End of the year

I just want to take a moment to say how great it has been getting to know all of you this year. I have never left a class and felt like i had actually made some friends out of it. You are all wonderful people and i wish only the best for everyone. I am thinking of keeping my blog going. However it may change to more sports and music oriented but i will also try to keep up with all the green technology.  If anyone needs to contact me my cell number is 517-449-1186 if you are staying kzoo hit me up this summer and will have a good time!!

High Speed Rail

We have all heard President Obama talk about high speed rail saying it's the future of transportation and it will help pave the way for new and cleaner transport. But what exactly is high speed rail? High speed rail is exactly what it sounds like. A really fast train and i mean really fast in the UK their high speed rail goes 124 mph however in typical Japan fashion making better and faster things their train goes 186 mph. Japan also holds the world record for fastest high speed train on one of their experimental trains they clocked in at 361 mph. High speed rail trains are a mixture of electric and fuel powered vehicles. The train is the most cost effective and environmentally friendly form of transport for both people and freight. However there is major concern over the damage massive construction projects will cause and how having the trains will affect the environment and the communities around it. All we can do is hope that someday we will figure it out and we will be able to whip around on a fast moving train knowing we are getting there fast as well as saving our precious earth in the process.

What do you do when your skyscraper starts falling apart??

Above is the CIS tower in Manchester England. The original 10 million dollar facade began to flake off and was hitting people in the head. What do they asked?? The answer they covered the building with solar powered panels which are just as pretty and produce a ton of kilowatts of power for the building. If you thought this was the greenest building you have heard of yet you might want to keep holding your breath. A top of this wonderful building is 24 roof mounted wind turbines. However this building is very very big. Only 10% of the CIS tower will be powered by renewable energy. What is shown above is just the top. The office building will have windows which will be below. Why do people really need a view where they work anyway just cover the whole thing up!! But this is a step in the right direction with the amount of power this place produces its enough to run 1000 pc's all at once.

Color in the city

A problem with cities is sometimes that after you tear down all of the forests, valleys and other wild to make room for your buildings there never is that much color left in it. Of course you have the trees placed along the sides of the street to accent and make it look somewhat nice however it will never replace what you tore down. The occasional park does little to soak up all the Co2 emissions and storm water that collects all the dirt and grime from the streets and buildings.  A great and beautiful trend is the ability of rooftop gardens on most buildings. This provides people a place to escape the harsh grind of city life and enjoy the simply pleasure of feeling grass against your skin and the smell of plants that most suburban dwellers take for granted. Not only does it provide pleasure to the senses but it also helps clean up storm water and cleans the air around it more efficiently.

Carbon Footprint

I was very glad to see that i got an angel and not a devil in this project!
My house in Kalamazoo had a Carbon Footprint of 2548 Ilbs Per month that equals to around 510 per person though i am sure some of my roommates are more. That equals to 97% home energy and only 3% transplantation. All of my roommates and i walk to class and only take our cars to ether go home or to grab the occasional bite to eat. I have live with 4 other roommates.


My friend in Kalamazoo's lives with 3 people his Carbon Footprint is 3613 lbs per month which is 1204 lbs per person and 83% of it is home energy and 17% is transportation.

The fact that my friends house was so much higher than mine surprised me i assumed with a lower amount of people living with him his carbon footprint would naturally be lower.

San Fran doing work!

This is a picture of one of the Zero Emission buses that is cruising around the streets of Oakland Cali. They have a fleet of 3 hydrogen powered buses that is the largest fleet in the nation. With hydrogen the only waste it produces is water. It doesn't even sound pollute due to its hydrogen nature it runs silent and most people don't even turn when it passes. However this wonderful machine comes with about a 2 million dollar price tag. That is about 6 times as expensive as a standard diesel engine bus. The only way for this bus to star pioneering to other areas is to have political and financial support through legislation.

