F.D.A. Finishes Food Labels for How We Eat Now

ScrAPES#23: New Food Labels

by Sabrina Tavernise

May 20, 2016

There is a major change to the food nutrition labels due to Michelle Obama's campaign "Let's Move!". It magnifies calorie counts in large fonts, proportion size, and finally sugar label and percentage. The Sugar Association primarily did not want to add a separate line for "added sugar" and was disappointed with the F.D.A.'s decision to require a second line for it. This move is a way to allow buyers to know how much sugar or calorie the product has and mainly to prevent obesity, strokes, heart diseases, etc. Especially for children who are on the heavy side or obese at a very young age, so that they can prevent it from spreading the epidemic. 

This is interesting to me because it reminds me of the documentary my class watched about obesity and sugar; it was called Fed Up. The documentary discussed about the widespread epidemic of obesity in younger children and how companies and manufacturers are adding so much sugar or fructose into the products. They also discussed about Michelle Obama's "Lets Move!" campaign and that the American way to lose weight or prevent weight gain is exercising. As well as the Sugar Association disagreeing to the plan on adding a line for sugar percentage. 

This is important to the environment because obesity is a huge problem in the United States and it is mostly because of processed or artificial food. Children nowadays are so influenced to eat unhealthy at a very young age and they get less lessons on how to eat healthy. It is like a drug; either marijuana, coke, or heroine it is addictive and poisonous. It causes diabetes in young children where it should not be in. I think it is very important for people to know what is in their food and that way they can calculate how much calorie or sugar they want to take or want their children to have and that is ONE of the MAJOR way to lose weight, in my own opinion, and the other is exercising.

Resources:

• F.D.A. Finishes Food Labels for How We Eat Now

New Solar Plants Generate Floating Green Power

ScrAPES#22: New Solar Panels Generate Floating Green Power

by Erica Goode

May 20, 2016

In Japan's Chiba Prefecture there are blue solar panels that stretches across the Yamakura Dam. In two years when the construction is done there will be 50, 904 solar panels and they will generate electricity for almost 5,000 homes. This plan is created by Kyocera a company that builds solar panels. The growing interest of solar panels on land and water comes from the growth in the solar market and the decreasing cost of technology. They are also called floatovoltaics. The advantage of floatovoltaics is that they are less expensive due to cost of "land" and they take less time to build. With solar land panels they are much more expensive because you have to buy the land and it goes through a lot of natural disaster events. While floatovoltaics can reduce evaporation which is a positive thing due to droughts. 

This article is interesting to me because solar panels are a very positive and healthier way to produce electricity because it uses the sun's energy. It is very efficient. I know there are solar panels in the United States and other countries but I have never seen one and I know it is not really popular because it is somehow "expensive" and so much work. And I especially never heard of "floatovoltaics" or in other words floating solar panels. I think it is a very smart idea for people to do this.

This is important to the environment because it is more efficient and it takes less time to build. It also prevents water evaporation and I know for sure that is a good thing, especially for California, because it prevents drought. And with no drought the aquatic animals will not die. It also provides a plentiful amount of coverage to nearly 5,000 homes or more if the reservoir is larger. The government and countries should accept this idea because it is one step to a renewable resource and one step to making our planet better again. 

Resources: 

• New Solar Plants Generate Floating Green Power

Company Says It's Been Indicted for California Oil Spoil

ScrAPES#21: Company Indicted for California Oil Spill

by Richard Perez-Pena

May 17, 2016

A company is being criminally charged by Californian prosecutors for the oil leak last year; which was caused by the company's ruptured oil pipeline. The Santa Barbara County grand jury had indicted the company, Plains All American, with four felonies and 42 misdemeanors. James Buchanan, an environmental and regulatory compliance at the company is also being charged with misdemeanor. The company states that neither the company nor any its employees engaged in any criminal activities or behavior. If Plains is found guilty they could face fines up to $2.8 million.

This article interest me because I did not know who was the cause of that oil spill and that oil spill frightened me last year because I knew, before I attended Environmental Science, that any chemicals that is mixed with the planet's water or water in general is very dangerous. This is actually the first time I have heard of the court or any high authority actually taking charge of severe environmental situations like this. I believe that the company deserves to be sentenced guilty because it was their fault for the oil spill because they were the one who were supposed to make sure oil definitely does not spill into the water. 

