ESS Final

UN Goals adopted in 2015 with a target of 2030

#2: Zero Hunger

Solutions to urban sprawls

- Better Urban Planning - Smart Growth: an urban plan that concentrates on compact walkable urban centers - restore ecosystem services: urban ecology (ex: Brooklyn Grange)

How are we using water?

- Developing countries: 87% for agriculture - also used for industry, public and power plant cooling - NA families of four use a lot for toilets and lawns

The Power of Technology (additional solution)

- EVs - Smart Thermostats (saves carbon and money) - Telepresence (zoom - save carbon and money) - LED light bulbs

Solid waste: Why does it matter?

- Environmental consequences (landfills, plastics in the ocean) - Metric for other things (an indicator of mindsets and appetite for addressing enviro issues)

Problems with far away production

- Ethics of production (labor) - Carbon emissions from transportation - Production and waste far away

Loss of ecosystem services in urban areas

- Flooding - Water quality - Air pollution - Heat Island Effect Compounded by climate change and the location of many cities

Modern Agriculture

- Growing crops for sale (cash crops) - capital intensive (labor, pesticides, fertilizers, machinery, seeds) - Meat has an additional layer - power steer

The Power of Points of Leverage (additional solution)

- Large companies such as Walmart have massive influence over supply chain - Can make a lot of change quickly - Ex: reduce plastic bags, pulled BPAs from shelves - BSR works with fortune 500 companies

Lecture 15: Climate change and the right to food reading

- Paris Agreement didn't do much for the hungry or food insecure - Smallholder farmers constitute majority of the food insecure - Agriculture is a major sector of developing countries economy - Agriculture contributes a lot of GHGs (crops, livestock, transport, chemical use)... must be included when thinking about climate change - Increase in temp = decrease in yields - Biofuel is good for the environment but diminishes food security because developing countries are losing their agricultural land, and rising corn prices - Extreme weather events and rising sea levels... worsens food security - Agroecology and carbon sequestration (restoring carbon to the soil) can reduce GHG emissions - Agroecology supports small-holder farmers and local systems, encourages less chemical use and more natural techniques, comines traditional farming methods with new techniques)... not about continuing to produce massive amounts of food that is being wasted and thereby producing more GHG - biofuels - fuel from living matter (good for climate and supported by developed countries as an alternative fuel BUT diminishes food security... developing countries losing agricultural land and corn prices rise) - Agroecology - application of ecological concepts and principals in farming (shift from fossil fuel) - we have enough food to feed the world

Issues with Superfund

- Polluter pays philosophy (retroactive) - Joint and several liabilities (anyone associated with site can be held 100% responsible) - cause people to avoid these sites... led to abandonment of old, industrial sites and enviro fragmentation... untouched suburban land - Not looking at all sites on the list and prioritizing (need more refined list to target absolute worst) - Not fully examining cost/benefit of different clean-up sites or taking into consideration future use (if they changed their standards, could do more) - Budget issues (tax payer money) EPA's Brownfields Program (1995) and other programs... other clean up effort that don't rise to Superfund level

Water quality issues

- Someone's waste is someone's drinking water... - Ppl used to believe the "solution to pollution is dilution" - Cuyahoga river was an awakening - CR caught fire multiple times bc of water pollution - CR lead to the Clean Water Act (1972) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (1970)

Precautionary Principle

- The introduction of a new product or process whose ultimate effects are disputed or unknown should be resisted - "better safe than sorry" - Be cautious of outputting stuff into the enviornment/introduce to humans - Evaluate risks (do positives outweigh cons??) - Similar to NEPA - must do environmental assessment

Turning points that led to Superfund

- Valley of the Drums, Kentucky (30 acre waste land contaminated soil, and ground and surface waters) - Love Canal, Niagara (neighborhoods built ontop hazardous waste - led to health issues) - led to Superfund

Cost of water

- Water is not only about water... about energy too - No one conserves water when it's considered limitless and we don't encourage water conservation with true cost/ true reflective pricing (energy use implications big) - True reflective pricing of water - very expensive - if $ increases, ppl will use less of it

