Category: Uncategorized

I was scrolling through Twitter when I came across an article by National Geographic about a whale that washed up in the Philippines with 88 pounds of plastic in its stomach. The poor thing was vomiting blood as it reached the shore. According to marine mammal expert Darrell Blatchley, “plastic was just bursting out of its stomach.” Inside its stomach were 16 rice sacks, plastic bags, snack bags, and nylon rope. The thought of the whale ingesting all of that is heartbreaking. Because the plastic took up the majority of the space in the whale’s stomach, it was starving and dehydrated. Because the whale’s stomach acid could not break down the plastic, the acid had worn holes in the stomach lining. It is sad that this is not the only case. Before this whale, there were 45 other whales in the Davao Gulf who died from ingesting plastic. That is 45 deaths too many. Because there is a lot of fishing in that region, there is not a lot of food for whales to eat. As a result, the whales are more likely to eat the plastic. Whales are not the only victim. UNESCO reports that plastic pollution causes the death of 100,000 marine animals each year.

Image by D’ Bone Collector Museum Inc.

Humans are not only harming marine animals. They are also harming the bees. You may remember two years ago that Cheerios participated in the “Bring Back the Bees Campaign.” They wanted to raise awareness of the decline of bees. Cheerios decided to include seeds with each cereal box. In addition, they decided to release a special edition of Honey Nut Cheerios with Buzz the Bee missing; this was to educate the public of the decline of these pollinators. They wanted to encourage people to help rebuild habitats for bees by planting seeds that can grow into flowers. According to GreenPeace, 80 percent of pollination is performed by bees. They have an important role in pollinating crops. While there are an arrary of factors for the decline of bees, humans and and habitat loss are the two main factors. Bee hive colonies typically lose a percentage of their bees in the winter, and gain some back in the spring when reproduction speeds up. However in the winter, bee losses in the U.S. have reached 30-50 percent and sometimes even more. In one case, beekeeper David Hackenberg reported a 90 percent die-off from his 3,000 hives. Pesticides also causes the decline of bees. Unfortunately, there is not much being done because of how profitable the chemical industry is right now. GreenPeace has offered some ways to help protect the bees:

1. Ban the seven most dangerous pesticides.
2. Protect pollinator health by preserving wild habitat.
3. Restore ecological agriculture.

Cheerios and Nature Valley also have some ways on how we can turn our yards into habitats for the bees:

1. Leave patches of bare ground and brush piles in an area free from pesticides.
2. Plant flowers! They provide the nectar and pollen that pollinators feed on.
3. Make sure to grow a mix of flowers, shrubs, and trees with overlapping bloom times to support pollinators from spring through fall.
4. Learn about what plants are best for your region by visiting the Xerces Society website Pollinator Conservation Resource Center!

As Cheerios have said, “We need the bees…. People need bees. And now the bees need people.”

The actions of humans can have severe consequences; this is seen with the extensive list of endangered species. For years, the Giant Panda has been an endangered species. Recently, they have been moved to the vulnerable category, which is a step up from being endangered. However, they are still at risk. According to the Wild World Fund for Nature, there are only 1,864 pandas left in the wild. That is not a particularly large number. The reason why there are so few pandas left is because of habitat destruction. The forests that pandas lived in were logged for timber or cleared for agriculture and infrastructure. Roads and railways were built that cut into the forests. Forests were broken apart. This isolated panda populations and prevented them to breed. The destruction of these forests are also causing bamboo to die off, the main source of food for pandas. It is hard to imagine that this is not only happening to Giant Pandas, but to many other species as well. While it is good that we are taking action to protect these endangered species, it is sad that it even had to get to this point. Humans caused a lot of these species to be endangered.

Image by Karin Lehnardt

How can we humans have such disregard for wildlife? We would not treat our domestic pets like this, so why should we treat wildlife this way. Just because we are not directly hurting wildlife does not mean our actions do not contribute to its harm. We need to protect wildlife and keep them safe.  