This is important to the environment because I think the court did the right thing by indicting the Plains company. I also think the United States should take environmental hazard seriously; for example, plastics in the ocean needs to be seriously taken care of because it is just like a typical oil spill. It kills the aquatic animals, poisonous to humans because we eat fish who then eats plastics, and it is a factor of water pollution. If only the court can find a better alternative instead of plastic and then our planet will be one step to a better environment.

Resources:

• Company Indicted for California Oil Spill

Drinking Water in Newark Schools, Lead Problems 6 Years Ago?

ScrAPES#20: Water In Newark School Lead Problems For 6 Years

by Patrick McGeehan

April 8, 2016

        Studies found out that drinking water from Newark School in New Jersey have been contaminated with lead since six years ago. During 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 contained lead about 15 parts per billion. In early March the superintendent ordered to stopped water fountains in school and distributed water bottles for their safety. The district who analyzed the water sample from Newark stated that at least 25 percent of those samples had lead concentrations and 5 percent was really high. Majority of the lead contamination originated from old plumbing.

        This is interesting to me because this highly reminded me of the lead contamination in Flint, Michigan where the governor exchanged the pipelines to the local lakes. This makes me wonder if lead contamination will spread throughout the country and if we, globally, are all safe. It also makes me wonder if we can do anything to 99 percent eliminate the lead contamination and prevent lead from ever occuring in our water system.

       This is important to the environment because lead is an extremely dangerous chemical element. It has tons of negative horrific effects to living things. It can damage the nervous system, can cause nephropathy and colic-like abdominal pains. This will happen if lead is in the lakes and rivers. It will kill the aquatic ecosystem (and animals) as well as humans because we all drink water because water is a major priority for all living things to survive.


Resources:

• Drinking Lead in Newark  

Deer Island Reflection

Deer Island

During our Deer Island field trip I learned that the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) that is located in Deer Island are the one who are responsible for providing 34% of Massachusetts' water which covers 2.5 million people. I also learned that the founder of MWRA has an engineering degree. They also take sludge (or poop) from people's toiletry pipelines and turn it into fertilizers which is called Bay State Fertilizer.

The waste water treatment works like this:

• pump -> grit chamber -> primary clarifiers -> secondary clarifiers -> digester -> disinfection -> chlorinate -> dechlorinate. 

It is important to our environment because it cleans out our waste and turns our waste into something useful which are fertilizers. Apparently sludge fertilizers are much better than regular soil fertilizer. 

Pacific Garbage Patch Reflection

Pacific Garbage Patch

        I learned that in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, where it is secluded, there is a large ring area of waste from plastic bottles and bags to fishing nets. The animals think they are food and tries to eat the wastes but they get stuck and die. I also learned that the wastes come from developed countries but majority of them comes from developing countries due to waste pollution. That no one is trying to help out the aquatic ecosystem by reducing or eliminating plastic and wastes that are not disposable.

        This affects the world because the waste in the Pacific Ocean will destroy the aquatic ecosystem and fishes who eat these harm substances can go to us because we also eat fish. It is very deadly and hazardous. Water is also a major factor of our lives and we need it in order to survive and if water is unsanitary then that can lead to us being scarce of water. 

Corner Stalk Farm Reflection

 Corner Stalk Farm

       I learned that people in Boston are transforming old unused shipping containers into a renewable source of material by simply harvesting organic fruits and vegetables in it. These fruits and vegetables are natural and of high quality, while the old shipping containers are being used usefully instead of turning into garbage.  The containers and fruits and vegetables are created to be sustainable and efficient to the environment.
        It important to the environment because firstly harvesting fruits and vegetables in shipping containers is more efficient and eco-friendly. The shipping containers contains controls for environmental factors from temperature to carbon dioxide and plants gets provided with LED renewable lights, which is drastically healthier. It is important that we create food that is beneficial to our health and lifespan so that we do not die young from healthy and unecessary food. Plus it is super efficient due to the amount of renewable resource it attains and it will most likely fix food miles.

