China + going green= FAIL

I am not happy with China right now. Actually, I don’t think I ever was really.

TIBET IS NOT YOURS!!! And neither is Taiwan!

China is trying to go green for this summer’s Olympics. They are trying so desperately. As far as I know, China has always had some of the most polluted cities in the world. But nothing was done about it until the Olympics came up.

This is a picture of what I assume Beijing looks like on a regular basis. I’ve seen clips of people riding around in scooters with face masks on in smoggy Beijing. It is really surprising to see people be outside in such horrid air.

Doesn’t China care about their citizens? Why wait until the Olympics to make the air safe for people? Are their green efforts going to even last until AFTER the Olympics? The only reason I am even remotely excited for the Olympics is because I want to see one certain torchbearer. Other than that, China, good luck going green! Or as they say, JIAYOU!

This article in the New York Times says that everyday, monitoring stations across China have to measure air pollution and watch for blue skies day. In the earlier picture, citizens were warned to stay indoors because the air was bad. The day rated at 421, on a scale of 1 being good to 500 being worst.

Of course, people don’t listen especially if they are use to it. What amuses me about the picture is a man is flying a kite. I don’t see blue skies. Overall, I don’t see how life could be possible in that picture yet to Chinese citizens this is normal.

L.A. Times says China is trying to clear up pollution by closing down factories and taking 3 million cars off the road each day. That isn’t enough though. Recently, the Beijing city government has decided to stop construction during the Olympics according to an article on Daily Yomiuri.

I’m not sure if they will actually be able to meet their goal come August 8th, but after the Olympics, the cars will be put back on the streets, construction will start, and factories will open up again.

If it weren’t for the Olympics, the air quality and overall environmental crimes done on their own land will continue.

For example, there is a Chinese company that dumps bubbling white liquid waste in a village.

What is shocking and funny is that the company is supposed to be a green company!!! The “green” company makes polysilicon for solar energy panels to be sold around the world.

According to the article on the Washington Post, stories of environmental pollution are not uncommon.

The government knows bad things are going on yet they continue to turn a blind eye on their citizens.

If this village was anywhere near the foreigners, maybe then they would do something about it. But they are more focused on the Olympics not their people. They don’t want to take any chances on the games not even on the weather.

China wants to make sure it doesn’t rain during the games so they want to seed the clouds. According to National Geographic, “An array of rockets and anti-aircraft guns are used to "seed" clouds with particles to induce rainfall for the country's parched northern region.”

By doing this, they will pull out as much rain before the games so it is dry during the games.

Apparently, during the Vietnam War the U.S. even produced torrential rains on the Ho Chi Minh trail to slow down the opposing side.

Scientists say that human weather modification is done through putting pollutants in the air. So China, we are back to square one, not that you ever left.

"If you have driven your car this morning, you have been cloud seeding because of the particles emitted by your car," said Bruintjes, lead researcher of the Colorado-based National Center for Atmospheric Research's international weather-modification programs.

Good going China! Do you or do you not want to take pollutants out of the air? Although, that quote doesn't make me any better, I did drive.

This is an environmental blog, but since this is my last blog (for now unless I find something interesting to blog about), I will end it off with a music video. It is Beijing Welcomes You, the theme song for the 100 Days Countdown celebration to the Beijing Summer Olympics. It features Jackie Chan, HanGeng (the one percent reason I support the Olympics) and various Chinese stars in various blue and sunny locations in China, quite the opposite from the picture I had above.

FlexibleLove

FlexibleLove is an accordion-like furniture made from recycled materials.
My friend showed me this YT video (Oh, how I love le YouTube). My jaw dropped.



I think this is the coolest thing ever! Then I went onto the FlexibleLove.com website to find out more information.

The furniture is made from recycled paper and wood products. The website says that it is, “…produced using pre-existing manufacturing processes in order to reduce their overall impact on the environment.”

FlexibleLove has a honeycomb structure that can be extended to seat 16 people or collapsed and be put away in a closet.

Flexible is available in FlexibleLove16 or FlexibleLove mini version.