 

 

In one of my English classes back in high school, my class had to read Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. Silent Spring is a book that informs the destructive effects that pesticides and other chemicals have on the environment. Rachel Carson was an author and a marine biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Image by Alfred Eisenstaedt/Time Life Pictures, via Getty Images

In Silent Spring, Carson warns against the harmful effects of pesticides, specifically DDT. DDT was first developed in 1940. According to the National Resources Defense Council, it was created for use during World War II to combat malaria-causing insects for U.S. troops. Unlike normal pesticides at the time, DDT was able to kill hundreds of insects at once. It was made available for civilian use in 1945. As the Environmental Protection Agency reports, “It also was effective for insect control in crop and livestock production, institutions, homes, and gardens.”

What originally caused Carson to write Silent Spring is the increase use of pesticides and a letter she received from a friend informing her the amount of large bird deaths in the Cape Cod area due to DDT sprayings.

The book is primarily about the negative effects that pesticides have on ecosystems, but it also covers the effects it has on humans. Carson explains in her book how pesticides have a harmful impact on animals and how it contaminates the world’s food supply. Once DDT enters the fatty tissue of humans, it can cause cancer and other genetic damage because of the carcinogens it contains. In one chapter, Carson explains how insects become resistant and immune to the pesticides, becoming super insects. To combat that, more harmful pesticides are introduced. In addition, some birds whose diet contains insects are also harmed from the chemicals. Carson explains how areas that once were filled with the chirping of birds are now silent. In other areas, what was once beautiful vegetation are now weeds due to the pesticides. In another chapter, Carson vividly reports how she saw a plane dumping tons of chemicals onto a field right next to a house where children were playing outside. No one realized the dangers of these chemicals.

Image by Pesticide Action Network 

Silent Spring made a lasting impact on U.S. culture regarding pesticides. Carson’s ideas were not widely supported at the time. It was met with a lot of resistance from chemical companies. Others attacked Carson’s character and questioned her credentials. They thought Carson was a crazy woman who manipulated scientific facts to prove her argument. She was even called a “communist.” However, Silent Spring was able to raise public awareness on the harmful effects that pesticides had on the environment. Even JFK read Silent Spring. Because he knew the significant impact Silent Spring could have, JFK had the Scientific Advisory Committee look into Carson’s claims in the book. The Committee released a report that supported the ideas in Silent Spring.

Silent Spring started an environmental movement in the 1960’s. The Environmental Defense Fund was created to campaign against DDT. Then in 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency was created. Because of the health effects on wildlife, DDT is no longer used as reported by the National Pesticide Information Center.

To this day, the use of pesticides is still affecting the environment. Recently, PHYS ORG reported how pesticides were affecting the genes in bees. A study reports how even in low doses, pesticides are detrimental to a bee’s survival because it hinders a bee’s ability to get pollen and ability to find their nests. This is dangerous because bees are already on a decline and are essential in keeping stability in ecosystems. We need to be diligent in our evaluation of pesticides. According to Michigan Health Lab, a study indicates that pesticide exposure can increase the progression of ALS.

It is hard to believe that it has been 50 years since DDT has been banned and pesticides are still negatively affecting our environment. While it is neither realistic nor reasonable to get rid of all pesticides, we should reduce how much we use them. If we can, we should try to use safer alternatives. The Pesticide Control Program in New Jersey offers some alternative methods:

Back in high school, we had to do a lab in chemistry where we had to make smog. I did not even know what smog was. My teacher said that it was a type of air pollution. Some countries, such as China have a severe smog problem, which caused some concerns when China was getting ready for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

According to National Geographic, smog is air pollution that reduces visibility. In the atmosphere, it has a light brownish color. In the 19th century smog was a mixture of fog and smoke; the smoke comes from burning coal, which is why it was very common in industrial cities. It still remains pretty well known to cities today. Most of the smog we see today is known as photochemical smog: air pollution that is produced when sunlight reacts with nitrogen oxides and a volatile organic compound in the atmosphere. Car exhausts and powerplants can produce nitrogen oxides, while VOC’s are released from products, such as gasoline. Smog is also very hazardous to our health. Smog can be very dangerous if inhaled in large amounts. It contains a pollutant called ozone, which in large amounts can have severe impacts on your lungs. Smog usually appears in the summer in the US. However, in countries like England, they can experience smog even in the winter.

