Everglades

The Trashy Foundations of the Florida Everglades

Environmental Concern

Two years ago the Florida Everglades made national headlines when President Obama pledged $279 million to help save and restore them. At the height of the recession, funding for preserving the Everglades had been cut by Florida Governor Charlie Crist by two-thirds, and the future of the Everglades looked grim. Obama’s funding, although minimal, was a shot in the arm that the conservation effort needed. However, this wasn’t the first time the Everglades had snagged the attention of the green movement.

The Everglades have been a focus of environmental concern for years. In 2010, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared the Everglades imperiled and placed it on its endangered sites list. It had been on the list before but was removed through the concerted effort of conservationists. UNESCO returned it to the endangered list due to “the degradation of aquatic systems.”

Everglades' Problems

The Everglades are plagued with the persistent problems of pollution, dramatic water loss, and invasive species. Human overdevelopment is also a major threat. The clearing of vegetation to make way for housing and commercial business has caused the weakening of root systems. This makes the soil easy to erode. It’s projected that a full restoration of the marsh would take 10 years to complete and at least $10 billion.

Look at a picture of the Everglades and you’ll see a landscape dominated by murky water and “tree islands.” Trees perch on marshy patches of soil that were originally thought to be geological formations. Plants and trees thrive in the soil there, and the islands are important breeding grounds for panthers, alligators, and birds.

Trashy Foundations of Everglades

Scientists studying these islands have determined that portions of the elevated land, where vegetation and wildlife thrive, have grown from a foundation of garbage. An estimated 5,000 years ago, early settlers left piles of bones; scraps of food; and leather, charcoal, and tool fragments. When the organic waste decomposed, it released nutrients and phosphates into an ecosystem that typically didn’t have those elements. The resulting combination was enough to spur living, breathing, green islands into existence.

Researchers used the example of the Everglades’ tree islands as an example that human garbage doesn’t have to impact the ecosystem negatively. However, today’s garbage is vastly different from the garbage of early settlers thousands of years ago. They weren’t tossing away garage door openers or cell phones. Their simple tools and organic waste could be broken down, given enough time, while contributing positively to the marsh. The majority of our modern trash is composed of petroleum-based products, items that will take thousands of years to break down, if at all.

As long as there is funding and awareness of the Everglades as a valuable historic and environmental resource, there will be further efforts to save it.

Chris Keenan is a green and general blog writer. He writes for many sites including Precision Garage Door. Chris also maintains a personal house and garden blog.

Garbage, Garbage, Garbage

I Garbage, You Garbage

We as American’s like to own things. We like to own our wardrobes, we like to own the latest technological gizmo that just came out, and most importantly we like to own things that inevitably produce a whole lot of garbage. Yep! Buy an iPod recently? What did you do with that beautiful packaging it came in? What about that cheap little instruction manual? I’m guessing it was in your garbage can a week later.

What about that pizza you had for dinner last night? You know the one from your favorite pizzeria? Right there you have that pizza box that’s garbage, the bag that held you’re garlic knots and soda, and then of course the paper plates you’re going to use to put your pizza on! (Going to use actual plate wear? Don’t get me started on how much wasted water you’ll produce washing them!)

The average American creates 4 and a half pounds of trash a day. Let that sink in for a minute. Four and a half pounds! That is a lot of garbage we’re throwing out. Considering the population of the United States is 312 million people, that’s 1.4 BILLION pounds of garbage created just by the United States!
So how do we go about changing this? It’s simple, really. Before you purchase an item, make sure you take into account how much of it you actually need. Why buy foods that are individually wrapped when you can buy them in bulk? You’ll be effectively eliminating a large percentage of waste.

What about paint and cleaning supplies? Next time you’re going to paint that garage door buy only as much paint as you’ll use. Even though you’ll stick it in your basement, thinking you’ll be able to use it again, odds are you’ll end up throwing it away years down the line when you accidently stumble upon it. I mean come on, do you really want to use five year old paint? I don’t think so.

This should translate to all parts of your life. America is known for going BIG. Those days are over (or at least should be). When you pack your lunch only bring as much as you’ll actually eat. Why bring more? Every piece of food you throw away because you aren’t hungry is contributing to your waste. Hey, this could even be a good time to possibly lose a few extra pounds. Not only will you be watching your daily food intake but you’ll also be creating less waste! You make the planet happy, and you make yourself happy. Now that’s a win-win situation!

And lastly, there is one major epidemic America needs to cure ourselves of: Coffee. Are you a coffee drinker? Know any friends or co-workers who stop by their local coffee shop every morning and bring in that ugly coffee cup? Sure, the coffee may be good, but let’s take a look at that cup. Think about how each one of those ends up in the trash. Then think about how many people other than your co-worker who buy coffee every morning. Just imagine all of those coffee cups ending up in the garbage. Be smart! Bring your own thermos to your coffee shop! They’ll gladly fill it up for you! Some may even give you a slight discount for bringing your own cup!

Start small. Try to reduce your waste one thing at a time. Not only will you end up be as wasteful as you used to be, but you’ll inevitably decrease your carbon footprint. A smaller carbon footprint equals a happier and healthier world to live in.

Chris Keenan is a green and general blog writer. He writes for many sites including Precision Garage Door. Chris also maintains a personal house and garden blog.

Trash Talk 101

If you are in the business of blogging about trash you need to know your terminology.  Some terms are often inadvertently interchanged by writers and thus used incorrectly.  Get your words mixed up and your blogging credibility is blown right out of the starting gate. 

So to assist all those environmental bloggers out there I have created a little primer I have entitled Trash Talk 101.  Let's get started!

Reduce

The most straightforward term in the eco-blogger's vocabulary is reduce.  To reduce is to minimize consumption of either energy, food or any item that cannot be reused or recycled.  By reducing the intake of these items, waste / garbage are generally minimized.   OK - that was the easy part of Trash Talk 101.  From here on in it gets a bit more challenging.

Reuse

Bloggers often mix up the term reuse with recycle even though they should be relatively straightforward.  Reuse simply means to use an item again.  Where it gets tricky is that the item doesn't have to be used for a similar application.  For example, car tyres can be reused, either on a different automobile or for something totally different such as house insulation, for example.  Another example of reuse is to donate used clothing to charity.  Providing the recipient simply wears the clothing the term reuse applies.  If the clothing is instead cut and used for rags then the term reuse would not apply.

Recycle

To recycle generally means to process a used material with the intention of generating a new product.   Strictly speaking, recycling is the act of producing a fresh supply of the same material;  office paper for example.  But these days the term recycle also covers the processing of a used material in order to produce a different product.   Recycling often involves the salvage of specific materials, either due to their intrinsic value or due to their hazardous nature.  The term recovery is also used for the act of salvaging materials.

Precycle

To precycle simply means to think before you buy.  By making environmentally sound choices at the time of purchase, such as avoiding products with extra packaging or products made to satisfy only short-term needs, you are precycling.  Precycling avoids or reduces the need to recycle or reuse.

Upcycle

Confused yet?  This is the last term I am covering today.  Upcycle is a term used to describe the act of turning waste materials into a product of greater value or use.  So turning junk mail into mosaic junk to art for example would be an example of upscaling.

So now we have covered all these terms, where does composting fit in?