Carbon Footprint
Carbon footprint is a representation or measurement of the effect human activities have on the climate in terms of the total amount of greenhouse gases produced (measured in units of carbon dioxide). The main carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gases directly produced in our day-to-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating, and transportation, etc. A secondary footprint is a measure of the indirect CO2 emissions from the manufacturing and distribution of products we use.
When you drive a car, the engine burns fuel which creates a certain amount of CO2. When you heat your house with oil, gas, coal, or electricity you also generate CO2. When you buy food and goods, their production also emitted some quantities of CO2. So, your carbon footprint is a measure of the impact we make individually on the earth by the choices we make regarding our lifestyles.
We have altered the chemical composition of the atmosphere through a buildup of greenhouse gases – primarily carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The result is rising global temperatures, rising sea levels, changing climate conditions, which are affecting forests, crops, water supplies, human health, animals, and many types of ecosystems. Carbon Offsetting is action to reduce the potential effects of global warming like solar energy, wind energy, or reforestation.
Earth Day History
Senator Gaylord Nelson is considered the founder of Earth Day. In the early 60′s It had been troubling him that the state of our environment was simply a non-issue in the politics of the country. Finally, in November 1962, he had the idea to persuade President Kennedy to give visibility to this issue by going on a national conservation tour. The President began a five-day, eleven-state conservation tour in September 1963. For many reasons the tour did not succeed in putting the issue onto the national political agenda.
Senator Nelson continued to speak on environmental issues to a variety of audiences in some twenty-five states. What he found was the people were concerned, but the politicians were not. Six years passed before the idea came while on a conservation speaking tour out West in the summer of 1969 – why not organize a huge grassroots protest over what was happening to our environment? Why not tap into the environmental concerns of the general public and infuse the student anti-war energy into the environmental cause?
It was announced that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment and everyone was invited to participate. The response was electric. Concern about the environmental crisis swept the nation’s campuses with an intensity that eclipsed student discontent over the war in Vietnam. The American people finally had a forum to express its concern about what was happening to the land, rivers, lakes, and air – and they did so with spectacular exuberance.
Kauai Recycling and Composting
Composting is nature’s own way of recycling. It is the controlled decomposition of organic material such as leaves, twigs, grass clippings, and vegetable food waste. It also helps to keep the high volume of organic material out of landfills while turning it into a useful product. A recent waste study shows that over 30% of the household waste on Kaua’i is compostable organic waste.
With compost, you are creating rich humus for your lawn and garden, adding nutrients to your plants, and helping retain moisture in the soil. You are also introducing beneficial organisms to the soil. Microscopic organisms in compost help aerate the soil, break down organic material for plant use, and ward off plant disease. Composting offers a natural alternative to chemical fertilizers, making it good for the environment.
There are several methods for creating and maintaining a simple and effective home composting system. If you’re interested in a home composting bin, please call the County Recycling Office at 241-5120 to make an appointment to watch a 20 minute training video and pickup a free composting bin.
Examples of compost ingredients:
Carbon (brown dry organic matter)
- dried leaves
- shredded paper
- wood chips
- dried grass
Nitrogen (wet green organic matter)
- fruit peelings
- kitchen vegetable scraps
- coffee grounds
- fresh plants
For more information, visit the county’s Kauai recycling website.
The World Is Blue
The World Is Blue by legendary marine scientist Sylvia Earle portrays a planet teetering on the brink of irreversible environmental crisis. In recent decades we’ve learned more about the ocean than in all previous human history combined. But, this eloquent, urgent, and fascinating book reveals how just 50 years of swift and dangerous oceanic change threatens the very existence of life on Earth. Modern overexploitation has driven many species to the verge of extinction, from tiny biota to magnificent creatures like tuna and whales.
In the book, she articulates, through personal experiences and scientific documentation, how the decline of the oceans is happening parallel to, and delicately intertwined with the fate of the atmosphere and what is happening on land. Sylvia argues passionately and persuasively to find responsible, renewable strategies that safeguard the natural systems that sustain us. Fortunately, there is reason for hope, but what we do (or fail to do) in the next ten years may well resonate for the next ten thousand. Her book is more than a wake up call.
Sylvia Earle is a former NOAA chief scientist. She is a National Geographic Explorer in residence, a woman who led a five year sea voyage and participated in almost 75 other expeditions, lectured in 70 countries, and authored more than 170 publications. She has been scuba diving for over half a century, walked the ocean floor some 1,250 feet below the surface, and utilized 30 different types of submarines. She was named “Her Deepness” by the New Yorker and the New York Times, a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress, and Time Magazine’s first “Hero for the Planet.” Sylvia Earle is also a key reason why Google Earth developed Google Oceans – a phenomenal learning tool to help protect and maintain the ocean’s health.
She is the most qualified individual on earth to promote saving it. She understands that the ocean is the source of most of the oxygen we breath, most of water we drink (rain water) and a large part of the food we eat. She systematically outlines what man has done to the ocean over the last 100 years and the implications if we continue on this path. Dr. Earle has a wish in The World Is Blue: How Our Fate and the Ocean’s Are One
Environmentally Green Apple
Apple designs products with the environment in mind, taking a complete product life cycle approach in determining environmental impact. Their life cycle analysis accounts for all emissions associated with their products, including raw material extraction, manufacturing, packaging, transportation, a 3 to 4 year period of use, and recycling.
iMac includes a highly efficient power supply that reduces the amount of power wasted when bringing electricity from the wall to your computer. Lower power consumption reduces energy bills and lessens the environmental impact of greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. The iMac uses energy-efficient hardware components that work hand in hand with the operating system to conserve power. Mac OS X spins down hard drives and activates sleep mode on already energy-efficient LED-backlit displays.
It’s also what iMac doesn’t have that makes it more environmentally friendly. It’s free of many harmful toxins, including mercury, arsenic, BFRs, and PVC. Apple engineers have worked hard to eliminate BFRs and PVC from iMac circuit boards, internal and external cables, connectors, insulators, and adhesives. And they’ve eliminated many other toxins that are a common part of desktop computer manufacturing — choosing, for example, mercury-free backlighting and arsenic-free glass for the iMac display.
Designing green products includes considering the environmental impact of the materials used to make them. From the glass, plastic, and metal in our products to the paper and ink in their packaging. Apple designers and engineers have integrated the entire iMac computer into an enclosure made from a single, solid piece of recyclable aluminum. The display is made of recyclable glass. Both the aluminum and glass materials are very desirable to recyclers, which means the raw materials used in iMac can be reused in other products. Because iMac is made from materials such as aluminum and glass, it’s more likely to be recycled and reused at the end of its long, productive life.