Image by Daniel Stein/Istock/Getty Images

Air quality was a major concern during the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing, China. The world’s most populated country is bound to have a lot of air pollution. It is just the nature of the beast. According to PBS, 60% of power that China uses is from burning coal. China also had an increase in auto traffic, which contribute to the poor air quality. The World Bank estimated in 2007 that 350,000 to 400,000 Chinese die prematurely due to air pollution. That is why there was a lot of concern about the impacts that the polluted air could have on the Olympic athletes. Some countries even made arrangements for their athletes to practice in neighboring countries. Beijing has tried to implement some restrictions to increase the quality of the air. Factories near Beijing were ordered to shut down before the games, restrictions on the use of private automobiles was implemented, technicians even practiced seeding clouds to bring rain. The poor quality of air is a norm in China. I visited China a few years back and many people wore surgical masks to protect themselves from the polluted air.

Image by the Wall Street Journal

China is not the only one that has problems with air quality. Recently, California’s air quality also has been poor. This is due to the smoke from the wildfires, which is a whole other environmental concern. As CBS reported, smoke from these fires are full of particles that can cause health problems, such as heart and lung diseases. This can be especially dangerous for people with asthma and pregnant women because smoke travels through the bloodstream, and it can get to almost any organ once it gets past the air blood barrier in the lungs. The air quality in California was so severe because of how long the fires lasted along with the winds that helped spread the smoke. Everything that had been burned by these fires was in the smoke, so there was a lot of chemicals in the air.  CNN reported that the amount of air pollution that the fires caused is equivalent to the amount of pollution produced from vehicles in a year from California.

Air pollution is a huge health hazard. That is why we need to work together to reduce it. Air is a necessity, we cannot just push the problem of air pollution aside. Don’t you want to live in a world where everyone has access to clean air? Every choice we make, such as driving and using air conditioning affects the environment. Now I am not saying you should never do any of those things, but we can limit how much we are doing those things. The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services has come up with a list of steps you can take to help reduce air pollution:

• Conserve energy – remember to turn off lights, computers, and electric appliances when not in use.
• Use energy efficient light bulbs and appliances.
• Participate in your local utility’s energy conservation programs.
• Limit driving by carpooling, using public transportation, biking and walking.
• Combine errands for fewer trips.
• Keep your automobile well tuned and maintained. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions on routine maintenance, such as changing the oil and filters, and checking tire pressure and wheel alignment.
• Avoid excessive idling of your automobile.
• Use electric or hand-powered lawn care equipment.
• Be careful not to spill gasoline when filling up your car or gasoline powered lawn and garden equipment.
• Run dishwashers and clothes washers only when full.
• Choose environmentally friendly cleaners.
• Use water-based or solvent free paints whenever possible and buy products that say “low VOC”.
• Seal containers of household cleaners, workshop chemicals and solvents, and garden chemicals to prevent volatile organic compounds from evaporating into the air.
• Purchase and use low-polluting outboard marine engines and personal watercraft (4-stroke and direct fuel injection 2-stroke outboard marine engines).
• Advocate for emission reductions from power plants and more stringent national vehicle emission standards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back in high school, we had to watch Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth in English. While we were more focused on studying his use of rhetoric, the content of the documentary is something that the public should be educated about.

An Inconvenient Truth is a documentary where Al Gore tries to inform the public on environmental issues, such as global warming and climate change. He tries to convey how significant of an issue climate change and global warming is using a slide show format. Al Gore provides lots of graphs, charts, and other visuals to show the changes in Earth due to global warming.  He uses a lot of personal experiences and ties them with the environmental issues he talks about. He also tries to use humor to explain the greenhouse effect, which was effective because it makes people more willing to listen to his argument about the subject. While discussing the effects of global warming, Al Gore also stresses that it is a moral issue. He believes that significant consequences will be produced from global warming if humans continue to generate large amount of greenhouse gases. He reports how carbon dioxide levels are already higher now than ever before. While there are many critics to global warming, Al Gore brings up how severe flooding can result and how different types of animals would be more vulnerable. Gore concludes by arguing how if we take action soon and plant more vegetation to consume the carbon dioxide, then the effects of global warming can be reversed. In the film, Al Gore said “each one of us is a cause of global warming, but each one of us can make choices to change that with the things we buy, the electricity we use, the cars we drive; we can make choices to bring our individual carbon emissions to zero. The solutions are in our hands, we just have to have the determination to make it happen. We have everything that we need to reduce carbon emissions, everything but political will. But in America, the will to act is a renewable resource.” This really sums up what we as society needs to do. While, there are many people that are skeptical of global warming, wouldn’t you think it is better to be safe than sorry. It is not that hard to reduce your carbon footprint. It is as easy as driving less or planting a garden. Do not let that be an inconvenience to you. It is easier to prevent something that you know can happen then, trying to fix it after the fact.