Food Miles Reflection

Food Miles

      In the Food Miles activity we learned about the carbon footprint of food.  Some of the carbon footprint of foods that we anticipated were:

•Spaghetti and meatballs: 1600 units
•Whole Grain cereal: 1224 units
•Fresh fruit: 84 units
•Waffles: 800 units

        Spaghetti and meatballs had the highest carbon footprint, while the fresh fruit had the lowest carbon footprint. Spaghetti and meatballs has been procressed thoroughly before being delivered to our groceries. Maybe this is one of the many factor to why the United States is considered overweight because of the different processes placed in our food. Plus unhealthy food like spaghetti and meatballs are intensely cheap compared to fruits and vegetables. The manufacturers trick their people into buying the unhealthy food by advertisements and commercials. It has less nutrition because it has been touched with, than the major nutrition fruits and vegetables contain.
        The food that I eat comes from Market Basket which most likely comes from food manufacturers mostly in Western rural states and California because they mostly have farmers in Western States. I try to eat healthier by eating fruits and vegetables but I just love my meat. Food miles is important to the environment because when food originates from China it contains greenhouse gases due to fossil fuel emissions plus their severe pollution. It also determines the amount of processing our food endures before being stocked in the supermarket. We can healthier by turning organic, even though it's expensive, it's much healthier because nearly everything naturally made.

Oregon Rancher Standoff Reflection

 

Oregon Rancher Standoff

      The Oregon Rancher Standoff started when a militia protested against the government about land regulations. The government has been taking people's land without basically their permission. In Harney County, ranchers Dwight Hammond Jr. and his son Steven were condemned of arson for setting fires on federal lands. The disagreement among rancher Cliven Bundy and the United States Bureau of Land Management on a $1 million unpaid grazing fees led to a standoff in Nevada. Western militant states protested for the pending re-imprisonment of the Hammonds in 2015 which they considered as unjustified. An armed protesters took over the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refugee. They would not stop protesting until they had rights to their lands and more for cattle business. The militants encouraged ranchers to stop paying the federal government grazing fees. They believed that the government is too much and is abusing their power and empowering over the citizens.

        This reminds me of the Boston Public School walk-out where students protested against budget cuts. Even though only one person got arrested for throwing a bottle at a police and the police threatening to tazer the students, it was not as bad as the Oregon Rancher Standoff because it did not have any deaths involved. The ranchers should have not overreacted and instead calmed down first. Then they should have dicussed the situation at hand in a civilized mannered and protested "peacefully". They should have put signs and petitions around towns and states. And if it did not work they could have took it to the Supreme Court, if it was doable. 

Three Headaches for the Recycling Industry

ScrAPES#19: Three Headaches for the Recycling Industry

by Matt Richtel

March 25, 2016

The advanced recycling companies in the world modifies 75 percent or more of the community's waste from landfills. But these companies like, Zero Waste, are having difficulties to recycle THREE products; Diapers, Plastic Bags, and Juice Boxes. Diapers are made of composite materials with more than one type of plastic. A recycling consultant in Northern California, Gary Liss, says that he knows a company that is in the process of knowing a way to recycle diapers. But the process is long consisting of curbside pickup for used diapers, pulling apart, and cleaning. Plus it cost money. There are also adult diapers and it is not going to get better due to Baby Bloomers. Plastic Bags on the other hand are an everyday, per person use. It is in every retail or grocery stores in the United States and in the world. When plastic bags enter the world of machinery they are a nightmare because they float, cling, wrap, and gum up the expensive machines. Juice boxes are also a problem because they are extremely difficult to pull apart. The only possible solution people have figured out is to design packaging that allows the materials to be more easily separated. 

This is interesting to me because I never knew that diapers were one of the massive problems the recycling companies have to endure with to keep it from landfills. But then again it is not surprising because every day almost every second there is a new baby born in the United States. Juice boxes also surprised me because I did not know that machine could not disassemble a box and that people have to do it by hand. What did not surprise me at all was plastic bags because they are very widespread and the quality of these plastic bags are extremely strong.