Water quantity issues

- climate change contributes to quantity issues Leads to: - conflict over who gets it/controls it -can be used as a weapon -transboundary adds conflict (colorado river) - water privatization causes conflict Other issues: - Dams: low carbon energy supply... attractive BUT harms water flow - Subsidence: sinking of land caused by over pumping ground water (seen in New Mexico - harming architecture) - Salt water intrusion into wells... pumping groundwater into wells so much so it pulls salt water into wells... issue along costal regions - opportunity: desalinization: turning salt water into fresh water BUT very energy intensive

Recycled goods

- develop markets for recycled goods - replace noncompostable material with compostable material (vegetable starch silverware) - policies (bottle bills, trash tags/pay by the bags, single-use plastic bag bans) Plastic use is unfortunately increasing!! - Biggest contributor: packaging - Plastics have an impact on human health

Lecture 18: Hazardous Waste

- liquid or solid - toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic, ignitable, reactive hazardous - dangerous to people or environment toxic - severe damage or death to people

What increases the volume of municipal solid waste generated?

- more developed countries (affluence) - consumerism - packaging - population growth - food waste article said: rural to urban migration is at the root

Slums

- outside of urban areas - informal housing - substandard - lack basic services (sanitation, clean water, reliable electricity)

Traditional agriculture

- subsistence-based (nearly all of the crops or livestock raised are used to maintain the farmer and the farmer's family, leaving little, if any, surplus for sale or trade) - labor intensive - simple, recirculating flows - social networks

Industrial Ecology (additional solution)

- typically linear system ("cradle to grave") and creates products that are "monstrous hybrids" (products from a combination of materials and cannot be easily separated, thereby making it unable to be recycled/reused - so thrown out and contributes to solid waste) and no ownership of waste Industrial Ecology: The Power of Process and Product Design - must start at the design stage - extended producer responsibility (product stewardship - the manufacturer is responsible for the entire life cycle of its products, including take-back, recycling, disposal) - sell services as opposed to products

3 steps of green revolution

1. Develop and plant monocultures (growing one kind of crop in a field) of selectively bred high-yielding crops (rise, wheat, corn) 2. Produce high yields by using large inputs of water and manufactured fertilizers and pesticides 3. Increase the number of crops grown per year on a plot of land through multiple cropping

Precautionary Principle Components

1. Take preventive action even if the science is uncertain 2. Shift the burden of proof to proponents of activity rather than victims or potential victims of the activity 3. Explore wide range of alternatives to potentially harmful actions, including no action 4. Increase public participation in environmental decision making

Where does solid waste go?

12% - Incineration 54% - Sanitary landfills 34% - Recovered for composting and recycling (CAN BE A LOT MORE)

International efforts to address food security:

1972 - UN Conference on the Human Environment 1st recognition of poverty alleviation for environmental protection -connection between food security and economic development

EJ History

1982 - PCBs brought to NC landfill and contaminated soil NAACP sued because impoverished African Americans were most negatively affected Although lost case, prompted Government Accountability Office to study hazardous waste (found most locations were near minority populations) 1990s - Environmental Justice recognized as a critical component of environmental protection 1992 - EPA created the Office of EJ to examine the issue 1994 - Clinton signed an order for all Federal agencies to take EJ into account

The Power of Sharing/We Economies (collaborative economy, collaborative consumption, or the app economy) (additional solution)

A suite of emerging software platforms acting as an intermediary between private buyers and private sellers, allowing them to share their existing resources - highlights the ability to rent or borrow versus buy or own - ex: Uber, AirBNB... - trust and consistency are big hurdles

Composting Advantages

Advantages: - Renewable natural gas - everything including transportation (anaerobic digesters, biogas)... considered carbon neutral

Sanitary Landfill Advantages/Disadvantages

Advantages: - capturing methane generated from anaerobic digestion of municipal solid waste in landfills and incinerating the captured biogas to generate electricity Disadvantages: - Takes up a lot of land space (shallow root systems for plants) (dicing and slicing habitats - loss of biodiversity) - Hazardous waste (batteries, computer waste, cleaning products, paint, paint thinner, bug spray) contaminates groundwater - Methane production through anaerobic decomposition (confused about whether landfill gas-to-electrcity is renewable??)

