Hi All!
In this week's "Think About It" clip on page 108, the authors ask us to ponder the notion of privatized clean water utilities.
"Evidence shows that businesses may often be better suited (in terms of experience, efficiencies, and captial) to develop and operate water utilities than governments are, and yet the very notion of letting a firm make a profit from public resource strikes many people as wrong. Critics of privatized water systems stress that clean water is a human right, and not a commodity to be bought and sold. What do you think? Should companies like Suez and Nestle be allowed to profit form local water supplies? How might better marketing practices avert the kinds of situations that might lead to backlash against businesses?"
These questions are very hard! As the book addresses there are two very valid sides to this argument. On one hand we have privatization that is benefitting society by delivering cleaner water to cities, and that same water to areas that had no prior access to water. Many governments neglect their water facilities, or just don't have the money to make necessary upgrades. "For authorization to make a profit from their services, private companies invest in water treatment and distribution facilities. In the case of Buenos Aires, Suez was able to deliver more and cleaner water throughout the city, including to its poorest areas, at lower prices than the government had" (108). This is a clear example of how private companies taking neglected water facilities from the government to enhance quality, can contribute to society in wonderful ways.
On the other hand, we have situations where privatized water plants do injustice to the surrounding communities. "In the developing world, water-for-profit models have made clean water inaccessible for many poor populations"(108). In few words, that simply wont work.
But what do I really think? If I had an all-knowing answer I would tell you. But I don't. None of us do. If privatization of water utilities is what it takes to control the mass amounts of water that we the human race consumes, or to provide clean water to third world countries, or to reduce the impact that waste water has on the ecosystem, than I think we should do it. I also believe that we are too much in a crisis to be fighting over someone making a profit or not, what it comes down to is that we are responsible for polluting the Earth's water supply, and now we are responsible for fixing it.
Maybe a solution would be to tax or fine any building, residential or commercial, that omits waste water. In turn, the money collected could go to Non-profit companies that own water utilities and make necessary updates to treatment facilities. This way, the non-for-profits would get funded with the money provided by the people responsible for the dilemma in the first place.
Tell me, what do you think?
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Think About It
Hi All!
Today's "think about it" is a bit more personal.
"In your household, how often do environmental issues enter into discussion? Which members of your household are most likely to initiate such discussion? From where do they get their information?"
This is an interesting questions to me today, because I do not live with environmental activists in any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I could live in the most wasteful apartment on the block. Unfortunately, none of my roommates care too much to learn the consequences of being wasteful. Nor, would they be willing to spend the money to recycle, or buy greener cleaning products.
I have one roommate that is passionate about turning the lights off once you leave the room. She is not, however, interested in helping the environment. Rather, she is interested in helping her wallet. But, I'll accept that because its a step in the right direction.
Unfortunately, my second roommate does not care about the environment or her wallet because she wouldn't turn out a light to save her life.
However, I would argue that we would be very good at recycling if we had the option to. Even though our building does not offer recycling, we naturally sort our trash! After the cardboard boxes, glass bottles, and tin cans begin to add up next to the trash bin, out of the apartment they go and into the trash-bin they land.
I would attribute our innate sorting skills to the recycling practices that had been drilled into our heads as children by our teachers and parents. To this day, my mother is an absolute recycling freak. I've never seen someone have the household recycling down to such a science.
What about you? What does your household look like in terms of environmental issue discussions? Also, were you programmed to sort your recyclables as a child?
Today's "think about it" is a bit more personal.
"In your household, how often do environmental issues enter into discussion? Which members of your household are most likely to initiate such discussion? From where do they get their information?"
This is an interesting questions to me today, because I do not live with environmental activists in any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I could live in the most wasteful apartment on the block. Unfortunately, none of my roommates care too much to learn the consequences of being wasteful. Nor, would they be willing to spend the money to recycle, or buy greener cleaning products.
I have one roommate that is passionate about turning the lights off once you leave the room. She is not, however, interested in helping the environment. Rather, she is interested in helping her wallet. But, I'll accept that because its a step in the right direction.