After doing some research, I found out that a Canadian Design team called Molo has made a round brown paper chair and home decorations made from paper. It's all extendable and collapsable. The pictures of their works are very stylish.

Someone has also made similar accordion like chairs out of newspapers and magazines so the concept isn’t exactly new.

Still, it is environmentally friendly. If sold, it will use up all recycled material reducing the carbon footprint.

Insects call each other too.

Well, sort of.

The Environmental News Network has an article entitled Insect use Plants Like a Telephone.

A Dutch ecologist and her colleagues found out that any plant-eating insect can communicate to each other using plants.

Subterranean insects or underground insects emit chemical warning signals using the leaves of plants. When the underground insect does that, aboveground insects are warned that the plant is taken.

Herbivore insects do this to avoid unnecessary competition. Aboveground insects would rather have plants that have not yet been occupied by underground insects which have already eaten the root.

The article says that in recent years it has been found that some aboveground insects have developed slower when they eat plants that have been eaten by an underground insect.

Through this telephone, underground insects can also communicate to parasitic wasps. Aboveground insects are the unfortunate hosts of parasitic wasps who lay eggs inside of them. When signals are emitted from underground insects, it shows wasps where they can find a good host for their egg.

Because the recent studies on insect communication was done in only a few systems, ecologists don’t know how commonly widespread the green telephone is.

Vietnam

Sapa, located in North Vietnam. July 07. Photo taken by someone in my family.

When I went to Vietnam last year, it had only been my third time to the country. I am fortunate to have parents who like traveling so my family and I traveled all throughout Vietnam from the North into the South. Despite the unfortunate third-world country status, it is a truly beautiful country. I don’t think I could have fully and truly appreciated nature until my trip. I hiked mountains which I had never done before. I saw some of the most beautiful country sides, great green mountains and went into caves.

Ha Long Cave. July 07. Photo mine.

Parts of the beautiful scenery are many different plants and trees. There are a lot of different fruits and plants that I have never seen in California so I wanted to share my 3 favorite plants I found in Vietnam.

1. Cay Ca Trung “Fish Egg Tree”

It is known as the Jamaican Cherry Tree in most of the world, but I had only known of it as Cay Ca Trung or literally translated to Fish Egg Tree. The outside is small and red. The inside looks like fish eggs hence the literal Vietnamese name. The fruit is very sweet and VERY sticky. When I went to Vietnam, my younger cousins showed me the fruit. Then we proceeded to have fish egg fights while we were on duck paddle. Very dangerous. And very sticky. The tree was found almost alongside roads. Unfortunately, this tree is rarely seen in North America.

2. Bong Mac Co “Shy Flower”

The second time I had been to Vietnam, this plant amused me to no end. I had never seen anything like it. With a flick of a finger or a kick of the feet, the leaves closed up as if it were alive. I was astonished. A few years later, the plant appeared for my amusement again except in Hawaii! You can grow your own at ticklemeplant.com.

Here is a video I found on YouTube where someone touches the shy leaves.

3. Cay Phuong Do

The woman under the tree is my mom during our trip.

Here in America I’ve seen these trees except in purple. When in season, my whole street blooms into purple. It’s great until the petals fall on the streets and cars causing a slightly sticky mess. In Vietnam, the trees have red flowers. I can’t find the English name and I can’t translate Phuong into English. So my basic translation is Red --- Tree.

Mushrooms clean up pollution

There is a town 130 miles away from San Francisco called Fort Bragg.

That is Fort Bragg. It is quite gorgeous except for the building.

In this town, a pollutant, dioxin, is infesting the area of a former lumber mill.

How do they want to clean the dioxins?

With mushrooms.

There are two types of mushrooms native to the North that is dioxin-degrading:

Turkey Tail:

And Oyster mushrooms:

I eat oyster mushrooms. My family just finished off a 5lb bag of oyster mushrooms last week.

Mushrooms being used to clean up oil spill are nothing new. It is a process called bioremediation. In this process pollution-eating organisms like fungi or green plants are fed with fertilizer, oxygen and anything else that makes it grow faster. As defined on this site, it “uses microorganisms or their enzymes to return the environment altered by contaminants to its original condition.”

