FernGully

Yesterday I had the opportunity to see the movie FernGully. It was a wonderful animated movie made in 1992 with an environmental theme. For some reason I missed this film somewhere in my childhood and was glad for the chance to come and view with my son at the Riverside City College campus.

The film centers around a group of fairies and forest animals deep in the rain forest. They are so deep in the forest that they long ago stopped believing humans even existed. Crista (the principle protagonist of the movie), is a young fairy that is an apprentice of their clans medicine woman (or shaman), Magi. Christa, like many young adults, is curious and has yet to master the skills of her trade. Her curiosity has lead her to the discovery of humans entering the rain forest. The humans are in the forest for one reason... exploitation of course. The humans turn out to work for a logging company that has been charged with the clear cutting of the forest. The humans loggers end up accidentally releasing Hexxus (the primary antagonist), who ends up enlisting the unsuspecting humans into his service. Zak is a young man that is working with the loggers as a summer job. Zak and the other loggers are not maliciously destructive. They are the product of the expected selfish and uncaring behavior of humans that are uneducated in the matters of the environment. Crista, who is unable to control her fledgling powers, shrinks Zak to save him from calamity. Unable to change him back the two embark on a journey to Ferngully where Magi can change Zak back to his normal size. During the journey Crista teaches Zak how the forest is a living being that feels love and pain. In the end Hexxus ends up in Ferngully intent on destroying it. Magi in parts Christa with the knowledge of the power of a seed. Crista allows herself, along with a seed, to be swollowed by Hexxus. The seed grows into a great tree entrapping him inside it.

I believe the seed represents the seed of knowledge. Once planted inside someone it has the ability to grow and change someone from the inside. Where there is a lack of knowledge there can be no enlightenment. Where ignorance thrives often so does destruction and wastefulness. Once one because aware of the negative effect one has on their surrounding it becomes near impossible to ignore and thus promotes change. I believe it is the duty of all who have become "enlightened" to plant the seeds of knowledge in order to bring about global change.

What's Plaguing US?

I entered this class at the beginning of the semester not unlike many of my fellow countrymen (and women);  unaware and uncaring of many environmental issues. I was a climate skeptic at best and at times a down right climate change denier at worst. Despite this line of thinking I was determined to take on this class and this semester with a completely open-mind. I've tried new things this semester,  such as taking up a plot in the RCC Community Garden and have participated in the RCC Sustainability Club (with whom I plan on going on a conservation trip to Catalina in a couple of weeks). I have had somewhat of an awakening and feel enriched by the new people and ideas I have encountered. I am not saying all skepticism on every environmental issue has been completely erased. I am a skeptic by nature and I think it is an important quality of a free thinker. I have strong Free Market Libertarian beliefs and I loath the idea of government infringement of personal freedoms. That being said, I don't think there is anything wrong with free men and women wanting to educate themselves about real life events that are happening right now. There is nothing wrong with free peoples wanting clean air and water. There is especially nothing wrong with voting with your pocket book and putting pressure on corporations to work to do it better and cleaner than they have. You see; that is what capitalism is all about. If we the people reward companies with our money for doing environmentally friendly things; then, that will motivate other companies to do the same.

In my opinion the biggest issue that the environmental/conservation movements are having is one of messaging. It seems to me that the movement spends to much time trying to pass laws so that the government will force people and companies into doing what they "feel" is right. There is many life examples of how this thinking is ineffective. I believe the better way to bring about real change is a huge grassroots movement to educate our fellow citizens on the benefits of conservation. Nobody, no matter what party affiliation, likes smog, or plastic bags in the ocean, cigarette butts ect. polluting everything. Likewise nobody minds if individuals chose to forgo that plastic bag at the store or if a private shopkeeper (or corporation for that matter), decides to stop using them. Where people get upset is when government comes and tell them what they can and can't use. I believe most people when properly educated will chose to forgo the bags on their own. I did and have. Ever since I watched Bag It! I have become acutely aware of every plastic bag that I see and only use the ones I already have (most of the time).