Image by Eric Lee/Paramount Classics

Fast forward 12 years. The environment is changing faster than ever. There are more fires, intenser hurricanes, droughts, changes in precipitation patterns, and more. You may have heard of the recent wildfires in California. They were so severe because of climate change. The wildfires in California were one of the most severe and deadliest wildfire in state history. California faced a very dry summer and fall. Combined with the timber-dry forests, howling winds, and high temperatures, a disaster is just waiting to occur. Something as little as a tossed cigarette bud is all you need for a wildfire to start. This spark combined with the current conditions California had was the perfect combination for a deadly wildfire. As Inside Climate News reported, the fire so far chased 200,000 people out of their homes in LA, killed 86 people, and destroyed 14,000 homes. “If the global gas emissions continued at such a high rate, the frequency of wildfire would increase by nearly 50 percent. The average area burned by wildfires would increase 77% by 2100.”

 

Image by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The are also have been more hurricanes with greater intensities. While, there is not much evidence that there is a correlation between climate change and hurricane frequency, there is a link between climate change and hurricane intensity. Hurricanes gain energy from warm water, so it is not a surprise that higher sea surface temperatures have resulted in intense hurricanes. Rising sea levels due to global warming also made flooding more likely. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy came to be. It was a category 3 storm. CNN reported that Hurricane Sandy affected 24 states and cost $71 billion in damages. Sandy was the tenth hurricane in the Atlantic hurricane season. In 2017, Hurricane Harvey hit. Hurricane Harvey was a category 4 hurricane that hit Texas. 13 million people were affected from Texas through Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Hurricane Irma also occurred in 2017. It was also a category 5 storm when it hit Barbuda. Hurricane Irma was the strongest Atlantic basin hurricane outside the Gulf Coast of Mexico and the Caribbean Coast. What set Irma apart from other hurricanes is that it was able to stay so powerful for so long. It was a category 5 storm for three days. It sustained 185 mile per hour winds. The majority of destruction and deaths occurred in the Caribbean, also affecting Cuba and the Florida Keys. 

 

 

We all have heard about the government shutdown. Recently there was a government shutdown as a result of a disagreement on border security between the Democrats and Republicans. Trump, backed up by Republicans wanted a bill funding the construction of a wall on the Mexican border. Democrats were opposed to such a bill. On December 22, 2018, the shutdown began when Democrats refused to support a continuing resolution that included $5 billion for a new border wall. The shutdown has impacted hundreds of thousands of federal employees and has had significant consequences.

Unfortunately, the parts of the government that face the shutdown includes the interior and environment. During the shutdown, many national parks had to be left ungated and unsupervised. The effects due to limited resources are horrifying. One of the differences between this shutdown and previous ones is that the parks were still open to the public, they were just extremely understaffed. Nothing was able to be maintained. They was garbage and human feces everywhere.

 

Image by Kevin N. Hume/Examiner

 

With some of these national parks, it can take hundreds of years to undo the damages that selfish humans have caused during the shutdown. The park that was most affected during the shutdown was the Joshua Tree National Park. Joshua trees live up to 150 years in the deserts of Southern California. There is even one that is believed to have lived up to 1000 years. It can take damaged trees up to 300 years to recover. The true nature of some people was apparent during the shutdown. According to Smithsonian, with little to none staff to enforce the rules and supervise the parks, “people used off-road vehicles in sensitive areas, camped illegally all over the park and even chopped down some Joshua Trees, which is currently considered for inclusion on the endangered species list.” It is horrible to see how reckless humans can be when rules aren’t being enforced, especially when their actions have a significantly negative impact. This should not be justified as ignorance. You can not just go out and destroy parts of the environment. Soon after, the Joshua Tree National Park announced that is would close completely to protect its natural resources. The park’s superintendent David Smith reported “we have two new roads that were created inside the park. We had destruction of government property with the cutting of chains and locks for people to access campgrounds. We’ve never seen this level of out-of-bounds camping. Every day use area was occupied every evening… Joshua trees were actually cut down in order to make new roads.” People are also graffitiing rocks and starting campfires in illegal areas. What are people doing? Just because no one is there to tell you no, does not mean it is alright to do this. Through some readjustments, the park decided not to close. There is still concern that this entire cycle will occur again once the government’s three week resolution is over. Even worse, these trees might not even get to recover due to climate change.

