Joe Mediros/Sustainable Careers

We owe it to future generations to find careers that will create less waste and benefit the environment. They must be ethical careers not just about bling and consuming the American dream. A job that gives as much as you receive. It must secure with a fair income and last without regret. Careers like this can be found on websites and with a little research. The water industry, hunger, global warming are all important for the future. What will they say about us when we are gone? Will they be happy for the changes we make to save life on Earth?

Gary Liss

Gary Liss was from "Zero Waste". The basic thought is that bad design crates waste. If you change the design you can eliminate the waste. Gary even showed that if we recycle and compost all discards in CA it would equal the elimination of all auto exhaust. The program of zero waste is do-able. I was impressed by all the cities in the bay area trying this project. Even grocery stores are attempting this by lowering their shrink and putting produce into recycle for feed and compost. I was shocked by the toxins from a simply napkin. (dioxin, chloroform, formaldehyde). We subsidize bad wastes practices we pay and pay for waste, so there is no savings into leaving things the way they are. It is only thorough our responsible actions, vision, and caring nature that zero waste can happen. I am on board and looking for ways I can eliminate all the waste possible in my personal life.

Earth Day!

Wow Earth day is amazing! I think that it is a wonderful day to celebrate. I am going to be honest. I really never thought or even put to much thought into Earth Day before this year. I have always heard about the day and what the day was supposed to represent but I was (for the lack of better words selfish). I didn't really care to much about it. That is until I took this class. I am not saying I didn't care about the Earth and wanted good for it but I never really did my part. But now my eyes have been opened to a very cool thing and that is Earth. I am now trying to do my part to help the Earth and my footprint and I find it awesome. I just wish that I would have gotten into this a lot sooner. But like they say "better late then never". I wish that more people would be interested in it too.

Joe Mediros

The arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska is so important to our nation. The fact that there are some who want to drill for oil is offensive to me. The whole reason we secure this area is for our future and the future of the Flora and Fauna there. Nineteen point six million arces protected by the department of interior the millions of birds, mammals, fish, that live our migrate there give it a special place in our hearts. Joe's visit there gave it a true reality to me. If we lose places like this we know we can never replace it. And we would for sure die along with it. We should be creating more refuge's and stay out of the one's we have already saved. Future generations need to see these areas or human life will also cease to exist on this planet. If we continue to consume we will also be consumed. The loss will be devastating. I would rather pay five dollars a gallon then to harm one square mile of this refuge.

Lecture: April 16, 2009

Today's lecture was very interesting. The simple fact that our food goes through so much more then we very even begin to think about. Micheal Pollan, I was shocked by the cost of supporting soy, corn, ect. in government dollars. I was also concerned by the waste, green house gases, and fuel use by agriculture in the U.S. School lunches need to go to the department of education and be removed from the department of agriculture. I love farmers markets and support ant local victory garden. I am shocked with the short film on the fresh produce in Brooklyn. I am happy to see that people are getting together as a community and raising fresh produce. Considering that half the population are developing type 2 diabetes. And children developing heart conditions. We can control our health our food and our environment by simply adding a garden to our life.

My View Point!

SO I have learned a lot after taking this class. I read the introduction of this class in the college class schedule and thought oh okay this may be interesting. Boy was I right. I have always heard people say, "Oh my global warming is going to be part of the end of man". I never really understood what global warming was til a few years ago. I then developed my own opinions and thoughts on the matter. Of course, I was one of those girls that said "we have to save the poor polar bears and all the other cute animals". I never pit thought into saving the other things that may not be cute or nice but I learned everything has it's purpose. Even if it is an ugly, and nasty beetle. I also found it interesting with all the different guest speakers. I really found them knowledgeable. I think that this is a great class for everyone to take. You really do learn a lot and learn also to appreciate the small things that do matter.

Mrs. Carroll Lecture

So, today was a very interesting class. I know everyone has different opinions on Darwin and everything he has ever researched, etc. I know I was raised to believe different. However, I can remember growing up and hearing it at all ages in school the different beliefs and what the teachers want you to believe. I then told myself it's just Science. I never did think that only 40% of America believes in the population of evolution. Now as for were we get a great a chunk of our information I do believe is the t.v. We learn to believe everything we see on the television. I think we also get a false sense of life because of t.v. We believe a fake world verse reality. We allhave our opinions on global warming. There are some people who will never change their minds on how it was caused, what is causeing it, etc. I know from my own experienece that I was thinking kinda the wrong thing. That is until I started this class. One thing that is for sure is there is more to saving other things not just the little cute polar bears. But then again we are selfish in some way.

