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.

Urban Sprawl: Back Again...

According to my professor of Environment and Society, the average number of children per American household is decreasing. Yet, as the Americans continue to sprawl out of the suburbs, their houses are continuing to getting larger. This concept continues to baffle me. It doesn’t make sense for houses to get bigger while families are having fewer children. It’s a waste of money and resources. Houses are using more and more energy as their size increases and the number of people living in the house decreases. Once again, this situation is an effect of urban sprawl.

The Costs of Urban Sprawl

The following characteristics are only a few of the negative characteristics of America society, high foreign oil dependency, high fuel consumption, congested traffic, strip malls, automobile dependency, loss of country, increase of fast food chains, and an increase waste lines. All of these characteristics of American society can be linked to urban sprawl! Urban sprawl is the spreading of communities to the outskirts of cities. Suburbs are products of urban sprawl. Sprawl is often used with a negative connotation. It has an especially negative impact on the environment. People often don’t realize that sprawl has huge water consequences. Sprawl allows for home owners to have more land and bigger lawns. Neighborhoods waste a ridiculous amount of clean water on watering their lawns. Also, fertilizers that are used to fertilize the lawns can seep into the ground water supply. The grass used on lawns also decreases the biodiversity of the environment. Sprawl also greatly affects the air quality. People in suburbs have bigger houses and use more energy on their houses. Also, since they live farther away from their houses, they have longer commutes to their work. This results in a greater consumption of energy. The main question here is why does America continue to sprawl from the cities when all the negative consequences seem to outweigh the positive effects?

~ We have modified our environment so radically that we must now modify ourselves to exist in this new environment. ~

According to Norbert Weiner, “We have modified our environment so radically that we must now modify ourselves to exist in this new environment.” This quote is shockingly accurate. The coming century is going to be defined by our need to “modify ourselves to exist in this new environment.” Humans are finally beginning to see the impact that they have on the environment. Humans have treated the Earth as if its resources are limitless and at their disposal. After years of these kinds of attitude displayed towards the Earth, humans are beginning to realize that they have altered the course of the environment. As a result people are going to have to adjust to the changes that they have caused. The search for alternative sources of energy is an example of our need to modify ourselves to function in a changed environment. Also, the issues with food security and the availability of food for a growing world population will require new innovations to exist in this new environment. Finding sources of clean water is another modification that humans are facing and will be facing for numerous years to come. Sadly, humans have no one to blame but themselves regarding the necessary modifications to the environment in the coming years.