However, it hasn’t been used to clean dioxins. Dioxin is the second most toxic man-made chemical. Number one goes to radioactive waste.

There is no safe level of dioxin exposure according to the Department of Toxic Substances Control. Constant exposure to dioxin can lead to cancer.

There is a lot of contaminated soil because of the dioxins made from the lumber mill. Normally contaminated soil gets taken away to be burned or buried.

What the town hopes to do is use the mushrooms by putting it in plots, sprinkled with straw then left alone with the mushrooms spawning. Then, it is supposed to release a threadlike web called mycelium that secretes enzymes which causes the toxins to fall apart.

Since mushrooms haven’t been used to clean dioxins, sometime this year the town will try a test of mushrooms on a truck loads worth of contaminated soil.

Article from New York Times.

Right Whale

This is a picture of a right whale and her calf.

Whales are such magnificent creatures. While watching the news yesterday, a package on whale watching came on. Big dangerous looking creatures, swimming alongside a boat. My mom made a comment that if they wanted to they could easily flip the boat over. But no, they are harmless.

They swim by big man made machineries and mind their own businesses. If I was a whale and saw the ugly ship that does not belong in my home, I’d flip it over. Thank goodness for those ships I’m not a whale. But honestly, I can’t say the same for killer whales.

As kind as most whales are, ships are their predators. One of the most endangered species of whales is the right whale. The name right whale comes from whalers who thought it was the "right" whale to kill. Back in the day it was for the whale's oil, One of the leading two unnatural causes of right whale deaths is getting hit by a ship.

An article from the New York Times says that the National Marine Fisheries Service wants to make speed limits on ships within 30 miles of port. The White House has been lagging on making a decision because shipping companies don’t like it.

In the last 10 years, a third of the right whale population was killed due to ship strikes. With only 350 North Atlantic whales left in the world, scientists warn that an unnatural death of even one breeding female can push North Atlantic right whales into extinction.

Everything is plastic.

Almost once a week there’s always some kind of new report saying that some product I use or eat is not good for me because a certain chemical in it will make me sick or kill me.

I’m over exaggerating. Just a little.

One week coffee is good for me then the next week coffee isn’t. One week chocolate is good for me the next week it isn’t. Antidepressants make people stop being depressed or make them kill themselves all together.

Everything has its’ pros and cons. We eat and buy everything. With everything we consume, how can producers not put pesticides on veggies? They want us to buy, and we won’t buy if it has little holes in it. Even my Asian noodles had issues with it. Chemicals were being put into it to make it a little chewy. Later everyone found out the really delicious noodles have chemicals in it that harm you. I get surprised but not surprised at the same time. You are supposed to eat to live. But maybe some of the stuff I eat will kill me. Then what is there left to eat? I can eat organic food, but they could be lying to me. It’s probably organic by label.

All those toys I played with when I was younger had lead. I’m pretty sure. Most of them were made in China. But hey, I’m not dead now. =) But I love lead!!! All those Mexican candy I bought from the Ice Cream man after elementary school were GOOD.

The National Toxicology Program says this week’s unhealthy substance is Bisphenol A. BisphenolAfree.org says the substance harms people and the environment. BPA, for short, is the major compound used in polycarbonate plastic. The substance can be found in baby bottles, water bottles, and as liner in a lot of canned food. The BPA can leak out of the can into your food. BPA can cause problems in human development and reproduction.

So basically, this week’s unhealthy product is BABY BOTTLES. I am not surprised. Baby bottles are hard and clear. I could put it in the microwave and it didn’t break down. That’s not natural. To me, that’s an obvious sign of: possible harmful ingredient.

After studying plastics by animal testing (Great…), scientists found out that when the womb was exposed to BPA, there were chances of developing certain cancers and childhood behavioral changes such as hyperactivity.

Canada is considering banning all baby bottles that contain bisphenol A. For now, the U.S. has no plans on doing so.

In this article, BPA can be found in your teeth too. A small amount of it is used in fillings and sealants.

