Author Archives: Rayna Katzman

Reducing overshoot

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From a global perspective, if we were able to begin holding individuals accountable for their interactions with the environment today, it will make a big difference to the future of the next generations. We need to meet our own needs as a functioning society, but actions can be taken to reduce overshoot. Some ways to reduce overshoot in daily life is by reducing one’s carbon footprint. This can be accomplished by avoiding using a car that releases greenhouse gasses. One can also buy sustainable products, eat local, and utilize renewable energy sources such as solar panels. Equally as important is to reduce your water footprint. This can be done by being conscious of letting faucets run; 10 gallons of water per day are wasted through not turning off taps when not using them (Terrapass, 2022). Nearly 95% of an individual’s water footprint is hidden in their food and energy intake, products one purchases, and services one relies on in daily life (Terrapass, 2022).

https://terrapass.com/blog/earth-overshoot-day

Wind energy

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Wind energy uses wind turbines to harness energy to convert it into electricity. Wind energy does not rely on fossil fuels to power wind turbines, therefore being beneficial at not contributing to climate change. It is one of the cleanest forms of energy, though not completely perfect. The biggest disadvantage of these wind turbines is that they are not extremely reliable due to wind energy not being consistent. It is difficult to predict the amount of energy wind can produce on a given day, therefore the amount of energy may vary based on the windy conditions. In terms of the economic impacts of wind energy, this kind of energy is fairly expensive. Wind turbines are very big and therefore a massive investment to install on a large scale. Commercial level application is also difficult because of the logistics of where to build turbines. Usually they are built in a rural area, but then underground lines needs to be installed to send power to more populated areas. In the long run, wind turbines are extremely effective once they are built and as technology continues to improve it will get even more functional and require less maintenance.

Works cited:

https://justenergy.com/blog/wind-energy-pros-and-cons/

Shower Length and Water Waste

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An issue that directly connects to sustainability is water waste. The way I aim to measure water waste in daily life is through how long it takes my friends to shower. Showering is one of the easiest ways to waste large quantities of water because of the constantly flowing stream of water. I asked many of my friends how long on average that they shower for in order to evaluate how much water they waste. Based on their answers and the data I gathered, my friends spend on average 21.8 minutes in the shower. The shortest time recorded is 5 minutes and the longest time is on average 45 minutes. The average flow rate of a shower head is 2.1 gallons per minute. This indicates that on average my friends waste 45.78 gallons of water per shower. My friends that take showers on the longer side, 30-45 mins can take shorter showers to reduce their personal water waste and become more sustainable. Every minute makes a difference and adds up over time.

US incarceration rates in 2010

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This bar chart explains US incarceration rates based on race and ethnicity from 2010. It shows that blacks are disproportionately imprisoned as compared to all other races. It shows that black individuals are over five times more likely to be incarceration than white individuals. It also shows that American Indian or Alaskan Native are the second most commonly incarcerated ethnicities which is somewhat surprising to me because I feel like this population is so commonly overlooked in research and most commonly put into an “other” category. Often statistics and research leaves them out and only chooses to include Latinx, Black, Asian, and White groups in their research so it is interesting to understand the racial profiling and potential targeting that leads to incarceration that American Indians and Alaskan Natives are subject to as well. This goes for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders as well, coming in as the third most commonly incarcerated ethnicity in 2010. Higher incarceration rates of people of color is indicative of many social justice issues in the US. Such as being indicative of issues regarding over policing minority and lower income communities as well as issues of racial profiling. Racial profiling issues can be  connected back to the war on drugs period in American history in which minority populations and people of color were tied to drug scares and labeled as dangerous criminals. Unfortunately, the implications of this war on drugs still exists today and can be seen in greater incarceration rates of people of color in the US.

How to know what to recycle

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A part of sustainability that is known of universally  is recycling. However, understanding what can be recycled as opposed to what cannot is crucial in living a sustainable life. 19.91% of plastic waste has not been recycled and by 2050 the ocean will have a higher percentage of plastic waste than fish. Something interesting I came across was the amount of waste coming from Mardi Gras beads. Most college students probably own plastic bead necklaces for various parties or events. The question then becomes what to do with these beads when the event is over. Usually these beads are lost or forgotten about which makes them even more wasteful. Additionally, these beads are oftentimes made from a plastic that cannot be recycled in the same way as other plastic can be and it does not decompose in a proper way. Examples of non recyclable plastic is plastic coated wrapping paper, bioplastics, and polycarbonate. It is estimated that 25 million pounds of beads are thrown off of Mardi Gras floats each year creating pollution and waste. However, to combat this, in Mardi Gras parades usually beads are collected by a following float that will clean and reuse the beads for the year later. This is a very good way to reuse and reduce waste. The Greater Arc of New Orleans set up containers across the parade route to collect beads. These efforts are very commendable, but do raise concern of where these beads go when not used at a large, somewhat regulated event like a Mardi Gras parade. Additionally, it brings up the important issue of knowing how to dispose of things properly and what is recyclable as opposed to what is not.