I believe it is our duty as swards of our planet to pass on the information we have learned in this course. I'm not necessarily suggesting we all turn into fervent evangelical environmentalist. I'm suggesting we start by having sensible discussions with friends and family. I'm saying we should impart our children with the valves of conservationism. If you are a highly motivated individual perhaps start or get evolved with community outreach groups dealing with environmental issues.

 People act like it is some secret on what motivates corporations. It's not. Money is what motivates them. Likewise people underestimate the power of the consumer ..... especially consumers that are united, educated and casting the only vote that counts ..... the ol' mighty DOLLAR!

 I know this was not exactly what Dr. Huff was looking for, BUT I feel that what I lined out here is the best way to bring about change in all environmental issues. I believe the increased carbon in the atmosphere and our oceans (causing the acidification) is the biggest sign that something serious is happening to our planet. I'm driven more than ever to stop spending money at the big corporate conglomerates. Big companies (especially in the restaurant industry), are more likely to ship food from far off places all over the world. This causes more CO2's to be released into the atmosphere.

Amy's Farm

On Saturday the 17th of May, I had the opportunity to visit Amy's Farm, a small sustainable family farm. They are a real working poly culture farm, but also allow tours for students to have a real hands on educational experience.

They are a poly culture farm, that means they farm a verity of crops and they will try to incorporate native spices of weeds and plant life mixed throughout their farm. This, they hope, will invite the proper insects to help keep the "bad" insects in check. On thing that the tour guide said that stuck with me is that you can judge the health of a garden by the insects that you see living there. If the produce isn't safe enough for insects to eat, it may not be safe for you to eat either.

One other thing that I found interesting is that they offered a heard share program. This is where private individuates came "chip in " money to buy and care for a dairy cow. Because they are part "owners" of this cow they then can come and milk and keep the milk of their cow. This is the only legal way one can obtain and consume "raw" milk under Federal Law.

For those of you that would wish to visit Amy's Farm for fresh produce and eggs can contact them at 909-393-2936 or go visit them at 7698 Eucalyptus, Ontario, CA 91762

Sit Back, Unplug, and Relax

This weekend I spent a day (24 hours), without the use of energy (as much as possible). The idea is to bring into focus the amount of energy use/waste is used daily and what energy use is really necessary. Living in a technologically connect society as we do these days; the issue of not using my cell phone and laptop will probably be the items that cause the most anxiety.

I had a strategy going into the day that I was going to unplug. My plan was #1 sleep in as much as possible, and #2 stay away from home during my waking hours. I could not stay in bed past 8:30am; so, so much for part 1 of my plan. Once we were up (my son Wyatt and I), we ate a bowl of cereal and went on a bike ride to the park. It was an awesome time to catchup  on some reading (environmental science of course), while Wyatt played on the play ground. We returned home at about 12 and got ready to go swimming. I had preplanned to meet a few friends at our community pool. I had my ice chest ready with fruit salad and drinks. We went down to the pool and had a barbecue/picnic for about 8 hours (well after dark). We went to sleep shortly after.

There were a few places I realize I kinda cheated. When I planned the BBQ I was thinking this is a wonderful way to not consume energy. Then as I was standing there in front of my barbecue I realized that I was in fact still using energy. I was using propane. I then thought about how I was using ice for the ice chest.
 This is kind of like using a battery. I took energy to freeze ice so that I could use it later....that later was this day.

Over all I did great staying away from the technology. I did let my son watch a little TV before bed. This was my project not his. I did well though, he went through the entire day without using energy without realizing it.
It was not hard to get through the day of being unplugged the way that I did it. It would have been much harder if I did not use the BBQ. Much of my car usage was done the day before to prepare for this day.

I'm not sure what I could do on a daily basis to continue using less energy. One thing I could do is to start using those "green strips" to plug my computers and entertainment systems into. That way I can get my electricity vampires under control.

FOOD!!!

Every morning I seem to be running late to work or class. In a perfect world I would have time to eat a good breakfast before tackling the day. In reality I'm scrambling out the door with a travel mug of coffee and a banana in my hand. This week I am going to look into bananas, a food item I eat everyday (unless I run out), and find out the environmental impact of producing and bringing it to market as well as find out the health benefits and/or consequences of it.

