Ecological Solutions to City Planning

City Planning

Vertical farming: 

Vertical farming combines a multitude of technologies such as biodomes/greenhouses, wastewater treatment on site, hydroponic gardening, composing, and many others, to create a closed loop, controlled growing environment for a city's food supply. By growing food in a vertical greenhouse the size of a small sky scraper, land use can be reduced dramatically, and pesticide and herbicide runoff into the natural systems can be eliminated completely. In addition, by producing food at the city center, transportation costs and carbon emissions can be reduced as well. Vertical farming also creates technology and horticulture jobs, and reduces reliance on large farming equipment and factories required to grow food in the currant agricultural system. These buildings can have beautifully elegant and aesthetic designs, and can become a social center in the city as well as a food producing powerhouse. Some designs incorporate on site restaurants and grocery stores at ground level, and some have microclimate plazas in their center, offering an oasis of green in the middle of a city of grey. The website below has explanatory videos and blogs, as well as promotion of the book, The Vertical Farm, which I read a few months ago and was greatly inspired by. 

verticalfarm.com

Wastewater/Stormwater Management:

Large cities such as Philadelphia, Seattle, Portland, and New York are embarking on a mission to reduce pressure on their wastewater and sewage treatment centers by installing numerous green projects throughout their infrastructure. Mimicking porous soils and wetlands, small projects such as depression swales, and larger projects like porous pavement streets, are preventing runoff by capturing rainwater event precipitation along its course through the city, instead of letting it flow rampant through the streets and end up overloading municipal systems. Other componenets include green roofing, rain barrels, tree trenches, and rain garden planters, using nature's need for water to remove it from the urban grid, slow flow rates, and clean it as well. The second link down leads to an article focused on PA's initiatives and projects, and includes financial estimates for implementing these designs in the next couple of decades. The first link is for a water filtration technology that uses the simple model of soil to cleanse wastewater before returning it to a groundwater system or surface waterway. Buildings can become closed loop systems by capturing rainfall, cleaning wastewater, and simply redirecting the clean water back into the building for secondary use.This technology can also be installed on a smaller scale at private homes for water treatment on site, instead of using energy to pump it off site and send it to a treatment facility before it can return to the natural environment. 

Biolytix water filters- biolytix.com

http://e360.yale.edu/feature/to_tackle_runoff_cities_turn_to_green_initiatives/2613/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29

Impacts of Climate Change on USA & Mediterranean Basin

Also for your country (USA and Assigned), read the summary for the country in Heritage country index - http://www.heritage.org/index/ranking.  Look at the "Economic Heat" global map.  Can you think of ties between economic freedom that you read and climate?  What projections can you make about economic freedom with climate change for the US and tour assigned country.

Blog about the impact of climate change on the US and your assigned country.  Include what you learned from the what you’ve learned in terms of what climate change is, and its impacts from the readings and online resources.  This should be a detailed blog with numbers, not a namby-pamby blog.   Discuss impacts to your assigned country and think about how the socioeconomic impacts of climate change.  You might have to do a little extra background reading to bolster your arguments.  Include links to your resources at the end.

Pakistan vs. US Ecological Footprint

Pakistan= 0.46 earths
USA=4.31 earths

Our group discussed how the USA might require more earths mainly due to the fact that the distance many imported goods travel to the US is much greater than the distance they must cover to reach Pakistan. A major good that the US imports is oil, and in Pakistan, oil supplies are much, much closer than they are to the US.

Other differences include the type of meat they eat (goats require less water and land than do cattle), and the products they use to build houses (brick/mortar vs. wood).

One more notable difference is the climate of each country, and how many heating days or cooling days occur throughout the year, which dictates the amount of energy needed to either heat or cool the home.

Personal Ecological Footprint

If everyone on the planet lived my lifestyle, we would need 1.52 earths.

I'm a vegetarian (almost), I don't drive in town often but I do take long road trips during the summers, my home is heated by natural gas, and it was built in the 70s, so who knows about the kinds of materials it was built with. I always have water conservation on my mind, but as a renter, I haven't invested in energy efficient appliances like a low flow toilet, which is frustrating because I'm not yet in a position to buy a home and make those changes in my lifestyle...but what's a college kid to do?

My goal is to bring it down to just 1 earth, but then I think, if I'm a conscientious, natural resource major, I should be going above and beyond and consuming resources equal to less than 1 earth, just to compensate for those who live a life demanding 2 or 3 earths, because I know they must be out there.

