End of Project Reflection

This project has been eye-opening to say the least. I never thought being green in everyday situations could be so simple, and I also didn't realize how "green" I already was. Making simple changes can make a dramatic impact on the environment for the better, and as a collective group, I can say for sure that we helped out Elon's environment in the past two months. I can honestly say that it will be easy to continue what I have done to go green in the past few months and will strive to make even more changes in my life to be more environmentally friendly. There really is no other choice at this point due to the current state of the earth. We dug ourselves in this whole and now we must get ourselves out of it.

Wes

Get Some Fresh Air!

Take advantage of the string of amazing weather and be green at the same time. Turn your lights and AC off, open a window, maybe leave a fan running and do your work outside or just hangout outside. It’s so much nicer than being cooped up inside all day and you wont have to have a thousand things running for you to function. Personally, I have been doing much of my work outside (where I am writing this) and I go fishing if I get some time off. There are a thousand billion things you can do outside so go take advantage of it. For those of us that will be returning to a less than sunny state (like Ohio for me), make the most of the remaining North Carolina weather, just remember to shut off everything in your room before you leave!

-James

Come on Varsity!

I think one of the least green institutions on this campus is possibly the varsity. All of their drinks come with plastic straws wrapped in plastic. Every time an order is ready to go it is put in a plastic bag for easier carrying. The tops of the cups are plastic. Even with condiments, the ketchup is in individual packets now instead of the easier and more environmentally friendly tubes. Throughout the course of this blog I have slowly stopped using many things that are found at the varsity. Now it is time to get rid of one more.
Every time one of us orders take out from the varsity guess what it is packaged in. Styrofoam. Styrofoam which is the bane of the earth. Styrene one of the building blocks of the styrofoam containers we carry food in has been classified as a possible carcinogen. That means it can cause cancer. These harmful chemicals leach out into the food contained inside them especially with heat. I mean today my fries were cold so in the styrene container i put them in the microwave. I unknowingly increased my rick of ingesting a carcinogen that is hazardous to my health and human reproductive systems.
The principal ingredient to polystyrene and its use make it the 5th largest hazardous waste producer in the world. We are creating tons of these possibly carcinogenic materials and it makes up twenty five to thirty percent of our landfills. You do not need to have more than a brainstem to realize that this is a big problem.
Oh yeah and do not think that this problem will just go away. If styrofoam was being used just before humans came into existence it would still be around today. It takes styrofoam 5000 years to biodegrade. Before the first humans evolved to walk on two legs was about 5000 years ago. It is quite possible that in 5000 years the world could be completely gone. we may have made the planet Earth uninhabitable in 5000 years at the current rate we are producing garbage.
Now to my point. We all should stop using the to go boxes that the varsity uses just order and tell them that it is for here. They will bring it to you in a paper open container. Just use the thin sheet of plastic and cover it, that way nothing will fall out and you will be helping out the earth a great deal. You will not be producing garbage that will outlast even your descendants. Your entire bloodline could die out before styrofoam reaches its half life. Please stop using styrofoam, it is so easy to stop using it just be smart and be eco-conscious about what you eat and what you use. Also you may be sparing yourself from eating something that could cause you cancer further on down the road. Your body and the Earth will be thanking you later.
-Danny McGeough

TV

You know those old, fat TV's everyone had before LCD and Plasmas became the big deal? Well a 27-inch CRT, as these are called, uses about 100 watts of electricity. Although these TV's are older and may not seem as good to some people, they are very energy efficient. What about our new fancy LCD TV's? When we decide to upgrade to these new, more "hip" TV's from our old fat ones, how many of us actually get the same size? We usually get bigger ones, right? These TV's may have better quality and be nicer than what you previously owned, but are they really better for the environment? NO! A 42-inch LCD TV can use up to 320 watts of energy! Plasma's tend to use more, sometimes up to 460 watts. Bigger TV's of this sort can use up to 600+ watts. Although these TV's are nice and are today's newest technology, some are not environmentally friendly. When buying a new TV like this make sure you look for an Energy Star appliance or one that has a green friendly logo.

Since we are not all going out and buying a TV today or anytime soon, I think that we should give up TV for the weekend. If there are shows you need to watch, try using a computer instead. Think about it, how many of us need the TV, and how many of us actually use ours? Leave the TV off all weekend, even unplug it, and save some of this energy that we are selfishly using.

Global Warming

The globe is warming. In the past fifty or so years, an alarming rate of carbon dioxide has steadily been released into the atmosphere and trapped under the suns radiation, thus trapping heat on the earth. The heat is causing polar ice caps to melt and this is causing a large biological problem. If they continue to melt, the sea level will rise anywhere from 20-40 feet! This would be devastating because that would mean there would be hundreds of millions of refugees trying to find a place to live. For example; NYC and London, two of the largest cities in the world, would be under water. See ya later Big Ben, have a good swim Statue of Liberty.

Another problem coming with global warming is the political issues. It is dividing the republicans and the democrats even further than before, causing heated political debate over whether the globe is heating, as opposed to working together to find a solution.

The biological issues that come with global warming are overwhelming. It would destroy ecosystems, kill polar bears and penguins, make it mad hot, and the extinction of species.

Buy Used Textbooks

For our last wednesday post, I'm posting about an idea for being green in all semesters to come. Please buy used textbooks. There is no reason that we really must have brand new books every semester. It shouldn't be detrimental for anyone to have to use someone else's books!

So when fall semester comes around, lets all try to do one good thing for the planet if nothing else: buy used textbooks.

-Adrienne

2 for 1 Shampoo! And other ways to cut down in the bathroom

From now on, I want us all to buy two for one shampoos. They really are essentially the same as having separate bottles, one shampoo and one conditioner. After doing some research, I found that if one if seven households replaced its shampoo and conditioner with a single two-in-one bottle, the amount of plastic saved per year could fill a football field 27 stories high (Bankrate's 2007 Living Green, Saving Green Guide)! Just ONE household. If we purchase only one bottle the next time we shop for shampoo and conditioner think about how much we will save collectively! We will not only save immense amounts of plastic but also money!

Another suggestion is to purchase bars of soap rather than bottles of body wash and fancy liquid soaps. I use bar soaps now and they are just as good as liquid washes (especially if you put them on a loofah!). I highly recommend it and it will save tons of plastic!

The final way for us to save in the bathroom is simple. If we change from antiperspirants (deodorant that contains aluminum salts to seal up pores) to aluminum-free deodorant we could save the amount of power that could power a laptop for 30 minutes! This is because aluminum takes a tremendous amount of energy to mine (Bankrate's 2007 Living Green, Saving Green Guide. Make the switch! It will pay off.



Works Cited:

"Bankrate's 2007 Living Green, Saving Green Guide." Bankrate.com. Bankrate, 2007. Web. 4 May 2010. .

-Ellie