A. Solution 1: Like everyone you need to eat but what you eat can impact the climate. A big emitter that you may not have known of is beef. Beef comes from cows and they emit methane. Methane is especially bad because is 26 times more potent than CO2 and 36% of all emissions from Canada are through livestock feeding and management systems (AAFC, 2019). This process occurs when cows belch or fart. Even though it sounds ridiculous, this is a major problem and one that can be changed by your diet. A Sirloin steak can potentially emit more (CO2 equivalent) than 6 times that of chicken, and Vegetables can emit less then 23 times that of a sirloin ( University of California, 2017). When people think that everyone must convert to become a vegan they are employing an all or nothing mentality when in fact, vegetarian or even a Mediterranean diet can make sizeable impact. I for one, no longer eat beef except on rare occasions and eat meat as little as possible.
Solution 2: If you order a Subway sandwich, you get 2 paper wraps and finally a third plastic one. There are plastic and single use alternatives for everything from forks to spoons to bags and straws. You may not think much of it but in Canada 15 billion bags are used every year (the verge, 2019). With that brings horrible connotations and system of using objects one time is starting to become impossible. In 2017 China stopped, which it had been previously doing which is taking our garbage and because of that and how much we produce, we only recycle a fraction of what we produce (CBC, 2018). We now see governments such as our own trying to reduce our waste but as shoppers we need to take this into our own hands. It is as simple as bringing a reusable bag which already costs 5 cents or bringing a reusable water bottle to work or school. It is a big problem which needs many solution, but these things are the easiest to do, so it is a stepping stone to a better future.
Solution 3: Something that we take for granted is food. Per capita, the average Canadian wastes 396 kilograms of food every year which means in Canada we are emitting 21 million carbon tonnes annually (Commission for environmental Cooperation, 2017). This is leading to a problem which is, in my opinion excessively needless. When so many people around the world are dying from malnutrition, we are wasting so much while not addressing this problem. An effective and simple is to compost. In Port Coquitlam we have a municipal system which eliminates any reason why not to. A large reason why this is so effective is that it recycles all of the waste and can be reduced relatively efficiently and cheaply. Even though the best solution is to not buy what you are not going to eat, composting is an easy method of reducing the carbon impact it has on the environment.
Bibliography:
Solution 1:
- “Reducing Methane Emissions from Livestock.” Reducing Methane Emissions from Livestock – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), 30 Jan. 2019, agr.gc.ca/eng/news/scientific-achievements-in-agriculture/reducing-methane-emissions-from-livestock/?id=1548267761377
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- “Climate Lab.” University of California, 31 May 2018, universityofcalifornia.edu/climate-lab.
Solution 2:
- Griggs, Mary Beth. “Canada Plans to Ban Single-Use Plastics by 2021.” The Verge, The Verge, 10 June 2019, theverge.com/2019/6/10/18659644/canada-ban-single-use-plastics-bags-straws-2021.
- “Why Your Recycling May Not Actually Get Recycled | CBC Radio.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 2 May 2019, cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/the-sunday-edition-for-april-21-2019-1.5099057/why-your-recycling-may-not-actually-get-recycled-1.5099103.
Solution 3:
- Characterization and Management of Food Loss and Waste in North America. CEC. http://www3.cec.org/islandora/en/item/11772-characterization-and-management-food-loss-and-waste-in-north-america-en.pdf
B.
1. What is a demographic that I am included in?
What are some ways food affects climate change?
Which foods are the worst for the envronment to consume?
How do supermarkets add or reduce to our carbon emissions?
How much of our recycling gets recycled?
2. For the first time Iused the website “easy bib” to cite my work. I used YouTube to watch relèvent video topics which I cited in my project. I used Google to search for my big questions.
3. I found relevant information to my questions and used that information while not plagiarizing. I then cited my sources and at the end, created a bibliography.
4. I tried to stick to well established media sites such as CBC, checked for research papers such as those from the University of California and tried to verify their sources.
5. I feel that I have well identified 3 possible solutions to solving the problem but I feel I could have gone more in depth into each subject.
Thanks for your post on how we can change the culture around food to mitigate our effects on climate change. Always consider how you can set the stage with your first paragraph. I need to see your essential question right off the bat. I like your ideas of composting and not buying food you won’t eat, but once the food is bought, how can we get people maximize its use?