Nothing is natural anymore. Not the food we eat. Not the things we buy. Not even people.

I got this blog idea from: http://www.thegreenguide.com/blog/lowdown/1309

Los Angeles a green city?

Is that possible? I can’t imagine L.A. being anything but gray let alone green.

I guess my imagination isn’t as vivid as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa though.

The Mayor wants to cut down greenhouse gas to 30 percent below what it was in 1990 by 2030.

His plan is to make developers whose building projects are 50 units or 50,000 square feet to make their buildings up to green standards set by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).

On April 22, the L.A. city council voted and passed the law.

Apparently, by 2012 this new law will cut carbon dioxide emissions by 80,000 tons which is about taking 15,000 cars off the road.

L.A. isn’t the only city in the sunshine state trying to get the “biggest green city in the country” title. Next month, San Francisco will act on a similar new building standard. San Francisco’s plans are suppose to be stricter, but if both cities succeed, Los Angeles will make a bigger impact since there are 4 million people in L.A. and 800,000 people in San Francisco.

I don’t know if it’s possible to make L.A. even a bit green, but if Villaraigosa succeeds, that will be incredible.

Until then, he will have to make me and everyone else a believer.

Random tidbit on the same topic, the LA Times reports that the Vatican now says air pollution is being added to the list of “new sins”.

Reuters Blog: http://blogs.reuters.com/environment/2008/04/23/la-to-be-greenest-big-us-city/

Can’t smell the roses?

Pollution has always been a health hazard for humans but also for insects.

A new study has found that the growing levels of air pollution has reduced the potency of flower fragrances by up to 90 percent compared to pre-industrial levels in the U.S.

Pollinators like bees and butterflies locate flowers by their fragrance. With more pollution in the air, pollinators will have a harder time locating flowers and feeding off of the nectar.

If insects can’t find flower food, the lack of insect movements will not pollinate other plant species.

Air pollution has decreased the distance flower scents travel in the wind from almost 3,600 feet when pollution was first recorded in the mid-19th century to an average of 700 feet in large cities.

Air pollution is worse on “code red” days during the summer.

One of the biggest pollutants is the ozone. Ozone is created when air filled with pollutants and sunlight reacts together.

When the scent molecules a flower creates bond with pollutants, the process breaks down the scent thus causing the scent not to travel far and potency level to drop.

Article from National Geographic: Scentless Spring? Flower Smells Blocked by Pollution

“Green” Cellphones

Metals from aluminum cans. Casing made of plastic from bottles. Rubber key mats made from car tires.

That is what makes up Nokia’s green cell phone, ReMade, according to this article on Environmental News Network..

ReMade is made up of 100 percent recycled parts. There will be no need to make new parts which will stop manufacturers from using more natural resources. Not only that, landfills will be reduced.

Unfortunately, recycled phones like ReMade will not be in stores anytime soon; maybe in another few years. Markus Terho, a director at Nokia's environmental affairs unit, said that because there are not a lot of recycled materials in a large quantity, they can’t make it for market consumption.

Apparently, 40 to 60 percent of Nokia’s current phones already use recycled materials.

According to this article, by 2007, Nokia saved over $150 million on material and transportation costs just by going green. Financial gains from going green will persuade other phone companies to go green too.

Even though the motive is green (as in cash), I like the idea that the world will be greener because of it.

Here's the Nokia promo for ReMade. It's a pretty cool looking phone. I just hope I don't break it.

Earth Day PSA

This is my Earth Day 2008 PSA on Recycling.

I know the aim was :30-:60 but I went over by 4 seconds. I made my brother help me out and I sort of starved him a bit. He's a good first time actor under a really horrible director. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.

Algae as a hydrogen fuel source?

At the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, scientists are trying to chemically manipulate algae to produce hydrogen gas.

Certain varieties of algae have an enzyme called hydrogenase which can make small amounts of hydrogen gas.

What scientists are trying to do is first take that hydrogenase enzyme out of the algae and put it into a photosynthesis process.

Sunlight + Algae = Hydrogen fuel

If successful, the amount of hydrogen fuel created with the enzymes by photosynthesis could be as much oxygen that is created.

