Summing It All Up! and continuing onward!

            I was skeptical about this blog thing at first. I've kept blogs for various reasons and other than create random Internet content I could not easily erase or detach from my identity; I don't feel they served much of a purpose. Enter this blog, a mandatory assignment for my Sustainable World class. I did not start this project with the best attitude. I honestly did not see the reason behind keeping this blog. At first it seemed like a mandatory weekly nuisance, one more thing I had to do.

            Then something strange happened, I totally got into it! Seriously, this blog turned into a space to put it out there. Write my thoughts on some of the issues in sustainability and my own life and even rant a little! Somehow, this blog became my favorite component of the class! So much so that I wish we had all been reading each other’s blogs through the semester. So, I went to the discussion where we all post the blog links and checked out what we all had to say. I loved seeing others journey's with their blogs as well (although, I think I may have been more into the assignment than most). It would be cool if in the future this assignment included a component where we read and comment on a few other blogs.

            Indeed, I think this blog will likely live on well beyond this course. I think it’s a good space to keep my thoughts on what I am studying, my path to a Ph.D program, and my evolving view on our sustainable world! After I survive my finals, this blog will become a place where I share the next steps on my path with personal and academic sustainability, with a special section of the blog dedicated to my intense hatred of one-time-use disposable plastics and my crusade to eradicate them from my life! This is my 12th and last official blog for SUS110. But just the beginning of the Sustainable Hillary Blog!

So just for fun here are some pictures of me loving our beautiful planet!

 

 

because i want my father to call me doctor

          It feels odd talking about my path to graduate school on my blog for a freshman level course (SUS110), but here I am re-tooling with a science/sustainability academic background on my path to apply to Ph.D programs in sustainability. I am quite nervous about applying for graduate school this fall. Finding a program with full funding is very important to me and to achieve this there are many things I need to accomplish. Honestly, I find the pressure (I put on myself) stressful. Sustainability is a hot field and it is likely the job I will work after graduate school does not yet exist. Ideally I will be working in some form of direct action to solve current and future challenges. The applications deadlines are this fall and between now and then there is so much to do!

• I need to narrow down the list of schools I want to attend – this includes doing extensive research on current program faculty and research to ensure the programs are a good fit for me and if possible visiting the schools.
• I need to identify and three professors who can write stellar letters of recommendation on my behalf. This is not as easy as I had hoped. I have one amazing letter set and ready to go but I need two more and this makes me nervous. I want to ask a professor from my undergrad years but she is retiring in May and I am not sure after 10 years and with her impending retirement she will still be a good option. Not to mention the concern I have over finding they ever-elusive third letter.
• I need to update my CV and find someway to describe all of the awesome I have learned, created, and participated in over the past few years. This is especially critical as it is what perspective schools will use to assign RA and TA positions. 
•  I need to send transcripts from multiple schools, GRE scores, and other documents.

          This list continues on with several more things I need to accomplish just to apply. It is all a bit stressful, but none of the above things are nearly as stressful as the pressure I feel regarding the personal essay required by all of these programs. In addition to serving as a writing sample, this very sort (usually no more than three pages) essay is used to clarify my specific goals in seeking a graduate education. Something tells me this flippant answer I usually give to family and friends “because I want to make my father call me doctor” will probably not suffice.  

The simple truth: I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE I WANT TO FOCUS. 

          The past two years of science based undergraduate coursework have left me interested in more areas of sustainability than I previously knew existed. I began my journey wanting to focus on water in the developing world, while this is still a huge concern for me I’m not sure if this is the best focus for my research and graduate work. But if you ask me where I think I would like to focus, I am unable to identify anything specific. Gahhhh! I’m having a sustainability identity crisis. At first I was hopeful this blog would help me direct my concerns, but instead this blog has only furthered my confusion and left me in a panic!

The clock is ticking I have 5 months to find a focus!

AND....Just in case you are thinking about applying to grad school, I found this video super helpful!

I Can't Breathe!

I have asthma. 

Earlier this year, I had pneumonia. 

My lungs are weak. 

There are days I find it hard to breathe.

Which is why it makes me mad that the air quality in the Phoenix Metro area is abysmal. There are days like today, which hurt. There are days where I need to use my rescue inhaler several times.  There are days where I hesitate to leave my house because the air is so bad. All of this makes me angry because, as a born and raised Phoenician, I can remember a time when I didn't have these problems. Only ten years ago, the frequency of breathing issues was lower for me and many Arizonans. So what changed??  

People! 

The population of Arizona has skyrocketed in the thirty years I've been here.

More people means more cars, more cars means more pollution, this coupled with industry in Maricopa country, dust from a drought climate, and pollen from non-native plant species has created the perfect storm for those of us with breathing problems.

