The Waste Land

Americans throw away 40% of all food produced in a year. This waste would only be justified if no Americans lived in food-insecure households, which is far from the case. The photo of the homeless man searching among mountains of wasted food personifies this problem. Just as a holocaust survivor puts a face with a tragic event, this image gives the viewer a different perspective of food waste. Instead of only seeing statistics on the unfed homeless, this photo embodies desperation and confusion.…

All of the debris in this area is from human use, disposal, littering, dumping, etc. Most of the plastic actually comes from land and not ships, as some might assume. In fact, only about twenty percent of oceanic waste comes from ships. The main sources are manufacturing products, management of trash, and improper waste disposal (EPA, 2011). Through air and sea currents, any plastic item can become litter and eventually end up in the patch region. Plastic bags, often found…

banned becaues they contribute to the pollution in our world. Plastic bags are lightweight, so they can travel long distances by water or wind. Because they are lightweight they can easily blow out of trashes and they can possibly clog waterways, damage land (10 reasons why plastic bags should be banned, 2017,October 26). Also plastic bags can contribute and make ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes (which countries have banned plastic bags?, 2003-2018). They also litter our landscapes and when…

It is redundant to say that Montana can provide a small(er) scale representation of the United States, each state represents the whole in some way or another, however, it is fair to say that the remoteness of Bitterroot serves almost like a control group for the rest of the country. As Diamond puts it, “Bitterroot valley presents a microcosm of the environmental problems plaguing the rest of the United States: Increasing population… increasing scarcity and decreasing quality of water… poor air…

Shocking The Ocean. Over two thirds of the Earth’s surface is covered by water; less than a third is taken up by land. However, the surface of the ocean is polluted. The book Oceans a Visual Guide defined pollution as “The introduction of substance, material or unwanted heat energy from human activities that adversely affect an ecosystem” (Hutchinson and Hawkins 210). Sylvia Earle, an American marine biologist, explore, and author has a Master of Science and Doctorate of Philosophy, mentioned…

Packaging, construction materials, medical devices and a surfeit of consumer goods are examples of products manufactured from plastic. It is estimated that 100 millions tons of plastic is used each year, which accounts for about 10 percent of the world’s waste (Kiener 162). Hence, it is imperative to have a proper disposal and management of plastic products, since its degradation takes hundreds of years to be completed. Indeed, most…

"Lead author Jenna R. Jambeck, an environmental engineer at the University of Georgia, and her colleagues estimated that, altogether, these 192 countries produce some 275 million metric tons of plastic waste each year. Of that volume, about 4.8-12.7 million metric tons of mismanaged plastic waste is thought to have entered the ocean in 2010" (Tibbetts). Not enough people know the amount of plastic that enters the ocean each year and how dangerous it actually is. "In 2012 the United States…

drinking water. So, by polluting the water it will make more and more people sick. There is so many cause of pollution when it comes to groundwater. A couple of many ways we impact the ecosystem by polluting the water is oil pollution and industrial waste. First, oil spills makes up about twelve percent of the oil pollutions. They are so damaging to out ecosystem by killing our animals such as birds, fish, and other sea animals. So, because oil do not dissolve in water it become thick sludge in…

so contaminated the entire water supply of the country” (http://www.chevron.com/about/chevronway/). This did not occur in one single event, but rather it was a daily occurrence over 3 decades. These events included maintaining unlined waste pits so the toxic waste went into the soil where Ecuadorian people harvest their food. Chevron also set off dynamite next to residential homes without even asking permission. Also, Chevron had multiple oil pipelines rupture, and gas flaring-which is the act…

Starting with the “Crying Indian” which showed a panning out frame of a polluted waste land that this Native American called home. Much to do about nothing for adults, the children were shown a commercial with Woodsy the Owl cheering the slogan “Give a Hoot! Don’t Pollute!” (Sustainable Brands) While the early onset of pollution and waste created a thirst for the fix, it still took some time. On the 22nd of April, 1970 the first “earth day” was created. Senator…