Places where Chiquita Bananas are grown

I know bananas are not the most exiting or interesting food item in the world, but they are vary convenient  to grab when you're on the run or to through in your backpack for a snake later in the day. Since they come in there vary own biodegradable packaging the environmental impact on the back end is slim to none. On the other hand; I know nothing about the resources it takes to grow and ship product to bring it to market. The brand of bananas I eat is Chiquita (Of course.... not sure if there is any other brand. The only brand I have had over my entire life has been Chiquita I think.). On the Chiquita website, chiquitabananas.com, they state,  " Chiquita Banana farms are located in South America and North America. Chiquita banana farms are most concentrated in fertile soil regions of Central America; from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador. As you can imagine shipping bananas to the states creates a large ecological footprint. According to a website One Green Planet, at onegreenplanet.org, CO2 emissions caused by transporting bananas such far distances is the primary reason not to eat them. They also had some concerns about the pesticides used and the impact on the farm workers.


The ingredients of bananas seems simple because it is a single ingredient food, but if you break it down and analyze it chemically it contains:

The health benifits bananas have are well know. They are high in vitamens such as: Vitamin B6, Manganese, Vitamin C, Potassium, Dietary Fiber, Protein, Magnesium, Folate, Riboflavi, Niacin, Vitamin A, and Iron. They are also known to have positive benefits in dealing with blood pressure, Asthma, Cancer, Heart health, Diabetes, treating diarrhea, preserving memory and boosting mood. According to healthnews.com.

Taking a Look at the Amount of Waste I Create

This week I was asked to take a closer look at the amount of waste (as in trash that goes to our land fills), I create in a two day period. I tried to pick to days that were similar in routine. I reasoned that I most likely created more trash on the weekends than on the weekdays. So, my first two days was a Friday and a Saturday; my next two was Sunday and Monday. This way each two day period had one weekday and one weekend day. I also decided to measure the amount of trash my entire household created (household of 4).

My first two days created 14.6 lbs. of trash (3 bags). My second two days my family created 5.5 lbs. of trash. My assignment was to implement waste reduction strategies between the first two days and the last two days. Going by these stats it would appear that I did an awesome job. However it is not the truth.  Despite my best efforts I believe my data was skewed. The reason I believe this is because Friday and Saturdays seem to be the days that many of the large containers that I buy once a week goes empty. For example in those first two day I had three milk containers, one orange juice container, two boxes of cereal, and laundry detergent. These items are used all week long, but only thrown out at the end of the week. Also we had a barbecue on Saturday that also added extra trash.

I wasn't really able to implement any real waste reduction for the second two days, because it would of involved more planning and it would have required me to change my shopping habits ahead of time. I did produce less waste the second two days because we ate left overs from the barbecue and had no need to throw out any big containers. I believe this experiment would have to be done in weekly increments to get a better idea of the effectiveness of waste reduction strategies. 

Below is a list of some waste reduction strategies I got from http://www.epa.gov/waste/wycd/funfacts/index.htm:

• Reduce Your Packaging: Buy bulk or concentrated products when you can.
• Reduce Toxicity or Learn How: Recycle your batteries and use batteries with reduced mercury.
• Select Reusable Products: Sturdy, washable utensils, tableware, cloth napkins, and dishcloths can be used many times.
• Use Durable Products: Choose furniture, sports equipment, toys, and tools that will stand the test of time.
• Reuse Products: Reuse newspaper, boxes, shipping "peanuts," and "bubble wrap" to ship packages.
• Recycle Automotive Products: Take car batteries, antifreeze, and motor oil to participating recycling centers.
• Buy Products Made From Recycled Material: Many bottles, cans, cereal boxes, containers, and cartons are made from recycled material.
• Compost or Learn How: Food scraps and yard waste can become natural soil conditioners.

UCR "Bug Ladies" visit the RCC Community Garden

Two weeks ago Thursday, April 24th, we were lucky enough to have two vary knowledgeable UCR Entomology graduate students come to our (RCC's), community garden. They came to educate us on a method of pest control that can effectively control pest in our gardens without the use of potentially harmful chemicals. That method is to use the natural enemies of the harmful pest. Here is a chart I got off the UC Davis website at http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74140.html. This an example of what the grad students where talking about.