I think we have a responsibility to the living world to improve our air quality and reduce toxins and particulates in the air. The chemicals we put into the air make others lives more difficult or even deadly. In Phoenix, this is especially evident during the summer months when smog and dust linger over the city center. Ground level O-zone, can inflame and even cause damage to the lungs and airways; reducing over all respiratory function.

We all share the atmosphere and we all, as global citizens, have an obligation to make choices that ensure air and atmospheric quality for everyone. The Clean Air Act was an attempt to create standards for air we breathe. This was a significant move in the realm of public policy to ensure everyone's air is clean. However, more than 50 years after the legislation was introduced, some people (myself and lungs included) do not think the laws go far enough to reduce emissions. Technological innovation and evolving human needs mean we can not only meet the standards set forth by the policy, but we can improve upon them. All the more reason attempts to chip away at the EPA regulations are so horrifying.

I would like to have everyday be a good lung day, to go on a bike ride or a hike without worrying about the air particulate count, to breathe clean chemical and smog free air.
K thanks Bye!

Why do we hate the Gulf of Mexico so much?!

          The environmental curve balls we throw at the Gulf of Mexico along the US coast are far and many, in addition to wetland degradation, the recent BP oil spill, and climate change impacts on the region; there is an annual Dead Zone Hypoxia caused by agricultural and urban runoff in the Mississippi River. First documented in 1972, this area then sees a spike in algal growth followed by a large decline in available oxygen as the algae die and sink to the bottom of the water column where they decompose. The result of this is oxygen poor water (less than 2ppm). This biological phenomenon occurs, during the summer months, and is deadly to oxygen dependent marine life in the region. This also has an impact of the gulf economy, which is dependent on the health of the fisheries along the coast.

          The most surprising aspect of the hypoxia is the lack of action to mitigate the magnitude of chemical runoff into the gulf. From a social justice perspective it appears as if the wealthier and more politically powerful agricultural industry and cities along the river are in control of the conversation on the issue. (What a shock...)

           Suggested strategies to alleviate the problem include waste water recycling and treatment, changing the kinds of fertilizer and chemicals we use, and restoring natural spaces along the river where water can naturally filter out excess nutrients before running back into the aquifer. However, I have little optimism these will be implemented on a large scale as this problem has been persistent for over forty years and yet very little action has been taken. Further inaction could have dire consequences for a region that is already ailing from environmental damage and degradation.

Why Waste Annoys Me: Part Three of a Three Part Blog - Water

Part Three: Water Water Everywhere, or so we think...

 

American's use so much water! I didn't realize how odd it was to take a 15 minute shower everyday or wash my clothing after wearing it for an hour until I moved to Italy in 2004. I found myself sharing a six bedroom house with one shower and 13 women. We were all international students living on a very tight budget. I was one of only three American's living in the house. I experienced my first wake up call when we were trying to work out a shower schedule and I had it brought to my attention that I used the shower for much, much longer than everyone else. My European roommates were able to shower in under six minutes and it was considered more than enough time. They quickly schooled me that water is expensive and it is rude to use too much. I was in culture shock but wanted to be a good roommate and I did what it took to keep my shower time around six minutes. 

The next shock came when it was time to do my laundry, it was €8 per load! Woah! Not expecting laundry to be so expensive, I reevaluate how clean my clothing was and only washed what really needed it. The reality of waters true cost was settling with me. I realized how lucky I was living in Arizona to have relatively inexpensive clean water access. I mean its a desert, it barely rains, and my water bill is my least expensive bill! Thank you government subsidy.

This concept stuck with me when I returned to the U.S. I noticed I used much less than those around me. I started asking questions about water. 

*Where is our water coming from?

*How much water do Arizonan's use?

*Why is it so inexpensive compared to other countries?

In Arizona we act like water can not be wasted. We water our lawns to a bright green year round, we love our swimming pools and golf courses, and our agricultural habits show no sign of change based on current water trends. This is scary and wrong. In the Phoenix area it has rained twice in 2014. We should be panicked, we should be in drought mode, but no...we carry on as if nothing is wrong. IT'S SCARY!!! The US Water Footprint is huge and yet there is some strange culturally engrained idea, that there will always be more water; some odd belief that we are exceptional and water scarcity is only an issue from those in less developed countries. I worry how ever growing populations and wasteful water practices will impact us in the not so distant future. There are human, environmental, and economic consequences to our waste. Water scarcity will bring war, famine, and disease. Why haven't people woken up?

Check out this quick video to help quantify just how much water the average American uses: 

Some scientific reading and statistics on water for anyone interested in reading more: http://www.waterfootprint.org/Reports/Hoekstra_and_Chapagain_2007.pdf

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Waste Part One

Waste Part Two