Discovering the Langkawi Declaration

This legislation is a declaration that was issued on October 21st 1989 by the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth Nations. Since our blog could be on anything that I wanted it to be, I decided that I should do it on something I had no prior information about. Since this event happened a year before I was born and it has a really awesome name I thought it would be a good topic for sustainability. Having 430 participants and over 27 countries from every continent this conference covered many topics, this legislation came about because there was an overall complaint about the mismanaging of natural resources. This melting of the minds was put together to discuss many topics like : the greenhouse effect, damage to the Ozone, acid rain, marine pollution, land degradation and species extinction. Since these issues transcend country borders, the key agreement was a pledge between developed countries not to connect future international development aid to commitment to environmental sustainability or introduce trade barriers.

Some of the commitments made were:

- supporting the international sustainable development funding mechanism

- support intergovernmental panel on climate change and recommend the Commonwealth's own report on climate change

- promote energy efficiency

- promote afforestation and sustainable forest management in developing countries

- restrict non-sustainable fisheries

- prevent dumping of toxic waster or other hazardous materials into the ocean

- promote public awareness of environmental risks and issues

Interesting Facts:

~ Since this was all new information to me, I was very surprised to find out that the conference began with Princess Tunku Puteri speaking for her country the State of Kedah. In 2006, she prevented an attack on her husband and was stabbed to death in the process. I find this interesting for many reasons: A) this event happened in 2006, I was only 16 years old but I remember this very clearly - she had come from a country I had never heard of and could not believe that it was her son that attacked her and B) as one of the 13 rulers in Malaysia she always tried to make an environmental difference and restore the Earth to a more natural state.

~Over the years the Langkawi Declaration has been altered in other Commonwealth meetings but in 1989 was the year that this concept was born.

~This event always takes place in Kadah, Malaysia and this year one of the focuses is public education of environmental action.

BEWARE: You Have Vampires In Your House

Now these vampires do not require garlic or wooden stakes, but they are just as dangerous as the blood suckers that are in movies, they drain money out of your wallet even when you are not looking. Who knew that if you left your electronics plugged in it adds hundreds of dollars to your bill every year. From your cell phone charger to your sound system everything in your house is basically stealing energy right out of your sockets and taking opportunities for fancy dinners and vacations with it. Costing consumers over 3 million dollars each year, vampire power or phantom power sends power to your electronics even if they are powered off. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that between 200-400 terrawatts of per year are victims of vampire power. This large drain of power causes energy to be wasted on a mass scale, causing coal and fuel to be burnt so your hair straightener can keep it's flow going even when not in use. yes, it is a drain on finances (which really sucks) but it has an even larger consequence of causing fuels to be consumed unnecessarily allowing even more natural resources to be used.

To combat this there have been some inventions to keep the flow of the current from escaping into your off appliances. For example:

-The Kill-A-Watt

This device can be used to find those inefficient appliances that are the worst power consumer. This little device can also calculate the electrical cost of the item plugged into it for a week, a month and finally up to a year. If you are in the market for one of these money savers Amazon.com sells them for $20.99.

There are other types of devices that can be purchased that help stop the energy from jumping ship, like hooking all of your electronic to a remote control off switch. This type of technology allows for your already off electronics to be completely off.

So next time you leave your house try to remember to unplug all of your outlets. This will keep you from being completely drained!

This Water Tastes Funny

So today in class we discussed elements not only in our everyday lives but also in industrial uses. During this discussion I could not help thinking about this youtube video I saw on one of my many stumbleupon study breaks. I have attempted to memorize this song many times, however it proves to be very difficult which makes me very sad.

The federal government regulates the amount of Zinc, Copper, Colbolt and Iron in our water. This struck me as odd that there were not more hazardous elements on this list like arsenic or lead. Now I may have many irrational fears, like getting shot in a drive by but I really feel like being slowly poisoned by my drinking water is not irrational. I may not be as well read into the subject as I should be (which will be remedied very soon) but I often wonder what else that is harmful that the government does not regulate or some thing even worse - what do they regulate knowing it is harmful? That leads me to my next academic adventure into the world of mining for natural gas.

Another Stumbleupon gem:

Barry was a chemist
But Barry is no more.
What Barry thought was H2O
Was H2SO4

So this is basically what my dad used to do. He designed the machines that not only created the bottles but also was in charge of calculating the amount of PETE used per bottle, figure out how the bottle would be shaped and find the most cost effective way of doing all of this.

What's your Pet Compounds' Name?

My assignment, should I choose to accept it, is to pick two "pet" compounds that were part of the timeline of the human race (or something fairly similar to that statement) that you would like to learn more about, also I believe we are supposed to talk about what makes these things so interesting.

My Compounds:

PETE
PETE stands for polyethylene terephthalate, a plastic resin and a form of polyester. Polyethylene terephthalate is a polymer that is formed by combining two monomers: modified ethylene glycol and purified terephthalic acid.
PETE is the type of plastic labeled with the #1 code on or near the bottom of bottles and containers and is commonly used to package soft drinks, water, juice, peanut butter, salad dressings and oil, cosmetics and household cleaners.
PETE is a popular package for food and non-food products. Manufacturers use PETE plastic to package products because of its strength, thermo-stability and transparency. Customers choose PETE because it is inexpensive, lightweight, resealable, shatter-resistant and recyclable.
Recycled polyethylene terephthalate (RPET) can be used to make many new products, including fiber for polyester carpet; fabric for T-shirts, long underwear, athletic shoes, luggage, upholstery andsweaters; fiberfill for sleeping bags and winter coats; industrial strapping, sheet and film; automotive parts, such as luggage racks, headliners, fuse boxes, bumpers, grilles and door panels; and new PETE containers for both food and non-food products.

