I have decided to do number 4 seperately since I haven't reserched much about the certain inorganic products.
4) Where do some of the inorganic products you are using come from?
We consume a lot of inorganic products. Most of the products we consume are plastics, however much recently there have been relative concerns over plastics containing toxins. It's strange how products have been discovered but the more one research on them, then everybody uses them, then the next minute there are concerns over these products. This could be true for GMO and it was the same for trans-fat. Anyway...moving on. Here are several products: I'm referring to my old chemistry textbook:
Conceptual Chemistry. Suchocki, John. Perason Benjamin Cummings, 2007.
a) paper-paper is made from wood pulp, which is cellulose fibers but the whiteness from the paper comes from chloride.
b) A sterling silver ring-in high school, I was in a Material science class where one of the projects we did was make a sterling silver ring. Sterling silver is an alloy, which is a mixture of two metals:
silver and copper. Both metals are natural, and yes, they can be found on the periodic table.
c) Gold coins....etc-Strike it rich! its' pure gold, unfortunately I don't have any-so I either have to be a gold miner or a pirate. Gold can be found in oceans (according to the textbook), but there is no way to get gold out.
d) Plastics: Most plastics have been discovered through experimental accidents. Let's take plastic bottles. Plastic bottles are increasingly a big controversy these days. According to Energy Story: Chapter 8: Fossil Fuels-Coal, Oil and Natural Gas. http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/story/chapter08.html. Plastic bottles come from oil! The same oil, which can be used to fuel car tanks for gas. In another website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic, plastics were based from original plastics, such as plastics from the rubber tree. The plastics we know now are a major concern because they do not degrade as well, and there are increasing concerns of level of toxins in plastic bottles.
On NPR (national public radio) today (13, november) someone was talking about the level of lead and toxins in materials such as make-up, and plastic bottles. One caller called and said that she was concerned about the company switching to plastic bottles from glass bottles. The expertise said that switching to tap water would be the best alternative. It could be said that plastics have been used because they are lighter and less likely to break than glass bottles.
I hope this covers all most of the questions for week 6.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Week 6: GMO and Soil
When it comes to the sciences there are no right answers-so it appears in discussing genetically Modified crops (GM). Even though people had opposing view points, there were no right answers to the question of GM. The topics of food, economy and world concerns all seem to be a topics of passion, of course most people do like food, I noticed this when we were discussing seafood in discussion #2, and when we talked about Genetically modified crops; and most of us probably want to understand what is happening to the economy and world situations.
During the discussion, I was expecting more debate about environmental and more on human health issues due to risks of allergens in GM, however societal concerns was a major topic throughout. Although I like the idea of GM crops helping developing nations, I am still skeptical about using GM since there is a potential that it can impact human health. I read in one of the resources I found by a biotech industry analyst Sergey Vasnetsov, "Let's stop pretending we face food shortages. There is hunger, but not food shortages." I agree. There's hunger in developing countries due proably to the political and economic issues. However, there's proably no shortage of food-yet. Hence, being the type of person who likes supporting organics, I would proably go against GM crops.
Week 6 Questions:
1) Are any of the foods that you eat GM? Are you o.k. with this? Would like to see these foods labled so that you know what you are buying?
My guess would be that there are and will be foods that are GM that I eat without knowing. Certain processed and pre-packaged foods will probably be GM without the consumer knowing. I called the company General Mills, even though I don't eat their product anymore. A pleasant sounding person answered and when I said I was during research to find out whether any of their foods contained GM, they said there was a possiblilty that products with corn and canola are GM. Hmmm...how could I convince my mother not to buy any of their products? Well, I couldn't. My parents didn't care, they were rather amused and made a joke about turning into werewolves (very funny), and then they proceeded to eat one of General Mills product.
I found a list of foods on a website that was suggested on the readings. The list contained some of the foods which were GM and some which weren't. The list is at this address:
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/true-food-shopping-list. Maybe not surprisingly, most of the organic foods weren't GM, while most of the major brands were. I believe a student mentioned that most of the organic foods weren't GM, while others were. I was quite surprised some of the the major brand of chocolate bars, such as Snickers were GM.
Who knows what ingredients the food will have-however, there is increasing awareness about foods-whether they are organic, and even what ingredients are in them. Not many people will want unidentifiable names of ingredients-same could be said for GM, although not many people are aware of this-there will proably be a growing awareness of GM. There should proably be a label on pre-packaged foods and crops saying whether or not it's GM-I would want one any way so I knew which foods were GM. Hence, I'll go down the list of foods and say, "I'll buy this, this and this, but not that because it's GM." Don't expect me to stand outside Safeway handing out fliers about how GM impacts the environment and human health (if I was working there, I probably wouldn't get a good reputation as a good Safeway employer).
2) What are some of the ways that you personally (indirectly and directly) impact soils? What could you do differently to reduce these impacts?