Grrrr Blackhawks

I thought that my most hated team in NHL would be taken out quickly with Vancouver up 3 games to 0 but the hawks have decided to hang around by making the series now 3 to 2.

Hope Human and Wild

Bill McKibben in my eyes seems to have given up on the rest of the world in this book. He does bring up how the region of Kerala, India seems to be on the cutting edge of people being educated and well knowledge. To have a 96% literacy rate is not only unheard of it's almost unfathomable in my eyes. The only other place i know that would have a higher literacy rate would be our class which i am hoping is 100%. Of course it was easier for us because we are only 20 people while Kerala makes up 3.44% of India's 1,155,347,700 population. Giving Kerala around the area of 16,637,007 people which if 96% of them are literate makes the population that is illiterate at 665,480 people. That is simply astounding!

Public Transportation

A main problem that leads to an over use of Co2 emissions is by cars. A great way to decrease this affect of the environment is the use of public transportation. A city that flourish's in the area of public transport Is New York City. It's subway system can take you from Penn Station Manhattan to Brooklyn in little over half an hour. If the subway does not get you as close as you need to be. Many people use the vast amount of public buses that run every 15 min. The public transportation in NYC is very affordable. My sister lives in NYC and i have visited her frequently and it is where i plan on living once i graduate. You can get a unlimited subway card for a month for about 80 dollars. When i visit i buy a 20 dollar card that gives you 10 rides on the subway.

A city that has failed in the aspect of public transportation is LA. LA actually used to have a very active public transit system. However a group of tire companies gave kick backs to certain political officials and legislation was passed to eliminate public transit. The result of the ban of public transit is all to evident in LA's signature cloud of smog that hovers ever so beautifully over the city. Making it almost impossible to see the beautiful skyline that should be LA.

How do i recover from this??

Wow to say i am depressed would be a massive understatement. How am i supposed to feel like i can change anything anymore. In being in this class i was getting excited to further along my education in the environmental science field. I wanted to do my part to change the world. Apparently i am already to late.

In reading Bill McKibben's book i was completely floored with how helpless it seems we are.  How is it possible that the frequency of hurricanes increased 75% in only 13 years! People can say what they want about global warming. Yes it's true that the earth goes through stages of warming and cooling but those stages have taken thousands of years to take place. It seems we have just completely made ourselves vulnerable to everything. Rising sea levels, diseases, freak weather storms. Nature is trying to fight back animals are sick of being pushed out of their environment they have to find somewhere to live. Like the mouse that police had to kill because it was living on the median strip on Route 128.

I am still at a lose what to think about this book. I was fascinated, disgusted and entranced. It literally made me want to yell at him and say no we wont give up! We can still do something to try and save us. We are the new generation your the old. It's our turn to take our earth back!

The life of the city

In this blog i hope to bring to light the many challenges Urban life puts on the environment. With so many people in such a small place. The impact they have on the environment is massive. I will be looking at different cities in the world and seeing what they have done to try and fight the pollution they cause and their ability to try and give back to the area that they have destroyed by building the city they are so proud of. This blog will not be a hate blog just simply trying to find the best way cities can survive without destroying the earth we all love so much.

Green Roofs

A new trend in some urban cities. Is the idea of green roofing. What green roofing entails is a a building ether completely or partially covered in vegetation. Below the vegetation a water proof membrane lies underneath. This protects the structure from water damage. Depending on the climate of the building with the green roof there may be an irrigation system that lies underneath that may direct water to storm drains or other waste water disposal.  The benefits of green roofs are very good. In 2005 the University of Toronto did a study and found that Green Roofs can reduce heat loss and energy consumption in the winter months. It even helps insulate your house from sound. This isnt a new trend by any means. Anyone with any Norwegian heratage is already aware that in the early 18th century many Norwegian houses used Sod to cover their house. Sod is a type of moss that is a very good insulator. Green Roofs are becoming very popular in cities such as Chicago, Atlanta, and Portland.