I must have gotten my results because of the predisposed factors I am subjected to just by being an American. Consuming imported goods, the energy source in my home, infrastructure for roads and water, and all those other things I don't choose to use or ask for, but here they are, and so I use them. A huge influence must also be my choice to live in the high desert, where fresh produce and other goods must be trucked over the mountains because many things simply can not grow here. My largest global hectare footprint was for carbon, which makes sense because my home is heated with natural gas, and I do love those road trips...

Ultimately, we can only do our personal best to reduce our footprint, but so much is left up to the life we are born into, where we live, and the resources we have available to be able to prioritize reducing our footprint over simply paying the bills and getting by.

Water Use Comparisons & Thoughts

Read three other student water consumption blogs and compare how you and you classmates use water. 

I found that in my own water use, greatest consumption came from coffee and milk to put in that coffee, among other food items. Other classmates also acknowledged that their dogs use almost as much water as some of the most water poor people in the world, especially so on days they get a bath. We don't eat much meat in our house, in fact, we only eat meat when we're at a friend's house or maybe eating out, so I saw a significant rise in water use for those who are regular meat consumers. While some accounted for the clothing they wore, one classmate pointed out that you should divide the number of gallons needed to produce a shirt by the number of times you've worn it; this should encourage less consumption of new cotton goods and making existing clothes last. It was interesting to see how far some people took their analysis, and how shallow others took it. I tried to go pretty deep, but if you really wanted to, you could spend days counting gallons for one day of use. 

Contemplate geography in water use. 

I, like many of my peers, grew up in the Willamette Valley, where rain is considered a nuisance, not a gift from the gods. Even within that confined region however, there was variation in water availability. Out in the country where I grew up we had a well and gutters with huge barrels for collecting the rainwater. When it was cold we hauled buckets of water from the creek to be able to flush the toilet, because the pipes in the house would freeze. In town though, infrastructure was developed and advanced enough to allow for nearly year round use of water, without having to life a finger, or dig a new well, for that matter. Most kids growing up in the valley didn't think much about how much water we had in our region, because we had so much of it. The kids growing up over here though, in the desert, probably thought about it a little bit more. Even so, they lived in a developed country with advanced technology used to provide clean water year round, even though they lived in a desert. Worldwide this seems to be a growing trend; people are living in places more and more often that would otherwise not be suitable for life, had we not the technology, infrastructure, and monetary resources that made bring water into arid environments possible. Consider the Colorado River and the millions who depend on it, and are in turn depleting it, because they are living somewhere that is not meant to support so much life. Geography is not only important while contemplating water use because there are different amounts of water in different places geographically. It is also important to consider where the money is allocated geographically, because where the money goes, the water will follow. 

Any thoughts about direct consumption or the hidden water in your product consumption patterns?

One thing is clear, we could all eat less meat and the planet would thank us for it. 

On another note, it's a shame that so much of the water we consume is not done so directly, because so many of us don't even drink the recommended 8 cups a day, but we're all utilizing upwards of 4-5,000 gallons every day between the food we eat and the lifestyles we live. 

I could better do my part by cutting back on coffee...I wonder what the daily American coffee habit uses in terms of water...between growing the beans, transporting them, cleaning them, grinding them, steaming the milk, the milk!, washing the cups, growing the trees to make all the paper cups, boiling the water, growing the sugar, etc, etc. The one thing I noticed about this whole process was how it could just go on forever. Now everywhere I look, I see water! 

My Daily Water Use

Water I Used Yesterday:

8 am-drank =12oz
8:10am-brushed teeth=25oz
8:15am-flushed toilet=64oz
8:30-Fed dog, put warm water on his food, filled his water dish=80oz
10:30-breakfast: Eggs (13,000oz), potatoes (825oz), tomatoes (430oz), mushrooms, green peppers, avocado, garlic, olive oil, pepper, salt, 1 yerba mate drink. Rinsed the vegetables.= >15,000oz
12:30pm-Filled water bottle=20oz
2pm-flushed toilet=64oz
3:40pm-Ate an apple with peanut butter=2300oz+
6pm-Drank ~10oz of coffee=4620oz
7pm-ish-flushed toilet=64oz
7:50pm-washed hands=50oz
8pm- Dinner: quinoa, lentils, zucchini, carrot, broccoli, kale, onion, coconut oil, garlic, salt, pepper, sweet chili sauce, soy sauce, vegetable stock base, olive oil=probably similar to breakfast, >15,000oz
8:30pm-Hot cocoa-milk, cocoa mix, marshmallows=6600oz+25,000oz
9pm-brushed teeth=25oz

Grand Total= At least 70,000oz, or 2,200 litres

not including:
cotton use for the clothes I wore
more for meals, especially from using olive oil, peanut butter, avocado, and coconut oil.
I also drove a car, which used gas that requires water to process, and to grow if it contains ethanol.
Used water to wash dishes, and wipe down kitchen counters.
Used toilet paper which required water to grow and process.
I know I'm missing others, and on top of all that I should have drunk more yesterday as it is...

