Even if all forms of fossil fuel were no longer used and we switched entirely over to sustainable energy, we would STILL have an oil crisis on our hands, and here’s why: Over the past year, automobile drivers all over the country have seen gasoline prices plummet. Gasoline that had been over $4 a gallon is now…
Month: February 2016
Pittsburgh’s Air Quality
Just this morning I walked into The Anderson Dining Hall at Chatham University for lunch, and two volunteers from PennEnvironment were seated at a table asking students to write letters to Governor Wolf about Pennsylvania’s contribution to climate change. The representatives and I got to talking about what makes Pennsylvania “the nation’s third largest emitter…
Black, Yellow, and Green?
There is no doubt that Pittsburgh is notorious for its sports’ fans and the ultimate passion found throughout the city limits and beyond. A simple drive through the ‘burgh is sure to provide arguably obnoxious flashes of black and yellow memorabilia of some sort, flags waving in the yards of most Pittsburghers’, and one simply can’t walk down…
The Significance of the Honey Bee
Honey bee populations have been in serious decline over the last few years. This is one of the most significant problems that we are facing as a society today. Without the honey bee, and other native pollinators, we are headed for an agricultural disaster that could seriously effect life as we know it. Colony…
Paint the Town Green: The Broadway Green Alliance
Broadway is the home of intricate sets, beautiful costumes, and innovative lighting – but where do they go once the curtain falls and the show must come to an end?
Thinking in Connections: A Systems Perspective In Everyday Life
What is Systems Thinking? A system is an interconnected set of elements that is coherently organized around some purpose. Attributes of a System: elements interconnections purpose Systems thinking is a way of perceiving, describing and understanding, the forces and interrelationships that shape the behavior of systems. This method of thinking helps us to see how…
Self Sufficiency Through Home Gardens
Studying at Chatham and the Eden Hall campus I have learned many different approaches on approaches to incorporate sustainability into our society but also in my personal life. Small-scale home farming operations are an economical way to have access to fresh foods, and practice self-sufficiency. Many of us don’t have access to large amounts of…
Cholera, dysentery, hepatitis A and typhoid: Oregon Trail or the Brazil Olympics?
When Rio won the Olympics big promises were made. Their vision of the 2016 games was going to “regenerate Rio’s magnificent waterways,” but the promises were already falling short before the arrival of the Zika Virus. In the summer of 2015 independent testing of the pollution levels revealed the future Olympic waters to be 1.7…
No more receipts, please.
I have never been to an ATM machine that did not have a trash can directly beside it. This was something I noticed ten years ago in High School when I opened up a checking account and got my first debit card. I can recall being annoyed that I was forced to take a receipt…
Beetles and Invasive Plants
(http://www.nyis.info/) Non-native plant species are invading new regions at an unprecedented rate, exerting strong impacts on ecosystems and human welfare. When non-native plant species reach a high abundance, they have the potential to dominate an ecosystem, impacting not only individual resident species, but also entire population dynamics. Invasive plants are responsible for the degradation…