Author Archives: Owen Harrison

Moving Towards a Brighter and More Sustainable Future

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Math related to sustainability isn’t just something meant for textbooks but math has real understandings and effects on our world and how sustainable we are as individuals.  Worldwide, roughly 9.2% of the population live in extreme poverty and in the US alone, 34 million people live in poverty.  However, these statistics only relate to income, with roughly 1.3 billion people in 107 countries being considered poor in relation to either access to food, education, or healthcare. The relation between human society and the environment is not a simple one and adverse effects from humans create disastrous consequences not only for the environment but also for other humans, especially those most at risk.  Poverty can simultaneously affect and be affected by a lack of sustainability efforts.  Poorer communities lack the resource security to practice sustainable methods and therefore harm the environment by using all the resources they can find.  Poverty also has a negative affect on air pollution with people in poverty not having the education or ability to utilize non-harmful environmental practices.  Poorer communities also live in areas with the greatest threat of danger in the face of climate change.  The poorer communities live near urban areas which produce 80%of the Greenhouse Gas Emissions in North America.  These poorer communities usually live near pollution sites and in areas with inadequate housing and insulation to protect against environmental change.  Poverty is a big factor in the continuation of unsustainable practices, as well as being some of the most vulnerable communities to the effects of climate change.  It will take a better understanding of the relation between people and the environment, especially those in poorer communities and most at risk, to truly work to make a more sustainable future.       

 

Works cited:

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/26/climate-change-will-hurt-poor-people-the-most-federal-report.html

Is Wind Energy the Future?

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In recent years there have been many discussions and efforts to switch away from fossil-fuel based methods to alternative and renewable sources of energy.  One such example of renewable energy that has become a topic of discussion among others, is wind energy.  There is hope for wind energy to become a main form of energy use in the near and somewhat distant future.  Based on the EPA’s Wind Vision Report, wind can become a viable source of energy in every state in America by 2050.  Wind energy is already available in nationwide and this infrastructure makes it possible to dramatically expand the usage of wind energy in the coming years.  In 2013, wind energy already reduced the emission of air pollutants by 250,000 metric tons and if widespread wind energy systems are used throughout the country, the Wind Vision Report estimates that greenhouse gases could be reduced by 12.3 gigatonnes by 2050.  This wind energy format is not only great for the environment but for the public as well, with local communities estimated to be able to collect additional tax revenue totally 3.2 billion annually from land lease and property tax payments by 2050.  The switch however would not be cheap with job losses expected to occur and infrastructure needing creation.  The Wall Street Journal estimates that it would cost 7.8 to 13.9 trillion over the course of the next 30 years.  This isn’t just for wind but for all forms of renewable energy.  The upside however is immense, with the change to renewable energy, our forms of energy will no longer depend on finite reserves of fossil-fuels.  The price of renewable energy is also slowly decreasing as they become more widespread.  Wind energy is roughly $20/MWh compared to coal’s $102/MWh and renewable energy sources can only help the economy with increased jobs in renewable energy sectors and lower prices for goods and energy in the future.  Renewable energy and wind energy in particular will take time to switch to of course, but the benefits of doing so far outweigh the negatives during the process of the switch or not switching at all.

 

Works Cited:

https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/wind-vision#:~:text=The%20Wind%20Vision%20Report%20shows,and%20supporting%20services%20by%202050.

https://www.inspirecleanenergy.com/blog/clean-energy-101/cost-of-renewable-energy

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-u-s-is-turning-green-what-will-this-climate-plan-cost-and-who-will-pay-11634997601#:~:text=The%20biggest%20and%20most%20measurable,energy%20researchers%20at%20Princeton%20University.

 

 

 

Food Waste management in the U.S.

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Food waste is a massive problem in the United States.  Currently, a large portion of food is wasted in the United States and this wasted food ends up in various places.  These charts document the pathways in where wasted food ends up after it goes unused in 2018.  The column chart on the left depicts the weight in US tons of wasted food and approximately how many tons of wasted food end up in each place.  As you can see, the largest number of wasted food ends up in landfills with 35,277,543 tons of wasted food managed by landfills.  This massive number dwarfs any other pathway for wasted food.  For instance, wasted food used on land application is only 259,448.  The amount of wasted food that ends up in landfills is 135.97 times greater than the amount of wasted food used for land application.  The pie chart on the left details the same numbers however this chart gives the percentages of where wasted food ends up. As you can see more clearly, all other pathways for wasted food combined are less than the percentage of wasted food that goes to landfills.  In 2018, 55.9% of all wasted food was sent to landfills and not used in any other constructive way.  Out of the 63,132,123 tons of food wasted in 2018, 35,277,543 tons of that food ended up in landfills.  Not only is it horribly unsustainable to waste  food, but the methods in which wasted food is used afterwards is even more unsustainable and is contributing to the problems that we are seeing today.

