The True Cost of Driving

Today, I took an online survey called The True Cost of Driving. When people think of cars and driving, they usually only think of the direct costs of driving. These directs costs include factors like insurance, maintenance, and fuel. yet, they tend to forget indirect costs. For example, indirect costs include factors like accidents, construction, and air pollution damage. To complete the survey I had to determine my annual vehicle mileage. I determined that I drive about 2500 miles a year and the survey calculated that the my annual cost of driving per year is about $3,375. Many American societies have become extremely dependent on automobiles as a form of transportation. I am guessing that my annual automobile mileage is pretty low compared to the millions of Americans that commute to work everyday. Decreasing automobile dependence and increasing public transportation will be a challenge in the coming years. Access to alternative forms of transportation and public transportation is becoming a dominating factor of city planners.

Ecological Literacy

In the following few sentences I have defined what it means to be ecological literate. This term came up in my English class the other day and I thought it was pretty interesting. In the next few decades, becoming ecological literate is going to be a very serious and important issue for human societies. “Being ecologically literate, or "ecoliterate," means understanding the principles of organization of ecological communities (ecosystems) and using those principles for creating sustainable human communities” (Thinking Ecologically). In order to obtain ecological literacy, one must first understand their environment and its daily processes. This knowledge must be used in order to live sustainably and cause minimal damage to the environment. It is also important for an ecologically literate person to inform others and encourage them to minimize their ecological footprint.

As I was reading Time magazine, I came across an advertisement for Liberty Mutual. The advertisement was promoting their automobile insurance. According to the advertisement, “If you total your new car we’ll replace it with the same model.” The materialistic society of America is reflected in this advertisement. It encourages people to buy new cars and puts the idea into their heads that anything is replaceable in American society. It also supports a type of lifestyle in which Americans can have whatever they want when they need it, without inconvenience. The type of mentality encouraged by the advertisement has a negative connection with the environment. The advertisement encourages people to buy things new rather than used. This is one reason why The U.S. has such a large problem with the amount of waste it produces. People buy whatever they want whenever they want to. Then they throw away their older version of the same product.

My First Test

I tend to forget that this blog is about my experiences in my environmental class, here at UNC. So, I had my first test in this class last week. Since I’m still a freshman in my first semester, tests still freak me out. Luckily, the midterm for this class didn’t seem too bad. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the chemistry test I took on Tuesday. I also liked the format of the midterm because it had three essay questions. It’s easier to write about the things you do know about rather than taking a multiple choice test and having to guess on the questions. This class is all about grasping certain concepts rather than specific facts. Students are more likely to remember what they learned in a class if they understand the broad concepts. For example, I will probably forget what a valence electron is once I finish with my chemistry class but I am confident that I won’t forget the impacts of Suburbia on our environment.