Universidad de Puerto Rico

Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez

Marines Acevedo Rodríguez

Ingl. 3231Prof.

Ellen Pratt

Environment, what are we doing wrong

and how can we fix it?

Annotated Bibliography

Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet, Guide Book. Chicago: Arch News Agency 2007

This book provide information about an exhibition that took place in Chicago two years ago and was created to inform people about Global Warming and inspired them to take action against the problem. In the book you can find photos of all the 124 globes that composed the exhibition and the meaning behind them. Also present the companies that were involved and what they are doing as big corporations to help the environment. In addition each globe presents a different way we can used to preserve our planet.

MacEachern, Diane. Big Green Purse. New York: Avery, 2008.

The book present a lot of ways that we as consumers can change the things we buy for things environmental friendly. In the market we can find things that are dangerous to the environment but also to ourselves. This book gives you contundente evidence of why you should change to the environment friendly things the market offers. Show us the health problems some products can produce us and how they are also contaminating our planet. The purposes of this book is make conscience in everyone and establish that if the majority of the consumers change the things they buy for environmental friendly things the market would be force to change the way they produce the products.

“Camino a lo verde” Buena Vida April, 2009.

This magazine presents a series of interviews with different scientists that are involved in the environment protection. They present how they have change their life styles and how can we do the same. Also the show some tips on how can we change and help the environment. They offer their experience to prove that you can live in complete harmony with the environment.

David, Mark. “Are you taking Global Warming Seriously? MIT Offers Perspectives” Electronic Design. 24 (2006): 17.

This editorial presents some scientists opinions about global warming. Shows us evidence why we need to change our life style. Establish that we have only a few years to change or the next generations would suffer our lake of action. Also mentions some investigations that are taking place now to change our dependence on fossil fuels. The author mentions that no matter that scientist work to change our energy sources f the government don’t pay attention and contribute with these investigations and also promote and use them.

“A call to Global Action” Chemistry & Industry 07.9 (2007):17.

This article talks about how the scientists are trying to make the public aware of the problem we are facing. The author believes that the scientists are doing it wrong because they are only presenting the science facts and much people don’t believe them or don’t think of them as urgent. He also presents that presenting scary consequences would make people aware of the situation but not necessarily make them change and take action on the situation. The best way to make people involucrate themselves in the problem is by presenting optimistic solutions and making them a part of the solution.

Introduction

During the last years we have been hearing a lot of theories about how the human race

would went to an end. One of these theories is global warming. This specific theory stated that

we are not only going to see the melting of glaciers and hotter temperatures but also the

increase of hurricane intensities, organisms that causes sickness increasing the places they

are capable to develop, people would and are dying from the heat and the respiratory

problems would increase. All of this and more things would happen if we don’t do something

with our life style. Global warming has a solution and it is that we change and become part of

the solution instead of part of the problem, there are a lot of ways in which we can help the

environment and ourselves.

Many human activities, like deforestation and burning fossil fuels release a huge

quantity of heat trapping gases into the atmosphere. The most common is the carbon dioxide.

These gases produce the greenhouse effect; they absorb the infrared radiation, preventing it

from escaping back to the space. “Scientists have known for more than a century that adding

carbon dioxide to the atmosphere can cause warming, and the fingerprint of observed

temperature increases fits their projections.” (James Baker, 2008) In addition the pollution in

the atmosphere is increasing the respiratory problems of people, especially the cases of

asthma in children.

We can find a huge list of problems, besides the glaciers melting; we are experimenting

right now because of global warming. Some of them are: “animals and fish migrations are

occurring earlier. Birds are laying their eggs sooner in the spring, with potential impact on how

many birds survive. Water temperatures in the oceans are intensifying, threatening coral reefs

and ocean currents. Sea level is rising threatening to swamp the homes of billions of people

who live near their country’s coast.” (Dian MacEachern, 2008) In addition fires are devastating

entire forests, the quantity of inundations and droughts are increasing, the fresh water store in

glaciers are decreasing and more animals and plants species are in risk of extinction. Also in

many places, like Paris, the heat waves have take thousands of lives and the execs of smug

(damage the long tissue) has make the respiratory and heart diseases worst and more

complicated.