Works Cited:

https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/food-material-specific-data#:~:text=The%20estimated%2035.3%20million%20tons,percent%20of%20all%20MSW%20landfilled.

Housing Disparities Reveal Racial Discrimination

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Safe and affordable housing is a primary concern to almost every single person living in the United States.  However, there are many disparities in the current housing system in the United States that reveal deeper levels of racism and discrimination.  As the graphs below show, the financial status and net worth of different races are shown.  The important thing to understand is that while financial status is the here and now, net worth is even more important since that becomes generational wealth for the future.  Nationally, black households only earned 61 cents per $1 of white households.  This disparity significantly affects the ability to afford housing and this form of racism persists over generations.  A black family is 16 times more likely than white families to experience 3 generations of poverty.  Even when both races make similar poverty-level wages, white households have an average net worth of $18,000 in savings while black families have either no savings or negative.  These racial disparities all play into housing issues.  When the recession hit in 2008, black and hispanic families that were approved for loans were 2.4 times more likely to receive a subprime(loans for people deemed to have difficulty paying back a loan) than white families.  Income and net worth are massive factors pertaining to housing and the differences between races in these areas emphasize racial discrimination that heavily affects non-white households’ ability to own a home and secure money for themselves and future generations.

Works Cited:

https://bipartisanpolicy.org/report/understanding-and-addressing-racial-and-ethnic-disparities-in-housing/

https://www.americanprogress.org/article/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/

 

 

The Sustainability of Electric Cars

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Emissions from cars and transportation are undoubtedly some of the largest producers of CO2 emissions that we can see today.  However not all hope is lost as companies such as Tesla have attempted to become more sustainable and limit CO2 emissions.  These are seen with electric cars that have become very widespread today.  Tesla was founded with long term sustainability efforts in mind as opposed to the current trend of trying to lessen environmental pollution but not get at the source of the problem.  Electric cars charged on a power grid emit 4,000 lbs of CO2 as opposed to gasoline vehicles which emit 11,000 lbs of CO2.  Better yet, electric cars that are charged on renewable forms of energy such as wind and solar emit 0 lbs of CO2.  Despite the fact that batteries for electric vehicles create more pollution during construction than combustion-engine vehicles, because of the lower emissions over the entire life of the electric vehicle, the pollution is less overall than combustion-engine vehicles.  With the average commute to work being 28 minutes, driving an electric vehicle as opposed to a gasoline powered vehicle is the more sustainable choice.  Tesla also states in its website that end-of-life products such as electronics with a size of up to 25cm can be returned to be recycled at Tesla locations at no cost.  To return other products an appointment can be scheduled for the take-back.  Electric cars seem to be a very important step towards a more sustainable future.

Works Cited:

https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/sis/resources/earth-day-ff.pdf

https://www.pca.state.mn.us/air/electric-vehicles#:~:text=Much%20like%20with%20greenhouse%20gases,operating%20and%20during%20power%20generation.

https://www.tesla.com/en_IE/support/sustainability-recycling

https://www.imd.org/research-knowledge/articles/tesla-becomes-a-model-for-sustainable-leadership-david-and-goliath-revisited/

Greenhouse Gases and our Sustainability Efforts

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Greenhouse gases contribute to many dangers in sustainability efforts and these greenhouse gases have been closely monitored by the EPA, with the government organization monitoring the rises and sinks of greenhouse gas emissions and the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.  I believe that sustainability efforts should first and foremost look to reduce the amount of CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions that we are placing into the world.  The US emissions totaled 5,222 million metric tons of CO2 equivalents in 2020.  This is an 11% decrease from 2019 with the total change from 2019 to 2020 decreasing from 5796.42 million metric tons to 5222 metric tons.  This resulted in a 574.42 million metric ton decrease in CO2 emissions.  This was largely due to the pandemic  as well as the continued search for more renewable and sustainable forms of energy.

One interesting topic I found regarding sustainability GHG emissions, especially CO2 emissions is electric cars.  While electric cars are better for the environment, the deciding factor on the sustainability is how much is required to produce these electric cars.  An all electric Chevrolet Bolt produces 189 grams of CO2 for every mile, as opposed to a gas fueled Toyota which produces 385 grams of CO2 per mile.  However the challenge comes in the production of electric cars and the energy grid.  It is important to understand that just because a car is electric might not mean it is as sustainable as it seems.  This issue concerning electric cars relates back to my main point earlier about greenhouse gas emissions.  We as people need to look to find the best possible solutions to decrease the harm we are doing to our planet.