PESTS	NATURAL ENEMIES
	Lacewings	Lady beetles	Parasitic flies	Parasitic wasps	Predatory mites	Other groups and examples
aphids	•	•		•		entomopathogenic fungi syrphid fly larvae
carpenterworm, clearwing moth larvae				•		entomopathogenic nematodes
caterpillars (e.g., California oakworm)	•		•	•		Bacillus thuringiensis birds pathogenic fungi and viruses predaceous wasps Trichogramma spp.(egg parasitic wasps) spiders
cottony cushion scale		•	•			Cryptochaetum iceryae (parasitic fly) vedalia beetle
elm leaf beetle			•	•		Erynniopsis antennata (parasitic fly) Oomyzus (=Tetrastichus) spp. (parasitic wasps)
eucalyptus longhorned borers				•		Avetianella longoi (egg parasitic wasp) Syngaster lepidus (larval parasitic wasp)
eucalyptus redgum lerp psyllid		•		•		Psyllaephagus bliteus (parasitic wasp)
giant whitefly	•	•		•	•	Entedononecremnus krauteri, Encarsiella noyesii, and Idioporus affinis (parasitic wasp)
glassy-winged sharpshooter				•		Gonatocerus spp. (egg parasitic wasps)
lace bugs	•	•		•		pirate bugs spiders
mealybugs	•	•		•	•	mealybug destroyer lady beetle
mosquitoes						Bacillus thuringiensis ssp. israelensis
psyllids	•	•		•		pirate bugs
scales	•	•		•	•	Aphytis spp. (armored scale parasites)
slugs, snails			•			Rumina decollata (predatory snail) predaceous ground beetles vertebrates
spider mites	•	•			•	sixspotted thrips Stethorus picipes (spider mite destroyer lady beetle)
thrips	•				•	predatory thrips
weevils, root or soil-dwelling						Steinernema carpocapsae and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (entomopathogenic nematodes)

 One way we can promote a diverse insect population in our gardens is to have a garden that is biologically diverse in the types of fruits and vegetables we grow.  The other way to have beneficial insects is to by and release them in your garden. Releasing the correct predator insect requires that you identify the enemy in your garden then looking up its natural predictor on the chart above.

The other thing these grad students did is bring some live and preserved insect specimens from around the world. Here are some pictures.

My Water.....Where does it come from?

This week I am going to take a closer look at our drinking water; both tap (water supplied by the city), and bottle water. It is my impression that bottle water will be cleaner and thus safer than the water that comes out of the tap. My experience tells me that bottle water taste better anyway. First I need to examine where my city tap water comes from and what governmental agency is responsible for insuring its quality. Also I need investigate what standard does the water have to meet to be considered "safe" for public consumption. Then I will compare it to bottle water and the agency's standards regulating it.

To find out where my water comes from and the standards it must meet I referred to Riverside's Annual Drinking Water Report at http://www.riversideca.gov/utilities/water-wqr.asp. According to the site my drinking water is provided by the Riverside Public Utilities (RPU) and the water is drawn from groundwater sources located in the San Bernardino Bunker Hill Basin and the Riverside Basin. RPU treats some of its wells and all water sources are blended at a central location before entering into distribution. The thing that I found the most interesting is the allowable chemical and particulate contamination that is allowed in tap water, but this allowable amount is measured in parts per million (ppm), so we are talking really really slight amount of contamination. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is in charge of setting and enforcing the standards of drinking water.

