As the final Action Project of this third term here at GCE, in my FUEL class we learned more about the pollution that affects our environment. Now, a can on the floor may be disrespectful, but we’re talking about the big gasses here; carbon.
Yet carbon can come in multiple forms, like the ever so common carbon dioxide, but there’s one much, much worse than that. Colorless, so you can’t see it, tasteless and odorless, meaning that there’s practically no way to know it’s there. An invisible poison known as carbon monoxide is created when there’s more carbon than oxygen in an area and comes from many things. Carbon monoxide can come from wood burning, like a fireplace, boilers, steamers, heaters, furnaces, and even a car (that’s turned on, granted) in a closed garage. The boilers and furnaces can malfunction to create this gas while everything else is from an incomplete combustion creating the CO (carbon monoxide). It’s best to avoid these scenarios if you want to keep away from the room or area where these might occur. Here’s a diagram to show you the dangers on a visual perspective.
Now, the other assignment, that focuses upon the project was to enter your carbon footprint data, and then simulate scenarios and compare it to other cases like how many pounds of coal burned equals that same amount. Here I have the actual report I made which includes more detailed facts about my carbon footprint and how I can reduce it.
What is pollution? Well, pollution is a harmful toxin that affects the environment, it gets released in multiple ways and in multiple forms. There are different pollutants that affect the environment in different ways, like air pollution, water contaminants, and even pollution that affects underground structures. Carbon can be released through exhaust of vehicles, as a byproduct of combustion, and even when we exhale. Why am I talking about pollution? Because pollution is destroying our world slowly, but by a lot each day.
My life uses 16.5 tons of carbon a year, that’s 15 metric tons. In other words, that’s the greenhouse gas emission of 11,600 pounds of trash sent to a landfill each year by those dump trucks full of exhaust. That exhaust translates to the carbon produced by 1,678 gallons of gasoline. However, all this can be reverted, because most pollution can be replaced and reduced.
All we need to do is plant trees. It would take just 384 seedlings to be planted to compensate for the carbon I produce. Sure, if everyone on Earth lived like me, it would take 4 Earths to provide the substances and materials we need. However, in the span of a decade, we could plant 384 trees for each person, and the carbon would balance itself out with the oxygen. If you’re interested in the mathematics, or wondering how that amount of trees came to be, then let me display the equation that calculated this in my favor.
“x” metric tons (1 tree/0.039 metric tons) = ? trees
16.5 metric tons (1 tree/0.039 metric tons) = 384 trees
Now, what if planting isn’t really an option, like if you live in a snowy or desert-like area, or even if you just live in the city? In a case like mine, I went to a website to simulate certain scenarios, which was the same site that I used for the calculations. If I had pledged (and fulfilled) that I would use solar panels, my carbon use would reduce by 2.2 tons. Another scenario would be if I only purchase products that have reduced or recycled packaging, this would bring my carbon use down by 1.1 tons. Then, in a different scenario, if I were to own and use only energy-efficient products, the carbon would reduce even more, by 0.6 tons of the carbon. However these were not the only scenarios I could’ve chosen, but they were the most plausible for me to complete, solar panels, reduced packaging, energy efficiency, those all seem like a possible feat for anyone to complete.
My individual actions alone may not bring down the ppm (parts per million) of 400 to the much better 350, but if we all do our part, we’ll definitely be helping the environment. If everyone, who had the means to, could started to reduce their use, then the Earth wouldn’t be dying so fast.
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