 

Image by Gina Ferazzi via Getty Images

 

There has been some criticism at the government for refusing to close the parks when they do not have the funds to pay employees and protect the natural habitat. This is not too surprising, since the current administration does not seem to care much about the environment: pulling out of the Paris Climate agreement.

Joshua Tree National Park is only one of many national parks who have suffered severe damages during the shutdown. Pacific Standard reports others who have been affected:

1. Trash accumulated in wildlife-rich parks like Yosemite and Yellowstone. This could ruin efforts to de-habituate bears from human food and result in a rise in bear attacks.
2. At Death Valley National Park, tire marks from off-road vehicles etched into the delicate landscape will take centuries to fade.
3. While 16,000 furloughed park service employees stayed home and missed paychecks, unsupervised park visitors put themselves at greater risk of harm. According to the National Parks Conservation Association, a hiker at Yosemite died from a fall after chasing his dog down a dangerous trail that park rangers would have typically prevented him from taking.
4. On top of the harm done to parks and visitors themselves, the NPCA estimated that the National Park Service lost $400,000 per day from entrance fee revenue.

That last point is especially important. National parks are already underfunded as it is to maintain the natural resources. On top of that they have to deal with all the revenue they lost and damages. It is such shame at both ends of the neglect towards nationals parks: from the government and from the public. Nationals park were designed as a conservation effort. The mission of the National Parks Conservation Association is “to protect and enhance America’s National Park System for present and future generations. At the rate we are going, this does not seem likely. These national parks consists of resources that are finite. Once they are gone, they are gone. More needs to be done to make maintaining this parks possible.

 

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Some of you might be familiar with this. I have never even heard of it until one of my professors started talking about current events regarding the ocean.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is located halfway between California and Hawaii. Its waters contain the most offshore plastic in the world. It is roughly three times the size of France. Could you imagine this accumulation of trash in the ocean that is three times the size of a country? 1.15 to 2.41 million tonnes of plastic enter the ocean each year. How does all this trash get into the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? Currents transport the pollution to the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, where the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is. A gyre is a slowly moving, clockwise spiral of currents created by a high-pressure system of air currents. Once the plastic enters the gyre, it is highly unlikely for the plastics to leave the area once they enter the gyre. It is difficult and takes a significant amount of time for these plastics to degrade. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch will only increase as we discard more plastic into the environment.

A majority of the GPGP consists of plastic. Another portion of the GPGP consists of fishing nets. As the Mother Nature Network reported, “the rest comes largely from recreational boaters, offshore oil rigs and large cargo ships, which drop about 10,000 steel shipping containers into the sea each year, full of things like hockey gloves, computer monitors, resin pellets and LEGOs.” It is terrible and selfish for us humans to be just dumping trash into the ocean, the home to many marine life.

Image by Mot Mag

The pollution in the GPGP is dangerous to ocean life in many ways. The impact it has on wildlife is severe. Animals might confuse the pollution as food; their life and existence are at risk. Marine life who live in the area or travel by are more than likely to accidentally consume the pollution. The Ocean Cleanup reported that “sea turtles by-caught in fisheries operating within and around the patch can have up to 74% (by dry weight) of their diets composed of ocean plastics.” When marine animals consume the pollution, they are consume the chemicals that have been found in the pollution. Another thing that results from the GPGP is entanglement. Many fishermen use plastic nets, especially those in developing countries because they are cheap and durable. They are often known as ghost nets because they are hard to see in the dim light. Unfortunately, these nets often are abandoned and end up in the GPGP where some poor animal could get tangled into. Sea turtles are especially vulnerable to this. From plastic straws to plastic nets, the turtles just can’t seem to get a break. It is just horrible what is happening to these poor animals. 

