WATER CONSERVATION - SHOWER OR BATH?

Rub-a-dub-dub!  What do we do in the tub?

Which uses less water?  Taking a shower or taking a bath?

Here’s a simple experiment you can try at home:  The next time you take a shower, plug the drain and let the water collect.  When your shower is over, see how much water is in the tub.  Compare it to how much water you would use to take a bath.  Which uses more water?  A bath or a 2-3 minute shower?

A NUCLEAR ENERGY UPDATE

United States Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and President Obama announced this week funding for the construction of a new nuclear power plant in Georgia.  This facility will be the first nuclear power plant in the United States to be built in thirty years!

Environmental activists do not often support nuclear energy, but this plan may be a step in the right direction—a direction away from fossil fuels.  Remember that nuclear energy results in no carbon emissions!  This new power plant will cut carbon pollution by 16 million tons each year when compared to a coal-fired power plant.

However, the one major problem still to be solved with this type of power is how to get rid of nuclear waste.   President Obama says we must “accelerate our efforts to find ways of storing this waste safely and disposing of it.”  Secretary Chu has said that he is “convinced that the nuclear waste issue is solvable” and has talked about ways that nuclear waste can someday be recycled.

More information on Nobel-prize winning Energy Secretary Steven Chu to follow!

WHAT IS SUSTAINABILITY?

This is a word I’ve been hearing a lot lately.  But what does it mean?  According to World Commission on Environment and Development, sustainable development is defined as “the ability of humanity to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

What are some things we do today that will negatively affect the kids of tomorrow?  Polluting the air with greenhouse gases, polluting the soil and water with landfill, polluting oceans by dumping garbage, threatening sea life by overfishing, threatening water supplies by spilling harmful chemicals, wasting natural resources, relying on energy sources that damage our environment, and the list goes on.

Ancient tribes of people, like the Native Americans here in this country, lived in a way that was sustainable.  For example, Native American tribes would use every part of an animal after they killed it so that no part was wasted.  These people believed that humans must live together peacefully with nature instead of dominating it—or worse yet, destroying it.

Here are some basic rules for how to live sustainably, provided by environmentalist Paul Hawken:

·      Leave the world better than you found it.

·      Don’t take more than you need.

·      Try not to harm life or the environment, make amends if you do.

Right now, there are many things we are used to doing and buying that are unsustainable.  The older we get, the more we will see sustainable products and sustainable ways of life becoming available.  But how can we make sustainability popular?  Isn’t it easier to keep things the way they are?  Will you be a kid who looks for these new advances?  Are you able to recognize things you do every day that may be unsustainable?

WHAT IS GLOBAL WARMING?

"Global climate change" or "global warming" began with the Industrial Revolution.  Scientists say that global warming is primarily caused by the "greenhouse gas effect."  Greenhouse gases are the toxins (mostly CO2) released into the air when we burn fossil fuels--oil, coal and natural gas.  Another contributor to global climate change is deforestation (the destruction of trees), illustrated in the photograph below.

During the Industrial Revolution, lots of amazing new technology came along and we've been inventing cool things ever since!  But all this new technology--things like trains, cars, lightbulbs, computers, airplanes and electric toothbrushes--need energy to make them go!  The energy we use to power our cars and our homes comes mostly from burning fossil fuels.  It took millions of years for fossil fuels to be created, but humans have burned much of them up in just a few hundred years and the Earth can't handle it!

The more CO2 we have in the air, the more oceans try to suck it up to balance it out.  The more CO2 the oceans suck up, the warmer they become.  The warmer the oceans become, the more strange weather and wacky temperatures we get!  Strange weather leads to dangerous situations for humans.  Wacky temperature changes leads to the inability of many species of plants and animals to adapt quickly enough, which can lead to extinction.

On land, trees are an amazing natural way to get rid of CO2.  Plants soak up CO2 and store it for energy.  The combination of the greenhouse effect and deforestation has created a problem twice the size!

Obvious solutions:  1) PLANT TREES!  2) STOP BURNING FOSSIL FUELS!

More on global climate change to come!

BOOK RECOMMENDATION

For anyone interested in learning about climate change, I suggest this excellent book by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon called “The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming” from Scholastic.

It’s got tons of great illustrations and the information inside is written in a way that is easy for kids to understand.  Check it out at your local library or get your own copy today to find out more about this important topic!

HAIL THE POWER OF MUSHROOMS!

Hey green friends!  I just learned about an amazing new use for fungus!  It turns out that an organic farm in California is growing mushrooms to be used as building and packaging materials.  Cool, huh?

In the picture above you see a cluster of mushrooms.  At the bottom of the cluster is a dark network of fibers called mycelium.  Mycelium is not for eating, but it IS fireproof, nontoxic and resistant to water.  It’s also stronger than concrete!!!

In this next picture, you can see a structure made entirely out of mycelium.  Maybe someday we can use it to make houses and bridges.  (Move aside Smurfs!)

The material is also being used as a green alternative to Styrofoam (a packing material that does not decompose, cannot be recycled and is awful for the environment).  After you receive a package stuffed with mushroom material, you can toss it into your garden as compost!

Hooray for mushrooms!

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT BIOFUELS?

A “biofuel” is any fuel created from plant or animal materials.  For example, wood is one of the simplest biofuels.  Modern biofuels include bioethanol, made from sugar or starch crops.  Biodiesel on the other hand is made from vegetable oils or animal fats.

ADVANTAGES

·      Reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

·      More environmentally friendly.

·      Varied source material (can be made from a wide range of materials).

·      Cheaper.

·      May help to tackle poverty (poor countries without oil reserves may have land available for biofuel farming).

·      Biodegradability (spills are easier to clean up and MUCH less hazardous).

DISADVANTAGES

·      Lower Energy Output (great quantities consumed to get the same energy).

·      Adapting more land to produce crops for biofuels means more loss of habitats and decreased biodiversity.

·      Food vs. Fuel Debate (farmers make more money selling crops for fuel, which may cause higher food prices).

·      Not Carbon Neutral (it still takes energy to grow crops and then convert them into fuel).

·      Water Use (massive amounts of water are needed to grow crops and manufacture the fuel).

Here we go again!  Another energy source that has just as many bad sides as good sides.  But there may be hope in the future with 2^nd and 3^rd generation biofuels.  What do you know about these?  How are they different from 1^st generation biofuels?