Renewable Energy: Solar Energy

This week we are learning renewable energy.  I knew that some are use for house as well as large companies, but I didn't know that there are places that use solar energy that actually generate electricity and power on a much larger scale often enough to satisfy the needs of an entire city or village.  An example of  a place that uses solar energy on a large scale include the Mojave Desert. The Mojave Desert is located in California and is the world’s largest solar power installation. It generates enough electricity to power the homes of more than half a million people.  The maintenance cost is very low, which usually the cost to make the solar panels.  Although the state of Illinois is not entirely ecofriendly, some cities are using other alternatives for energy.  Solar powered energy is mostly seen in the west coast, but  Chicago homeowners and businesses are increasingly turning to solar power.
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity sponsors a Solar Energy Rebate Program that reimburses for as much as 30 percent of solar project costs up to $10,000, for photovoltaic and solar thermal systems.  What used to be a 60-40 split in favor of solar thermal systems is now the opposite, photovoltaic power systems are gaining popularity. 
PROS:
* no pollution
*production of energy is quiet
*ability to harness electricity in remote locations that are not linked to a national grid (space)
*easy area placements such as rooftops
*low cost maintenance (high price installations, but it is payed up in a few years from no light bills)
CONS:
*initial cost is high (some household may require 2 rather than 1)
*weather can affect the efficiency of the solar cells
*electricity is mainly generated during the daytime only
*heavy polluted areas can affect the solar cells efficiency (not good for industrial or major businesses)

What I've enjoyed mostly about my environmental class everything!!! :) 
One of the most important issues that concerns me is about our food industry.  Yes, we do have the power to eat organic, but not everyone can afford it.  I believe one of the reasons why the rate of cancers has  increased, is due to the contents of our foods; such as pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, chemicals, some genetically modifications).  We need to come up with a better solution, such as more farmers market places.  Grow our food locally, build some type of green house that we could grow vegetables in.  The government should step in and take part of this. Many will benefit from it and I bet the cancer rates would start to drop.
The most interesting thing that I learned in this class, which made complete sense, was that floods occur from all of the roads that we have developed.  I mean, where do we expect the water to go?  There are any more dirt roads.  The water can't be absorbed by the soil.  We are  causing all the damage to our selves and it's sad that eventhogh we know what the outcome of building roads could cause, we still continue to build them, because we have become dependent on them and refuse to go back to the old ways, such as public transportation, bike riding, walking, etc...This class has made a great impact in my life, and I will continue to educate or update my self with more environmental knowledge.  I will teach my loved ones all that I've learned and will continue to do so.  At least I could say, that I TRIED!!  :)

WATER

Most of our water comes from Lake Michigan.  Lake Michigan supplies about 1 billion gallons of fresh water to Chicago and about 125 suburban communities. This done through a network of purification plants, tunnels, pumping stations, water mains, sewer mains, valves.  Our waste water in Chicago goes through a system that is called Tunnel and Reservoir Plan or TARP.  It is a large underwater system that contains many pipes.  The pipes carry the storm water and sewage to the water purification plant.  After the water is purified, the solid material left, gets carried out to a landfill.  Bacteria is added into the container, which eats up the waste material. 
After doing an assignment that allowed me to see how much water I (my self only, no family members) was using, it made me realize how much unnecessary water I was using on a daily basis (21 gallons a day).  My biggest problem was when I showered. I normally take two showers a day, but even though I have a low pressure shower head, I still took a 20 minute shower!!  That is way too long!!!  I try not to waste water in every other way, like watering the lawn and washing clothes, but never realized how much water I was wasting when showering.  I personally think that I contribute to some of the water pollution, when I used cleaning chemicals when cleaning the tub, sink, toilet and when ever I paint, and clean the brushes in the sink.  I mean all the chemicals, do get diluted, but I am sure I am not the only person doing this, which makes me think that all of these chemicals do add up.  I guess one way to minimize the water pollution is buying cleaning supplies that are eco friendly, but I've always wondered if they would do the job that the other strong chemicals do?  I guess I will just have to try it out.