Bag It! Notes

Bag it notes

Everything is made of plastic!

1. It takes 12 million barrels of petroleum to make 1 year's worth of plastic bags used in America. 

2. The plastic bag began being used in grocery stores in 1977, today (at time of video) we use a million plastic bags each minute.

3. Plastic bags are technically the # 1 consumer item in the world. 

4. There are organizations formed by chemical companies which are fighting to prevent the ban and elimination of plastic bags, one is called "progressive bag affiliates"and one has a website called savetheplasticbag.com. 

5. 800 pounds of garbage/recycling is generated every year, per person, from packaging alone.

6. Reusable diapers can prevent up to 1 ton of landfill waste and save roughly $1,200 per year, per baby. 

7. Bottled water may surpass soda sales in the next few years (maybe it already has), and at the time of this film, Americans consumed 2 million plastic bottles every 5 minutes. 

8. Plastic bottles are usually "downcycled" into something that cannot be recycled again. 

9. The EU requires that chemicals must be proven safe before use, but in the US, chemicals are 'innocent until proven guilty', and must be proven harmful in order to be removed from the consumer market. 

10. Exposure to the chemical family of phthalates is shown to lead to decreased sperm count and increased femininity in boys, and these chemicals are found in all sorts of personal care products and baby toys. 

Things you can do:

don't drink bottled water

buy used

bring your own container

recycling comes after reducing and reusing

Kids Inc. Lesson Outline

Kids Inc. Lesson Outline

1) Goals
        a) Raise awareness about water pollution, water filtration, and the connection between waste in the home and the outside environment.
        b) Encourage the kids to want to choose (or have their parents choose) more eco-friendly and conscious products to use in their home and pour down the drain.

2) Objectives to achieve goals
       a) Know how the water system works, from drain to ocean
       b) Know how a wetland works vs. a water treatment plant
       c) Knowing negative effects of chemicals in the water
       d) Knowing differences between eco-friendly products and conventional nasty products
       e) Understanding the connection between their actions and the impact on the outside world (tragedy of the commons)

3) Steps of the lesson - these should be a little loose, but provide some detail about how you think you are going to meet the objective/goal.
       a) Intro-ask questions & draw diagrams
              i) Where does water go once it goes down the drain?
             ii) What kinds of things go down the drain in your house?
             iii) Why is water pollution a bad thing?
       b) Hands on activity
              i) 3 pots: 1 empty, 1 bare soil, 1 mossy w/ coffee filter at bottom
             ii) use food dyes to represent chemicals, and different filter systems representing open pipes treatment plants, & wetlands
       c) Discussion
              i) What we learned
             ii) What are you going to do at home to reduce water pollution?

4) Why you think this is going to work
       a) Making a personal connection to a larger problem
       b) Using visual/hands on methods to maintain interest and engagement
       c) Making them feel like they are important and they can make a difference

Kids Inc. Project Topic

• Our group is planning on covering water pollution, filtration, and the importance of wetlands as an ecosystem service. 
• Overall this is a very important topic because water is the life force for many organisms on earth, and for all humans. Pollution of our water is a huge problem after the development of the "Green Revolution" and the advent of so many chemical cleaners, vanity products, and pharmaceuticals that contain nasty toxins, which are poured directly into the waterways in so many places around the world. 
• With our lesson design, we plan to educate kids not only on why wetlands are important for filtering these pollutions out, but also on the importance of being a conscious consumer and keeping those things out of the water in the first place. At this age, the kids are beginning to influence their parents in what they buy, and they are just starting to develop their own consumer habits. 
• We hope that the kids will have a greater appreciation for the swamps and bogs that they see, and have a desire to protect them instead of developing an attitude of disdain and indifference toward keeping them around. Also, it is important that they know the difference between products they can buy, the power of their dollars as a consumer, and what it means to pour one chemical down the drain as opposed to another.  

