Your thoughts about the vanishing of bees
(what else have you heard/seen about this issue?)
- A few years ago I had heard about the vanishing of millions of
bees, but either I don’t remember learning about how it was related to
pesticides. I thought it was so interesting that the closer the bee
colonies got to large crops (corn, potatoes, etc.,), the worse off the
bees would be. I also really liked how they got the perspectives of the
beekeepers who had lost their entire livelihood, but that they pointed
out how bees are an indicator of environmental quality- if they are dying
off by the thousands, something must be wrong.
Dirt!: The Movie
- I am not the first person you’d think of when you imagine someone
who loves to be outdoors and immersed in nature, but I do appreciate the
value of good soil. We could not be here without the land, and we must
take care of it because we are very much a part of it. If it is not
healthy, we are not healthy! I like how they pointed out how we’re
destroying our healthy dirt in pursuit of raw materials we deem more
valuable (e.g., coal, oil, cheap electricity), which we’ve been talking
about a lot in class.
Were you able to discover if there is a
factory farm near you? Were you already aware of farms near you? What do you
think about this?
- I found out that the factory farms near me have an extremely high
density level, and I was really disappointed to hear that. We have a
livestock and poultry companies in the town where I live, so I’m not
surprised to see the high numbers, but it makes me sad to know we’re not
taking care of the animals in our wide open spaces. In 2012, there were
16,371 dairy animals in these farms (780 average per site), up from
15,947 (839 average) in 2007.
Composting: Do you currently compost? Have
you composted in the past? Do you know anyone who composts? Would you consider
composting, after learning about its benefits from the movie?
- Unfortunately we do not currently compost because it costs way too
much extra per month to have a green bin as part of our trash contract.
We used to have a small compost container at our old house with a big
green compost trash bin, but since we moved we have been unable to do
that. I would absolutely love to compost again because I know how good it
is for the environment and I know my mom would too.
It really is saddening that it costs so much to contribute to the environment via composting! Is it because the waste management people would have to take an extra step and give the compost away to farmers? How would it get disseminated? I'll bet there's a lot to the composting process for those who pick it up, but I'm wondering why it's not affordable.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Deirdre, it's so sad and frustrating. Seems like a bad and perpetuating cycle that's hard to get out of. This module's content reminded me how much everything is connected in our ecological system. I also appreciate the point about how we are destroying our soil to get raw materials which is destroying the planet.
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