From your digestive system back to your plate.

       You wouldn't think that people would actually use bio solids as fertilizer right?  It may be hard to believe, but it is true. Some farmers do use bio solids as fertilizer, and you may find it disgusting, not to mention insanitary and dangerous. What are bio solids you may ask? To put it short, bio solids are human waste that forms sludge through sewage. There is a big misconception regarding the bio solids. The government has thought up of a "safe" way of disposing this hazardous waste by placing it over farmer's fields. This is the alternative to dumping the waste onto landfills, oceans and through an incinerator. Also, the government created the word, bio solid. The real term for this is sewage sludge. 

   Sewage sludge carry what are called pathogens. Pathogens are bacteria that can cause diseases in humans, in other animals, and also in plants. The diseases caused by bacteria are diverse and include food poisoning, tooth ache, certain forms of cancer and the list goes on. Believe it or not, there have been incidents of people dying because of the pathogenic bacteria. Here's one story that occured on August 5, 2002.


           "An 11-year-old boy from Osceola Mills, Pa., died of staphylococcal septicaemia. The boy had complained of a sore throat, headaches and boils on one leg and one arm several days after riding his motorbike through sewer sludge applied to a nearby field. The boy did not respond to antibiotics and died six days after the bacteria first travelled into his bloodstream."


    Clearly, this is not something to be taken lightly. Though, there are certain pros that are found for using sewage sludge as fertilizer. Nutrients found in could be nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and trace elements such as calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, sulfur and zinc, which are necessary for crop production and growth. Also, Municipalities get rid of the never-ending stream of sewage sludge, and farmers gain fertilizer for free. This also opens up jobs for people to transport the sludge. 


       I may have exaggerated a little, and sewer sludge are indeed monitored and kept track of to be rid of pathogens and other harmful chemicals, but do the pros outweigh the cons? It may be a beneficial course of action rather than having to wait extended periods of time for crops to develop, and is a much better way of disposing of sewer sludge rather than filling landfills and our oceans with it. Not to mention much better than incinerating it. Although I don't exactly agree with this option, it is the only solution we currently have and what we will use until an alternative comes up.

Sources:

Fertilizer or Pollution?

Sewage Sludge

science direct pathogens

hazards of sewage sludge / August 5 2002 story

Sewage Sludge Pro and Con

Bio Solid Useful to Society

Comments :

Claudia Luk


Jordan Pedrajas

There is no such thing as luck. Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.

The development of technology over the years has been critical to our evolution and development as a race. We have been able to create forms of medical treatment that was unavailable for people hundreds of years ago. We have treatments for those who may be diagnosed with cancer. The evolution of medicine has been astonishing as we have antidotes for most illness that may occur.

         

     In 1972, a life changing invention along the lines of x-ray computed tomography (CT) was created. An invention that obtains the visual digital information of ones interior features and displays the imagine in a third dimension. CT has become an important tool in medical imaging to supplement X-rays and medical ultrasound. It has more recently been used for preventive medicine or when screening for diseases. Institutions have enabled the public to be able to come in and be scanned which could be as short as 5 seconds. 

CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA), is a test that is used to take visual image of one's pulmonary arteries. A scan will contrast the pulmonary vessels being filled. Any mass filling defects, will appear dark in place of the contrast, blocking the space where blood should be flowing into the lungs.

Canadians also had a breakthrough, with the name of insulin. Insulin is a hormone, and is also a protein. Insulin is created in our system via a group of cells in the pancreas called islet cells. Insulin is used to lower our blood sugar level, which if high, could mean the development of diabetes. Diabetes could possibly lead to nerve damage, kidney failure, Arteriosclerosis, and other cardiovascular diseases. Before finding ways to for insulin to be injected into the body, people would have had to starve themselves in order to keep the blood sugar levels low. The inventor for insulin is Frederick G. Banting, who won the Nobel Prize in the medical field in 1923.

Sources: 

Frederick G. Banting

Diabetes and Insulin

Blood and Glucose

X-Ray Computed Tomography

CTPA

Comments :

Claudia Luk

Dora

It's Not Whether They Can Talk or Not but, Whether or Not They Can Suffer.