Energy Pad Exercise: Wind

Wind 3: Wind farm in north central Oregon

        The wind farm I examined from a bird's eye view is located at 45°39'53" N, 120°18'24" W, in the northernmost part of Gillian county, Oregon, USA. It is just south of the Colombia gorge, and roughly 185 km directly east of Portland. 

        In the oldest viewable image, taken on July 11th, 1996 (shown below) it appears that the land in question was being used to grow crops of some sort, possible wheat, hay, grass, alfalfa, or something of that likening. There are tractor lines tracing the perimeters, and there is a grid laid out on the interior of the land. 

          The windmills must have been put in sometime between September 2009 and August of 2011. This period of time followed the onset of the "great recession" of 2008, and it is possible that the project was government subsidized in order to generate jobs and more affordable energy for the area. I myself recall the promise of President Obama that he would invest and promote the development of more clean energy projects and renewables in the country; perhaps a president for once kept at least a small part of a promise he made while campaigning. 

          The landscape of this particular site hardly changed upon the implementation of windmills; besides the roads laid out and the individual mills themselves, the land looks essentially the same as before they were there. There is notable soil compaction, erosion, and general deterioration around each windmill site as well as along the roads. The interspace, however, looks exactly as it did prior to the wind farm's installation. 

         The site of the wind farm is strategically placed in north central Oregon, just south of the blustery gorge, and also closely affiliated with the palouse prairie of southeastern Washington. The plains of the northern part of the Great Basin generate limitless winds as the desert air continually heats, raises, and sucks in cold air to take its place. In addition, the sheer size of the plains allow the winds to move across the landscaped unchallenged by any topographic barriers, and can therefore attain high speed and force. 

Energy Sources: Biofuels

Biofuels: An energy source profile

• Percent of World energy biofuels contribute/percent of US energy biofuels contribute:

• "biofuel provides around 3% of the world’s fuel for transport. (In Brazil, biofuel provides 23% of all transport fuel, compared with 4% in the United States and 3% in the European Union)."(1)

• How do biofuels work?

• "Ethanol is another name for ethyl alcohol, or “grain alcohol” (CH3CH2OH). The alcohol in a glass of wine, beer, or liquor is ethanol. Fuel ethanol is “denatured” by the addition of 2-5% gasoline, which makes it undrinkable. In the U.S. today fuel ethanol is mostly made from the starch in corn kernels; in Brazil it is made from the juice in sugar cane. Commercial production of ethanol from cellulose (plant fiber) is expected within the next few years...Ethanol is a high-octane premium fuel. It improves engine performance and prevents “knock.” A blend of 10% ethanol and 90% gasoline, or E10, is approved for use in every vehicle sold in the U.S.; about one-third of America’s gasoline contains some ethanol. In the past, this blend has been called gasohol.

• Ethanol can also be used as a substitute for gasoline. In the U.S. it is sold in blends of up to 85% (E85). Gasoline, the remaining 15%, is needed to help the fuel ignite in cold weather. In very cold weather, higher proportions of gasoline may be needed. Ethanol at these higher blends should not be used in conventional vehicles but only in flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs), which are designed to run on any combination of ethanol and gasoline up to E85" (2)

• Where are biofuels most commonly harvested/found?

• "U.S. ethanol production is predominately concentrated in the Midwest because of its proximity to corn production. Plants outside the Midwest typically receive corn by rail and are located near large markets for ethanol.
  Today, U.S. ethanol is primarily produced from starch-based crops, such as corn. Cellulosic ethanol production volumes are very small by comparison. Several commercial cellulosic ethanol production plants are under construction, and intensive research and development is rapidly advancing the state of cellulosic ethanol technology." (3)
• 2012 World Fuel Ethanol Production:

                   Continent                             Millions of Gallons 

                   North & Central America      13,768

                   South America                       5,800 

                   Brazil                                     5,577 

                   Europe                                   1,139 

                   Asia                                        952 

                   China                                      555 

                   Canada                                   449 

                   Australia                                 71 

                   Africa                                     42 

                   

                                Source: RFA, F.O. Lichts (4)

• What are the positives to biofuels?

• offers an alternative to oil consumption for gasoline in cars and thus reduces dependance on foreign oil suppliers
• produced from a renewable resource
• lower emissions from cars using ethanol
• resistant to "engine knock"

• What are the negatives to biofuels?

