Category: ENV 104 Blog Posts

The coral reefs in our oceans are disappearing at a fast rate. The movie takes place over three years to gather all of its information. This is a good documentary to watch in my opinion. This is a real story with lots of research, traveling, connections, and other aspects to it. Many marine biologists, coral reef biologists, and underwater crew were needed for the production. It gives insight as to how the ocean is being destroyed and focuses on coral specifically. The ocean controls a lot of things on earth such as our climate, the weather, and the oxygen levels. With that being said, an unhealthy ocean creates an unhealthy planet. In the last thirty years, we have lost fifty percent of the ocean’s coral around the world.

Coral reefs are home to many sea creatures. The main reason we have reefs is because organisms depend on them to cooperate together. In the morning, the ocean has a morning chorus where divers can hear purring, grunts, and groans from all sorts of life. Coral is an animal with thousands of polyps on it (a mouth surrounded by tentacles that have microalgae in them which is how the coral eats). At night, the polyps sleep and the coral sends out its tentacles to eat anything that swims by. Coral is reliant on polyps as the polyps are reliant on the coral. All species of coral are different shapes, colors, and sizes. 

Something that is becoming more common is the bleaching of coral. Bleaching is a stress response that makes coral turn white. Richard first noticed this in the American Samoa. A reef that was healthy six months ago is now white. The uprise of coral bleaching is due to the rising temperature of the ocean. Once the ocean raises its temperature by two degrees celcius, the coral undergoes the stress response. The flesh becomes clear when the coral bleaches. The white is the coral’s skeletons. When the coral turns white it is still alive, but does not grow or reproduce. It will eventually die and become fuzzy when dead.

Richard Vevers, an underwater photographer, used to dive as a teenager and he stopped seeing one of his favorite animals. He was concerned by this and started the Excel Catlin Seaview survey. The purpose was to reveal the ocean and its problems to the world, but people didn’t see the problems. He has the idea to get in touch with Jeff Orlowski, a filmmaker. They then worked with Zack Rago, an underwater camera technician / coral nerd and Trevor Mendelow, an underwater camera engineer. Together, they designed a magnetic arm to clean the cameras underwater for a long period of time. Due to the many factors of having a camera underwater, the depth, pressure, and saltwater caused a few issues along the way. They made three cameras for the project and did not test them (camera 1 in the Bahamas, camera 2 in Bermuda, and camera 3 in Hawaii).  The cameras were sent down in a vacuum sealed glass dome with wires connected to the boat and the images could be seen on a tablet. A three hundred sixty degree picture was taken every three seconds when the divers were in the water. Andrew Ackerman, a divemaster and underwater cinematographer, described this process as underwater construction.

The main message of this film is to educate yourself and try to do what you can to save the earth around you. This documentary gave me a lot to think about. There was a lot of information given, at all times, but it was a very informational film. It got me to think more about how global warming is affecting the ocean and the creatures that live in it rather than just thinking about the things we see it affecting. In the film it was said that the ocean is out of sight, out of mind for a lot of people and this is definitely true. People who do not live near an ocean or do not know about sea life really do not think about how they are still impacting it. I think that it is important for those people to see this to be more educated about what a large part of our world is, the ocean.

Work Cited

“Chasing Coral.” Netflix. Coombe, Davis. Curtis, Vickie. Orlowski, Jeff. Netflix Original. Exposure Labs. 2017. 

Around the world, smokers buy around 6.5 trillion cigarettes per year which translates to 18 billion per day according to a National Geographic article “Cigarette butts are toxic plastic pollution. Should they be banned?” by Tik Root. Cigarettes are horrible for the environment. The increase of production of cigarettes started when the cigarette rolling machine was invented in the 1800s. Smoking became popular in the 1900s. Most adults at this time smoked around 54 cigarettes per year and by the end of the 1900s, this number rose to over 4,000. At this time, filters and butts of cigarettes were not yet created, but were made to help decrease the health effects. Filtered cigarettes took over by the mid 1900s. Newer studies have shown that the filters in cigarettes do not help one’s health, but continue to harm the environment. 