                     Have you ever wondered where some of your food comes from? First off, i hope you know that when they say, "farm", they mean factory, and when they say "100% beef" it means all parts of the cow's body, just saying. There's a film, that i recommend everyone to watch, it's called "Food inc". An intriguing documentary exposing the food industry for what really happens which could lead you to look at food in a different way. The movie becomes very in-depth, particularly on the production of chicken.

WTF ?!

       Chickens are born and raised in a dark tunnel-ventilated house, where they are injected with antibodies which increases their growth rate expeditiously.  It becomes really unbearable, when you see chickens that are too overweight, and are only able to take two to three steps before collapsing. This form of "farming" is called industrial agriculture, a modern way of farming where machinery is heavily relied on, whereas human work isn't.

      A little known fact about some of these companies are, that they offer their customers similar treatment than they do their animals. A worker must sign a contract which acts as an ordeal with the devil. Farmers must purchase extremely expensive equipment, but must borrow money from the company, this is how the company holds them in a leash. Farmers are unable to leave the loop and must continuously pay for new equipment and must continue to borrow more and more money.

      There is of course, a more ethical course for farming, it's considered to be the "old fashioned way". Where farmers would work hard everyday in order to produce food that is not only earned through a hard days work, but is more healthy and more reliable than what you would find through industrial agriculture. This way of farming is called Sustainable agriculture. There are less companies that would take this route, because it is less profiting, and the food is much more expensive, but i would rather pay an extra few dollars, rather than distorting our environment and plaguing this world's animals.

         I value our health and environment enough to purchase products that come from hard earned farms, and if anyone else has a mutual feeling, then i suggest finding food brands that come from sustainable agricultural farms and make a difference.
   








Resources :
100% beef
Sustainable Agriculture
Industrial Agriculture
Food Inc Film
Unit 7 TPJ3M1

Comments:
Camela Fejer
Bridgette Abas

Knowledge is dangerous, Ignorance is bliss.

      “Designer babies” is a term chosen by the media to describe children that have altered genes for desired characteristics, both medical and cosmetic. How are we able to alter genes? I thought genes were determined by birth? Easy, humans have come up with a method called genetic engineering that allow for a manipulation of the genes. Believe it or not, but you have probably been already exposed to genetic engineering for a long time and may not have even known about it. There have been many experiments involving the animals and plants that we eat. Did you know that some cabbages are implemented with scorpion genes that produce poison? The poison of course was to kill off caterpillars and is harmless to humans, but they look and taste identical to cabbages that aren't altered. You may be thinking, how do I know which ones are genetically altered? The answer is, you don’t. They have taken off labeling of what plant or animal has been altered in order to avoid having them banned or avoided.

            
Now, how does genetic therapy on human genes work? Well, you have probably already heard about hereditary disorders such as, Alzheimer's, Cystic Fibrosis, Diabetes and how they affect our body in a way that often take away people's lives in one sense or another, right? If we are truly able to realize the potential of genetic engineering, we are able to replace the genes that cause hereditary disorders and make them a thing of the past. This may sound like the miracle antidote that people have been trying to find for decades so, why can't we go through with genetic engineering? Well, we are playing God after all; there will always be a negative occurrence. There could be horrible defects that we are not aware of until after the genes have been changed. It could instead lead to new disorders that people may face and could potentially be even more life threatening. 

            Greenpeace argues that genetic engineering enables scientists to create plants, animals and micro-organisms by manipulating genes in a way that does not occur naturally. This can lead to natural organisms breeding with manipulated ones, which would affect future generations in a negative way and would be unforeseeable and uncontrollable. They suggest that, they begin labeling genetically engineered ingredients, segregate them from conventional crops, and to gain further knowledge about the subject before going through with dramatic changes.  “Life is not an industrial commodity. When we force life forms and our world's food supply to conform to human economic models rather than their natural ones, we do so at our own peril.” (Green Peace)

      In my personal opinion, I believe that genetic engineering is an amazing way to help those that have hereditary diseases be cured of their ailment as it not only affects their lives, but the people around them, namely their family and friends. I agree with Green Peace in a sense that, they must first gain further knowledge on the subject before they begin to genetically engineer everything as they see fit. Although, I think it would be cool to be able to choose whether or not you would want a girl or a boy, with what colored hair or eyes, there is a line we are crossing that differentiates us from helping the sick and the ill, with playing God. We have the choice of making the correct decisions, or abusing our power. Mary Shelley best describes this in Frankenstein; when the being was made, it was benevolent and without sin, the true monster was the one who created it.