An advantage of algae over another alternative fuel, ethanol, is algae can be grown in any closed system from rooftops to deserts.

Algae just need water to grow so it won’t cause any environmental damages like crops which needs a lot of soil and time to harvest.

Algae has no sulfur, is non toxic and biodegradable.

In this article, UC Berkeley found out in 2000 that hydrogen fuel would be a very attractive alternative to fossil fuels because it is renewable and environmentally friendly.

"Hydrogen is so clean-burning that what comes out of the exhaust pipe is pure water. You can drink it,"said Tasios Melis, a UC Berkeley professor.

To read the full article, go here at the Environmental News Network.

Ethanol.

This is a music video by a Japanese group called Lead. "STAND UP!" has a corn throughout the video which is promoting ethanol.

What is ethanol exactly? I asked myself this question. When I found out about it a few years ago, all I knew was it was an alternative fuel made with corn. The other thought was, it’s going to save me gas and that sounded really good. Recently though, I noticed ethanol is suppose to have consequences. Because I don’t know much about it and want to learn more, I researched some advantages and disadvantages on ethanol.

Advantages

1. This alternative fuel is renewable.

2. The energy density of ethanol is higher than other alternative fuels. Because it is higher, less volume is required to go the same distance.

3. The agricultural economies can be improved because it will help certain farmers, for example those who produce sugar beets and maize, have a steady market.

4. No dependence on foreign oil!!!

Disadvantages

1. It has a short shelf-life. If the fuel does not get replaced within a certain amount of time, it can corrode at the engine.

2. Ethanol has a smaller energy density than gas. This means it takes longer for ethanol to travel a certain distance than gas.

3. It takes up a lot of water. This can damage your engine.

4. Ethanol burning could increase emissions of certain types of pollutants.

5. Ethanol is expensive to make. A lot of land is needed to grow crops. This would be a problem in developing countries because it would compete with food production. Crops are also vulnerable to bad weather, insects, and droughts. Also, a lot of water is needed to convert crops into ethanol.

6. Corn production is bad for the environment. It causes more soil erosion than any other crop in the nation.

I guess after researching, ethanol is going to need a lot more work before it should be used as an alternative fuel. If you do not take care of ethanol in your engine, it causes harm to your vehicles. Producing the crops needed for ethanol is bad for the environment. I suppose the dependence on foreign oil will have to continue.

Most of my information I got from this site.

Giving newspapers a second life.

This is a paper-mache trash bin made of Japanese newspapers. I kind of want it.

I found a 5 Ways to Reuse Newspaper blog on the DIY Diva section of the National Geographic website.

1. Clean your windows. I haven't tried this. But the person wrote that instead of using paper towels, crumpled newspapers are just as good and they will make glass and mirrors shine. Maybe I'll try that later.

2. Substitute shredded or crumpled paper for Styrofoam. Put newspapers through paper shredders as substitute for Styrofoam peanuts.

3. Store fragile dishware. Fold squares of newspapers and use it to put between plates and bowls to protect them.

4. Start a barbecue. Instead of putting chemical lighter fluid, light crumpled pieces of newspapers and the briquettes will light themselves.

5. Make "tablecloths." I’ve been using newspapers as tablecloths religiously. If it’s just me and my family eating, we put newspapers on the table and it protects the table from scratches when setting up food. Little spills will land on the newspaper, and if we eat fish, the newspaper is there to put the bones on. After we’re done, we throw it away and the table looks really good as new.

NOW FOR MY TIPS!!

1. Place them on the stove when frying. Of course, don’t let the paper touch the actual stove that would be dangerous. At my house, we take the newspapers, fold them up and put it around the stove. That way when we fry fish, chicken, egg rolls, whatever, the oil goes onto the sheets. When done, roll it up and throw it away. Cleaning up oil can be messy business. Newspapers will help keep the mess less.

2. Keep them in the car. My favorite thing to use newspapers for is when it rains. The floor of my car gets pretty dirty. Even though I already have car liners, I still like keeping it extra clean. So when it rains, I put a few newspapers on top of my liners. Second is going to the beach. I love sand on my feet but not in my car.