The information about the "allowable" contamination was reinforce my preconceived notion that bottle water is better. Then I examined whom is responsible for regulating bottle water. It turns out that, unlike tap water, it is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that over sees bottle water. The standards set by the EPA are far stricter than the FDA. The list of regulatory gaps is long so I will only high light a few that I got from National Resource Defense Council website at http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/exesum.asp:

• FDA's rules completely exempt 60-70 percent of the bottled water sold in the United States from the agency's bottled water standards, because FDA says its rules do not apply to water packaged and sold within the same state. Nearly 40 states say they do regulate such waters (generally with few or no resources dedicated to policing this); therefore, about one out of five states do not.
• Bottled water plants must test for coliform bacteria just once a week; big-city tap water must be tested 100 or more times a month.
• Repeated high levels of bacteria (i.e., "heterotrophic-plate-count" bacteria) in tap water combined with a lack of disinfectant can trigger a violation for cities -- but not for water bottlers.

What's more is the FDA says they have only one person assigned to writing and reviewing the standards they set forth and less than a person assigned to enforcement.

I personally was blown away. There is no guarantee that the bottle water is safer. This information does not say that bottle water is unsafe, but it does say no one is monitoring it  most bottle water to insure that it is safe. After this information I think it may be better to filter my own tap water. That way I know my water meets EPA standards then filter it further to get the rest of the contaminates out. This would also eliminate all the plastic bottle pollution.

 

My Visit to the Riverside/Corona Resource Conservation District

This week my environmental science class and I went on trip to Riverside/Corona Resource Conservation District (RCRCD). RCRCD is a small governmental agency that helps land users conserve soil, water, wildlife and native landscapes in western Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. They work with private land users, nonprofit organizations, and public entities to sustain natural resources by providing a verity of services including but not limited to; technical services (such as evaluations of irrigation systems), habitat services (3 areas: Restoration, Management  and Preservation) and educational programs.

The site had examples of plant and wildlife of 3 Southern California habitats; the Oak Woodland, Chaparral, and Riparian. They also had examples of four landscapes suitable for urban areas. The Habitat Garden; which is good to provide food, water, and shelter for urban-adapted wildlife. Then the Native and Cultivar Garden is comprised of only native plants and/or cultivated verities of natives. Third is the Mediterranean Garden. This garden uses plants that do require more water, but made up for it by have a larger hardscape area (Hard surfaces such as concrete patio), thus reducing the amount of plants to be watered. Lastly, is the Sustainable or the "Edible" Garden. This garden is made up of trees and plants that give fruits and vegetables.

Asian Citrus Psyllid

Tamarixia radiata

Close up of Tamarixia radiata

The things I have mentioned above alone would have made for an interesting field trip, but the last service I'm going to talk about really put the trip over the top. Although most of us are unaware; it seems that California has been invaded by a foreign enemy, the Asian Citrus Psyllid. This tiny pest carries a disease that is absolutely devastating to the citrus crop. Fortunately for us the good folks at RCRCD along with UCR and Cal Poly Pomona are raising and releasing a tiny, stingless wasp called Tamarixia radiata that is a natural predator of the Asian citrus psyllid. They only feed on psyllids. It is their hope that this will at least control these invasive pest.
In all this was a fascinating experience. I am glad that I had the opportunity to go there and look forward to utilizing this resource when I have land that needs to be managed.

Everything We Use Comes from Earth Somehow

These days it has become difficult to see that all things come from the Earth one way or another. In today’s world, especially in the urban environment, everything is highly processed and combined with other things so much that it has become difficult to recognize it as being from nature and  that nature still plays an integral part in our day to day lives. This week’s assignment is to keep track of all of the Earth’s resources that I use in a 24 hour period. Because of all the technology and other modern comforts it will be difficult at times to see how they come from nature, but I will just create the list first then go back and break each item down to its parts after the fact. The completed list with revisions are as follows:

A) Food and drink- eggs, potatoes, chorizo, tortillas, milk, chips, salsa, guacamole, beer (all domestic; some locally brewed micro-brew), whiskey (fireball), tri-tip (beef), hotdogs (made of ???), hamburger, salad (prepackaged), corn (frozen), peas (frozen) and birthday cake.

B) Housing and other buildings- My house is a wood framed condominium, with dry walled (gypsum plaster and paper) walls and a ceramic tile roof. All homes also have a verity of metals for fasteners (iron), wiring (copper), piping (copper or galvanized steel) and glass windows (silica).

