Wanting to Be More Green

So, I just finished up a Natural Disasters class and it was really interesting. We talked about everything from earthquakes, to droughts, to diseases, to global warming. Some interesting things that we talked about in my class have really made me think about peoples impact on the world. I always thought I was pretty green but there is definitely room for improvement.

Here are a couple interesting things I learned:

The global population is currently around 6.7 billion. By 2050 it is expected that the global population will grow to 9 billion. That is 2.3 billion more people! That's insane. So my response to this is 1) people need to use better methods of birth control and 2) people wanting to have large families should look into adoption rather than giving birth to their children (I do understand that people want to have their own kids and that's cool but if you want 6 kids why not have 1-4 of your own natural born children and adopt a couple others?)

Switching regular light bulbs to fluorescent can save 500lbs of coal (I believe on this one...my notes aren't with me but I'm pretty sure that is right). My response: Fluorescent bulbs are more expensive than regular BUT they last longer and draw less energy so they actually save you money over time. Well worth it :)

Bio fuel isn't as eco-friendly as the advertisers want you to think. 1 tank of bio fuel made from corn would be enough to feed a person for 1 year! and for 7 of the last 8 years humans have been consuming more than we have produced so we are going to run into a food shortage so is it really worth using 1/3 of our crops to make bio fuel? My response: stop wasting grain on bio fuel since so many people in the world are starving! Also, being more aware of how much I consume and waste.

Recycling 1 aluminum can can produce enough energy to power a laptop for 1 hour. Response: Recycle everything you can. I've always felt that way though. However, I did learn in my class that if you are recycling food cans or other food product things, if you don't rinse them out they are unusable and get sent to the landfill so be sure to rinse out your cans.

Tropical rainforests are being destroyed at the rate of one football field per second. Response: That is insane! I can't believe that we even have any rainforest left at that rate. The destruction is causing for several species to be threatened as well. We need to recycle to lower the demand for wood products. Buy second hand furniture. Etc.

We learned so much more than that about the world and the environment and global issues (like did you know that a child dies every 30 seconds from malaria? or that the number one cause of death in children globally is diarrhea which is directly linked to unsanitary conditions and lack of clean water?)

So my goal is to be more environmentally conscious and to have less of a negative impact on the world. There are a lot of little things that can be done like bringing cloth shopping bags to the grocery store, buying organic/recycled products, turning things off when not in use, unplugging chargers and other electronic devices that drain energy even when not in use, etc. I encourage all my friends to do the same and am always up for looking for new ways to have a positive impact so if anyone has cool suggestions let me know :)