Global Warming is a problem that affects the natural habitats of thousands of organisms

and put at risk entire ecosystems. An example of this is the constant diminution of the Arctic

glaciers that are affecting the survival of polar bears and other species. According to an article

in the web-page GreenPeace in 2002 an ice shelf twice as big as London melted in just a

month. In addition in 2005 scientists found that “87 percent of the glaciers on the Antarctic

Peninsula have retreated over the past 50 years. In the past five years, the retreating glaciers

have lost an average of 50 meters (164 feet) per year.” Another example is the mountain of

Kilimanjaro. This is a famous volcano and the highest mountain in Africa. One of the wonderful

things about this mountain is the glacier that covers the top. Unfortunately in the recent years

there has been a significant decrease of the surface of the glacier. Also the deforestation of

huge forests is risking the survivor of thousand of species those forests gave home to. In

addition we are decreasing our oxygen suppliers and water filters.

Some scientists believe we only have 20 years to change our life style or the next

generations would suffer the consequences and the world we now have would no longer exist

as we know it. At large scales we need to find new energy alternatives and implement them,

because our energy supplements are the fossil fuels and they are contaminant agents. Joseph

Romm founder of the Center for Energy & Climate Solutions said: “It’s not too late, but we

most move away from fossil fuels or ruin the planet for the next 50 generations.” (Mark David,

2006) According to Romm we need to change our dependence on fossil fuels before 2020.

The change to alternatives fuels would provide benefits to the earth, our health and also would

open more jobs opportunities.

Is true we need to do radical large scale modifications but we can contribute to the

planet by changing little details of our daily life. For example if everyone changes the regular

light bulls for fluorescent bulls the environment impact is huge. It would be like removing

thousands of cars from the streets. This is one example of the many simple changes we can

do to preserve the environment. We need to use the Precautionary Principle established by

scientist, researchers and citizens in 1998. This principle declares: “when an activity raises

threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken,

even if some cause-and-effect relationships are not fully established scientifically.” Also we

need to increase public participation in the decisions that affects our lives. Furthermore we

have a responsibility with the environment and we must follow the three Rs: reduce, reuse and

recycle. Reduce our consumption, reuse the resources we have and recycle the things we can.

In the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still a character (scientist) said that human kind

would change when we face extinction and our survival would be at risk. That have some true

in it because we don’t change something we like and we are use to just because some people

said it is dangerous, it is when it affects us directly that we change what we were doing and

change our way of thinking. But we need to do something now and don’t wait until it affects us

directly because it maybe be too late. No matter for what you are changing your life style but

the importance is that you change and encourage others to follow your steps and change to a

healthy, better, and environmental friendly life style.

Prologue

The topic I choose is global warming, what are we doing wrong and how can we

change? People don’t pay the right attention to this global problem because we don’t believe

this is going to affect us. But we are wrong, this is something that in some way or another

affects everyone that call planet Earth home. In the past two decades we have seen the ten

hottest years. Glaciers and mountain snowpack are disappearing rapidly and they serve as

water source to many countries. This is alarming but we are still in time to change the curse of

the future that awaits us. This is why I choose this topic because now I have the opportunity to

show others what are we doing to the planet and how can we fix it. The planet needs our help

right now and we need the planet to be safe to continue our life.

We need to accept that we are damaging the environment. Once we accept that we can

continue and start changing our life style. If we change our life style we would not be only

saving the planet but also improving our health.

We as consumers have to power to change this reality. If we only buy environmentally

friendly products we would be forcing the companies that don’t care for the environment to

change the way they make their products. We have the change in our hands.

This project is a way to create conscience in others and encourage them to change to

an environmental friendly life style. Spread the word and start making the difference!

CELEBRATING EARTH DAY

In order to celebrate Earth’s Day the University of Puerto Rico organizes diverse activities to make people conscience of what we are dealing with. In the activities around the island many scientists and experts express what our situation is and encourage the audience to take action and don’t wait any longer. We get the chance to interview Diane MacEacher the famous author of the book Big Green Purse. This book teaches you how to buy environmental friendly. Magazine (M), Diane MacEacher (DM)

M.- What motivates you to write this book?