C) Transportation and roads- Car is made of metals (iron, copper, silver, nickel, aluminum, ect.), plastic (petroleum), rubber (synthetic; therefore it is petroleum based) other fabrics for upholstery (cotton, leather or vinyl). Road is made of gravel and tar (petroleum). Gas and oil in the car of course is also petroleum.

D) Clothing- Tee shirt, denim jeans, and underwear (all made of cotton), shoes (cotton, and synthetic rubber.

E) School supplies- It was my birthday, so I tried not to think about school. I tracked my list with the voice memo on my cell phone (made copper, nickel, zinc, copper and cadmium, mercury, plastic)

F) Personal care products- Shampoo (sodium laureth sulfate, cocamidopropyl betaine in water), soap (lye), toothpaste (Sodium bicarbonate, fluoride and a bunch of other crap), deodorant (aluminum-based compound other ingredients vary)

G) Leisure activities- Watching TV (made of silicon, tin, zinc, gold, silver, plastic, and steel) electricity (provided from coal), dominoes (plastic), playing cards (paper with wax coating), beer (hopes and barley), and whiskey (rye)

H) Other (not listed in categories A-G) - Bed (made of cotton, steel springs), sheets (cotton) and sleep ware (cotton). Pans, silverware, and other cooking utensils (made of iron, nickel and other alloys) 

For the next part of this assignment I was asked to research one of the items on my list. I created this list on my birthday (which was last Saturday), so this day involved two barbecues with two different groups of friends and a whole lot of drinking (don’t worry I had a designated driver). In keeping with the theme of the day the item I shall highlight is beer. I choose beer for a couple of reasons: First of all beer doesn’t get the proper respect it deserves for the integral part it has played in the advancement of human civilization. The second reason is… well, I like it.

 According to the History Channel website, the dawn of beer goes hand in hand with the dawn of cereal agriculture than began about 12,000 years ago. They go on to say,

“As hunter-gatherer tribes settled into agrarian civilizations based around staple crops like wheat, rice, barley and maize, they may have also stumbled upon the fermentation process and started brewing beer. In fact, some anthropologists have argued that these early peoples’ insatiable thirst for hooch may have contributed to the Neolithic Revolution by inspiring new agricultural technologies.”

During these ancient times these nutrient-rich suds were a cornerstone of early man's diet and was considered safer than drinking water from local streams that was often contaminated with animal waste. For the reason of sanitation and nutrition it is easy to see why beer was an important part of ancient life and was defiantly a necessity to these people; however, in modern times it is looked at as a “want” not a “need”. In fact it is likely a source of unneeded calories and with modern water treatment plants it isn’t necessary for hydration.

These days beer is usually made from barley and malted wheat and seasoned with hopes. It can be made with any of the cereal grains though. Beer is made in just about every part of the world. Beer production in the United States is mostly done by Anheuser-Busch, MillerCoors, and Pabst Brewing Company; however, there has been a micro-brew revolution going on. Every year local micro-breweries have been gaining a larger and larger market share.

Many of the downsides of too much alcohol consumption are widely known. Just like all things in life moderation is the key. Just about everyone has seen real live examples of the peril of overconsumption. The same can be said of many things that people have been known to over indulge in. As far as environmental impact; it can be minimized by drinking local brew or brewing your own, but often (especially the big corporate breweries) the ingredients are brought in from far off places and then the finished product is shipped back out to far off places. As you can imagine this can cause a big footprint of greenhouse gases.

What I have learned from my research is my beer drinking has a larger ecological footprint than I thought. As far as my list goes I didn’t learn so much. My list does highlight the fact that petroleum is in just about every product there is, but this was no surprise to me. Through other reading and other course work I was already aware of this. The one thing that I could and I am willing to do is to increases the amount of locally grown food (and beer) that I consume. Shopping at farmers markets and perhaps making my own microbrew is the prescription for me.

