A Possible Escape in the Event of the Rise of the Walking Dead

On May 17th I awoke from my slumber in order to examine a local farm which, from what I had heard, still practiced the "old ways".  This was not one of the big farms where much of my produce came from.  Nor was it a farm located somewhere in Chile where my food had to be traverse distant lands through various modes of transportation.  No, this was a small local farm which I have always believed to be an expensive venture into environmentally conscious eating.

When we reached the farm we were greeted by a student who also attended the same college as myself.  This really showed how locally supported the farm was.  This student who also worked on the farm gave us a tour of the various components which comprised the farm.  Much of what the student reiterated was that this farm was indeed one which the local residents would come and work in.  Local restaurants would purchase their produce in order to supply their customers with fresh produce.  The chickens were not kept in small cages where they had to have their claws removed to prevent from injuring each other.  Instead, they were allowed to roam within an enclosed area.  There were even some that were free range.

One of the biggest surprises for me was the various types of pigs which were present.  I had assumed that all pigs which were used for consumption were the big pink ones.  However, there were pigs of different pigmentation and different sizes abound at the farm.  There were also various types of cows some from milking and some which would be for consumption.  The tour guide clarified that if a cow is for milking it is not slaughtered for consumption.

Some of the practices that the farm engaged in included composting.  The dead waste products of the produce and the manure of the live animals was reused to fertilize the soil.  This component was one of the aspects which made the farm so sustainable.  In comparison to big farms where they use pesticides and herbicides to kill insects and other pests, at Amy's farm they actually wanted more insects to be present in the farm.  Insects determined the healthiness of farms.

The owner attempted to be as sustainable as possible.  He avoided using plastic to help the plants grow and instead experimented different ways to promote healthy agriculture.  The farm also planted certain crops at different times in the year according to the seasons.  This was a natural way of growing and did not require excess resources for a product which was not meant to grow at that time.  Some sustainable methods which the farm had not implemented as of date was a system to reuse water.

As someone who is always curious about the finances of a situation decided to look at how the farm was able to sustain itself financially.  The farm was not subsidized by the government unlike big farms.  To compensate for this the farm sold its own produce to local residents at a higher price.  One way that the farm did save money was by using volunteer labor.  As stated by our tour guide these volunteers were given an abundance of food that they helped grow to compensate them for their efforts.  Another way was having locals pitch in to take care of some of the livestock such as cows.    Their would be about 16 people who would collectively take care of a cow financially, and in the end they would receive some of the produce from the cow.

In all aspects Amy's farm is a sustainable farm which is able to thrive by remaining local.  The work they do reduces the amount of pollution produced drastically since they do not use harmful chemicals and their produce does not have to travel hundreds of miles and touch numerous hands to finally get on a plate.  After visiting this farm I am more interested in volunteering at a local farm and even being a part of a local CSA.

Let it Go, Let it Go, The Heat Never Bothered Me Anyways

Thousands and even hundreds of years ago the human species roamed the planet with one goal in mind, survival.  Fast forward to the future and we discover that our very survival depends on the availability of energy and technology.  In fact, widespread loss of electricity is considered just as dangerous as the use of a weapon of mass destruction.  Humans simply can not live without electricity!

So, one can imagine how detrimental to my living it must have been the decision to limit my energy usage for a 24 hour period.  As a way to make it less burdensome for myself I decided to have the 24 hour period a day where my commitments would be least affected, which happened to be the Sunday prior to Memorial's Day.

The first decision I made to reduce my energy usage was to sleep as much as possible on this day in order to reduce the amount of appliances I would have to use.  Second I targeted the air conditioning which was an energy guzzler.  I made sure the house was shaded in order to reduce the heat accumulation inside the house.  However, seeing how the temperature was around 90 degrees Fahrenheit I had to at least use a fan.

Showering is one of the areas where a lot of water and energy is expended.  For this part I am too used to taking warm showers.  However, I waited till later in the day where I would want to take a cooler shower and once I did take a shower it was a much shorter shower than I am accustomed to.

To minimize energy expenditures I made sure to only walk to the destination I needed to go to.  Considering that I decided to save energy on a weekend I didn't really have to go places which were far away.  Instead of eating out like we do on most weekends, we cooked at home.

One area where I could save very little energy was my phone and laptop usage.  It was not that I needed these electronics for my leisure activities I required their use for school work and other commitments.  At the very least I tried not to use electronics for leisure which in turn saved the amount of charging that needed to be done.  I also drastically reduced the amount of communication I had with friends in order to accomplish such a feat.

The area other than air conditioning where I probably made the biggest impact was unplugging all electronics not in use.  This included our televisions, toaster, microwave, and even the small objects such as lamps.

Overall, even though I conducted this experiment on a day where it was supposed to affect me the least, it still changed the way I was able to conduct myself throughout the day.  Without having ready accessibility to a microwave I feel like I ate less that I usually would.  I also gravitated towards eating more fruits since they needed no preparation other than washing.