This is important to the environment because if we do not recycle these products at all or in a faster pace it will build up and will eventually reach the landfills. It will pollute our streams and oceans and kill the aquatic animals. We will not have clean water available and we do need clean water in order to survive. Even though the process to prevent these products from reaching the landfills are expensive I think it is very much worth it! Would people rather care about the green paper we call money than our health and the health of our planet?

Resources:

• Three Headaches for the Recycling Industry

Biotic #28:

My pet rats, William and Junior, are biotics because they are living.

Native Species #27:

Goldfish are considered native species because they have been around for hundreds and thousands of years. They typically are "house pets" and originated from China, but when people are no longer interested in keeping them they are often released in ponds, lakes or streams.

Abiotic #26:

The sky is abiotic because it is not living.

Land Pollution #25:

This is land pollution because there are many waste that is spread on the ground and not put in the trash bin properly.

Community #24:

Charlestown is a community because there plenty of people with different backgrounds of race, religion, and nationality.

Consumer #23:

My dog Lucky is a consumer because he takes in other food (for example pork/pig, beef/cow, chicken) to get his energy.

Autotroph #22:

These two plants are considered autotrophs because they are green plants who make their own food by taking sunlight and using the energy to make sugar.

Natural Disaster #21:

This is considered a natural disaster because in this picture it was raining and there was a lot of fog. Rain can create flooding.

Renewable resource #20:

This tea cup from DavidsTea is a renewable resource because it can be composted to become renewable soil.

What Went Wrong in Flint

ScrAPES#18: What Went Wrong in Flint

by Monica Davey and Mitch Smith

March 3, 2016

On April 2014, Flint's state allowed a temporary change on the city's water source. Flint's water was originally coming from Lake Huron and was transferred to Flint's river. During the switch, Flint officials did not add corrosion controls (the measures that are implemented in various fields to control corrosion in: Soil, Metal, Concrete, and Water). Since the corrosion controls controlled metals, the contamination of lead could have been prevented initially. The epidemic of the contamination of lead derived from the city's old lead pipes. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality did not check twice for the corrosion controls and are one of the many people who is in fault for this issue. The Federal Environmental Protection Agency ignored when a scientist warned them about the levels of high lead in the water coming out of Flint's tap water. State and local officials relentlessly overlooked resident's complaints about the discoloration of the water and the effect of rashes. Mayor Walling also announced that he thinks people are wasting precious money buying bottled water. When Flint officials finally realized the elevated levels of contamination they told residents to boil their water before drinking it, but it failed miserably. The city and state officials did not warn the issue and later on arranged the water to return to Lake Huron. Detroit also offered to give Flint fresh and clean water but was rejected stating that Detroit's water is expensive. Other than rashes the other extreme, horrific effects of the contamination was the Legionnaire's Disease (a form of pneumonia) and high levels of lead in newborns. Governor Snyder was withheld the information of the contamination, even though he worried about Flint's water. Instead he was assured by officials and scientists that the water was perfectly fine!

This article or issue is interesting to me because water is the most important and valuable resource any living organism need. Humans can survive without food for probably a week or two because of water. It is disgusting that the officials of Flint hid a horrid complication instead of taking it in their own hands, which would have prevented lead contamination, residents and children getting sick and dying. Sometimes I question people's lack of humanity because apparently Flint rather would have cheap water than extravagant water. I guess people love to ruin our existence and cause dramatic problems for money. 

This is important for the environment because as I said earlier, water is literally everything for everyone! We NEED water and murky water is not the way to go with! Imagine a parent washing their hands on dirty tap water and then holding their newborn child, that child will get ill and die. Polluted water can also poison animals because there are aquatic animals who depend and live in the water. There are also animals who drink water from rivers and lakes. It can wipe out the diversity in the community of the animals, which will prevent them from surviving. Taking in too much lead can effect the human nervous system, bones, teeth, kidneys, cardiovascular, immune system, and reproductive system. As well as hearing loss and cataracts. Lead is extremely deadly and I know people are afraid to die. My point is that it is more important for us to be healthy over the possession of money.



Resources:

• What Went Wrong in Flint