 

 

 

Taking a Closer Look at the World Around

 

My son Wyatt and I began our walk at about 11:00 am Saturday morning and the weather was pleasant. It was quite crowded and I was kind of skeptical if we would see any wildlife at all with all the human activity. Quickly after we began our hike we got hot and I started to think that perhaps we should have went earlier or later in the day to take advantage of cooler tempters. A little more than half way up on the trail that is on the back side of the mountain (the side facing away from the city), there was a park bench that over looked Jurupa Hills and the Santa Ana River. Here Wyatt and I sat and enjoyed our cool water. I also began explaining to him what it was we were doing here today and that first of all we should make a list of abiotic components of this ecosystem. I explained how abiotic things are things that aren't living and never where living. So with his help I created the following list; mountain, rocks, dirt, air, clouds, water (scant amounts in the riverbed below), power lines, sign, trash bin, and the sun that was blessing us with a warm day.

The second task was to create a list of all the biotic things. After I gave I gave Wyatt the appropriate explanation on how biotic components of an ecosystem are all the living things plant and animal. This was a little more difficult because in the first moments of observation the only animals that where apparent where humans and dogs. So our list at first was of the plant life; which was most made up of some sort of sage brush, wildflowers, weeds and cactus. There was also some species of pine trees and a cypress trees.

Then Wyatt noticed the bees and other insects that where enjoying the wild flowers. I also noticed in the distance there were a couple of hawks (I think), that were patrolling the field down near the river. After that Wyatt left the bench to explore some boulders nearby and he found this nice size lizard that was sunning himself on a rock. Shortly after that we encountered two other lizards that where in that act of .....well matting; however, I disturbed them when I was attempting to take a picture. The last thing we saw was birds eating out of a nearby trash can. This was a good example of how our human interactions are also a part of this ecosystem.

I have been here other times and have seen many jack rabbits and ground squirrels, but not on this day. Over all it was a pleasant hike(especially the part were we walk down the hill). I had hoped to observe more wildlife, but I needed to go some place more secluded.  

Environmental Science in the News

I came across an article in National Geographic today. It was entitled Killing Wildlife: The Pros and Cons of Culling Animals, written by Will James published March 5, 2014. Here’s the link. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140305-culling-badgers-deer-bison-swans-ethics-conservation/?rptregcta=reg_free_np#. This article calls in to question the practice and ethics of culling animals. Just to be sure everyone understands what culling is I’m going to give a brief definition from the Merriam-Webster website. To cull is to reduce or control the size of (as a herd) by removal (as by hunting) of especially weaker animals; also:  to hunt or kill (animals) as a means of population control. In this article they are specifically talking about the culling of endangered animals such as bison in Montana, and swans, geese, and deer (whitetail) in New York.

 The practice of culling has long been used in farming to eliminate genetically inferior members of the herd to insure that only genetically superior specimens would pass on their genes to the next generation. In fact some people, like Mary Pearl, a conservationist with the City University of New York who formerly served as president of the Wildlife Trust, a nonprofit organization now called EcoHealth Alliance, would argue that culling has always gone. She asserts,

“I would say nature has been a culler, in the past, of wildlife species. It still is. If an animal becomes superabundant in a limited habitat, they're going to have either a die-off from starvation or some pathogen that will take advantage of their vulnerabilities. Then there's hunting by predators, including humans.”

In short, conservationist who are in favor of culling believe it is much more humane for a species to be culled than to be left to strangle its self through overpopulation; which will lead to starvation and dehydration for the whole herd.

There are groups that believe that it is unethical for people who call themselves “conservationist” to be killing animals for any reason. Some of these same groups also question whether the slaughter is carried out in a humane way.

My personal feeling on the whole thing, and Ms. Pearl of EcoHealth agrees, is that culling is a good thing. In fact, the fact that we are talking about culling herds of bison and whitetail (both species were near extinction), is proof that modern conservation techniques are working.  Not only are the herds larger, stronger and more vibrant but, bio-diversity of all ecosystems involved is growing. When certain species are not allowed to overpopulate it then clears the way for other species to thrive in the same ecosystem. In turn we have a larger variety of animal spices. As far as the question of the way that he slaughter is carried out; I can’t imagine anything more awful than dying of starvation and dehydration.

I trust National Geographic as an information source more than just about anything that puts out news of any kind. That being said I look at all news sources with a degree of skepticism (as we all should). I was not able to find a mission statement but, found this blerp on the about section of the National Geographic website.  