This interests actually stems from my childhood. From the time I was born to about thirteen years of age, my dad worked for R & D Tooling and Engineering. A very large company based out of Lee's Summit, MO and they made all sorts of plastic bottles. On take your daughter to work day I was finally able to visit the non cubicle part of my dad's job. The machine floor was a large building with huge machines in it that not only smelled really weird but had these piles of small plastic bits being poured into it, I was also able to see a 2-liter bottle blown up into an actual bottle . The experience was one of the coolest things in my life.

http://www.rdleverage.com/public/rd_home.html


Kevlar
Kevlar is the registered trademark for a para-aramid synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed at DuPont in 1965, this high strength material was first commercially used in the early 1970s as a replacement for steel in racing tires. Typically it is spun into ropes or fabric sheets that can be used as such or as an ingredient in composite material components.
Currently, Kevlar has many applications, ranging from bicycle tires and racing sails to body armor because of its high tensile strength-to-weight ratio is 5 times stronger than steel on an equal weight basis. When used as a woven material, it is suitable for mooring lines and other underwater applications.
A similar fiber called Twaron with roughly the same chemical structure was developed by Akzo in the 1970s; commercial production started in 1986, and Twaron is now manufactured by Teijin.
Kevlar is synthesized in solution from the monomers 1,4-phenylene-diamine (para-phenylenediamine) and terephthaloyl chloride in a condensation reaction yielding hydrochloric acid as a byproduct. The result has liquid-crystalline behavior, and mechanical drawing orients the polymer chains in the fiber's direction. Hexamethylphosphoramide (HMPA) was the solvent initially used for the polymerization, but for safety reasons, DuPont replaced it by a solution of N-methyl-pyrrolidone and calcium chloride. As this process was patented by Akzo in the production of Twaron, a patent war ensued.

So Kevlar, I have chosen Kevlar because who doesn't want a bullet proof shirt ? I mean come on, that stuff is really cool. Another reason is because my uncle who has served in the military for many years has his own Kelvar vest that he received from some unknown source, but upon my examining of this vest I discovered it was a plastic polymer. I guess I really never considered what was inside these life saving devises but to find out that a material that can prevent a bullet from killing you is polymerized plastic is really cool! With the plastic actually looking more like silk woven threads the material is more strand like than the normal plastic I encounter in everyday life.

Presenting the Shalimar Yacht Basin!
(Top: You can see the dry storage, Docks A-D, the show room, and the gas dock. Below: That is the is view you get from the water as you pull up for a refreshing beverage or to partake in the yearly Poker Run)

Many of my summers have been spent at this Marina. This place is a focal point for the community and so much more. The SYB allows people from all over the United States as well as other countries to come together to celebrate a lost pastime. Boating. Having driven a boat almost six years before I drove my first car, the ocean holds a special place in my heart and the Shalimar Yacht Basin is the pulse that keeps me going.

As our very first blogging assignment, we were asked what federally funded program(s) could be reduced or even eliminated as well as a program(s) that should be enhanced or maintained.

When I first heard this question I was unprepared for thousands and thousands of programs that exist within our government. American Government did not prepare me for this particular google search. Scrolling down the list there were so many programs that seemed morally wrong to cut, i.e. Maternal and Child Health Care and Missing Child Assistance. I mean, who could possibly cut those and not have the wrath of Hades thrust upon them instantly. And the list just goes on and on making this decision almost impossible.

So now I have this incredibly hard task of putting a program on the chopping block. To add some fun into this overwhelming task, I decided to scroll quickly and blindly pick a program that I could potentially wain. These are my results. The potential programs I could cut are: Middle Easter Partnership Initiative, Refugee Assistance and State Children's insurance. It's not looking good. Each of these programs has a vital part of our economy, political ties and our future intertwined into it. Even when the programs like the Special Apple Program, which assists farmers who are suffering from a failing economy is deeply rooted into our way of life. As a city girl my first thought is to cut the farming programs. Out of sight out of mind. I would have no problem telling some potato farmer in Idaho that Uncle Sam is tightening his purse strings until all produce prices rise making it impossible to eat my good ole southern mashed potatoes without selling a kidney to go to Kroger. So after hours of contemplating and pestering my roommates, parents and friends about what solutions they had for these programs I came up with the Umbrella Initiative. This idea would take 1% from each program and will be set aside for the second part of my assignment.

Now with my little Federal Trust Fund set up, I can enhance the programs that firstly will improve our Earth as a whole and secondly will help clean up the mess America is making on the environment. From the very beginning I knew exactly what programs I would expand and for starters they would be the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Forest Service. All of these programs are near and dear to my heart and my family's livelihood as well. To prove that nepotism is in fact alive and kicking, the money given to the NOAA, should be applied to the Coastal Services Center facet of the organization not only in help inform Marina owners how to transition to a greener way of doing business as well as help them adjust financially with the damage done by the oil spill. To make the family connection, my grandfather owns and operates a Yacht Basin in Shalimar, FL. Ravaged not only by Hurricane Ivan, Ivan and Katrina this place has seen tough times, but none can compare to the BP oil spill. Infamous for it massive animal impact, this spill also has caused a large hit in not only the boating industry but also the tourism, fishing and housing industries as well. Having over $45,000 dollars worth of damage done in both boating but as well as physical damage the Shalimar Yacht Basin is merely a shadow of what it once was.

I know that as a college student who lacks any real life experience in the "big girl world" I can dream of these changes and negate all of the ramifications that may occur because of my ideas, however I am painfully aware of the crisis that the environment is facing currently and without changes in policy, priorities and education we are in for a hard road ahead.