Reusable Dinning Containers

A couple of days ago the Diamondback reported a story about the reusable dinning containers used by University of Maryland students. The article looked at the growing popularity of the reusable containers and the university’s plan moving forward.

As stated in the article, students pay a one-time fee of $5 for the first container, and then receive tokens for the following containers. Eventually, the $5 is paid off because students pay an extra 25 cents for each time he or she uses non-reusable take-out containers.

According to the article, there has been more of an effort by students to use the containers. Since implemented last semester, “officials said they saw a few hundred OZZI containers used each week, but last week, students used more than 1,300 containers in the North Campus Diner. On average, officials said, the number of containers in use has increased by about 200 per week since the start of the semester.”

Also, to keep in mind, there are more than 8,000 students on meal plans. Hopefully, the number of students using the reusable dinning containers will continue to rise.

What’s great about this initiative is that it is efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable. It’s important to enact programs that have these qualities because people are less likely to change behavior unless they are saving money, time, and the Earth.

And it really gets difficult to have all these qualities. Yes, we ideal would like a green lifestyle, but if it greatly effects time and money, people would be less willing to accept it and change.

I don’t have all the answers, but I strongly feel that it is important to take these chances on initiatives that have the potential to be very beneficial for everyone and of course, Earth. I hope the University of Maryland aggressively continues their green initiatives and continue to lead a great example to other universities.

Pride Rock

The Mayan Calendar

The Mayan’s predicted the world’s end in 2012. But how will the world end? Or maybe it is not a question of how, but of whom? RICK SANTORUM… dun dun dun… but, seriously this guy is a little imbalanced.

Beside from Santorum general craziness and love of sweater vest, one particular issue that is worrisome is his views about the environment. Santorum firmly denies man-contributed climate change, supports oil drilling in the Arctic, and wants to get rid of energy subsidies.

One of Santorum’s more infamous quotes, “We were put on this Earth as creatures of God to have dominion over the Earth, to use it wisely and steward it wisely, but for our benefit, not for the Earth’s benefit.”

This quote reminds me of Pride Rock during Scar’s reign as king; a barren wasteland, littered with corpses, dead grass, dried up rivers, and overrun with hyenas. I wonder what Santorum’s evil laugh would sound like.

But the bigger problem I have with Santorum and other republican politicians is making environmental issues a partisan issue, which can only be seen as red or blue. Santorum said about global warming, there is a “lack of real scientific evidence” and it’s “not climate science but political science.”

Why can’t it just be science? So many issues over the economy, social rights, and the environment are all so polarized. As I recall it was a republican president, Richard Nixon, who passed the Clean Air Act, and who established the heavily criticized Environmental Protection Agency.

We are at a point in time when environmental concerns don’t just effect republicans or democrats, but everyone and everywhere. So please politicians don’t make this just another debate topic.

Maryland Food Collective

Last weekend my Australian mate Sally came to visit me in College Park. We gave her the true American Experience – McDonalds (6 cheeseburgers, 2 double cheese burgers, and 1 big mac), Chipotle (2-pound chicken burrito with extra cheese), Taco Bell (big box), and Dominos (1 chicken, 1 pepperoni, and 1 cheese pizza). At the time, they were all great ideas, but as so many of us have felt before, that next day your decision weighs you down. Devo!

I would like to think that most people don’t normally eat this way. I know I personally do not. And there are alternatives to processed fried space food (exception to Chipotle) and unfortunately our friend didn’t get the chance to try them. One of those places is the Maryland Food Collective, or the Co-op.

The Co-op, located in University of Maryland’s student union building, provides food options that are nutritious, derived from local organic farms, and free of corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, or MSG. The Co-op has excellent sandwiches, salads, and lunch specials.

Beside from their delicious and healthy foods, they are environmentally conscious. You may have heard the term, “think globally, act locally.” This phrase simply encourages individuals to be aware of their environmental impact by supporting and assisting local communities.

Take meat production for an example. From the Scientific American magazine article, “production levels of meat contribute between 14 to 22 percent of the 36 billion tons of CO-2 equivalent green house gasses the world produces every year.” Which are the same green house gasses that contribute to global warming.

It is important to understand the environmental impact of our lifestyles. So please, be conscious about what you’re eating and definitely check out the Co-op for healthy, environmentally friendly food options.

Even the Rain

Yaku

About a couple months ago, I watched the 2010 Spanish film También la Lluvia or the English title, Even the Rain. The movie follows Mexican director Sebastián and his cast and crew, as they travel to Bolivia to shoot a film about Christopher Columbus’s voyage to the Americas. However, while they are in Bolivia, they learn about a much more pressing concern, water privatization, which because of its high costs, has forced hundreds to go without clean drinking water. In the film, you learn water in Quechua, a native indigenous language, means yaku.

This movie resonated with me. These issues, something as basic as drinking water, are prevalent today and often over looked. In a time of scramble for natural resources, we tend to disregard water as a limited resource; however, it very much is. All the metals, gasses, and gold would mean nothing without water.

According to water.org, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing safe drinking water, “884 million people lack access to clean water” and “3.575 million people die each year from water-related disease.”

I’m not asking anyone to drastically change the way they live. I simply just hope to bring light to an issue that is not often talked about… And maybe consider a 5-minute shower to a 15-minute one.

Needless to say, I highly recommend this film. You will not regret it. Watch the trailer here: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/eventherain/

This blog tries to offer a new perspective to the umbrella term of sustainability and the environment. It will look into both local and global issues.