The filters, or butts, are generally left in the street rather than the designated ashtrays or trash cans. The ends of cigarettes are made of plastic. In a cigarette butt: nicotine, metals, and other chemicals as well as the plastic are littered into the environment. They are one of the main things found during beach cleanups and are found in bodies of water. Filters take years to degrade and they break into microplastics which harm bodies of water. The toxic materials in filters also can be harmful to marine life. Cigarette butts are also said to inhibit plant growth. With the growing popularity of e-cigarettes, these also use a large amount of plastic. 

E-cigarettes are now one of the largest things found on beach cleanups. They are made up of four main things: a cartridge/pod holding “juice,” a battery, a mouthpiece, and a heating element. Many of these devices are now single use and are built of mainly plastic. Just as many cigarettes have not made their way to trash cans or ashtrays, e-cigarettes and vaping devices have found their way to the streets and bodies of water. Today, it is reported that more than 10 million people in the United States use e-cigarettes. They are also increasingly common in teenagers causing them to infiltrate schools and other areas for children. 

A proposal has been made to ban cigarette butts by Tom Novotny. The state of California has been considering banning single use filters. A company by the name of RJ Reynolds has been exploring the possibility of biodegradable filters since the 1970s, but has not made improvements. The pods and cartridges used in e-cigarettes cannot be recycled due to the juices in them. They would need to be properly washed before being recycled, which may seem like a hassle to some. The redesigning of e-cigarettes to use less or no plastic is too expensive and companies are not open to trying it. India has banned the use of plastic in the packaging of all tobacco products. New Jersey created a law that limits smoking and vaping on beaches and in public parks. Even with these changes, people will still continue to improperly dispose of their habits. “I think it’s ignorance of convenience. There’s really no excuse for it” (Cindy Zipf).

Cigarettes have been around for hundreds of years at this point and are not going away anytime soon. Even with new inventions like e-cigarettes, people continue to smoke and improperly dispose of the products they use, harming the environment. This article may seem biased against cigarettes, but cigarettes are not generally something people are positive about in the first place. I personally believe something should be done about the use of these products, but I also believe people will not change their habits. The people that dispose of cigarettes and e-cigarettes improperly will continue to do so. 

Work Cited

Whitaker, Hannah. “Cigarette Butts Are Toxic Plastic Pollution. Should They Be Banned?” National Geographic, 18 Oct. 2019, www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/209/08/cigarettes-story-of-plastic/.

The use of plastic is becoming a huge issue that takes part in everyday life. Everyone knows that plastic is bad for the environment and bad for humans and animals, but we still use it. There are countless videos and pictures of sea turtles with straws stuck in their noses or fish with plastic caught on their fin, but we continue to use plastic and kill the planet. Once plastic reaches the ocean, it cannot biodegrade and is often mistaken as food by marine life. Straws, unlike other plastics, cannot be recycled according to “The Death of the Plastic Straw,” since they are too lightweight to make it through mechanical recycling sorters and end up in landfills. Businesses such as hotels are the biggest offenders, “Hilton Waikola, Village which became the first resort on the island of Hawaii to eliminate plastic straws earlier this year, used more than 800,000 straws in 2017” (NG). Over one million seabirds and 100,000 animals of marine life are killed each year due to plastic in the oceans. Around 44% of seabirds and 22% of whales, dolphins, sea turtles, and other fish have been found with plastic in or attached to their bodies. 

States around America, as well as a few other countries such as England and Belize, have begun to ban the use of single use plastic, including plastic straws. This is especially common with states that border the oceans or other bodies of water. While the United States has not made a ban yet and many states have not, some companies have taken the issue into their own hands. Many restaurants no longer provide straws at all, provide paper straws, or provide plastic straws only upon request. Many cruise lines and hotels have plastic straw bans as they are so close to the ocean. Think of how large some of these companies are, “While individual actions can have a significant impact on the environment and influence in the industry, a ban from a single hotel chain can remove millions of straws in a single year.” 