3. Keeping fragile Christmas decorations safe. It could be any fragile home decoration. Wrapping little townspeople and houses in newspapers is good to keep it from breaking. Wrap ornaments in newspapers then shove in crumpled newspapers for cushion. Place in box. Done.

The Beauty of Ugly

First here’s the preview of the episode on the Nature program with some pretty interesting animals I had never seen before along with the “ugly” animals you already know and love.

I am so sorry I did not know about this special. I watched the preview for it and wish I could have watched it when it came on TV on Nov.15 of last year. Oh well.

Of all the animals they showed, the one animal that shocked me the most was this…

Looking at this picture makes me want to cry.

I have never seen it in my entire life, and I honestly never want to see it. I think I will run away faster than if I saw a horseshoe crab. (see that blog below)

This animal is called the star-nosed mole. This nearly blind animal has 22 tentacles. This mole can found in the wetlands and marshes of eastern America.

Here’s the segment with this odd, odd, odd, (Yes, extra ‘odd’) creature on the program.

If I were its’ prey, I’d probably die of a heart attack first before it gobbled me up within a few seconds. It takes the mole a quarter of a second to eat a snack. Yikes.

Ice Shelf

A big iceberg is about to break off from Antarctica.

It measures 25 miles by 1.5 miles.

The iceberg is located on the southern portion of the peninsula of Wilkins Ice Shelf, one of the biggest ice shelves in Antarctica that has been recently threatened.

A glaciologist who was watching the satellites images of Wilkins ice shelf saw a piece of the shelf about 25 miles by 1.5 miles was breaking off. This poses a danger because now the rest of Wilkins ice shelf is at the risk of collapsing. Wilkins Ice shelf is about the size of Northern Ireland!

The problem with icebergs breaking off is sea level rises. If all land ice melted, sea level would rise up to 230 feet.

According to this article from 2005, a study found that 84 percent of Antarctica’s glaciers were retreating in the last 50 years because of a warmer climate. In that past 50 years, Antarctica had warmed up over 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit.

Here are facts taken from MSN:
-Glaciers is where about 75 percent of the world’s fresh water is stored.
-Antarctica ice is more than 2.4 miles thick in some areas.
-Almost 10 percent of Earth’s land is covered with glaciers.
-During the Last ice Age, 32 percent of Earth’s land was covered with glaciers.

To read the entire article click here.

Spring is here!

…ALREADY!?!?

Yes. Spring has come. Today, March 20, is the first day of Spring.

It’s hard to tell today is the first day of Spring, unless you notice the blooming flowers.

Since this past winter was actually wetter, this year could be a good year for desert wildflowers.

There are two places this article mentions to go flower watching. For a California road trip, go to Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, about 70 miles northeast of Los Angeles. The area received over nine inches of rain, more than it gets in a span of a year. To kill two birds with one stone, go to Vegas where you can gamble and flower watch. Half an hours drive away from Las Vegas is the Mojave desert.

The early Spring arrival brings lots of pretty flowers but for biologists it brings worry.

According to seattlepi.com, the early spring is affecting plants and animals.

"The alarm clock that all the plants and animals are listening to is running too fast," Stanford University biologist Terry Root said.

According to National Geographic, Spring has been coming earlier and earlier each year due to global warming. The early season is a sign of what humans are doing to the earth.

Global warming has been speeding up phenology or the biological timing.

First it affects plants phenology. Because of the warming temperatures, flowers are blooming a lot earlier then it is suppose to. In Washington D.C., cherry blossoms are expected to bloom by the end of this month. However just 30 years ago, the trees waited to blossom around April 5th.

Animal’s biological timing is being sped up too. The National Geographic article from earlier says that in central California, butterflies have been emerging around March 12th. The butterflies usually emerge sometime between mid-april to mid-may. That was 25 years ago.

The seattlepi.com article says that scientists have been able to tell the season comes earlier from looking at the “green-up” or when lands are turning green from outer space. Since 1982, Spring has been arriving an eight hours earlier every year.