Image by Francis Perez

Not only does the GPGP impact marine life, but it also affects us humans too. The harmful plastics and chemicals that marine life ingest can contaminate the human food chain. The chemicals that marine life ingest can pass onto the predator that eats it (for all you seafood lovers out there). Our economy is also affected. The United Nations reported that “the approximate environmental damage caused by plastic to marine ecosystems represents 13 billion USD.”

The problem with trying to cleanup the GPGB is the financial costs associated with it. Oceanographer Charles Moore said that a cleanup effort “would bankrupt any country and kill wildlife in the nets as it went.”

Currently, there are some solutions in process of being developed. A project is being led by a 25 year old from Netherland called Boyan Slat who is passionate about finding a way to clean up the ocean. He founded the nonprofit the Ocean Cleanup and came up with idea of a giant, floating trash collector. The device consists of a pipe, 4 feet in diameter and 1,969 feet in length.  As National Geographic explains, “it will be placed on the surface of the water in the shape of a U with a screen skirt that hangs below the surface. It moves slowly through the water, driven by currents and winds, and can capture plastics on the surface, as well as debris almost 10 feet below the surface. If the device performs as designed, 60 additional booms will be deployed.” There is a concern of durability against the elements. While Slat’s idea has been met with criticism, it is a step in the right direction, whether people focus on the prevention or the cleanup.

Image by The Ocean Cleanup

 

 

I was at dance two years ago when I went out to the waiting room for a water break. When I came back in, the teacher was frantic and telling everyone not to drink the water because Pittsburgh American Water issued a 48 hour warning to several communities around Pittsburgh that the water had high levels of turbidity; they advised not to drink any water from the tap unless it has been boiled for at least one minute. It was still safe to still takes showers, brush your teeth, or cook food. As LENNTECH explains, “turbidity is a measure of the degree to which the water loses its transparency due to the presence of suspended particulates. The more total suspended solids in the water, the murkier it seems and the higher the turbidity. It is considered as a good measure of the quality of water.” Because of the high levels of turbidity, there was an higher chance that the water might contain disease-causing organisms. As Triblive reported, “symptoms include, nausea, cramps, diarrhea, and headaches. People with weakened immune systems, such as infants and some elderly people, may be at increased risk.” To my family this did not seem like a big deal. We always boil our water even before this warning. We have one of those water boiler dispensers. My mom always boiled our water for drinking because she thought it was safer and cleaner. However, this was not the case with everyone else. From Instagram to Snapchat to Twitter, everyone I knew was freaking out over the fact that the water was “bad.” Stores were ransacked for bottled water. People were buying packs after packs of them. By the end of the night, stores were sold out of water. It looked like an apocalypse has occurred.

Image by Karen Pryslopski

There were even a few schools that shut down because of it. My school remained open, but when I went in the next day, there were these huge trash bags over every single water fountain. It looked liked crazy.

It is interesting to see how we acted when we did not have clean water for only two days when the people living in Flint, Michigan have been dealing with unclean water for the last few years.

As CNN reports in their timeline, the Flint Water Crisis began in 2014 when the city switched its water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River. Later that year, Flint issues a warning that the water tested positive for total coliform bacteria, which meant that the water was contaminated with human and animal waste. A few days later, residents were told it was safe to drink from the tap. A brief was issued outlining possible causes for the contamination, which included: leaky pipes and aging cast iron pipes that were likely to have a buildup of bacteria. It was concluded that flushing the systems and using more chlorine in the water could be a solution. Unfortunately, there were concerns with the chlorine corroding engine parts, so General Motors stopped using the city’s water and opted for water from Laker Huron costing the city a significant amount of money.

 

Image by Steve Carmody/Michigan Radio

Then in early 2015, it came out that the water contain byproducts of disinfectants that may cause an increase risk for cancer. While it was deemed safe for the public to drink the water, young children and the elderly should consult with their doctors. Flint was offered to reconnect the city with Lake Huron water, but city officials declined claiming that water rates could go up more than 12 million dollars per year. The discolored water was being hauled by residents to a community forum and children were suffering from rashes and illnesses. Then, dangerous levels of lead were detected in the water at the home of one of Flint’s residents in which the Environmental Protection Agency quickly reported. A preliminary report indicated that 40% of Flint homes had high lead levels. In October, “three schools in Flint tested positive for dangerous lead levels in the water.” Finally the governor said that they will discontinue using the Flint River as a water source. The city switches back to water from Detroit.