DM – I decided to write this book when I started to hear the news about global warming. The first time I heard about this topic a started to obtain more information and I didn’t like what I found. Global Warming does not only involve the rising of temperature but a lot of serious consequences. I said to myself people should know about this things because the majority don’t know that we with our daily routine are damaging the planet. I started writing because I believe that if you show people the facts they eventually would change their life styles.

M.- What was the most choking thing you found out during your research?

Some of the ingredients used to make cosmetics are related to health problems like impact to the immune system and breast cancer. Scientists have found that many of the chemicals present in the environment and personal care products might increase the risks of breast cancer if you are highly expose to them. When these products are washed down the drain they enter the wastewater treatment system that not always eliminates all the chemicals. Then the chemicals past to the rivers and affect frogs, fishes and other animals. Studies have confirm that this chemicals cause reproductive abnormalities in frogs and fish. Also in humans minute levels of phthalates have been linked to sperm damage in male and genital changes, asthma and allergies in children and problems with the liver and kidneys.

DM – There are a lot of things that I would never imagine can cause so many problems not only to the environment but to our health too. I got to say that the most choking is the danger some of the personal care products represents. There are evidence that the cumulative use of this products contribute to asthma, the onset of puberty in girls and the feminization of baby boys. In addition the cosmetics, shampoos and soaps are washed down the drain and they enter in the water system and affect the wildlife. The making of cosmetics and other personal care products don’t need to follow the FDA standards for human safety. Only California have some guide lines the manufactures need to follow if they want to sell the product in the state.

There are some companies that offers cosmetics made with fewer ingredients and unadulterated minerals. Some of them are: Everyday Minerals, Alima Cosmetics and Manave. Other companies that use certified organic ingredients are: TerrEssentials, Dr. Broner, Vermont soapworks and Miessence. If you want to know more you can visit the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Data Base (www.cosmeticsdatabase.com).

M. What can we do?

DM- First we need to lower the use of personal care products. We don’t really need fifteen different products to look good. Only use the ones you really need. Read the labels and make sure you by the one with the fewer list of ingredients.

M. – Is going green economically viable?

DM – Yes we all can afford to go green. Many organic products cost the same as the ones that harm the environment. In almost every product the difference between environment friendly and environment harmful products is very small. In other cases the organic product is more expensive than the not-organic but if you spend one more dollar on it you would be helping the planet and eventually that would bring benefits, not only to the environment but to your health. The important thing that we need to know is that if every one of us buys in favor of the planet the other companies would eventually have to change the way they produce the goods and there would be more competence and the prices would go down.

International Water Conservation Day

Protect the ocean life and prevent the future creations of dead zones like the one in the Gulf of Mexico.

Help us prevent that in 2005 drinking water becomes a privilege.

Lets safe coral reefs, they protect the coastal communities from storms.

Recycle paper, this industry is forests number one enemy. They are the home of many species and are the lungs of the planet.If we don’t protect the forests many ecological riches will be lost forever.

This Earth Day Make a Pact with the

Environment and Protect the Forests

First of all congratulations for your wedding. It is great that you want to make it environmental friendly. The first thing you need to do is if you are going to hire a wedding planner you should find one that is capable to use natural materials. Now for the clothing you and the others can use recycle second hand clothing or rent them. In your hair and make-up use products that don’t have environmentally harmful ingredients. In your accessories buy from companies that recycle precious metals and don’t use harmful chemicals.

Column Advice

Dear:

I’m getting married in a couple of month and my boyfriend is very active in all the environmental issues and he wants to have an environmental friendly ceremony. I want to please him but I have dream about this day since I was a child and I want it to be perfect. I don’t have any idea how to make a wedding safe to the environment. Can it be possible that I make my boyfriend happy and also make my dream wedding come true?