The soil and I are on cordial terms. I have always regarded the soil as lowly, bottom of the list of ecoystems, I'm sorry to say. But I was wrong. Soil is teeming with living things-unseen to the naked eyes. It plays a major role in providing nutrients and root growth, and controls water drainage. Soil, I never knew, is made up of weathered rock, organic matter, water and air. There were many new knowledge that I have never known, which is what a student gets when they go to school/college-more knowledge (being a student can be fun, sometimes!). Anyway...
I have impacted soil in certain ways; mostly through gardening. When I garden, which isn't very often,
During the discussion, I was expecting more debate about environmental and more on human health issues due to risks of allergens in GM, however societal concerns was a major topic throughout. Although I like the idea of GM crops helping developing nations, I am still skeptical about using GM since there is a potential that it can impact human health. I read in one of the resources I found by a biotech industry analyst Sergey Vasnetsov, "Let's stop pretending we face food shortages. There is hunger, but not food shortages." I agree. There's hunger in developing countries due proably to the political and economic issues. However, there's proably no shortage of food-yet. Hence, being the type of person who likes supporting organics, I would proably go against GM crops.
Week 6 Questions:
1) Are any of the foods that you eat GM? Are you o.k. with this? Would like to see these foods labled so that you know what you are buying?
My guess would be that there are and will be foods that are GM that I eat without knowing. Certain processed and pre-packaged foods will probably be GM without the consumer knowing. I called the company General Mills, even though I don't eat their product anymore. A pleasant sounding person answered and when I said I was during research to find out whether any of their foods contained GM, they said there was a possiblilty that products with corn and canola are GM. Hmmm...how could I convince my mother not to buy any of their products? Well, I couldn't. My parents didn't care, they were rather amused and made a joke about turning into werewolves (very funny), and then they proceeded to eat one of General Mills product.
I found a list of foods on a website that was suggested on the readings. The list contained some of the foods which were GM and some which weren't. The list is at this address:
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/true-food-shopping-list. Maybe not surprisingly, most of the organic foods weren't GM, while most of the major brands were. I believe a student mentioned that most of the organic foods weren't GM, while others were. I was quite surprised some of the the major brand of chocolate bars, such as Snickers were GM.
Who knows what ingredients the food will have-however, there is increasing awareness about foods-whether they are organic, and even what ingredients are in them. Not many people will want unidentifiable names of ingredients-same could be said for GM, although not many people are aware of this-there will proably be a growing awareness of GM. There should proably be a label on pre-packaged foods and crops saying whether or not it's GM-I would want one any way so I knew which foods were GM. Hence, I'll go down the list of foods and say, "I'll buy this, this and this, but not that because it's GM." Don't expect me to stand outside Safeway handing out fliers about how GM impacts the environment and human health (if I was working there, I probably wouldn't get a good reputation as a good Safeway employer).
2) What are some of the ways that you personally (indirectly and directly) impact soils? What could you do differently to reduce these impacts?
The soil and I are on cordial terms. I have always regarded the soil as lowly, bottom of the list of ecoystems, I'm sorry to say. But I was wrong. Soil is teeming with living things-unseen to the naked eyes. It plays a major role in providing nutrients and root growth, and controls water drainage. Soil, I never knew, is made up of weathered rock, organic matter, water and air. There were many new knowledge that I have never known, which is what a student gets when they go to school/college-more knowledge (being a student can be fun, sometimes!). Anyway...
I have impacted soil in certain ways; mostly through gardening. When I garden, which isn't very often,
- I probably destroy the topsoil from digging a hole, sometimes cutting through the root growth, then after placing seeds or transplanting plants, filling the soil unceremoniously back into the hole.
- When I plant on a small mound, and water, the water would run down the slope-carrying some soil (which is one ofthe way soil erosion can happens, I learned)
- I proably trample the soil underneath my feet without directly knowing that the soil will be compacted
- When I weed dandelions or other plants, sometimes the soil would cling to the roots, and I don't always brush it off the roots.
These are some ways I impact soil. To reduce these impacts, I probably wouldn't garden at all (I hardly do anyway) for fear that I would be causing soil degradation. There are several ways, one of them is to do sustainable gardening, which means I should or like to do:
- Using less or no pesticides
- Planting natives, which I vouch for
- using less fertilisers and organic ones
- less water on lawns during summers and winters
- Compost and mulch
- Some gardeners have suggested reducing lawns to plant more plants
More importantly, I believe is learning about the role soil plays in the ecosystem and how we impact soil health. Since I am learning about soils, I have a little more respect for the role soil plays; the more I learn about soil, the more I think about how I impact the soil. I never knew, before I learned about soil, that soils could degrade and erode-and that there were many different types of soils, and also there were different textures depending on the size of the rocks.
Question #4 is in another blog following shortly.
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