• takes up land space, fuel, and water to produce corn to convert to ethanol
• uses a crop that could feed people and converts it to fuel
• increases cost of corn
• lower MPG in cars that use ethanol, "FFVs operating on E85 usually experience a 25–30% drop in miles per gallon due to ethanol’s lower energy content." (5)
• costly to produce/process

• What does the future hold for biofuels?

• "Importantly, companies today are involved in technological innovations such as fractionation, low heat fermentation, methane capture from landfills and biomass gasification that reduce the amount of fossil energy needed to produce ethanol and distillers grains. The use of pre-treated or "gray water" and other efficiencies are reducing the need for fresh water in ethanol production.  A host of new technologies allow ethanol producers to capture additional value by adding corn oil, recoverable carbon dioxide, corn syrup, bio-based chemicals, and other co-products to their traditional output of feed and fuel."(6)

• "The U.S. average blend increased slowly from 0.3% in 1995 to 0.5% in 2001. From 2002 onward, in response to increased government incentives for ethanol production and use, the average blend increased rapidly, reaching an estimated 8.7% in 2010. Tentative projections indicate the national average blend may increase to about 9.5% this year. Most of that will be in the form of E-10, which is acceptable for all gasoline-powered cars and light trucks. The E-85 market is an alternative outlet for ethanol, but as we indicated in a 2010 article, it is limited in size by:

• The small percentage of the nation's auto fleet that is made up of flex-fuel vehicles, 
• The limited number of retail gas stations that offer E-85, and
• Lack of price competitiveness of E-85 in many areas of the U.S., when reduced fuel mileage is taken into account. 

• The number of flex-fuel vehicles is expected to increase substantially in the next several years since most major manufacturers are committed to making production of these vehicles a much larger percentage of their total production. However, it is not clear how quickly the number of E-85 stations may increase" (7)

• How much biofuel is found in central oregon?

• "AltFuelPrices.com found 4 public Biodiesel stations in Bend, OR. A map is shown below. We also found that there are 5 public Biodiesel stations within 25 miles of Bend and there are 5 public Biodiesel stations within 50 miles of Bend. Click here to show a map of these stations.There are also 16 different public alternative fuel stations near Bend, OR (such as CNG, E85 Ethanol, Biodiesel, Propane, LNG, or Electric Charging Stations). Click here to show a map of these stations." (8)
• "BEND, Ore. (AP) — Central Oregon businesses say they're willing to spend a little more to ensure their distribution systems are environmentally friendly. That effort begins with using biodiesel, a kind of processed vegetable oil that various businesses, from coffee shops to tree removal companies, are putting to use, the Bend Bulletin reports. Daniel Brewster of Cascade Couriers says when he expanded from a bicycle, he found an electric van too expensive, so he went the biodiesel route. Biodiesel is more expensive, and in chilly weather some kinds turn to gel, stopping vehicles cold. But its production continues to grow. The number of gallons of biodiesel used in the United States shot up 4,600 percent from 2000 to 2009, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. And by 2025, supply in the country will increase six-fold over the amount available in 2009, which was approximately 20,000 barrels per day, the agency predicted. Jeff Rola, president of Go Bio Co. in Bend, has in the past three years found profit in supplying a company with used vegetable oil, which gets converted into biodiesel." (9)

1. http://www.iea.org/aboutus/faqs/renewableenergy/
2. http://www.energyfuturecoalition.org/biofuels/fact_ethanol.htm
3. http://www.afdc.energy.gov/fuels/ethanol_production.html
4. http://ethanolrfa.org/pages/World-Fuel-Ethanol-Production
5. http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/ethanol.shtml
6. http://www.ethanolrfa.org/pages/how-ethanol-is-made
7. http://www.agmrc.org/renewable_energy/energy/trends-in-u-s-gasoline-and-ethanol-use-and-petroleum-production-and-imports/

8. http://www.altfuelprices.com/stations/BD/Oregon/Bend/

9. http://www.kval.com/news/business/Biodiesel-users-see-benefits-in-Central-Oregon-137032828.html

5 Ecosystem Services Provided by Wetlands

As found on the NRCS home page for wetlands (see link below), 3 ecosystem services provided by wetlands are as follows:

1. Stores/regulates floodwaters/flooding- Wetlands not only allow water to spread out over a broad expanse of land (as compared to a narrow river channel) but they also contain water dwelling plants which physically slow water down as it moves through the system.
2. Filtering pollutants- wetland soils (peats, bogs, anaerobic soils) contain bacteria and microbes capable of "capturing" many bases (including pollutant & nitrate molecules) from the water solution and using them in anaerobic respiration, therefore removing them from the water supply and sinking them into the soil.
3. Recreation- Wetland environments make for excellent recreation areas for boaters, fishermen, bird watchers, and other wildlife viewing opportunities. These draws increase tourism in the area and therefore hold economic value for the surrounding community.

