Journal Entry 1:
What does the word “sustainable society” mean to you? Do you believe that it is possible for the society you live in to become a sustainable society within the next 50 years?
A sustainable society is one that can keep going and thrive. It provides a high quality of life and takes into consideration all the limits and boundaries. I do not believe it is possible for the society in which I live in to become sustainable. If one is talking about the world, in general, there are always going to be people and other organisms that are not thriving or getting what they need to survive pleasingly.
Journal Entry 2:
Why could the total amount of animal flesh on the earth never exceed the total amount of plant flesh, even if all animals are vegetarians?
Plant growth amazingly exceeds the number of animal growth. The flow of energy affects this. Plants are firstly affected by the energy of the sun, thus, creating photosynthesis. Some energy is then lost through processing the energy into usable energy for other organisms. Organisms need oxygen to breathe, so we are not going to destroy all plantlife because then other organisms would perish.
Journal 3:
Suppose a hurricane blows down most of the trees in a forest. Timber company officials offer to salvage the fallen trees and plant a tree plantation to reduce the chances of fire and to improve the area’s appearance, with an agreement that they can harvest the trees when they reach maturity and plant another tree farm. Others argue that the damaged forest should be left alone because hurricanes and other natural events are part of nature and the dead trees will serve as a source of nutrients for natural recovery through ecological succession. What do you think should be done and why?
I do not think that timber companies should go crazy by cutting trees down. If there is no hope that a tree can become stable again by rain or care, then companies should have the option to take some trees. On the other hand, the dead and fallen trees will mold into the ground after a long period of time, thus creating good, healthy soil.
Journal Four: Chapter 9: Suppose because of disease or genetic defects from inbreeding, the wolves on Isle Royal (page 197) die off. Should we (a) intervene and import new wolves to help control the moose population or, (b) let the moose population grow until it exceeds its carrying capacity and suffers another population crash? Explain.
Chapter 11: Evaluate the following statements: (a) we should not get so worked up about exposure to toxic chemicals because almost any chemical can cause some harm at a large enough dosage. Some chemicals are more toxic than others. Although this statement may be true, if we take care of ourselves we can prevent many toxic chemicals getting into our systems. One way we can do this is in a city, roll the windows up. Also, some people may react to chemicals differently in different dosages.
(b) we should not worry so much about exposure to toxic chemicals because through genetic adaptation, we can develop immunity to such chemical.
Although this is true, it is not a good thing to be adapted to such chemcials if they are not good for the body.
Journal Five:
Chapter 13: Some people argue that starving people could get enough food by eating non conventional plants and insects; others point out that most starving people do not know what plants and animals are safe to each and cannot take a chance on experimenting when even the slightest illness could kill them. If you had no money to grow or buy food, would you collect and eat protein-rich grasshoppers, moths, or other insects?
If I did not have any money, sure, I would eat whatever I needed to survive. If I was starving to death I would not hesitate to eat whatever I needed to stay alive. I don't think people know what they would do unless they were actually thrown into that situation, but I probably would if it was a life or death situation.
Journal Six: Respond to ONE of the following prompts:
Chapter 17: Congratulations! You are in charge of reducing air pollution in your country. List the 3 most important features of your policy.
1. Conserve energy in what ever way possible.
2. Reduce waste by ways such as recycling.
3. Use mass transport or try to not travel as much.
Journal Seven: Respond to ONE of the following prompts:
Chapter 15: The United States now imports more than half the oil it uses and could be importing 64% of its oil by 2020. Explain why you are for or against continuing to increase oil imports. What do you believe are the 5 best ways to reduce oil imports?
Chapter 16: Congratulations! You have just won $150,000 to build a house of your choice anywhere in the country. What type of house would you build? I would build a villa. Where would you locate it? I'm not pi-point sure, but probably somewhere near water like in florida, charleston, cape cod, etc. What types of materials would you use? brick, definitely. What types of materials would you not use? stucco, yuck. How would you heat and cool your house? Honestly, with a regular system, while trying to find ways to conserve energy. How would you heat your water? Solar water heater. Considering fuel and energy efficiency, what sort of lighting, stove, refrigerator, washer and dryer would you use? I would defitiely use the most energy efficient ones, especially if I had my own dream house. Which of these appliances could you do without? I could do without a dryer, but not really. I guess that would be the one that would'nt be as important to me.