The Plantain

Is one of my favorites foods.  I've been eating this fruit, since I was a little girl.  This is a typical food for many Latinos.  You could either eat them fried, boiled, or steamed.  My mother used to fried them all the time, but because I've changed my eating habits, I boiled them instead.  I go to a local Spanish supermarket around my house to get my the plantains.  They sell  them riped or green. The picture above shows (top to bottom) green, yellow, and riped.  The more riped they are, the sweeter they are.  The plantain is similar to the bananas, but people usually cook them in before eating them.  These plantains that I buy, come from Mexico and are owned by Chiquita Company. The are gown in a company owned plantation.  According to the  Chiquita banana's website, they state that within 36 hours of harvest, Chiquita Bananas and plantains are packed in special shipping cartons and loaded onto refrigerated ships. Refrigeration “puts the bananas to sleep” and temporarily prevents them from ripening. They're transported to market in refrigerated trucks. The whole process from the farm to your grocery store takes about two weeks.  Chiquita company are one of the few companies who are certified to the environmental standards of the Rainforest Alliance.  The are against deforestation and use low pesticide.  This seems like a good way of processing bananas and plantains, but I still think, that our environment suffers the consequence of the pollution of the ships and the truck drives to their destinations.  Like many major companies, Chiquita company makes a big profit from the distribution of plantains and bananas, because they could be grown all year round.  They have many locations around Central and South America and also in Mexico.  Others making a good profit are the local markets, who sell their plantains for almost 30% higher cost.  I went to different markets like; Dominick .98 cents each, La Fresquesita at .89cents each, Cermak produce .78cents each, Fresh Market at .78cents each.  It was obvious that the Spanish market's prices were the lowest and of course sell the most.  Plantains are very popular in the Latin communities, and it makes total sense for local food markets to play with their prices, because of the high demand.  Plantains, just like bananas are a good source of potassium, vitamin C, B6 and fiber.  There are many dishes that can be cooked with both ripe and green plantains.  Although they are starchy, they are healthy to eat as long as you don't fried them all the time!!! ;)

The Norway Maple Tree

So I chose this tree, because not only is it in front of my house and I have to see it every day, but it is one of the most popular street trees in Chicago.  The Norway tree or Acer Plantanoides is native to eastern and central Europe and southwest Asia, from France east to Russia, north to southern Scandinavia and southeast to northern Iran.  It can grow as tall as 60-70ft and the trunk as wide as 3ft.  The bark has a grey/brown color with shallow groves.  Although I am not sure how this tree got planted here, but I could assume that it was around the same time they began the development of the street.  Most of the trees adjacent to this one, are all about the same height, this would mean, they were planted around the same time.  Most of the trees on my street are Norway Maple, but there are also other types of maple trees. 
It is favoured due to its tall trunk and tolerance of poor, compacted soils and urban pollution. 
The Asian long-horned beetle can eat through the trunk and can kill these trees.
 Norway Maple is generally free of serious diseases, though can be attacked by the some types of mildew.  The wood is hard, yellowish-white to pale reddish, with the heartwood not distinct; it is used for furniture and turnery.  In this particular tree, there are many squirrel nests, but I've not seen any bird nests.  I've seen different types of birds landing on the tree, but none seem to stay for too long.  The leaves on the Norway maple, are the last ones to change in color.  They begin to change color in late November to a bright yellow.  I was surprised to see that this tree is did not seem to have any scars on the trunk.  The city does come every year, to trim the branches, which does not appear to hurt the tree.  These trees along with other trees, have many benefits to our environment.  They improve our air quality,  they provide for wild habitat, increase property value, it beautifies our streets, give good shade (which help us on a very hot day, when we try to hide from the sun), storm water attenuation, among other things.  If these trees along with other trees continue to get cut down, our environment will lack all of these things.  Action should be taken when trees get cut down.  We should have a law that says, that if we cut a tree, we must plant another.  Trees are needed for our environment in order be able to sustain all of the problems that the human population has introduced into the environment like air pollution.

Population Problem in U.S.