Although straws seem so small in one’s life, they do create a large impact. You may not see straws as a necessary thing to have and to use, but some people need or prefer to use them due to a sensitivity to their teeth, gum disease, or disability. Because of this, there are alternatives to single use plastic straws. These include paper, compostable, bamboo, metal, silicone, reusable plastic, and many other types of straws. 

Personally, I prefer to use a straw when drinking almost anything due to the sensitivity of my teeth as well as a habit. I never had given much thought to how bad plastic straws were for the environment until the restaurants that I go to stopped giving out straws. The waitresses or waiters at the restaurant always started out the conversation with an apology and explained that it was a new company policy or that they do not give plastic straws out unless requested as they are trying to help save the planet. Many forms of media have been talking about this issue more recently and many people have become advocates for this cause. These things tend to show pictures of how harmful the products can be to sea life, which is not something that is nice to look at. Doing things like these grab people’s attention, I know it has grabbed mine.

Works Cited

“#Art #Illustration #Artactivism #Byebyestraws #Stopsucking #Refuseplasticstraws #Saynotoplasticstraws #Sav…: Funny Animal Photos, Environmental Art, Save Our Earth.” Pinterest, www.pinterest.com/pin/368591550747905233/?lp=true.

Lev-Tov, Devorah. “The Death of the Plastic Straw.” Hotels and Tour Operators Are Eliminating  Plastic Straws, 15 June 2018, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/features/plastic-straw-single-use-plastics-in-hotels-cruises/

Many states are going plastic free in grocery stores, malls, convenience stores, and anywhere else one may shop. Recently, there has been a switch to paper bags and the more popular use of reusable bags. For the use of paper bags, there should be a small fee per bag and this money would be put into a state fund for waste reduction programs (SCMC). The Sierra Club Maine Chapter published a blog back in April of 2017 where Olin Jenner, a committee member, talks about LD57, “An Act To Phase Out the Use of Single-use Plastic Shopping Bags.” The act states that it would be effective statewide by September 1 of 2020. The production of single use plastic bags causes many issues within the environment such as pollution, being a threat to ocean life and wildlife, and is a waste of energy.  “It is estimated that Americans use approximately 100 billion plastic bags a year, or about 360 bags per year for every man, woman and child in the country” (SCMC). Banning plastic will help both consumers and businesses to reduce their waste and invest in environmental safe reusable bags. Since that blog was published, Maine has placed a law on the ban of plastic. “Maine is banning single-use plastic bags in grocery check-out lines by April 22, 2020” (PBS). Maine has required stores to implement at least a five cent fee for each paper bag used. 

To me, the blog is biased as it was created solely to persuade people to be on the side of removing the use of plastic bags. To me, the people on the committee just want what is best for the environment, not themselves. It may seem biased because of their hatred for the use of plastic being why they want this law to be passed so badly. These people are not receiving a profit for the ban of plastic bags and are trying to implement a law. There was evidence in the blog about how bad plastic is for the earth, trying to gain support for their cause. I used two other small articles for other facts to support the creation of the law which happened a small amount of time after the blog post. These two articles are not biased, as they are facts posted on a news site purely for informational purposes.

