Tracing Environmental Geographies

2) a.     My meal contributed to the solution of global problems through helping to cut down the transportation needed to import ingredients from overseas or other longer distances.  Also it can help to lower the need to transport the products through cargo ships that contribute to the high use of oil and can also lead to the unwanted oil spills that can harm the quality of water.  This is also important because the damage to large bodies of water used for transportation can also lead to the destruction of that body of water’s ecosystem such as the damage done towards the coral reefs. 

http://www.marineinsight.com/marine/environment/how-ships-are-destroying-coral-reefs-around-the-world/

     b.    My meal contributed to the solution of local problems through also helping to cut down the transportation of the ingredients.  Limited transportation is important in controlling the amount of greenhouse gas emissions created through the various transportation methods.  Also since some of the ingredients that I used in order to create my meal were organic.  It lessened the harmful effects on the quality of soil that are created through the use of chemicals that are found in pesticides.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticide_drift

     c.    My meal contributed to the solutions of micro-scale problems through the minimization of waste products created.  My meal had very little waste and luckily I was able to recycle more than what was wasted.  This is important because it helps to conserve some of the energy that is needed to create whole new products.

     d.    The limitations of promoting my meal as a solution to environmental problems are the location of the ingredients and how they are obtained.  Not a lot of people are able to go fishing in order to catch their own fish or they may not know someone who does this and are able to obtain their fish in that manner.  Also some may not live close enough to a farmers market or do not have the transportation to do so.

The Environmental Impact of My Meal

1.   a) One of my ingredients was lake perch, which my great uncle caught in a lake in the Madison area.  Another of my ingredients was a potato that came from a farmers market located in Brookfield.  The lettuce I used for my salad also came from the same farmers market.  The dressing I used was T Marzetti dressing that according to the packaging comes from Ohio.

      

      b) My meal affected the water supply by depleting it through the agriculture uses needed to water and grow the crops.  Agriculture also depleted the soil through erosion caused by the agriculture processes.  I do not think that the creation of this meal had any kind of influence on an ecosystem.

c) Chemicals were used in creating my Caesar dressing jar.  This effected the environment by BPA emissions being released into the atmosphere.  If it is in the atmosphere it has the possibility then to be in the water system, which can be detrimental through effecting the growth, production and development of the aquatic ecosystems.

d) The production of my meal contributed to carbon dioxide emissions through the transportation of my ingredients, through my uncle driving to the lake, the transportation needed to get the products to the farmers market and the grocery store and through the fuel emission I created driving to obtain these ingredients.  I believe that it did affect the air quality by putting more pollutants from these emissions into the atmosphere.

http://www.vautoinspect.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/How-to-reduce-carbon-dioxide-car-emission.jpg

 e) These impacts could be local through the emissions created being in the atmosphere polluting the surrounding area.  This also has the possibility of becoming global through the emissions being able to easily travel through the atmosphere and can end up in a location far enough away from the source’s origin.

2.         a) My meal got to me through a trucks delivering to the grocery store and

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the delivery vehicles used in transporting the products to the farmers market.  I also consider a boat as a way I received my meal since my great        

http://www.truckpartsandservice.com/files/2011/01/red-truck-on-road.jpg

uncle used one in order to catch the fish I used.  I bought my meal through a farmer’s market and a grocery store.

b) The ingredient I used that traveled the furthest to reach me was the dressing I used since it came from Ohio.  The fish, potato, and lettuce were local ingredients since they were located near my residential area and I did not have to travel fairly far in order to obtain them.

c) The waste that went into my meal were the glass jar from the dressing, the plastic container from my tea and eggs, the paper container from the bread crumbs and the paper bag from the flour.  I recycled this waste therefore it will go to a recycling facility.  The environmental impacts from this will be reducing the waste that could have been in a landfill, since some they are not biodegradable, reducing the energy needed in order to create absolute new containers for these containers.  By recycling these wastes it can also help to decrease their carbon footprint.

http://www.cartooncliparts.com/picture/sets-of-recycle-bins-art-background-pixmac-clipart-75456857/000075456857

 

A Recent Meal

A recent meal that I have eaten was fish with a salad and a baked potato.  The salad consisted of romaine lettuce, shredded Parmesan cheese, and butter-toasted croutons and it was with Caesar dressing.  The fish was lake perch.  Which was made by covering the fish in flour, dipping it into an egg wash, covering the fish in Italian seasoning bread crumbs and then finally deep frying it in canola oil.  My baked potato was a Russet potato brushed with olive oil and then rolled in sea salt.  The toppings on my baked potato were butter, sea salt, pepper, chives, some shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream.  Also my drink for my meal was a glass of sweet tea with some ice cubes.

Image Source:
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Image Source:
 http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTFFbO_H43Xx-Ac8OXxKwAfh-djOBVVyMAPytAtVeTZp3OHhGlppQ

Battle of the Bag

1)   A local effect of the plastic bag waste that I found to be interesting was the different natural resources that it takes to make the plastic bags.  I was surprised to learn how much oil (millions of barrels) it takes to make the plastic and then make them into bags.  Also I was not aware of the environmental issues created by the polyurethane made for the plastic bags.  I did not know that it can take 400 to 1,000 years for a plastic bag to decompose naturally.

2)   People are trying to solve this problem by in some countries making it illegal to have plastic bags and in some people can get in major trouble for even possessing a plastic bag.  Mumbai, India also had created the plastic bag squad that goes on patrol, especially at the street markets, to look for the illegal plastic bags.  The people that are found in possession of plastic bags are given a very hefty fine of 600 US dollars that equals half of the workers annual earnings. 

3)  We should deal with the plastic waste by trying to limit the amount of plastic bags produced in the first place and to recycle/reuse the plastic bags.  Also stop using plastic bags, especially when grocery shopping, and instead use the reusable tote bags that are made out of more environmentally safe products like cotton or canvas.  This is a problem that should be solved both locally and globally because it effects everyone even animals.  Important animals that are dependent upon for living like cows and even species in the oceans, dolphins and turtles, are being killed because they are consuming the plastic bags and the plastic becomes stuck in the digestive tracts.  Plastic bags are not misunderstood and it is a major problem that needs to be solved because of all the harm that they have created.  We may have needed these plastic bags in the past but now they are alternatives to the plastic bags so we do not need them as much as others think we do.