As an advocate for recycling, public transportation, walking or cycling to work/school, car pooling, and a general greener way of life, it's always interesting to me when Yahoo! or GoogleNews comes out with the list of America's Dirtiest Cities. The top 10 Dirtiest Cities according to Forbes are:
10. Pittsburgh-New Castle, PA
9. Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Yuba City, CA/NV
8. Modesto, CA
7. Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, AL
6. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
5. Hanford-Corcoran, CA
4. Visalia-Porterville, CA
3. Fresno-Madera, CA
2. LA-Long Beach-Riverside, CA
1. Bakersfield, CA
(Ironically, Bakersfield is where I was supposed to start my college career. But aside from that...)
I think this is a global issue because America being the superpower, other country's look to the US to lead the way in reform, recycling, entertainment, export, global leadership etc, and when faced with statistics that show the pollution and consumption rates in these cities, it's a wonder why we're looking to America to 'lead the way.'
In many places I've lived in and visited in the US, that has been no form of recycling. The gated community I live in in Savannah does not have a recycling dumpster, simply a mixed dumpster where all trash is thrown together to be carted off to the next landfill, only to be transformed into yet another wasteland. Savannah State University (where I attend school) has a measly little 'paper only' dumpster hidden behind the old gym that is hardly ever used for anything worthwhile. And the amount of students that know about said dumpster?
1 out of every 25 students.
How do I know this? A survey I did last year for an essay I wrote concerning the lack of concern of recycling and consumption on college campuses.
Though, the Forbes report isn't totally concerning itself with recycling. These dirty cities are filled with pollution and grimy airspace, ultimately a big no-no for the Ozone. Unfortunately for the residents of the grand state of California, topography, car culture, farming, the oil industry, and the San Joaquin Valley are to blame for their smog infested airways. Sea air mixed with sunshine doesn't necessarily mean everything is cleaner either. These 2 elements combined with pollution create an unexpectedly high levels of ground-level ozone. Not a good thing.
Without getting all technical about Prop 23 and the oil companies this and that, and repeating everything in the article (I've liked the Forbes report in the picture and the Yahoo! report in the hyperlink), taking into account that these areas of the US are being highly effected, what about the different parts of the world. Some places that refine and export steel and oil? and the countries that have mines and send folks 90000000 miles below the earth? Unfortunately we're a consuming society and have yet to find decent, greener ways to make the earth spin. With the emission of fossil fuels and all the other nasty things that come from factories and cars and what not, we're not exactly helping the earth.
There are some that try to claim that Global Warming doesn't exist. But it quite obviously does. From the coldest winters in X amount of years, to the other side of the world having the hottest summer in X amount of years. Cyclones, tornadoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, droughts - all happening in parts of the world where it isn't common. Steady rain for a whole week in summer while the temperature stays at a blistering 35C. Snow in Savannah, GA in 2009 or 2010 or whenever it snowed here. In the 2 years that the album 'A Beautiful Lie' by 30 Seconds to Mars was released, to the time the video for the title song was released, a 4th of the Arctic Shelf had disappeared. That's a loss ice the size of California and Texas combined. That's a pretty massive chunk of ice.
So how can people act now to cut down omissions that are not only destroying the planet, but from the Forbes Report, making human beings sick and giving them a pretty good chance of an early death.
- Slow down to cut costs and cut carbon! Slowing down from 75 mph to 65 mph will drop your highway gasoline consumption 15 percent.
- If everyone took 30 seconds to inflate their tires to the proper pressure we would save 200,000 barrels of oil a day!
- Bring Your Own Bag: You'll save one mile's worth of petroleum for every 14 plastic bags you don't use. Not to mention cut down on pollution-we throw away over 30 billion one time use bags each year.
- The paper industry is the world's 3rd largest contributor to global warming. Choose Recycled TP next time you're at the store.
- Ditch the screensaver- it wastes a ton of energy! Grab a 30 Seconds to Mars or ItsYourNature wallpaper instead.
- Unplug your electronics! At the end of the day shut down your computer, unplug your cell charger, coffee bean grinder, and hair dryer. It only takes 30 seconds and it all adds up.
- Take shorter showers, turn off the water while you brush your teeth and shave, and run washing machines and dishwashers only when they're full. If you wash dishes by hand, fill the sink or dishpan with water, rather than running the tap continuously as you scrub.
- Put on a sweater and lower the thermostat in the winter. At night, add an extra blanket to the bed and turn the heat way down.
- Make BIG change happen and sign a petition today at www.itsyournature.org/petition or donate $5 to support the work of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
- Grab NRDC's ItsYourNature widget and get daily tips and news on all things green.
The time to act is now. One person may not be able to make a difference to the ENTIRE world, because I don't know the other 6'882'000'000 people that inhabit this world. BUT, I do know the vast majority of people on my campus, and I know about 500 people in Mississippi, 400 more in Australia, online followers for my Tumblr account, fan bases of my favorite bands and actors.
And in turn, they know 600 people.
We may not be able to change the landscaping of the San Joaquin Valley, but we can act against and influences the car cultures and emissions of gases by cars etc.
This doesn't just effect America nor the Arctic Shelf. This is a Global Issue. We may not see the effects in the next year or even 2 years, but for the sake of human kind and for my great, great grandchild, and their great, great, grand children....I at least want to know that I did my part in saving humanity.
For more information abeautifullie.org
No comments:
Post a Comment