What these two incidents reveal is the value of clean water to us as humans. Water is a necessity. We all need it to survive. It needs to be realized that water is a finite resource. Just because we always have easy access to water does not mean we have an endless supply of it. As a society, we have a duty to keep our water clean, whether it be the ocean, rivers, or ponds. Water is valuable and helps sustains life. We not only need to keep it clean, but we also should conserve the use of water. It is not only a resource for humans, but it is also a resource to other organisms, some whose habitats are in water. 

Image by Shutterstock

 

We all have seen this video that went viral of a turtle with a straw in its nose. Its nose is bleeding and it is crying for help while a marine biologist is removing the straw from its nose. It is heartbreaking to see such suffering from something that humans had a hand in. You can see how this affected society by some of these comments. GD Cryptic said “This is so hard to watch. I feel so bad for the turtle.” While Exotics Liar said “That is so sad..We are literally the worst species to be on this planet. All we are doing is killing the world.” While it is good that we actually have sympathy and are acknowledging our wrongs, it is still sad that it took the suffering of a poor turtle for us to final realize that we need to do something. Plastic straws are a huge problem. According to a study done by Science Advances, there are more than 8.3 billion plastic straws polluting the environment. Our actions are producing real consequences, and we are causing severe destruction. The video of the turtle sparked an outrage throughout the community that caused corporations to take a stand. Thus, comes the plastic draw ban. 

It was so impactful that many corporations and even cities are coming up with solutions to reduce waste. Starbucks actually is planning to get rid of its plastic straws entirely by 2020 and replacing their lids with ones that are recyclable. They are called Nitro lids and work like sippy cups, so no straw is needed.                                                                      

 

 

 Image by WFMY News 2 

I actually work at Starbucks and I can say that that the speed of the transition was astounding. Not even a week after they announced the news, our location started using the recyclable lids. I am really proud of our location for taking such quick action in protecting our environment. Even customers were asking and requesting that they wanted the lids that were more eco-friendly. Starbucks has said that “the planet is our most important business partner.” The planet’s resources and life is finite. People often do not realize that because it is not something that can be easily distinguished. Starbucks is really committed in protecting the environment. You can see everything they are doing for the environment on their page. Fortunately, we are starting to realize that the damage we are causing to the environment is permanent and are fixing our mistakes. People are even changing their lifestyle to being more environmentally friendly, because they have been impacted in such a way. A movement that calls for banning plastic straws is gaining support. McDonald’s has also expressed their concerns for the environment and are working on creating alternatives to plastic straws. Cities with denser populations, such as New York City have pending legislation that calls for plastic straws to be banned. Recently, Seattle has become one of the first major cities to ban plastic straws along with San Francisco.

Major airlines also have joined the movement. American Airlines is the first major airline implement a ban on plastic straws. They will use biodegradable options instead. They have already started the process of phasing out plastic straws with ones made out of bamboo. Alaska Airlines are getting rid of their plastic stirring straws and replacing them with citrus picks. They are also providing the option of non-plastic drinking straws for customers that request for them. United Airlines has also joined by eliminating their plastic straws and cocktail picks. They also chose to use the material bamboo as an alternative.

 

Image by John Gress/Getty Images

There is more power in numbers. It is great that these big corporations are using their popularity and influence to not only educate, but also promote and put into use the idea of getting rid of/reducing plastic straws.

The ban on plastic straws is a step in the right direction. We have to continue to be active in keeping our environment clean. Do not just feel bad every time you see a poor animal suffering from pollution. Try to do something about it.

It is important for people to be award of this problem, because otherwise it defeats the efforts that are being made to solve the problem. I cannot tell you the numerous times that people have came into Starbucks and then put a straw in the Nitro lids that are meant to be strawless. It is important to educate people at times like this about such problems, so they do not continue doing it.

There might be some that are upset with the efforts to reduce or get rid of plastic straws. What are we going to drink Frappuccinos or other similar drinks that require straws? There are several solutions to this issue. Many companies are in the process of developing a more eco- friendly straw that is biodegradable made out of paper or compostable plastic. Others are working on creating a reusable straw that can be cleaned instead of thrown away.

Image by Lulu + MOO