized the significance of this small change in lifestyle. Buying local allows for a strong local economy along with a building of character in local community. The impact is seen not only at the local level but all the way up to the global level. It reduces environmental impact at all levels by requiring less transportation along with less dependence on the big businesses that would otherwise be developing to meet our needs. This results in less congestion, sprawl, habitat loss, and pollution. When all of this is taken into account and a sense of community is created the local businesses take pride in their services and provide for a prosperous outlook for the future of a community. After a couple weeks of maintaining a routine of buying mainly local, recycling, and using a compost in my backyard I feel healthier, have more energy throughout the day, and seen a significant decrease in waste.
At first the urge to buy a burrito from moes southwest grill was hard to resist but after seeing the benefits as opposed to just being momentarily satisfied I have decided to stick with this change in lifestyle. This change has given me a new perspective on the consequences of maintaining oblivious and wasteful routine. If you haven’t already I would consider making this change and seeing the unanticipated yet noticeable benefits. Small changes like eating locally provide for a much brighter and sustainable future which is more important now than ever. Going through the day with this mindset of minimal waste and embracing an environmentally conscious lifestyle contribute to countless amounts of interconnected branches within sustainable development.

     Floating Island- Is it Real?

In February 16^th, 2018 College of Charleston arranged a very interesting event where a promising science fiction writer, Dr. Melody, gave her speech on floating islands. She is currently an assistant professor at University of California, Santa Barbara. She said that although she was not an architect, she was struck by some pictures of floating islands in an article in “The Guardian,” and later, as a scholar of literature, she did some research on her own. She thought maybe those floating islands can solve the problems some pacific islands are facing due to global warming.

At the beginning of her presentation, she mentioned that several movies such as “Water World, China Mieville, Snow Crash, [and] 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea” were based on the concept of floating lands in post-flood worlds. However, the acceleration of sea level rise now requires the floating island to be taken out of the realm of science fiction. Small island states like Torres Strait Island, the Seychelles, Tuvalu, Micronesia, and the Maldives are considering many options to respond to a post flood future. She showed us a video that actually struck us about how vulnerable those island nations are. In the video clip the president of the Maldives said, “It’s not something in the future, we are facing right now… people were living here for thousands of years but ability sustain human life here seems to be very fragile”. The president Nasid also said, “if we cannot stop the global warming and sea level rising, as the president, it is clear to me that the most important to me to fight for our survival. In the video it showed how flat is the Maldives; there is no hill. The capital Malé has walls around it, but it is still very vulnerable to the rising seas.

Because of the increasing coastal erosion and sea level rising in the near future, perhaps the citizens of these threatened islands will be climate refugees. President Nashid has arranged climate activity forums (COP 21 conferences) and intragovernmental lowland organizations that are now advocating to reduce carbon emission to slow global warming to reduce the speed of this dangerous rise in sea level. If reducing carbon emissions does not work, the people of the Maldives and other island nations will be forced to evacuate to higher lands and become climate refugees. Dr. Melody said that the World Bank has recently come up with a structured migration program suggesting that people of these sinking lowlands can be transferred to the highlands of Austrailia and New Zealand. Some people of the archipelago of Micronesia and Fiji have already invested money to develop the legal framework to assist in climate refugee relocation.

Recently, another option has emerged, large international architecture firms such as Water Studio from the Netherlands and the Sea Studying Institute in Silicon Valley alongside various others in Japan, France, and the rest of the globe have been designing futuristic floating islands that could potentially be sold to the endangered small island nations. Most of these designs are periodically featured in newspaper like in “The Guardian” or the New York Times. These floating island structures could provide new and safer habitation.  In one interview with the President of Kiribati, he said that he has already had meetings with architects who designed some of the spectacles in Dubai with their artificial islands, and he thinks that building floating islands is a potential solution to save their nation, although it is not possible to accommodate every person. Now we can only wait. Perhaps floating islands will not simply remain in the dreams of science fiction writers as scientists and architects are working together to make these islands become real and efficient to save human lives.

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