Waste-to-Energy Incineration Advantages/Disadvantages

Advantages: - generate electricity Disadvantages: - promote consumerism - greenhouse gases - air pollution - being placed in urban environments

Major contributors of water pollution

Agriculture, industry and mining

The Power of Engagement - Bridging the Disconnect (additional solution)

Also known: crowd-sourced science, civic monitoring, networked science Citizen science - general public engagement in scientific research activities Can be contributory, collaborative, or co-created Ex: eBird collects and distributes basic info on bird abundance and distribution

CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act), 1980 (ALSO KNOWN AS SUPERFUND)

Authorizes EPA to handle hazardous waste in 1 of 2 ways: - identify parties responsible and make them pay (complexities) - clean up themselves, using money set aside in a trust fund (if responsible party not found)

Plug-in hybrids

Battery-powered electric motor is the main power source

Lecture 14: Sustainable Development

Brundtland Commission definition: Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Lecture 21: As we discussed in class, reducing food waste is one of the top solutions included in Project Drawdown. Describe comprehensively why this is the case

Class said: (project drawdown is about GHG emissions so avoid answers like water consumption) Methane production by animals Methane production by land fils Transportation - food miles to get to plate and waste getting to the final spot Refrigeration High-input agriculture (tractors, lots of fertilizers, pesticides) Land use - clear-cutting, and disrupting soil (soil is a carbon sink)

Water quality point sources

Clearly identifiable sources of pollution Steady output Easier to regulate Clean Water Act regulates Factories, waste water treatment plant...

Planned obsolescence

Designed to phase out (ex: phone battery, refrigerator)

What happened in 1991 (Cuba and SU)?

Disintegration of the Soviet Union - Cuba lost the bulk of its imports: reduction in oil, fertilizer, pesticides, etc. Cuba's "Special Period" - faces food issues that rest of the world is no anticipating: - high fuel costs - variable climate patterns - lack of access to land

5 Focus Areas of Skidmore's CampusSustainability Plan

Energy, food, engagement, waste, lands & grounds

Pollan's Power Steer

Environmental impacts of corn - GHGs, water-intensive (draining groundwater), fertilizer from corn (affect water quality), air pollution due to agriculture, habitat fragmentation Methane emitted from the decomposition of livestock manure and organic matter - cows emit methane Agriculture emits GHGs Waste Health impacts on steer by feeding them corn Steers given antibiotics+hormones Refrigerants (increased global warming potential)

RCRA (Resources Conservation and Recovery Act) (1976)

Fed law governing the disposal of solid and hazardous waste "Cradle to Grave" oversight - must track and report hazardous waste Deemed incredibly successful bc ppl don't want burden to report and track hazardous waste

Food insecurity feedback loop

Feedback loop: Outputs of a system are circled back and used as inputs Way we are producing food is compromising our ability to produce food in future - Air emissions from livestock operations, crop production degrades soil health and causes soil erosion, nitrogen and other nutrients in manure runoff leads to dead zones in downstream waterways?

Lecture 17: Solid waste

Garbage, sludge, or other discarded material from homes and businesses, and industrial, commercial, mining, agricultural or community activities

Food waste

Globally, we waste 30-40% of food Food waste contributes to GHGs bc... - organic material waste produces methane during decomposition - food miles/transportation - inputs in agriculture (fertilizers and pesticides) Reducing food waste is at the top of Project Drawdown's priority list

What kind of water do rural environments use?

Groundwater (30.1% of all fresh water)

Do we have enough food?

Have enough food. Not distributing properly. Poverty is the issue.

Superfund sites

Hazardous waste sites Many people live within 4 miles of a hazardous waste site

DDT brings up precautionary principle

How do we decide which is a bigger risk: risk oflong-term damage to environment and humanhealth or increased risk of dying from malaria?