Works Cited:

https://www.yummymath.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/MardiGras2022.pdf

https://comfyliving.net/recycling-statistics/#united-states-recycling-statistics

https://www.slrecyclingltd.co.uk/what-plastics-can-and-cannot-be-recycled/

Recycling rates

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The first topic that comes to my head when thinking about sustainability is recycling. This is probably due to me learning about recycling from a young age hearing the popular phrase “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”. As a kid this phrase did not hold much meaning, but as I got older it made more sense as I took more of an effort to be mindful of my own recycling habits. The total amount of municipal solid waste recycled in 2018 surpassed 69 million tons. Paper and cardboard made up 2/3 of that amount. The impact of recycling can be seen in the increased recycling rate from less than 7% in 1960 to the rate in 2019 of 32%. The growth factor of this is 2.36 per year from 1960 to 2019. Though the recycling rate increased overall during this time period, it decreased in 2018 from a rate of 34.7% in 2015. Additionally, one person on average per capita recycles 1.16 pounds per day.

Much of the overall increase in recycling since 1960 can be attributed to communities and businesses in the United States putting a direct effort into recycling and sustainability in their workplaces and with their products. The job market is also thriving due to the increase of recycling. In a single yeah reusing and recycling activities accounted for about 1.17 jobs for every 1,000 tons of recycled material. This shows that not only is recycling important for sustainability, but it is also beneficial for America in other ways as well.

Works cited:

https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/national-overview-facts-and-figures-materials#:~:text=In%20percentage%20of%20total%20MSW,recycling%20rate%20was%2032.1%20percent.

https://www.epa.gov/recyclingstrategy/america-recycles-day

Water waste and solutions

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Water waste is a hugely important issue that is often overlooked. In many places, certainly more wealthy countries like the US, water is commonly taken for granted. For example, a leaky faucet may seem like no big deal, however in the long run it can be extremely wasteful. “One faucet leaking one drip per minute adds up to 34 gallons of water per year” (Washington Post). This is just for one leaky faucet; imagine how many gallons of water would be wasted with multiple leaky faucets across the United States and even in the world. Household leaks, including toilets and irrigation systems, can waste about 900 billion gallons of water annually which is a significant statistic. On average, each United States citizen wastes about 10 gallons of water a day due to leaks, most often without realizing it.

Some solutions to prevent this kind of water waste would be to make sure there is a proper irrigation system in place. If a system is installed correctly and managed properly, water waste can be reduced by 15%, or 7,600 gallons of water a year. This would make a major difference. However, there are some socioeconomic issues that come into play with the ability to reduce water waste. Some individuals that are less wealthy may not be able to afford proper irrigation system installment and certainly may not be able to keep up with management of the system if installed. There are things that can still be done regardless of socioeconomic status, such as taking shorter showers, only running full loads of laundry or dishes, and by turning off the faucet all the way after use. Also, all individuals are capable of looking for leaks in their pipes and even in their toilets to be aware if there is a problem and then take the necessary steps to reduce the leak or to fully fix it.

 

Works Cited

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/03/17/the-incredibly-stupid-way-that-america-wastes-1-trillion-gallons-of-water-each-year/

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

8 Ways to Reduce Your Water Waste

Carbon dioxide’s impact on climate change

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Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that contributes greatly to the Earth’s temperature to rise, therefore heavily impacting climate change. Carbon dioxide is also known to react with water molecules which fluctuates the ocean’s pH level. The drop in pHI in the oceans, known as ocean acidification, has lowered from 8.21 to 8.10 since the Industrial Revolution. This is a significant change because a change of o:1 in pH indicates a 30% increase in acidity of the oceans. Another impact carbon dioxide has on the climate is through atmospheric carbon levels. Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were estimated to be 412.5 parts per million in 2020. The global atmospheric carbon dioxide level has increased by 12% over the past 20 years. The present day levels of carbon dioxide are higher than they have been in 3 million years when conditions were hugely different in terms of the sea level and the regular temperature of the globe. The reason that the atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are so high today is due to the burning of fossil fuels that are returning carbon to the atmosphere at a higher rate that makes it increasingly difficult for the atmosphere to remove all of the carbon through its natural processes alone. This amount of carbon dioxide warms the Earth and contributes to other greater factors that are putting the Earth at risk. Atmospheric carbon dioxide may exceed goo parts per million by the end of this century if global energy demands continue at the rate they are going at or even increase.

Works Cited:

https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/carbon-dioxide/

https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide

Intro

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Hi! My name is Rayna Katzman and I’m a junior sociology major and visual arts minor from Short Hills, New Jersey. I love to hike, take photos, and spend time with my family and friends. I became interested in sustainability when I took intro to environmental studies last fall. It was really interesting to me to learn more about what actions each of us as individuals can take in our daily lives in order to promote a more sustainable world. After taking that course I became increasingly interested in environmental policy and global warming and it made me want to continue learning more on these topics!