The pretty flowers coming early are fine by me, but since global warming is really the cause, I’d rather wait until a later date for plants and flowers to emerge like Mother Nature intended.

Oh, and if you have allergies, more flowers means more pollen, so good luck with that.

Recycle!!!

Today my Dad recycled. It's nothing new. He’s been doing it for as long as I can remember.

He never did it as a concern for the environment. It was more for some extra cash on the side. It’s a little bit of money, but when we were tight with the budget when I was younger, a little cash went a long way.

Even until now we have the habit of recycling everything from cans to cardboard. We have a separate bin for cans. There is a big trash bag for the white glass bottles and another for the green bottles. In the garage there is a mini mountain of cardboard.

All of it adds up to a decent amount. Apparently, some people do know the value. Last year someone even stole the cans from my yard! Nearly 40 dollars worth of cans! That scared us though because we kept our gate closed and locked. No one saw who stole it either.

When I think about it, even though we recycle for money, it’s nice to know that we are helping the environment out as well. Many more people should do it. I don’t know why more people don’t do it, but it’s pretty simple. All you have to do is keep things separated then bring it to the recycling center.

Unfortunately today I think my Dad got ripped off for all the hard work of recycling he did. I saw his truck earlier filled with bags of the recyclables.

This is the breakdown of the receipt:
Aluminum cans - 6.5 lbs for $1.75 = $11.38
Glass bottles – 75.5 lbs for $0.105 ( That’s it for GLASS!?) = $7.93
Plastic- 8 lbs. for $0.90 = $7.20
Total: $26.51

My advice: If you do recycle, don’t bring it to Garcia Recycling Center & Metal, Inc. you won’t get your efforts worth.


Here is a commercial for recycling by a cute Japanese girl group I like, Perfume, with their song Polyrhythm.



Here is a link on Creative Ways to Recycle on The Latest Magazine.com

To bar or to liquid? That is my question.

For as long as I can remember, I always used a bar of soap. Then it would get down to a little tiny piece. I would try to use the rest of it only to fail. The little piece would slip out of my hand or just break in half, running down the drain. What a waste. I thought, if all the little pieces of all my previous bar soaps came together, I’d have one whole bar soap. Probably.

Then a few years ago, the answer to my problems came in the form of liquid body wash! No more dropping my bar of soap. No more wasting what bit of soap I had left. I wouldn’t feel guilty about bar soap leftovers being unusable because now I could use the soap down to the very last drop. The soap god heard my prayers.

I have a problem now though with my new found friend, the plastic bottle of liquid soap. With the bar of soap, I only had to throw away the paper. I could have even burnt the paper if I wanted to then it would have gone into the air. With the liquid soap, there’s this big imposing plastic bottle. Of course, some liquid soap bottles are made from recyclable plastic. However, it doesn’t make me feel less guilty that I have killed enough plastic trees what with all the other plastic containers in the house.

Maybe if I revert back to the bar soap in it’s more environmentally friendly paper box, I could save one little plastic tree in my lifetime.

Horseshoe Crab

This is a horseshoe crab. Doesn't it look kind of scary? A few years back I saw this scary looking crab on some random bands video diary.

Random band guy picked it up and said, " What is this thing!? I don't even wanna f****** know what that is! All I know is those are fangs and teeth!"

The crab scared me. Even looking at it now scares me. It might be the army helmet with spikes looking exoskeleton it has to protect it's fragile insides...


However creepy it might look, it is apparently quite harmless and endanger.

Yesterday while eating my yummy Vietnamese noodles, I was watching the Nature program on KCET entitled, 'Crash: A Tale of Two Species'.

The horseshoe crab have been living on earth since 350 million years ago. It has 10 eyes spread around its body. This includes near its mouth, on its tail, and on top of the shell.

Besides it's odd appearance, it has odd insides too, for example, it's tube-like heart. Going through the heart would be it's blue blood.

The blue blood actually is quite beneficial to humans. Scientists use an extract of the blue blood, lysate, in labs for cancer research and testing for bacterial contamination.


According to the program, a quart of the blue blood costs up to $15,000!!!