“The National Geographic Society has been inspiring people to care about the planet since 1888. It is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational institutions in the world. Its interests include geography, archaeology and natural science, and the promotion of environmental and historical conservation.”

That is almost 125 years of being a well-respected source for all things environmental. The article seemed well researched and the use of a well-respected authority in Mary Pearl defiantly lends credibility to the article.

Today I went to the website www.footprintnetwork.org/calculator, so I could learn how big my ecological footprint is. What this website does is tell me how many earths would it take to support the entire population of the earth if everyone on earth live the same way I did. I learned that if everyone live as I do it would take 4.4 earths. I must say that I was a little surprised. I know this sounds awful but I thought it would be more. I believe the average of the United States is 7.5 (according to the same website), so I thought I would be around that number. I guess because I work at school and only live 5 miles away that it helped keep my number down. I also don't buy a lot of new house hold goods. I deal with lot of second hand goods. That being said, I did score 4.4 earths; there is a lot of room for improvement. According to my pie chart a majority of my footprint comes from the services I use with food coming in a close second. It was suggested that I eat about half the meat I currently do. Reduce the post consumer waste. Consider installing solar panels. Buy energy efficient appliances. Lastly to take public transportation once a week.

Of all these things taking public transportation once a week sounds like the easiest, but living only 5 miles away would cause the impact on my footprint to be low. The suggestion for solar panels is something I would love to do. The idea of living "off the grid" sounds vary appealing to me and would probably have a huge impact. The first thing that they suggested is also something to consider, but I don't know about cutting the animal products in half. How about I start by cutting them by a quarter.

Welcome to my Blog

Hello, and welcome to my Blog, The Rational Conservationist. My name is George Perches and my educational endeavors bring us to this chance meeting here on the internet. I am a Math and Science major with plans on transferring to Cal Poly Pomona in the fall as a Construction Technology Engineering major and this class meets the requirement. This blog will be like a diary (if you will), of my journey through Environmental Science. I am a 37 year old single father of a wonderful 9 year old son. We live here in Riverside and I have been going to Riverside City College (RCC) for 3 years. Before returning to school I worked in the construction trade as a Sheet Metal Worker for about 8 years doing both Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning (HVAC) and Architectural Sheet Metal projects. This is why my chosen major is a natural fit.

Now just because I'm taking this class to meet degree requirements doesn't mean that I'm uninterested in environmental science issues. I am by nature an optimist, but doesn't mean I'm not a realist. The world faces some serious problems.  Also I never cease to be amazed by human ingenuity. We are now beginning to see that our own ingenuity is a double edged sword. Does this mean we stop being innovative? Should we roll back technology? Lower our standard of living?......Of course not! We just need to learn to do it better. Humans are good at learning to do things better. People on both sides of side of environmental issues have this "either or" mentality. Am I being overly optimistic by suggesting that we can do BOTH? We both can advance technologically and economically, while still learning how to do things more efficiently as to not exhaust our natural resources or pollute our environment. This is where engineers come in. This doesn't mean we people have nothing to do. We do need to do with less. This doesn't mean without, but less, Especially less waste; lets face it we as individuals simply over consume.

 Every ones quality of life is improved by less pollution. Never meet anyone who likes smoggy days, enjoys dirty beaches, or even wants litter to be thrown in front of their house. This is why education and awareness is the key to making real change. I have little faith in government interference. Laws that the masses do not really believe in make little difference (ie. people still talk on cell phones while driving; drug users have easy access to drugs; most people do not give up their guns because gun control law goes into effect). I also question regulation that is so burdensome that is drives industry out of the country. This is a double lose because it severely hurts American workers; while actually pushing companies to go place where they will have little or no regulation allowing them to pollute more. I'm not calling for zero regulation either but, rational, sober minded individuals need to consider the big picture in considering these governmental policies.

In the end one thing to consider is the Earths environment is huge and has what it takes to absorb all mankind has to throw at it. It is us that may not be able to survive the corrections the Earths makes to its natural cycle in order to deal with it.