Result of green revolution

Increased yields from modern tech and the total amount of land available for cultivation

Agriculture and GHG emissions

Large producers of GHGs: ploughing, rice cultivation, livestock, land-use changes, heavy reliance on fossil fuels Methane and nitrous oxide are MUCH more potent than CO2

Flint, Michigan

Lead pipes corroding into the water... lead-contaminated water lead to many health issues... the government didn't get involved... EJ issue

Lecture 13: Distribution of water

Mainly saltwater (97.5% saltwater and 2.5% fresh water) Fresh water broken into ice, groundwater and surface water

Global Hunger Index

Malnutrition Seen especially in Africa: Undernutrition (lack of protein, iron, vitamin A, etc.)... mortality rates, stunting, wasting Over nutrition: 12% of population globally (issue in US)

Non-point sources

More diffuse, episodic, and challenging to regulate City streets, rural homes, croplands, suburban development, animal feedlot... Example: Dog poop washes into water after rain

Rural to Urban Migration

More people are living in cities than ever before (population increased by a lot after the industrial revolution) - Predicted that by 2025 68% of populations in cities Urbanization - the process of making an area more urban

Food deserts

No car and no supermarket store with a mile

Environmental justice

No group (racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic) should bear a disproportionate share of negative environmental consequences from operations or policies Fair distribution of environmental benefits and burdens

2 main policies to regulate hazardous waste

RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) = how to avoid creating new ones CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act) = how to clean up existing hazardous waste sites

Green Revolution

Research, development, and technology transfer initiatives that increased agricultural productivity worldwide 1940s-1960s Creator: Norman Borlaug

Agroecology

Shifting from high energy use farming to learning from natural processes

The Power of Institutionalizing Change (minimizes amount of arguments) (additional solution)

Skidmore's : - purchasing policy - sustainable construction and renovation policy - campus building temp policy

What kind of water do urban environments use?

Surface waters (rivers, lakes, atmosphere, soil moisture) (0.4% of all fresh water)

Redlining

The discriminatory practice of denying services (typically financial) to residents of certain areas based on their race or ethnicity... started in the 1930s Disparities in urban heat persist

Power of Local Economies (deep economy) (additional solution)

The economic system and range of economic activity in a local area that serves a local population Advantages: - reduce GHGs - Boost in local employment, services and taxes - Improved sense of community - Reinvest in community (positive feedback loop)

Monopolies (food production)

Top four companies control a lot (especially beef industry)

Subsidies (food production)

Total subsidies in US = $26 billion in agriculture Subsidies from taxes distributed to industries (to develop markets or keep markets running) A lot of farmers are using corn bc a lot of subsidies go to corn

Hazardous waste

Toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic - liquid or solid

Food security in Cuba (challenges)

Tropical climate: - hurricanes, tropical storms, droughts Land problems: - tropical soil = low organic content, low fertility - island = erosion, salinity Under Soviet Union communist regime Highly industrialized agriculture: - export: sugar and rum (monocropping)... essentially a sugar plantation for Russia - import: food, oil machinery, petrochemicals, hybrid seeds, agrochemicals, etc. subsidized by USSR

Water pollutants and their sources (part 2)

Type....

Water pollutants and their sources (part 1)

Type: Infectious agents/ Cause diseases Example: Bacteria, viruses... Major source: human and animal waste - Wash country fair: ppl got sick and some ppl died. manure seeped into ground water which went into peoples drinks Type: Oxygen-demanding wastes/ Deplete dissolved oxygen Example: Biodigradable animal wastes and plant debris Major source: Sewage, animal feedlots, paper mills, food facilities - Grass in water Type: Plant nutrients/Excessive growth of algae Example: Nitrogen, phosphorus Major source: Sewage, fertilizers, animal wastes

Lecture 19: Solutions Toolkit

Types of Solutions: - Regulations (national and international) - good policy based on good science - Behavioral change -individual action - Market-based solutions - carbon market - Subsidies and true reflective pricing - internalizing the externalities - Innovative solutions - debt-for-nature swaps, charismatic megafauna, etc. - Helpful analyses - GAP analyses, Life Cycle Analysis, etc. The class also mentioned: - Education - Sustainable products - Community Action - Subsidies/tax-cuts

Clean Water Act (1972)

US federal law that regulates the discharge of pollutants into the nation's surface waters (lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands, coastal areas) Wetlands are important bc of their ecosystem services: regulate temperatures, stop costal erosion, sponges of planet, purify water, sources of biodiversity Surface water and ground water intimately linked Supreme court decided that the EPA does not have control over "adjacent" wetlands... damaging to wetlands