I learned that this species is endangered because it is being over fished. Fisherman's use the flesh as bait for conch and eels. The high demand for conch and eels has caused an over harvest of the horseshoe crab. Scientists are trying to create a new bait that tastes like the horseshoe crab, but in a form of gelatin.


Program website:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/crash/anatomy.html

I hate smog.

All I see is gray. Gray buildings and gray streets. Eventually, the world won’t be painted anymore. The blue skies will be filled with ugly tall buildings against a backdrop of smog. At least that’s what I see when I get into Los Angeles.

When I went to the Getty Museum a few years ago, I remember looking out at Los Angeles and being able to see the buildings on the left and the ocean to my right. The view was spectacular. The ocean blue was sparkling and I could see the mountains. It was great until I started focusing on the layer of smog.

Smog almost always ruins my view. Whenever I look as far as I can into the sky, I always see smog. And it depresses me.

One time last semester when I was driving up the 57 freeway to school, I actually saw the snowy mountains in the background. I was truly surprised. I never ever noticed it was there so on that one clear, cold day, everyone was lucky to see it, but probably not a lot of people noticed it. The mountains looked close enough for me to drive to. The snowy mountains were enticing.

Unfortunately, on a warm day like yesterday, the smog completely covers it up. The mountains disappear. It was as if it never existed there before. It is frightening to know that there is a huge possibility that one day the smog will never clear up and unveil those mountains to me from where I live anymore.

No to synthetic turf?

Can you tell the difference between the grass and the turf?

A few weeks ago I saw on the news about a dispute over fake grass. A few residents in Newport Beach thought that it would be wise to save water and money by going green, albeit fake green.

According to the article in the OC Register, half of the water used by an average house in Orange County goes to irrigation. Putting synthetic grass can save up to 20,000 gallons of water annually. That makes me want to put in fake grass right now. Especially since my mom just nagged to me last week about the high cost of heating and water bills in my house.

To me, and to those residents, it seems logical money wise and environmental wise to put in the grass, but board members of the Newport Hills Community Association hate it. They say the grass is ugly so the three residents are being fined up to $1,000 and maybe more later on.

I think that's lame. These people did what they thought was sensible. The residents spent $10,000 to put in synthetic turf to save money and save water. If those three residents each use 20,000 gallons of water annually, with the turf, they would be saving 60,000 gallons of water together!

The article also says, "Imitation grass has slowly popped up across the county in recent years as policymakers fret about degraded seawater health and the potential for water shortages."

Saving water is very important. Just last week, my mom has been hearing rumors that Orange County has such a shortage of water that there is a possibility we will be using recycled toilet water. Days after, I overheard my dad telling her he read somewhere that an anonymous city in Orange County is already using recycled toilet water.

I don't know if the water shortage is that bad, but if it resorts to me using toilet water for anything other then toilet water, I am in favor of everyone putting fake grass in their yards.

Here is the link to the article: http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/money/housing/article_1963397.php

Why I am interested in environmental reporting

The environment is important. It is life. People have to remember that before humans graced this earth, there was Mother Nature. Mother Nature takes care of us and we should take care of her. Animals lived on this planet before we did, but we take worse care of it then animals ever did. We as humans are practically ruining our own home.

I think until recently, a lot of people didn’t know about conserving energy or how to reduce pollution. I did not know until I saw reports on it.

The world needs someone to inform the public about the world they live in. Whatever it is whether people, animals, or the environment, people should not be ignorant about the world they live in. If it wasn’t for someone going out researching how would anyone really know what was going on with the environment. Of course, there are environmental journalists but not a lot.

I am not a scientist. I just love nature. Even if I don’t always think about it, I truly enjoy nature. When I get a chance to be outdoors, I relish in the feeling of seeing green and feeling wind in my hair. It is usually better when there aren’t a lot of people around. It is the best feeling regardless. However, whenever I am enjoying it, I can’t help but wonder how long the green will really last.

Maybe this class will help me help inform people about the environment. That is why I want to learn environmental reporting.

Welcome to Nhu's environmental blog. Happy reading ^^