What I handle in 24 hours and Total Calories

Saturday October 10, 2009

Breakfast: Cereal with milk

Calories: 200

-Packaging:

Cereal: Cardboard box and plastic bag

Milk: Milk carton

Lunch: Michelina Five Cheese Lasagna frozen meal

Calories: 290

-Packaging cardboard box

Snack: FiberOne Bar

Calories: 140

-Packaging: cardboard box and plastic wrapping

Dinner: Michelina Pepper Steak and Rice Frozen Meal

Calories: 270

-Packaging: cardboard box

Dessert: Jello Pudding Cup

Calories: 90

-Packaging: Foil lid and plastic cup

Total Calories: 990

How sustainable my community is

Since I reside on campus I will consider my community to be the community of campus housing and the campus itself. One nice thing that I am proud of in my community is the way that garbage is disposed in campus housing. In order to improve energy efficiency, campus housing uses compactors instead of free standing garbage dumpsters. By using the compacters, the trash is compressed to a smaller size, which reduces the number of times that the trash has to be picked up during the week by a significant amount. Not only does my community save money by not having to pay for the cost of a garbage disposal truck to come out to the facility as many times but also by using the compacters, the amount of carbon emissions released in the air from the garbage disposal trucks has also been significantly decreased. This not only is beneficial to my immediate community but also has a global effect. Also on campus we have a recycling center. This recycling center recycles cardboard, cans and plastic bottles. By making this facility available for my fellow community members and myself, campus housing is reducing the carbon footprint of those individuals who would drive to another facility to recycle their cardboard and bottles. Not only does having this recycling center decrease the amount of carbon emissions into the atmosphere from transportation but this recycling center also increases the likelihood of individuals recycling due to its convenience. So, all in all, the recycling center reduces carbon and emissions and more than likely increases the amount of items recycled. I know that if I did not have this recycling center here I probably would not recycle at all. Another great quality that housing has that implements sustainability is the fact that in all their buildings that have recently converted all the bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs. This bulbs will save conserve tons of energy and also reduce the electricity bill for campus housing as well. Not only does campus housing implement the above actions but they also encourage sustainability by giving out pamphlets to all residents telling them how to be more sustainable in their day to day lives, whether it be by waiting until the dishwasher is full to run it and to keep the air condition at a setting of 72 degrees or higher. I am actually really proud of my housing experience and how sustainable housing is. The only thing I would like to see is maybe solar panels on the roofs, which would lower the energy consumed for lighting the apartments and so forth.

Ecological Footprint quiz

My ecological footprint was actually pretty high. I was pretty surprised. Although most of my numbers were below the average of my country, my food footprint was actually higher. I was also amazed that it would take 4.81 earths if everyone lived like me. That really puts things into perspective. I definitely know that I should start lowering my emissions and my energy usage, especially my food foot print. I could buy from farmer’s markets are even start a small garden. Maybe walk to the grocery store or take the bus if it is too far to walk. I know I could also recycle more items and more often, for example I do not recycle glass at all. There are so many things I could do so that hopefully I can reduce my ecological footprint so that if everyone lived my lifestyle that it would take one or less earths to sustain us.

Current Environmental Concern/Issue

As I was browsing the internet I came across an interesting article that caught my attention on the Science Daily website about a design for smarter, more sustainable, buildings. The University of Arizona’s Solar Declathon team created this house that is 800-square-foot and completely solar powered. The house is located at the National Mall in Washington D.C. A very interesting and new energy efficient “signature mechanism” in the Declathon house is a water-filled Trombe wall. The water is actually used as a solar conductor. "The principle," Hall explained, Sunlight comes through the glass and the radiant heat is absorbed by the mass and warms the air between the glass and the wall.” When nighttime arrives the air is still trapped inside of the house because it cannot get outside of the glass. This allows for longer use of the heat. Another aid used to keep the heat in and not lose that energy are the vacumn-sealed panels that are made out of recycled plastic bottles. Another great feature of the Declathon house was that the roof alone supplied eight kilowatts of energy. Not only was that surprising but the article also mentioned that eight kilowatts of energy is twice the amount of energy needed to power a much larger home. The roof alone!! I was so surprised to hear that a college was actually the ones leading a sustainable smart house. I am glad. I just could not believe that a house said to have all the conveniences the average American has could be completely solar powered. Also I thought the use of water as a solar conductor to be pretty cool!! I never knew that my recycled plastic bottles could help power a home. This will definitely increase my incentive to hold on to my plastic bottles and continue to recycle them. The picture I chose is the University of Arizona mascot for their efforts for sustainability Go University of Arizona Declathon Team!!

Outdoors Log

Monday October 5, 2009

9:30am-9:45am Walked to Campus for Work 15minutes

12:30pm-12:45pm Walked Home from Work 15 minutes

4:30pm-4:45pm Walked to Anatomy Class 15 minutes

7:45pm-8:00pm Walked Home from Anatomy Class 15 minutes

Total: 1 hr

Tuesday October 6, 2009

7:30am-7:45am Walk to Fundamentals of Communication Class 15 minutes

12:30pm-12:45pm Walk Home from Work 15 minutes

Total: 30 min.

Wednesday October 7, 2009

9:30am-9:45am Walk to Work 15 minutes

12:30-12:45pm Walk Home from Work 15 minutes

Total: 30 min.

Thursday October 8, 2009

7:30-7:45am Walk to Fund. Of Comm. Class 15 minutes

4:45pm-5:00pm Walk Home from Colloquium Class 15 minutes

Total: 30 min.

Friday October 9, 2009

6:30am-6:45am Walk to Work 15 minutes

4:45pm-5:00pm Walk Home from Anatomy Class 15 minutes

Total: 30 min.

Saturday October 10, 2009

No recorded time outside (Study Day)

Sunday October 11, 2009

Went jogging outside Total: 30 min.

Total Time Outdoors for Week: 3hrs. 30mins

Percentage Outdoors 2.08%

Wow! Just wow!! Only two percent of my life do I spend outdoors. Think about if I didn’t walk to class and work!

Sustainability and how it relates to me!

Well, in my academic career I am still not quite sure how to be sustainable other than maybe not using as much paper or finding a way to implement recycling with coworkers. Sustainability and how it relates to my day to day personal lifestyle is that I recycle my plastic bottles and cans and my rough drafts of papers. I also turn off and unplug my computer which I found out actually saves tons of money on electricity because even if the computer is turned off but the cord is still plugged into the electrical outlet, electrical current is still running to the computer. In my university education sustainability relates in that there is a course that this course is required to take in order to graduate, a very smart decision by the university I do say. Other than the colloquium course I believe just by watching the different things the school does from solar panels to just making all the ponds interconnected in education via the university in and of itself. Just learning that the little things actually make a huge difference is one thing I have learned from my university, I don’t know many other people who can say the same thing.

Favorite Place at Home

My favorite place at home is under my bed. My bed is raised so I have a nice little cozy den underneath my bed. I take a lamp under there where I can read bring a bunch of pillows and blankets and read a book or do my homework. When I am under the bed, in my favorite place, I feel calm and relaxed and my worries seem to drift away. My worries some time drift away so far that I end up accidentally falling asleep underneath the bed, which makes for a very interesting awakening.

The picture that I chose to represent this blog is a little diagram I made on paint of my favorite place. Of course I didn’t represent the excess stuff that tends to accumulate there as well!!!