If you want a complete environmental friendly wedding use recycle paper for the invitations, albums and guestbook. In addition the table decorations could be natural plants that the guests could bring home and plant them in their garden. If you want to use candles you should make sure that they are made with natural products such as bee’s wax. Also the confetti should be organic. You can use flower petals or bird friendly seeds. Don’t use rice because they are dangerous for birds. For the cake and food make sure to hire companies that use organic ingredients or the ones that uses the less chemicals or harmful products. For more information you can access www.wedding.theknot.com. Hope you have a great time preparing the wedding and congratulations. Send you the best wishes and happiness in your new life adventure.

In addition use reusable bags when you went shopping. If it is possible buy local products. This is good for the environment because you avoid the energy costs involved in transporting goods for long distances. Also it helps reduce global warming and air pollution. It also helps economically because the money stays in the state or country. The London’s New Economics Foundation made a study and they found that a dollar spent on locally made goods generates twice as much incomes from the local economy as money spend on imported goods. For last look for third-party certification that the product you are buying is in fact environmental friendly. When you go shopping you would find a lot of products that assure they are good for the environment but not all of them really are.

Advice Column

In the market I found a lot of products that claim to be friendly to the environment. How can I know that what I’m buying is truly environmental friendly?

If you want to know if what you are buying is environmentally friendly you need to follow some simple steps. First or all buy less; only buy what you really need. Second if you are thinking to buy something, first read the label. When you read it you can be sure that the product is really environmental friendly. Choose the products with fewer ingredients. A long list indicates the presence of questionable chemicals that can be dangerous to the environment and even to you. Also choose products with less packaging. The betters are the ones that came in containers that are easily recycle.

Some of the most important labels you should look for are: Green Seal, that certificate a lot of products if the companies follow rigorous evaluations and tests, scientific Certification System, certifies the use of organic ingredients, water efficiency and sustainable foresty, the Energy Star is a program between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy that certifies energy saving products and practices. Other important labels are The Forest Stewardship, The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, Chlorine Free Products Association, VeriFlora, Fair Trade Certified and Green E.

COLLAGE

Go Green

Organic is better

Companies that protect the environment

Mohawk Fine Paper = All the electricity use in manufacturing is offset by clean, renewable wind power. They count with the Green Seal and Rainforest Alliance Certified. They also offer a wide range of recycle paper.

Toyota = They are the leading manufacturer of hybrid vehicles.

Walgreens = Installed solar power at 112 stores and two distribution center.

Pepsi = they have more than 420 hybrid cards in their company car program. During 2006 they remove 195 million pounds of CO2 from the atmosphere.

McDonald’s Corporation = Has many biodiesel projects underway in Australia, parts of Europe and United States. During 2007 they reduce their total energy by over 3.75%. They during 2006 save 1.65 million pounds of paper through redesigning napkin dispensers.

There are a lot more companies like Wal-Mart that are taking the step and protecting the environment. Let’s help them continue their work and patronize them. These are the companies that we need, the ones that care for the environment.

Abott laboratories = they are investing in solar power. They plan to reduce CO2 emissions by 10% for 2010 by using energy-efficient lighting, building efficiency technologies and cogeneration. Also they are incorporating hybrid and low-emission vehicles into their fleet.

Ford Motor Company = Since 2000 their facilities have improved energy efficiency by 25%, equivalent to the energy consumed by 220,000 average-size homes. Also they manufacture fuel cell, hybrids and ethanol vehicles.

Whole Foods Markets = They sells a variety of organic, sustainably farmed, locally produce green products. Also they purchase wind energy credits to offset 100% of its electricity use and offers wind

Epilog

During the making of this project I learn a lot of things about our

environment and how we are damaging it. After all the research I had to do I think

that the biggest problem we have as a society is that people is not fully and rightly

inform about this situation and the effects it would have in the long term. People

don’t know that we are facing a serious problem and even when we see what is

happening with the glaciers we don’t thing that is going to affect us in our country.

That is wrong because everything that happens to the environment would now or

later affects our communities. Now is the moment to do something and help that

the future generations have a healthy planet.

Also this project was very interesting because we had to use different ways

to express what we learn about our topic. This was a great way to put in practice

our creativity and express our feelings in different ways. I learn how to make

various genres that I never had the opportunity to do.