While many of the changes I made, such as transportation, are not feasible in the long run the smaller changes are something that I can implement.  Unplugging electronics, for example, is enough to make a small impact.  The air conditioning is also not as necessary when I can close the binds and darken the house enough to make it cooler.

To prevent using electricity I would like to find more ways which I can position furniture in the house in order to allow natural light to brighten the house.  This would save a lot of energy and be beneficial for our health.  Another change I can make is to get acclimated to taking shorter and cooler showers.  If I can accomplish taking cooler showers they will automatically translate to taking shorter showers.  It is through small changes such as these that every home can become energy efficient and we can all do our small part in preventing excess pollution from harming our environment.

Climate Change for the Better or for the Worse

Climate change has been a topic which has become sensationalized over the past few years.  Nearly all scientists agree that climate change is occurring and there is evidence to back up these claims.  Before we can look at climate change we must understand what climate is.  According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA)  “scientists define climate as the average weather for a particular region and time period, usually taken over 30-years... they're looking at averages of precipitation, temperature, humidity, sunshine, wind velocity, phenomena such as fog, frost, and hail storms, and other measures of the weather that occur over a long period in a particular place. 

Having said that if we look at the graph provided by the National Academies of Science we can see that over the past few decades there has been a positive slope in temperature with a base period of 1961-1990.

So we can ascertain that the climate is changing.  The biggest question is who is responsible for climate change?  The accumulation of data may suggest that humans have had a hand.  For example if we look at a chart provided by NAS which shows the correlation between the Sun's energy and humans it seems as if even though the Sun has given less energy the temperatures are still warming.


Climate change will effect our world in many different ways in the future.  With increasing temperatures we can expect more weather phenomena such as hurricanes to increase in number and intensity.  Rising sea levels due to the melting of ice can erode ocean front properties and land.  This can cause billions of dollars of damage.  There are some positive side affects such as more land being able to harbor agriculture.  Regions such as some in Russia will be better suited than they are now to produce agriculture.

Most scientists agree that  climate change is occurring.  However, there is skepticism on whether humans are actively causing it.  This skepticism occurs because of many reasons.  There is a lack of data.  The data we use now can only be recorded back so far and there are numerous variables which have to be considered. Some become skeptic after seeing how some politicians and businesses have benefited from policies which are supposed to be aimed at reducing emissions.

After learning more about the factors of climate change we can see hypothesize what the world will be like in 50 years.  Whether we decrease CO2 emissions or not the CO2 which we have already released within the past few decades will continue to haunt us because CO2 remains in the year for hundreds or even thousands of years.  If we continue spewing out CO2 at current levels or above then we can expect more environmental damage.  Whether humans are causing climate change or not is arguable; however, it is not arguable that our emissions cause major environmental damage.  We are destroying major habitats such as coral reefs and rain forests which support an abundance of species.  When we destroy these habitats, our own survival becomes more difficult as the food chain has to adapt.

Ultimately, humans will find a way to adapt to climate change in the next 50 years.  Public pressure will force governments to protect their citizens from extreme phenomena.  Sadly, we will not be able to stop severe weather phenomena from occurring because the damage is already done.  What we can do now is to prevent further damage from occurring.

Waste it ALL!!!!

230 million tons.  That is the amount of trash produced by America annually.  All of us "normal" citizens have contributed greatly to this number of 230 which approximately translates to about 4 pounds of trash per person.  My trash for two days was not 4 pounds.  The reason for this is because my trash consists of mainly food remains.  Some of this such as orange peels are completely biodegradable.  Some other types of trash such as wrappers are not.  In addition, store receipts, forks, spoons, and napkins were also a part of trash-able items.  Going to Starbucks contributed to part of my trash as well.

What are some ways in which I could cut my trash.  My personal solutions would be to recycle, reuse, and buy products which prohibit me from needing certain items.  For example, what I did in the following two days was wash my Starbucks cups and use them for my morning juice.  While this produced trash, it reduced the amount of trash because I no longer needed to buy a special cup.  

By buying a proper water bottle can also assist in reducing trash because then water bottles would not be necessary.  However, one fact that prevents students such as myself from buying water bottles is that we do not have adequate refilling stations.  Water fountains are considered dirty and the water does not seem sanitary.  Some other options are the Sparklettes water jugs.  These jugs, unfortunately, are readily available around campus.  Smaller pieces of trash such as straws can also be eliminated by using cups which allow me to sip the fluid.  While a single straw may not seem to be able to make a big impact, we must remember how many millions of straws are used annually.  If I continued to reduce my use of straws then I can reduce my trash efficiently.  

Some items which I can not eliminate are packaging for electronics. At least with food items I can find alternatives with low packaging use; however, electronics provide no such alternative.