Edgar Martinez

Reading about the differences between all the dates was very informative. I will not lie I often got very confused between all the different types of dates and because I have eaten a few meals that were spoiled when I was younger I had tended to throw away food once it reached the "best if used by date". However, reading about the differences and the impact on the environment really changed my mind about it. I was interested to learn that the production of food was responsible for 8% of the total emissions and with 30% of the entire food supply going to waste it made 8% figure even more impactful. I realized that I need to change the way I look at the "best if used by date" and only take it as a suggestion. There is no need to throw away perfectly good bread just because it was one day past the "best if used by date". Another thing I realized while reading about food longevity was the amount of extra food I had to throw away because it went eaten and spoiled. I realized that I often bought too much food at once and needed to spread out my purchases throughout the month. The perfect solution for me to do is then buy less food during the weeks I would go shopping and add an extra mid-week shopping run to get the necessary food to get through the month. I could add this to my workout routine and instead of driving, I could take a brisk walk or even a short run to the grocery store. Another thing I could do is maybe improve the way in which I store my food. I would sometimes open up a package of ham and just throughout the month eat it or cook it. I realized that it would be much better if I planned out my meals and plan to eat or cook food when I open up the package instead of waiting so long after the package is opened. This way the food I have will last longer and have a better quality taste. 

Learning about offsets and their economic model was very interesting! Before visiting the Tradewater website I did not have a clue that R-12 refrigerants had such an impact on climate change. The podcast made me understand right away when they addressed old refrigerants with the potential to rust and leak as climate change ticking time bombs. I found the problem of disposing of these old refrigerants very unique and seemingly requiring a unique solution. That is where carbon offsets fit in. Since the problem of hunting down refrigerants do not directly provide any economic impact Tradewater created this unique model of paying a certain amount for your personal carbon impact. The money paid would be used to fund these unique projects like finding R-12 refrigerants and disposing of them. Tradewater lets you calculate your specific carbon impact and charges you an amount for an offset that reduces your carbon impact. This model is perfect as it gives companies and individuals the opportunity to contribute to solving the climate crisis while also accepting personal responsibility. It would be perfect for small and large companies to calculate their impact and purchase their carbon offsets to show their commitment to improving the environment. This would maybe be more favorable to businesses if their carbon impact when negative provides some sort of economic benefits like tax credits and savings. 

I am personally a huge fan of this model as it gives the opportunity to fund unique projects while also allowing people to contribute to solving the climate crisis. I do see myself using this service in the future as I as it as a way of holding myself accountable and reducing my carbon footprint by hurting my wallet every time I decide to hurt the environment. I would personally love to use this service and buy carbon offsets anytime I decide to take a flight and or have long commutes. Another thing to note, however, is that even though this is a great service it could still keep economically disadvantaged people from participating. It would be hard for them if they simply cannot afford to buy a carbon offset when they could barely afford to pay for food. Hopefully, with widespread adoption in the near future, there will be other services that would help fund or provide climate change impact without costing money. 

Before researching the many different ways to build sustainable buildings I would not have believed that it is feasible. After learning about different argo waste materials such as hempcrete, strawbale, and rice straw I completely changed my mind. I was extremely impressed by the effectiveness and cost efficiency of the argo waste materials. The most impressive being the development of hempcrete. While learning about sustainable building I also learned about the true amount of CO2 emissions caused by the productions of concrete. It was shocking to learn that 6-10% of global anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions come from the production of concrete. This number was extremely alarming and made me realize how truly dependent we are on materials that further impact climate change. Hempcrete seemed to provide the perfect solution to our overdependence. This wonderful material is a better substitute for concrete as it has the same necessary characteristics needed to provide support to buildings while also providing benefits such as sequestering carbon, deterring insects, resistance to mold, transmits humidity, and is recyclable. This material provides the total environmental benefit of reducing carbon by sequestering carbon and reducing CO2 emissions by reducing the demand for concrete. Hempcrete made primarily of a mixture of hemp hurds and lime is also significantly cheaper to produce than concrete reducing the total cost of building materials and increasing the profitability of developers. 

While I am extremely optimistic about the material used in production moving forward I am still curious about the investment of it in the United States. From reading online hempcrete is only being produced in a few facilities across a few states compared to large production in other countries. This is because hemp is only legal in a few states in the U.S. and it could only be researched and developed in that area restricting its total impact. With this being the case it is hard to see the mainstream adoption of hempcrete unless new laws are passed. The good news is the hempcrete and its benefits could still be used to persuade state governments to pass laws to allow the use and development. With the future of hemp policy being uncertain we have to just wait it see if these laws change. 

I was truly amazed learning about what biochar is and its benefits to the environment. The material is a great negative sink with the ability to store and sequester carbon but it also provides many benefits in the agriculture and clean-energy space. Biochar is rich in carbon and when mixed with degrading soil it can improve the soil quality. Biochar does this by improving soil water retention, decreasing acidity, reducing nitrous oxide emissions and so much more. The improvement in soil using biochar has the effects of improving yields for farmers, reducing farmer biomass waste, and creating higher profitability for farmers. In addition, to the benefits of agriculture the process of creating biochar also allows for the creation of clean energy. This is possible because when the biochar is being burned it releases a large amount of greenhouse gases. These greenhouse gasses are then captured and created into different liquid fuels like bio-oil and synthetic gas. These fuels are then sold to other parties or are used in the production facilities making them self-sustainable. This introduction of clean energy from biochar creates carbon-neutral energy and improves the profitability of biochar facilities. With the production of biochar, these facilities now have two products they can produce and sell or use themselves in an all-purpose farm.

Biochar production and use is a wonderful strategy to mitigate carbon pollution in our society. It is a great carbon sink as its production is carbon negative and just from learning about it, it is clear to me that biochar will have mainstream adoption in the near future. As we move closer to an uninhabitable earth proven strategies like biochar production must be fully adopted in all farms where possible. The increased pressure and the numerous environmental and economical benefits with little to no negatives will make this production highly sought after. There simply will be no reason why a farm with the capabilities to produce and adopt biochar not use in their operations. Learning about biochar allows me to remain hopeful in the capabilities of humans to reduce and survive the climate crisis as biochar production and use can provide material changes in the agriculture is run and provide material effects on carbon pollution.