Gary Liss-Zero Waste

I was really surprised that so many large corporations have already adopted the habit of zero waste. If I was aware that is was possible to have zero waste I would have attempted to do more then just recycle a long time ago. What also blows me away was that everyone is liable for their own waste forever. What?! That makes me never want to throw anything away again, but I think that’s the whole point. So if so many communities have adopted zero waste, how can we bring it to our community and work on it together? Now that I am informed I will try to mainly support the companies/ industries that have this policy and start from point one in our community, my home. It seems to be the quickest solution, as Gary stated, for climate change that we can all start today. Reduce, reuse, and recycle!

Joe Medeiros- Green Careers

It would be really nice if everyone would find a job that impacts the environment in a positive way. However, that isn’t always the case. I know that my heart lies in the fascinating language of American Sign. Although, even if my major is not in the environmental field, I have learned throughout this course that I can still contribute to the ultimate goal that we all hope to achieve in saving the environment. Since there is a wide variety of employment in this field I see myself adopting some sort of environmentally friendly minor to work hand and hand together with my major. We are all dependent upon people to develop solutions and put them into actions for the threatening problems that we are facing. No matter what major a person chooses everyone can contribute and do their own part.

Earth Day Importance

Before coming to Sierra College I was completely unaware that there was an earth day and all the issue that go along with it. It is important to the environment for earth day to take place because people, like me, can gain information on how they can help conserve and save our earth. Earth Day is a day that we can all focus on and recognize the earth for all it has and have to offer. Our future depends on it. On April 22, 1970 the first Earth Day was conducted and turned out to be a success with 25,000,000 people gathered together to show their concern for our future. This day is solely focused on finding alternatives too many destructing factors that are dwindling our environment and collaborate solutions to fix many problems. Without this day of acknowledgment many people would be in the dark of these dire situations that need to be addressed. People that attend earth day leave with better understanding on how they can help save the environment even if they are already aware of these issues. I know that from here on out I will contribute to earth day wherever I might be and further the knowledge of conservation onto others.

ANWR- Joe Maderios

I never realized how much we rely on numerous parts of the world. Alaska was one of the last places I expected to be a source for oil. With the combination of temperature and the solid glacier forms would not be the right formula for obtaining oil. I think it is phenomenal that so many habitats exist north of Alaska. I hope one day that I am able to experience the “Sarhingetti” of the wildlife reserve. It is so nice and a relief to here that there is a place on earth that can never be disturbed by construction for developing community and human population. The saddest truth about the ANWR is that one day in the somewhat near future some species will not be there from the continuous warming of the atmosphere. I didn’t know that so many species survive in such an environment. I expected less then a hundred species, including migratory animals, to survive. Hopefully we will be able to come up with an alternative for ice roads that don’t conclude in extinction all kinds of fish in the artic but it will take time. Joe Medeiros is very knowledgeable and always enjoy his lectures.

Perspective Change?

My perspective about issues regarding the environment and the human impact has changed 180 degrees. I have always cared about nature, but I never really knew how important so many issues are that relate to the environment. No one knows how the little careless actions they do impact the environment in the way that it does and continue to do so without a second thought. Most of the people that I have asked about their opinion on the environment have all responded in similar ways. “We’re not going to have a global natural disaster in our lifetime, so why worry about it.” Honestly, before this class I had a similar perspective, but also I was unaware that our planet had as many direct issues that need to addressed. Now I am fully aware of what I can do and do not let a day go by without contributing to an uphill battle on saving the environment. In my opinion, if more people took this class, we would see a more collaborative effort by a greater number of people starting to fix what is in great danger of being destroy

Dr. Thompson--Oil

The only thing that really ever came to mind when the subject oil came up was that it kills many animals and plants each year by oil spills. Obviously I have not been well informed. I never realized how much of our everyday use is possible by a series of chemicals which creates oil. The most unusual fact that surprised me was that humans and a lot of creatures contain oil. It might just be me but that’s weird. The whole process of extracting and transporting oil is extremely interesting and is amazing what natural resources that our ecosystems provide for us. Maybe I missed this point but if we out way coal and oil disaster which one is of greater harm and occurs more? If anyone can answer this question please write me back.

Joe Maderios--Sustainability

I was happy to finally have a lecture on sustainability because it has been a major concern of mine for a long time. It was very alarming to here the statistics of a typical day in the world. The main number that caught my attention was the 116 miles squared of rainforest that is destroyed everyday. What!? At that rate I am surprised that there is any forest left and no wonder our biodiversity is in such a critical state. Our generations to come are relying on us to sustain our resources and be more conscientious about how much we abuse consumption. If not there will sure be many larger hurtles that they themselves will be forced to deal with at a much more critical point then we are now. During this economic hardship it is so important for us to sustain our economy by reusing all materials so that we can conserve what we have left.