Let There be Light

As promised, here is the Monday "Environmental Reform" tip. Enjoy!

This is probably gonna sound like a commercial for Energy Star light bulbs, but then, it kind of is. The fact of the matter is, the do save energy. Some sources say that they even save up to 75% more energy than the standard brand. They do this, in part, because they don't release as much heat.

Come on, that's pretty sweet.

In fact, think of how much energy we'd all save if everyone replaced one of their light bulbs with an Energy Star.

However, in case you don't believe me/want something cool to play with/are procrastinating from doing your own homework/work/taxes or something, go to then link on the side of the page entitled "The Get Green Savings Calculator".

Check it out! It kinda rocks!

And have a wonderful day!

Remember, comment on this blog and answer the Environmental Question!

Dedicated to my Roommate

Brenna, my roommate, has already answered the Environmental Question of the week. I should add that she cheated, as I had told her that very fact earlier last week. I am however, very proud that she remembered

Therefore, here is the NEW environmental question...

Environmental Question: What is one natural source of CH4, (methane), and why is it of particular interest to dairy farmers?

Fun Facts with Bess

Hello dear readers. Yesterday, at the creation of this blog, I introduced myself. Now I will introduce the blog. As you could probably tell from the title (and the color scheme) this is to be an environmentalist blog. As a result, I have decided to do several things

1) Have a post every Sunday that talks about an environmental event, historic or current.

2) End every post with a trivia question (Those who answer in my comments will get a shout out and a pony through the mail in about six to eight weeks)

3) Have a greening tip on Mondays (start your week with a little environmental reform! Stay tuned for Energy Star Light bulbs this Monday!)

So, without further delay, here is my first environmental event.

Easter Island

A very long time ago, a whole bunch of Polynesian sea travelers decided to get in a bunch of tiny canoes and row to the middle of the ocean. This went pretty well for a while, and at about the point when land was starting to look like a pretty cool idea, they spotted an island and decided that they were going to live there even if it happened to be populated by cannibalistic giants. This island happened to be Easter Island. Well, they landed on Easter Island some many thousand years ago, bringing with them a few plants from their homeland. It turned out, however, that Easter Island happened to be semi arid, hot, and possessed of very poor soils. I guess, however, that a near desert looked better than more time at sea, so there on Easter Island they built their humble shelters and attempted to cultivate their humble plants. This first attempt bore fruit, but the latter, in every sense of the word, did not. In fact the only thing they managed to grow were yams, which, although delicious, grow tedious after time. They ate this nutritionally adequate but intensely repetitive food, not for a week, or a month, or a year, but about a thousand.

And somehow they managed to flourish. In fact they were so proud of their prominent success in flourishing that they decided to erect a couple of statues made of stone. To do so they chopped down a great many trees and then quarried a whole lot of rock and when they were finished they had a very handsome fellow who stood quite tall and would make Easter Island famous long after more unfortunate events occurred. Well, it looked so darn cool that they figured they'd build another one. And after that, well, you needed three to complete the set. In short, they began to run out of trees.

From then on out Easter Island began to literally wash away into the sea. It turned out that the trees had been performing a thankless task for thousands of years. They had been keeping the soil from eroding so that the people of Easter Island could grow yams. When they disappeared the soil went with them and the yams could not longer be grown. You might think this would be a relief, I’m sure after a thousand years no one on that island ever wanted to see a yam again, much less eat one. However, after the passing of the yam, there was nothing let to eat but chickens. These chickens suddenly became very important, and, consequently, very scarce. People began to build chicken houses to protect their chickens, and in a final desperate attempt to placate their gods, built still more statues with the remaining trees.

Many years went by and white traders appeared on the island.

They found nothing there but the huge statues and a handful of natives who were living in caves and resorting to cannibalism to keep alive. When questioned as to how the giant statues were erected it was discovered that the natives no longer recalled the methods their ancestors used. They replied simply that the statues had walked there. As there were no trees left on Easter Island the scientists scratched their heads, decided it was a miracle and took pictures of the statues and put them on postcards. Then they all sat down together, invented archeology, and figured out what actually happened and published a book, which I read.

Well, that's the environmental story of the day. Now here's the question (that has nothing to do with the post, but, whatever)

Environmental Question: What is the difference between extinction and extirpation?

post answers!!!!!!
And have an awesome week!

You Say You Want a Revolution...

Hi Everyone!

This is my first ever blog, created largely because a) I felt I should have one and b) My school told me that it would be cool if everyone had blogs so that prospective freshman could read about what it is like to attend WaC.

Here is what I have to say.
WAC ROCKS!!!!!!

Especially if your an Environmental Studies major. We have awesome profs. stellar field trips and sometimes our labs get canceled because it rains. Just kidding (about it being a good thing, not about them getting canceled. That really happens).

To give you a low down on myself. I am a junior, I am an environmental studies major, and a creative writing minor (keep your eyes peeled for a possible declaration of an anthro minor in the near future). Love to read, knit, hang with friends, attend protests, drink chai, listen to Joni MItchell and Bob Dylan, do Yoga, and recycle. I hope to make this blog interesting (and informative since this is sort of an environmental blog thing, I don't know. We'll see, it'll be funny though I promise.)

So, stay tuned. The Revolution has begun!!!!!!