Hydrologic cycle concerns

Water quantity (droughts, flooding) and water quality

Climate Mitigation Gap Article

What was the focus of this article, and why is it important? the importance of individual actions/behavioral changes in reducing CO2 emissions While larger corps have larger impacts, they are slow Behavioral actions can be made very fast Education should teach what is actually impactful What are the key findings? What actually helps: one kid, car-free, avoid airplane travel and plant-based diet What people are told to do are often are not most impactful: recycling, evs, better lightbulbs, turn lights off Why dont line up? Because too big of an ask. Small changes get ppl into mindsets also helpful: voting, donating money to hard-hitting organizations Do you think smaller individual actions matter? Smaller actions can impact how people vote Collectively makes a difference Cultivate a mindset

Food security

When all people, at all times, have: - physical, social and economic access to - sufficient, safe and nutritious food

Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs)

When rainwater runoff exceeds the capacity of the combined sewer system, untreated stormwater and wastewater flows into nearby waterbodies Essentially raw sewage entering waterways

Water scarcity

Withdrawing water at a faster rate than can be replenished

Perceived obsolescence

You think you need to upgrade because something is newer or cooler (ex: fast fashion)

Lecture 16: growth rate

births+imigration - deaths+emigration still rapid growth rate

Bottled water

fast-growing market more expensive requires more water to produce more energy to produce and transport refrigerate oil to make bottles

Lecture 20: Hybrid Vehicles

hybrid because has gas engine and an electric motor -regenerative brakes are a key component

Problems with green revolution

in feedback loop: way of producing food now affects our ability to produce food in the future - bought poverty and destruction - beneficiaries: agrochemical industry, large petrochemical companies, manufacturers of agricultural machinery, dam builders and large landowners - countries that adopted GR still have hunger severity - water use (water withdrawals increasing) - global water consumption: 80% agriculture - areas that are withdrawing lots of water for agriculture have more water scarcity - loss of biodiversity -biodiversity is important for maintaining ecosystem services, increasing resilience - soil degradation - high yield crops suck up nutrients - climate change - as temps increase, crop yields decrease (feedback loop)

Municipal Solid Waste chart

majority of stuff we can reuse/repurpose/recycle (food can be composted and paper, metal, and plastic can be recycled)

Progress in reducing worldwide hunger

making progress until COVID - impacted food security

Prescription nature in urban spaces

more green spaces = greater physical wellbeing (recreation, cooling, air quality, faster recovery, etc.), greater mental wellbeing, crime rates

Goals were adopted by all UN Member States in 2015 with a target of 2030

no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality.... climate action #13

Lessons learned from Majora Carter's talk

previous prisoners worked for honey business andy: plant trees to reduce heat (makes financial sense bc reduces AC and increases employment opportunities) judy: wind farms for profit can be helpful.... and other lessons (probably should watch)

Push/pull factors for migrating from rural to urban areas

push - reasons to leave rural areas pull- reasons to go to urban areas - job opportunities and variety of jobs - social systems (medicare, etc) - services (health care facilities) - access to education - family - different demographics - great diversity - cultural events and opportunities - inclusivity - Internet - clean water - public services, public transportation - political environment - infrastructure - access to globalization - sanitation (% with flush toilets) - electricity

Causes of declining death rates

sanitation, medicine, food

What makes people food insecure?

socioeconomic status (can't access or afford food) location (food deserts, drought conditions (not able to produce food)) contamination of food

Urban sprawl (suburbs) and their problems

spread of low-density development outward from an urban center problems: - car dependency - habitat fragmentation - air quality - water quantity and quality - energy consumption https://www.cleanwateractioncouncil.org/issues/resource-issues/land-use-and-urban-sprawl/

Cubas solution

went organic - from ferilizers, pesticides, machinery to composting and earthworms ipm (integrated pest mgmt), integration of oxen and grazing animals Went local - raised-bed containers on paved/infertile lots - intense urban agriculture - rationing of imported food - sugar land converted to food production and reforestation - job creation in agriculture

Causes of declining birth rates

women education, family planning, economic development, child survival