Since the ban on single use plastic, this has gotten consumers’ attention. How could it not? Even if consumers were not educated about this change, they surely have gotten the gist of it from workers at stores throughout the state. By banning plastic, consumers should be becoming more aware of their use of plastic. Many have invested in reusable bags as it ends up being cheaper in the long run and is overall better for the environment. Personally, the ban of plastic bags was a shock to me when I came to school in Maine as this has not yet been implemented in my home state, New Hampshire. It was a big adjustment. I had always used grocery store bags and other single use plastic bags as trash bags in my room as well in the smaller trash cans throughout my house. Now I could not do that. I occasionally use paper bags as a trash can, but have to buy trash bags for my trash can. To me, this is almost not helpful because instead of receiving free plastic bags at the store, I am buying them instead. Despite it being an adjustment for people, I do agree with the ban on plastic. Plastic is absolutely horrible for all aspects of the environment and the use of it should be cut back. I decided to invest in some reusable bags for when I go grocery shopping while I am living at school and I have found that I use them a lot more than I thought I would, and not just for groceries. 

Works Cited

“Gov. Mills Signs Maine Plastic Bag Ban into Law.” WCSH, 17 June 2019, www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/gov-mills-signs-maine-plastic-bag-ban-into-law/97-927d1d19-9010-4674-8acd-1530c5368ba3.

Press, Associated. “Maine Bans Single-Use Plastic Grocery Bags by Earth Day 2020.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 17 June 2019, www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/maine-bans-single-use-plastic-grocery-bags-by-earth-day-2020.“The True Costs of Single-Use Plastic Bags.” Sierra Club, 5 Apr. 2017, www.sierraclub.org/maine/blog/2017/04/true-costs-single-use-plastic-bags.

About your learning style: 

1. After looking at the syllabus, what kinds of learning strategies will you have to use in order to be successful in the course? 
   • In general, my learning strategies include taking handwritten notes, attending class, reviewing my notes, and completing all assignments. When I need help, I always email the professor or look for help from a friend or tutor. In this case, I could drop by office hours or schedule an appointment or go to SASC.
2. What kinds of support will you need from me (or other UNE resources) to make those strategies work? 
   • Having copies of the notes gone over in class is always helpful for me as I like to keep my notes organized and I sometimes tend to rewrite them. Possible SASC availability may be needed if I need extra help.
3. Which strategies have been effective, or ineffective, for you in the past? For example, reflect upon the best and worst classes you have taken, and describe what made those courses successful for you, or not. 
   • I always strive to make my courses successful as I am not the type of person to allow myself to fail. Classes that have made it more difficult for me to succeed have been with teachers/professors with unrealistic expectations, such as 2+ hours of homework after each class meeting as many departments deem as reasonable, as well as many outside of class time scheduled events such as this one. Things like this are hard to schedule around class times, homework, work, and having a personal life. 
   • Classes that have been easier for me to succeed or do well in have been classes with understanding teachers/professors and set deadlines/due dates that do not change drastically. I am a planner and tend to do well in situations where deadlines are not moved up or moved back too much. I also learn better when I am taught something in a classroom vs all self taught information.

About an environmental issue:

1. Think about an environmental issue in your hometown, name it and describe its importance and potential solutions to it.  If you can’t think of any at a local level, think about one environmental issue at a regional, national or international level that you are aware of and describe it as best as you can. 
   • My grandparents live on a side street and at one point, they were one of the only houses on the street. Now, there is a new development cross the street with huge houses. When all of the trees were cut down, many animals were left without homes. This led to the infestation of bats in my grandparents house. There was also a family of owls that moved into a tree across the street from the house, as their previous home has most likely been destroyed. This could have been prevented if there was an investigation of the land and what inhabits it before the destruction of land. Potential solutions would be to set up bat boxes for new homes instead of leaving the bats stranded and looking for homes in my grandparents chimney and house.
2. Now, think about any potential environmental issue that relates to what you think you will do once you graduate from college.  Again, if you cannot think of any, think about any environmental issue that would simply affect the lifestyle you want to have.
   • Going along with the issue previously described, I think this may be an issue or a potential issue for my future. As I am currently very unsure of my major, I do know that when I am older I want to be a mom and have a family of my own. For me, this entails having a house, whether it is new or old. Deforestation and the movement of animals could always be an issue with this goal as you can never predict these types of things happening in nature.