bad refrigerator

Energy is eaten up en masse in our country, and some of it we never even think about.  I discovered that my refrigerator uses around 5.9*10^5 J of energy per year just while operating on a normal day to day basis.  This may not mean much to you, but in reality, this translates to around 1.92*10^6 Kg of coal per year.  This is a tremendous amount of coal used just to power a simple refrigerator in a household.  Now, magnify this by the number of households in the United States and you will begin to see the impact of household appliances on our power supply. 

Not such a bright idea

The new energy efficient light bulbs (CFL) are now becoming more and more popular as people begin to become more environmentally aware.  These ”environmentalists” believe that these light bulbs will help save the environment because of their energy conservation.  But they don’t seem to realize that these light bulbs contain mercury. 

Mercury is an incredibly destructive toxin that is  damaging to humans, animal life, and plant life.  Now many people and websites will tell you that this mercury level is low and will not be released into the environment unless the light bulb is broken during desposal.  Well, light bulbs are not exactly the most durable waste product, and even though these light bulbs last about three years, they still add mercury into our environment.

“The problem with the bulbs is that they’ll break before they get to the landfill. They’ll break in containers, or they’ll break in a dumpster or they’ll break in the trucks. Workers may be exposed to very high levels of mercury when that happens,” says John Skinner, executive director of the Solid Waste Association of North America.

It is also important to recognize that coal plants, which are the most common type of power plant in the United States, produce a large amount of mercury in their production of energy.  But the presence of mercury in our own houses is caused but the CFl light bulbs. 

  So what is more important to the environmental community?  The levels of mercury in the earth, or the over use of energy that is needed to light conventional light bulbs.  Pick your poison. 

http://www.eartheasy.com/live_energyeff_lighting.htm  

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7431198 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,288684,00.html

Strippers?

Strip mining has been a tremendous environmental problem for many years, and it continues to plague the environments of numerous areas around the world today. 

Strip mining is the process of removing the mineral rich upper level of material and leaving the underlying rock.  It is incredibly destructive to the environment primarily  because it involves taking away the top layer of material, exposing bare

rock and destroying all the vegitation in the area.  This in effect can destroy whole ecosystems in vast areas of the world.  This type of mining is found in many countries including the United States, Canada, and China. 

Strip mining takes place in multiple phases.  First, the vegitation at the top of the area is completely removed and destroyed.  Then, the soil is removed and taken to another area.  After this, small holes are drilled in the bed rock and explosives are inserted into these holes.  The resluting explosions will create a mining strip.  Big machinery is then brought in to help remove the minerals (usually coal).  The soil is then brought back and  used to fill in the strip. 

Now, this may not seem that destructive.  After all, the soil is put back into its original place. But the process still has destroyed the local ecosystems.  The transplanted soil that is taken away during strip mining causes the first of many problems.  When placed in its temporary relocated site, this soil buries other ecosystems, and can block rivers as a result of rain causing the soil to runoff into the river, causing flooding and mass devistation.  The lack of vegitation after the soil is put back also leaves a barren dead landscape. This can cause extreme erosion and possible mudslides. 

The United States government now requires mining companies to try to recover the land after mining.  This means  that the company must replant vegitation to try and bring back a functioning ecosystem.  Now while this does not always work, it is still movement in the right direction. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_mining

http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/00461/stripm.htm

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200506/09/eng20050609_189256.html

http://www.mongabay.com/reference/eco/Strip_mining.html

http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Sect5/03867.jpg