Over population, might not seem like a problem to some people, but the reality is that the U.S. is headed in the same direction  as China and India.  After the baby boom in the 1960s, one could say that our population has not stopped growing. It seems that having a child is not the job of a house wife any longer.  The more I pay attention to my surrounding, the more pregnant teenagers I see.  Because of my job industry, I am able to see teenage girls as young as 12yrs old having babies.  What ever happened to the pep talk that parents had with  their kids about safe sex and not getting a girl pregnant?  Teenagers having unprotected sex and getting pregnant, plays a role on the over population problem that we have here ain the U.S.  So what should or can we do about it?
There are the voluntary and the involuntary control.  I believe that the current birth control methods are somewhat adequate. I also believe, that birth control pills should be free for young girls between the ages of 12-21.  I don't believe that voluntary abortion is suitable for contraceptive use.  Why?  Well I my self have a friend who has had 9 abortions within a period of 5yrs.  It took the doctor who did all 9 procedure to tell her that he hopes to never see her again under the same circumstances for her to finally come to terms, that it was wrong what she was doing.  The ideal contraceptive besides abstinence, is "EDUCATION" about not only preventing STDs, but avoiding getting pregnant.  I approve of the idea of unmarried teenagers having free access to birth control counseling and services without parental permission, because there are too many irresponsible parents in this world who are not doing their job properly on educating their kids about sex.
Let us look at the involuntary population control, which in reality it should not be any one's business as to how many children you should have, but yours and  I also don't believe this is the right thing to do, but since it is affecting us in many different ways , then I think the government should have some kind of say on those who continue to have children under welfare care only.  The government should limit welfare help for anyone who has more than 3 children.  I don't think the government should limit working parents who are able to sustain a family of multiple children,  but I also think that if they continue to have them and are not able to afford them, then yes make one of the parents become sterile rather than making the parent have an abortion. 
I think immigration is another factor that plays a major in the over population problem here in the U.S.  I think we should limit the people we allow into our country by either taxing them every time they want to send for another family member.  I also believe that if a child born here and whose parents are not U.S. citizens, should not automatically become a U.S.citizen and have legal rights to stay here.   One involuntary population program is practiced by China, who limits families to have 1 child only.  Yes, this seemed to have lower the yearly population rate, but also caused families to make some sacrifices, like giving up baby girls up for adoption, because they need the boy to care for them when they are older.  Paraguay, Argentina and Indonesia are other countries who also have a form  of involuntary population control.
I think population control efforts should be a global goal, because it would benefit not only our economy, but also many of the world's problems (environment, starvation, diseases, poverty, etc.).  The U.S. is a big help to many  families when it comes to income tax deductions for dependents.  Some people depend on this money to help pay bills, so I don't think it should be eliminated.  I don't think this is the solution to having smaller families.

Generic Engineering

Just what is generic engineering?  According to UCSUSA genetic engineering refers to a set of technologies that are being used to change the genetic makeup of cells and move genes across species boundaries to produce novel organisms. The techniques involve highly sophisticated manipulations of genetic material and other biologically important chemicals.  These genes are what gives organisms their characteristics (blueprints).  By transporting these genes or traits from one organism to another, it creates a new organism with a new set of genes or characteristics.  

