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Saving Our Oceans by Switching Our Eating

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  Paul Greenberg gave an eye-opening TED Talk titled “The four fish we’re overeating - and what to eat instead.” Greenberg talks on the damage which overfishing has done to certain fish populations and consequently the ocean environment as a whole. First, he shares how in order to catch a pound of shrimp, which is a seafood commonly eaten in America and most of the West, up to 15 pounds of wild fish are killed. This wild fish bycatch is taken out of the ocean ecosystem and then turned into food for shrimp, which Greenberg describes as, “an ecosystem literally eating itself and spitting out shrimp.”  In addition, catching and selling shrimp is extremely fuel inefficient and carbon-intensive which further makes it environmentally unsustainable. The farming of shrimp also comes along with the destruction of wild habitats in mangrove forests, impacting even more of the natural world.      Shrimp and their extensive bycatch. Furthermore, tuna has sustainability issues. Tuna is a global fis
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If We Are Going to Save This Planet, Then We Must Listen to the Yurok Tribe

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I listened to an inspiring podcast earlier titled “How to Save a Planet” , and the specific episode I was able to enjoy was titled The Tribe that’s moving earth (and water) to solve the climate crisis . The overall theme of this podcast is to observe and share sustainable practices in order to save the earth from the threats which are posed on it such as climate change. In this episode, a member of the Yurok Tribe was interviewed about the impressive and sustainable practices utilized by this tribe in order to fight climate change. The member who was interviewed was Frankie Meyers who is the Vice-Chairman of the Yurok Tribe. In the beginning of the podcast, it was expressed that the Yurok Tribe originally controlled half a million acres of land, but unfortunately by 1986, they only controlled just under 5,000 acres. This injustice experienced by the tribe is startling, but in order to gain some land back, the Yurok Tribe took out a loan and purchased two watersheds. A watershed is the
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Let's Create Sustainability Through Soil Carbon Storage!

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Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a greenhouse gas which impacts the earth through enforcing climate change, and agriculture may be able to decrease this environmental impact. The “4 per 1000” is an initiative first proposed on December 1st, 2015 which is working to encourage stakeholders of the public and private sectors to make changes towards sustainable agriculture. Each of these stakeholders are prompted to do what they can in terms of implementing practices which will increase soil carbon storage, whether this be through agroecology, landscape management, or any other sector. This new sustainable agriculture which will emerge out of these combined practices will be resilient due to the correct management of soil and land which will subsequently create sustainable jobs.  Now, it is important to understand the relationship between carbon in the air and in the soil and how this relates to “4 per 1000” initiative. Specifically, the higher the amount of carbon which is trapped in the soil, the
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The Peace of the Waterfront Park

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Connecting and interacting with nature is something that I have always pursued, but as I have come to know and love the Charleston area, I find that I currently find the most enriching interaction with nature at the Joe Riley Waterfront Park. The day before move-in during the fall semester, my family and I walked down there to get the first look at the ocean since being in Charleston, and being from Ohio, it was so inviting and newly beautiful that I knew without a doubt I was in the right place. Ever since then, I try to walk to the Waterfront Park at least once a week, and this interaction has impacted me in numerous and wonderful ways. First, this interaction of walking with the goal of reach ing this beautiful space has been my favorite and sometimes only real exercise since being at the college. As an Honors student especially, I spend a good amount of my days doing school work in my dorm room, sometimes only leaving to get food at the dining hall, which can be physically and ment
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Is a Misinformed Democracy Dangerous? 2020 Seems to Think So

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Neil deGrasse Tyson made some startling and important points in the video Science in America . He spoke on the dangers of widespread denial in scientific reality, especially when this denial is started and spread by people in power. Specifically, he said, “when science deniers rise to power it is a recipe for the end of an informed democracy.” This statement is important because voters and everyday citizens turn to people in power for answers and information, and even if this information is false or misleading, many voters will take it as fact, consequently leading to a terribly misinformed democracy. This is further troubling because if the people in power do not believe in science, then the science related problems which need to be discussed will be pushed aside by these powerful deniers. This will keep possible solutions from being listed on voter ballots, which will continue to keep the citizens of this democracy misinformed and will delay the progress necessary to fix these envir
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