Dr. Laird Thompson

Wow! I honestly never realized how much oil really had a huge part in life. I knew it was a "main topic" lately just never like this. First of all, I never knew what oil was even made of. As a child growing up I always thought it smelled gross, felt gross, etc. I never knew it was made from creatures so to speak. The way it has spiked up and down, and down and up it amazing. We as a society go threw so much of it and counting. The numbers are rising. I find it amazing how a person can put their whole heart in to the research and the knowledge of one topic. I thought the speech was very well taught and very easy to comprehend and understand. Honestly, there were only a few times I had to rethink a few things he brought up but again nice lecture. I think we need to appreciate the small things in life because without oil we are out of a lot. It may not seem like it now but it will diffidently show later.

Frank DeCourten

I know they say there is more to global warming then just the little polar bears. But if our generation may be the last to see polar bears we still need to do something. Our Earth is getting warmer and warmer. We as society need to do something to help out. Even if it may be small. The study Mr. DeCorten showed done in 2004 is amazing. I never thought that about how bad our Earth really is. We have more gases then that is natural not healthy. When people at work say global warming is not a big deal and that some people are just freaking out about it then they have another thing coming. To be honest with you, I never really put tons of thought about this global warming thing until I enrolled in this class. It amazes me on how much I do that is helping cause this global warming problem. Fossil fuels are partly being caused by me for just doing things on a day to day bases that I can change. I understand natural leaks and some gases are caused but we went from nothing years ago to now tons and millions today. We need to do something together to change this to help save our planet. That includes saving more then just the cute polar bears. Let's work together as human life, society, etc. we are fortunate to have such a beautiful peace of Earth and all we are doing is destroying it.

Dr. Jane Haproff

I was amazed on the subject of Religion and Environment. I never would have thought that all this can be linked together. I was surprised to see how all different religions are different yet some still believe in the same things on how our environment was designed. And the purpose our environment holds in store for us as humans and as animals. I was taught as a child growing up that God had created the Heavens and Earth bout never was it explained to me in great details on how and why. And how it all refers back to Science and the endowment. The graphic video that she had shown at the end of her speech was outstanding, well spoken and shown to people how are unsure of all of this.

Lynn Medeiros

Learning to argue based on facts and position rather then background and value, is very important for maturity and grow. This is not just about growing as a student, but more about growing as a person. We as a society will make fewer mistakes if we could follow Lynn's lesson. Being able to look at evidence then find a position and also looking at the counter argument and not allowing value judgments or beliefs to enter fear are great tools for success. Whether you are arguing with your boyfriend, work staff, or Congress, you can have a bigger impact with what we have learned today. It's not about being right it's more about being intelligent.

View Point

I was raised in a large family. I have 8 brothers and 3 sisters. During the summer we would camp at Snowflower it's by Yuba Gap. During the winter I would camp in Bodega Bay. My parents loved the out doors and love sharing it's beauty with us. This my have shaped my view on keeping our natural environments as perfect as they were when I was a kid. My experiences in the wild were memorable and still have a profound effect on me now. I have met people who have never camped and have taken them into the forest or the beach. They were amazed at the beauty. But would probably still prefer to stay in a hotel. I think that the love for the environment must start young before the other cares of life take over. I hope I never loose my love for nature. And I can continue to show others the beauty and the impact it can have on a person.

Vernon Martin

I have been to the Rainforest Cafe. It was a Denny's with more plants, waterfalls, and a theme park giftshop. Although there were small areas where saving the rainforest were mentioned I didn't come out of there feeling any different. I believe that what Vernon said was true. Some of my family felt like they were helping the rainforest, gorillas, and parrots by purchasing a stuffed animal and eating a hamburger. It is dirsturbing that we are so far removed from nature we will invent a fake and make that our truth. We meausure what we know about wild life through Disney cartoons. It is only through experincing nature we will change. To bad some of us will never leave the city. And only taste what this world has through the Discovery channel.