Unfortunately, my second roommate does not care about the environment or her wallet because she wouldn't turn out a light to save her life.
However, I would argue that we would be very good at recycling if we had the option to. Even though our building does not offer recycling, we naturally sort our trash! After the cardboard boxes, glass bottles, and tin cans begin to add up next to the trash bin, out of the apartment they go and into the trash-bin they land.
I would attribute our innate sorting skills to the recycling practices that had been drilled into our heads as children by our teachers and parents. To this day, my mother is an absolute recycling freak. I've never seen someone have the household recycling down to such a science.
What about you? What does your household look like in terms of environmental issue discussions? Also, were you programmed to sort your recyclables as a child?
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Comparing Footprint Calculator Results
Hey All!
Today I followed the chapter critical thinking exercise and compared the results of two carbon footprint calculators.
The first calculator results can be seen here.
The results of my second, below.
I found that both calculators asked for the same types of questions, but differed in the depth of each question. The first calculator gave testers the option to answer the question specifically or generally, and had very precise, but accurate, answer choices throughout. The second test I took was not nearly as detailed, and I feel gave me a good score because it gave a very general numbers for general answers.
For example, in the food section I got zero emissions for all of my answers because I do not eat any meat and eat organic "most of the time". I know for a fact, after seeing the first test, that there are many more questions to be asked because even if I am eating organic "most of the time" there is still some times when I do not which would have more than a zero impact. A good question that they could have asked would be, "Do you buy from local farmers, if not what countries does your produce come from?". I feel as though that question would be precise enough that it could calculate miles traveled, and from there the amount of emissions released. I find that this question is very relevant to calculating anyone's carbon footprint, because food is such a vital part of our daily activities that the way we purchase and eat contributes greatly to our footprints.
As for my results in the second calculator, although my results look decent a mere 8.5 compared to the 27 of the average U.S. citizen. However, even though I am a vegan and do not own a car or motorized bike, I am still 3 points above the world average per person. That means that although I live a greatly different (as in cleaner) life compared to my peers and fellow citizens, there is great room for improvement in my own life. This also tells us how much we as a culture NEED to change. I am not perfect and although I make an effort, I recognize that there are plenty of areas in my life that need improvement. But, if a vegan without a car in the U.S. is still 3 points above the world average, citizens eating grass-fed meat and driving a hybrid car have a significant amount to change, let alone those eating factory farmed meat and SUVs!
Today I followed the chapter critical thinking exercise and compared the results of two carbon footprint calculators.
The first calculator results can be seen here.
The results of my second, below.
I found that both calculators asked for the same types of questions, but differed in the depth of each question. The first calculator gave testers the option to answer the question specifically or generally, and had very precise, but accurate, answer choices throughout. The second test I took was not nearly as detailed, and I feel gave me a good score because it gave a very general numbers for general answers.
For example, in the food section I got zero emissions for all of my answers because I do not eat any meat and eat organic "most of the time". I know for a fact, after seeing the first test, that there are many more questions to be asked because even if I am eating organic "most of the time" there is still some times when I do not which would have more than a zero impact. A good question that they could have asked would be, "Do you buy from local farmers, if not what countries does your produce come from?". I feel as though that question would be precise enough that it could calculate miles traveled, and from there the amount of emissions released. I find that this question is very relevant to calculating anyone's carbon footprint, because food is such a vital part of our daily activities that the way we purchase and eat contributes greatly to our footprints.
As for my results in the second calculator, although my results look decent a mere 8.5 compared to the 27 of the average U.S. citizen. However, even though I am a vegan and do not own a car or motorized bike, I am still 3 points above the world average per person. That means that although I live a greatly different (as in cleaner) life compared to my peers and fellow citizens, there is great room for improvement in my own life. This also tells us how much we as a culture NEED to change. I am not perfect and although I make an effort, I recognize that there are plenty of areas in my life that need improvement. But, if a vegan without a car in the U.S. is still 3 points above the world average, citizens eating grass-fed meat and driving a hybrid car have a significant amount to change, let alone those eating factory farmed meat and SUVs!
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