 Sources:

Designer Babies- Indepth.

Genetic Engineering- Indepth.

GE food; No label.

Genetic Engineering, Pros and Cons.

Wiki answers. What are ethical issues of genetic engineering?

Green Peace on Genetic Engineering.

Pros on Genetic Engineering.

Cons on Genetic Engineering.

Comments:
Puji Wibowo
Bridgette Abas

Two steps back, and one step forward.

Two steps back, and one step forward.

             There are many organizations out there that are trying to help fix mistakes that man made but there is a particular organization that i found that has a plan that is very realistic and could affect the world in the near future. The organization is called The Glaciares Peru. The Glaciares Peru is an organization that's goal is to save the tropical glaciers, which are at risk. This project is to build a production facility that will create a paint able white cover material that can be applied to exposed rocks surrounding the glaciers in order to increase glacier reflectance, the glacier melting will slow and the earth will absorb less heat. The approximate price of the project is nearly $200 000, which is a sensible price to help and save the world.

Is it not normal for glaciers melt? Of course it is, when the temperature rises, the upper layer of the glacier begin to melt, the melting glacier will then be replaced by more snow and the cycle continues. It is this process that supplies fresh drinking water for agriculture to many places around the world. Recently, this process is not happening and the cycle is disrupted almost everywhere in the world. Global warming has increased average temperatures worldwide; making more glacier ice melt more than what the snow can cover. Imagine you have a lot of money saved in your bank, and you deposit and withdraw the same amount of money every week. Now imagine you start spending more money every week. What you spend does not cover what you deposit, and eventually you will lose all your savings. That's exactly what's happening to the glaciers.

Not only do the glaciers supply us with fresh water, but if they were to melt, the world would face many catastrophes. In recent years, sea levels have increased dramatically because of global warming, if the glaciers are to continue to melt, it would only mean that entire communities that reside near the shore are threatened by floods, fresh water will not be available, and their farmlands and crops would be destroyed. Living in such areas would not be humanly possible. DDT, a pesticide that is a harmful chemical, became airborne and settled into cooler climates, and are now embedded and trapped in layers of glaciers. If the glaciers are to continue to melt the way they are now, the DDT chemicals would flow into the oceans, rivers and lakes, and would threaten many of the wild life. The biggest fear that arises from the melting of the glaciers is the increase of global warming. Glaciers absorb 20% of the heat from the sun, and reflect 80% of it back to space. When glaciers melt, the complete opposite happens, more of the heat from the sun is absorbed into the earth, and less is reflected to space. This cycle would mean that more glaciers will melt, and the rise of global warming would be tremendous.

When the project comes into place, the glaciers will become better reflectors, and the earth will absorb even less of the heat from the sun, this is a great way to save the glaciers, help decrease global warming, reduce the rise of sea levels, prevent flooding, and even save the lives of many people and wild life. The world is in jeopardy from our creations and selfishness, and only we can save it, so please support this organization if you are given the opportunity to. Thank you.

Upsala 1914, Upsala 2004

Muir and Riggs glaciers. Before and Now.

Source 1 - 100 Ways to save the planet.

Source 2 - Why glaciers are important

Source 3 - Impact of melting glaciers

Source 4 - Why the glaciers are melting

Source 5 - If all the glaciers were to melt

Source 6 - Ice caps to sea levels

Source 7 - Glaciares Peru

Source 8 - Glaciares Peru

Comments :
Camela Fejer
Cris Iconaru