Generic Engineering is now being used in the farming industries that produce some of the foods that we eat.  Some of this generic engineering are more extreme than others.  For example, the golden rice project.  It is said to be the solution for the poor countries starvation problem.  How so?  Well it is a bio-fortified rice or a rice that has been chemically enriched with vitamins.  It sounds like a good idea doesn't it?  I think it is a great idea that something like this is being developed for those who are less fortunate than others.  I also believed that there are other ways of helping countries that are in need.  I believe that instead of genetically engineering food, we tax those "rich" individuals, major companies and donate that money to buy more food for the needy.  I believe generic engineering food is not the only answer.  What about the water that these people so badly need?  Why not help these people grow their own foods and help them with acquiring  an education.  Why not help them with more stable living environments?  I believe if we have the money to make new foods, then we have the money to help them in other important ways.  I do like the idea of the golden rice project, but I feel that if we just rely on helping poor countries with  fortified rice as a solution for their starvation problems, then other health problems might get over looked.  As good as generic engineering sounds, some it has some individuals worried.  I mean this is in a way brand new science.  I don't think we know if this could have some medical effect on our bodies.  How would our bodies process these foods?  Does the fact that the foods that are fortified with some vitamins mean that people will be deficient in other vitamins?  So is this really a problem solver or a creation of a new problem, such as developing other vitamin deficiencies, which also causes illnesses.  People don't even know that some vitamins work well  with the help of other vitamins and minerals.  Another problem that I see with generic engineering food is that some of these foods are being made so that insects and other pesticides don't eat  up the plants, because it kills them off if they do eat them.  This has people wondering if we," the consumer" could be harming ourselves by ingesting these foods.  I my self believe that some of these processed foods are the cause for the increase in the cancer rates here in the U.S.  I worry that the rate of cancer will continue to increase, if we continue to manipulate the foods that we eat.  I also believe that these chemicals that are being put into the soils for the growth of these processed foods, will have an effect on other plantations and animals  near them, through cross contamination (water leaks, winds, etc.).   Some individuals see this as playing GOD and to a certain extent, I feel the same way.  I believe that the more things we learn about science, the more harm we will be causing not only to our selves, but to our living environment in the near future.  Some of the harm, like I mentioned prior, will be the increase in cancer rates, and other diseases, such as early deaths caused by some chemical that was used.  The scary thing is that these problems don't arise, until years later, so it will be very hard to know for sure, if generic engineering foods is safe or not.  This is why I believe that the government should not have a complete say on what products should be genetically engineered.  We as the consumer, should also have a say in this, since we are the ones who will be paying for what we consume.

How Green is Our Campus?

So I went around our campus to observe how green we are.  I believe our campus is not green enough.  I noticed that last quarter, there was a trash bin, with 3 compartments (cans, trash, plastic).  I only saw 2 of these bins in the 3rd floor eating area, and in the basement eating area. I also noticed that in the 2nd floor computer lab, there was no recycling bin for paper (there was 1 trash bin, with all the unwanted paper along with other trash).  In our library, there were 3 small bins (for which I assumed were for recycling paper, because they had no label on them).  These bins were next to the printer, which was a good place for them, but as I did some work in the library, I noticed that some of the students who were also doing work there, threw scrap paper in the regular trash can.  Next, I went to 20 different classrooms and none of them had a bin for recycling paper, plastic, or paper.  I also did not see one recycling bin for old news papers within the campus (I know many students read the news paper and the red eye).  In the women's restroom, I did noticed that there are no paper towels and the toilet paper being used were from recycled paper.  I believe our school could be a lot more green. The first step to becoming "green" is to promoting "green".  How is a school supposed to be green, if many of the students don't know how to be "green"?  This will make students become more aware of their surroundings and will hopefully make them take action.  I would start  by adding more recycling bins throughout the school,  starting from the classrooms, by adding recycling paper bins.  I would place 2 more small  bins next to trash cans in the hallways, with a sign above saying; "recycle cans or plastic".  Most of the students that I know take public transportation to school, because of the U-PASS we acquire from school.  This I believe is also a good start of being more "green".  A good recycling program should be developed to encourage students to be more green.  Just like they awarded a student last year with a free lab top for registering for classes early, this should also be available for students who help the most with making our campus more green.  According to The Princeton Review, UIC was one of the 286 elected "green colleges".  They have many Eco-friendly programs that helped them get noticed.  Here is a little bit of info I found on their website.  Recycling Program, the UnPlug! Campaign, and Climate Action Plan. To see UIC's entry and the other colleges chosen, download the free “The Princeton Review’s Guide to 286 Green Colleges.”  I know that UIC is a much bigger University, but this is no excuse for East West not to become more efficient on being green.  I know a lot of it is done through funding, but we could have fundraising events to help us.
Here are some links that will help us be more green:
http://www.ulsf.org/pdf/going_green_saves_green.pdf
http://corporatekindness.org/blog/green-office/?gclid=CPa6rLWEpagCFQnrKgod0D1OIQ
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveMoney/28WaysToMakeYourFunEcoFriendly.aspx
http://freelanceswitch.com/working/29-simple-ways-to-become-a-more-environmentally-friendly-freelancer-help-us-donate-500-to-charity/