 

Works Cited:

https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/inventory-us-greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-sinks

https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions#colorbox-hidden

https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/electric-vehicle-myths

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/02/climate/electric-vehicles-environment.html

 

 

Wasted Water and What We Can Do

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Water is critical to all forms of life on our planet.  Without water, humans would not survive.  However, based on the statistics, it doesn’t seem that we place as much importance on water as we should.  In the US alone, a family can waste 180 gallons of water per week.  Even something as seemingly simple as letting the water faucet run for 5 minutes while washing dishes can waste 10 gallons of water.  As of 2015, each American was estimated to use an average of 82 gallons per day.  This wasted water has real affects on the United States, with 40 out of the 50 US states expecting some form of water shortage in the next decade, as was reported by a 2014 Government Accountability Report.  For something so vital to our very being, mankind sure doesn’t treat water that way.  The wasting of so much water annually can have serious ramifications on future generations’ water supply and we can even see some of these water supply issues faced today.

Water wastage not only harms ourselves and the environment but also harms people financially.  It is estimated that more than $380 could be saved annually solely by using WaterSense labelled fixtures and ENERGY STAR certified appliances.  Despite the negative statistics there are ways to manage and curtail the current wasting of water.  Apart from using certified appliances, doing certain small tasks such as turning off the faucet while brushing can have massive affects in the long run.  By turning off the tap while brushing, roughly 8 gallons of water per day could be saved.  Just simply turning off the water while brushing for 2 minutes could potentially save 2,920 gallons of water annually.

There is no one easy solution to stop the current situation of water wastage, but by being aware of the problem and actively looking for small ways to cut your own wasting of water, massive changes can be made slowly over time.

Works Cited:

https://www.epa.gov/watersense/statistics-and-facts#:~:text=Water%20Stats,gallons%20of%20water%20annually%20nationwide.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/06/06/189192870/when-you-waste-food-youre-wasting-tons-of-water-too

 

The pandemic’s affect on Carbon Dioxide Emission

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The pandemic brought forth by Covid-19 caused much change and hardship.  However, not every change that the world underwent in regards to the pandemic was bad.  Due to the decreased levels of travel that occurred from the pandemic, CO2 emissions fell by 5.4% in 2020.  In the United States alone, the 4.58 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide produced in 2020 was an 11% decrease from the previous year.  The decrease in the US was also due largely to the decrease in transportation seen both in the US and throughout the world.  Since the transportation sector is the biggest contributor to CO2 emissions in the US since 2016, this 11% decrease is a welcome change.   The drastically decreased amount of man-made pollution in the air appears as a positive from the outside.  However, despite the sudden 5.4% drop in CO2 emissions, the growth in atmospheric concentrations remained within the year to year variation caused by natural processes according to NASA.  This is due largely to the fact that absorb as much CO2 as it had in previous years.

The dip seen in reported levels of CO2 emissions was however temporary and the CO2 emission levels have bounced back up.  The 5.4% decrease reported during the early stages of the pandemic was still short of the necessary 7.6% yearly reduction estimated by the United Nations Environment Programme.  Even with the world at a standstill during the early months of the pandemic, the required decrease of CO2 emissions estimated to be necessary were still not met.  These decreased levels of CO2 have now rebounded due to the reopening of many sectors and the world is back on the same trajectory it had been on prior to the pandemic.

 

Works cited

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/emission-reductions-from-pandemic-had-unexpected-effects-on-atmosphere

https://www.statista.com/statistics/183943/us-carbon-dioxide-emissions-from-1999/

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00090-3

Owen Harrison

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Hi, my name is Owen Harrison and I am a sophomore and I am a Latin American and Caribbean Studies major with a Spanish minor.  I am from a town called Warwick that is in New York and is about one hour from New York City.  My main hobby and thing that I enjoy to do the most is play soccer.  I have played soccer for pretty much my entire life and now I am also a part of the Union Club soccer team here on campus.  My understanding of sustainability is somewhat limited since this is my first course I have taken related to the topic.  However, I understand that sustainability is essential to ensuring that future generations can grow and prosper.  Making sure that not everything is used up before the following generations are here is a task that all people must understand and support.  Sustainability is about the here and now but also mainly about the future and ensuring a brighter future for those that come after us.