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/water/wetlands/

In addition, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, an organization responsible for one of the classification systems used in the delineation of wetlands (see link below), offers two more ecosystem services provided by this land type, among many others. These are:

4. Groundwater replenishment- Wetlands can store water in their soils and slowly release it into the ground to refill groundwater aquifers and springs when rainfall is absent and unable to do so. Without wetlands, rainfall would simply move through river systems into the ocean during high precip. times when groundwater containments are full. But in times of low precip., and in the absence of wetlands, there would be no source from which groundwater supplies could be replenished, and those dependent on groundwater for living would be out of luck, because all water would have washed right into the ocean during the most recent rainfall event, instead of being stored in wetlands for later use.
5. Carbon sequestration- Wetlands have very high rates of nutrient cycling and decomposition. As plants grow in wetlands they sequester carbon from the atmosphere during photosynthesis. Due to a continuous supply of water and adaptations allowing them to continue to photosynthesize even during inundation periods, wetland plants can photosynthesize like mad, all the time. There is also a high rate of turnover in the system (death) which offers up lots of detritus to the massive populations of decomposers dwelling in this ecosystem. In this fashion, carbon is locked up in plants and then quickly locked into the soil by the highly active bacteria and other small detritivores.

http://www.ramsar.org/cda/en/ramsar-pubs-info-ecosystem-services/main/ramsar/1-30-103%5E24258_4000_0__

All of these services provide some kind of economic benefit to mankind, either by bringing money into the area (recreation), or by saving money from leaving the area (every other service listed). Without wetlands, a community must invest funding and infrastructure in flood protection and prevention. We would have to invest much more in water filtration plants, restoration efforts, and species population management downstream in order to take pollution inputs into account, or out of the system. Recreation generates funding through tourism dollars, something all too familiar to us here in C.O. Water itself is a necessity of life, and, like tourism, here in C.O. we are dependent on groundwater for our drinking water and irrigation needs. When low snow/rainfall years occur (like this one) our groundwater stores could be slowly replenished over the summer by wetland storage if snowmelt wasn't sufficient. Without wetlands, it could (will) cost the community of Bend and all those dependent on the groundwater in the area (the Deschutes River, for example) lots of money to have to either increase city water rates or restrict farmer access to water, thus increasing food prices next year. Carbon sequestration...climate change, CO2 levels, polar bears, sell your beach house NOW, blablabla, we all know why that's a good thing.

Introduction & Top 3 Environmental Issues

My name on the books is Kirsten Williams, however I go by Hillary, which is my middle name. My current location is riverwest Bend, and I have lived in this area since I graduated high school in 2008. I grew up in a tiny town called Lorane, which is located roughly 23 miles southwest of Eugene, OR. Lorane has a population of a little less than 1000, and is made up of ranchers, loggers, vineyard workers, and hippies. My family fell under the last category. I am a natural resource/management option major, and I have been a senior for the last year and a half, but I will actually be graduating this June (finally).

In my opinion, the top three natural resource issues of the day are food production & waste, water consumption, use, and waste, and energy consumption, production, and waste. The three essentials for all living organisms are food or sustenance of some kind, water, and shelter to keep from freezing to death and protection from the elements. Most species retrieve quantities of these resources necessary for survival but do not take much more than the minimum amounts required to live and reproduce. Humans, however, have increasingly utilized, and wasted, copious amounts of these resources as our kind has "evolved" over time. Maybe you've ever seen the outdoor fountains in Las Vegas sending fresh, clean water vapor into the desert atmosphere. Perhaps you have walked through the Costco garage doors out of negative temps and felt the blast of heat come down on your face then escape to the cold outside. How many times have you left a restaurant and witnessed plates at an empty table half full of food, including burgers, or fish? It isn't that we don't have enough clean water, food to eat, or energy to stay warm at night, it's that we consume them all in excess and waste without considering the rest of the world who barely have access at all. Overconsumption of food and demand for meat products, wasteful use of water that has upset and unbalanced the water cycle, and the highly excessive use and release of unnecessary amounts of energy has led to all sorts of environmental degradation and lack of resources for those less fortunate populations in less developed countries all over the world.