Toxins And You!

First of all, I work in the grocery industry when something is found to be wrong with a food item (recall on peanut butter), it is pulled immediately chain wide. We will not allow a tainted food item to enter the home environment. When it is discovered e-mails, and notices are sent out and the media is notified. It is very different for our natural environment if fish are dying due to toxins in the stream very little is done and almost nobody is notified. Toxins in the natural environment are ignored. Even when they effect children playing in these environments these pose a greater threat to people in these environments and the media barely reports it.

I care very deeply and feel that all life should be protected. The mining waste (arsenic, mercury, lead, ect.) must be cleaned up. How many animals must die?, how many people must die?, or how many environments must be deemed toxic before we act?

Now it costs money to do this and we need help. We must try to at least identify the worst areas and then attempt to remove or get a time frame of how long it will take. We can stop adding toxins to the enviorment by each individual doing their part. We must contain all chemical spills and control these natural settings better. It seems that anywhere people go we leave a mess. Maybe we should contain ourselves so that other enviorments can survive.

Dr. Mike Thornton

The toxic legacy of gold mining is shocking. The fact that our nation benefited from these horrible practices makes me feel even more sad. The Sierra Nevada's were basically poisoned by these miners. They used Mercury, arsenic, lead, and acids not to mention spraying down entire mountains and changing the natural environment all together. Still today mercury levels in fish can be hazards to anyone who eats it. The ball parks have poisonous fibers that can cause lung cancer. Children in El Dorado county fear sickness in one of the most beautiful environments. This is so wrong. I hope the nation will do something to clean it up. I agree with Dr. Thornton when he said "they took the gold, but left the mess". We must together clean up this mess.

Gary Noy

I love the Sierra Nevada's. I have lived here my whole life with their backdrop beautifying our cities. I vacationed there several summers and always respect it. Finding out from Gary the gold miners and loggers disrespect for this environment was horrible. I took it personal. It's tragic that some much of that ecology was threatened along with the water supplies and animal life. If we had to live in fear of miners or loggers destroying our households maybe we do more to protect what we know so well. The Sierra Nevada's history must be told and we must prevent tourism and our encroachment on this beautiful environment.

Saving The Species!

So we all need to help save the earths animals. We were asked to answer a few questions. So here are my thoughts... Conserving species can be difficult, expensive, and may force us to sacrifice. This is all so that not just one species may survive, but many will survive. All species are linked in some way either by the food chain or by environmental factors. We try to save the species that mean the most to us. Pandas, whales, elephants, etc., (these animals we are in love with). What is important is whether we are encroaching on their environment, destroying it, or eliminating a food source they need. All species seem to be linked in a particular environment. Remove one and the environment will fail and species will all be threatened. If the species is lost due to a natural evolutionary process no other species will be extremely affected. We are growing as a species and need space for life, food, and profit. Maybe we should think about reducing our species because where ever we are introduced other species die. This is a balancing act we cannot follow. If we do not help conserve the salmon we could effect the growth of trees, the survival of bears and other animals and insect life could be effected.

My Footprint

SO...I am not doing my part like I should to help our earth. I never realized how bad I was polluting it. I feel extremely guilty. However there is an up scale outlook on it for me. I am going to try to do better so that I to can say I am doing everything I can to help our earth. And feel good while doing it. So for starters just like everyone else I had to take the test to see just how bad I was. My score was 124.6. That ment it would take 6.28 earths to live the way I am. That's horrible. Now the question is why? Well...I eat meat a lot. I also drive a ford escape. (That's not a hybrid.) I can start doing my part to change it by maybe shop at more whole foods places, eat more organically, and next time I invest in a car that's a hybrid. The question now is do I care? Of course I care. I feel horrible and am hurting other generations and animals by the way I live. If we all live this way then we are soon not going to have such a wonderful, and peaceful earth. We are very forunate to live here in the United States. So with that being said we should care a little more about what we are doing to it. Other countries are living with smaller footprints and we to should try to be like that. As long as we all really try we are doing what we can. So with that I guess I can say it's time to put up, shut up, and try to make a bigger difference.