Semester's end

So now that the semester is at its end, I'am left with a few mixed feelings about this project. I have enjoyed the creative aspect of this assignment, but I don't think I'm very good at it. I had a lot of fun with the field study part  of this project, I was able to go out at night and pick through the trash for school. This assignment made me keep up with the ongoing project that is my basement, and I was able to find so much stuff to put down there. I think that I will keep up with my dumpster diving habits, because of how much fun it is, but I don't think I will keep up with my blog posts on a regular basis. I plan to leave this web site up for people to check out, and maybe I'll come back to it eventually.  I really enjoyed writing the responses to the readings we had for this project, I think Bill McKibben is an excellent author and I'm looking forward to reading more of his books.

No Luck

 Over the weekend I attempted to do some dumpster diving with a friend of mine with little to no luck in finding anything I could put to use. It happens sometimes, we went to a few different locations around Kalamazoo, but most of the dumpsters were either locked, or empty. The one thing about dumpster diving is  that its not always reliable, sometimes even if you hit up dumpster after dumpster you will eventually find something, but I on the other hand had no luck at all. The fact that you never know what your going to find is what keeps me going out there, and at least looking for things I could use. After doing some research on dumpster diving I have found a few links that would be helpful for people who might want to get into finding stuff in the trash. The first website is a site some one set up to inform people how to safely dumpster dive within the legal limits, as well as some tips on supplies needed to stay safe and clean  http://www.wikihow.com/Dumpster-Dive.  The second site that I found was a site that describes dumpster diving as a lifestyle people are getting into because of the economy, I found this website to be informative, and also the video is neat. One of the best things about finding stuff in the trash is that its like a treasure hunt, you never know what your going to find out there     http://www.allthingsfrugal.com/dumpster.htm.

More Things I found in the Trash

 On my way home the other day I noticed a large group of people gathered across the street from my house. The neighbors across the street were being evicted, and the landlord was throwing everything that was in the house away. Most of the good stuff, T.V.' s, an entertainment center, a record player, and speakers  were already claimed by the people of the neighborhood who had gotten there before me. I sat on my porch and watched as people scrambled to get as much stuff as they could, and the majority of items that had been thrown out now belonged to some one else. I waited a few hours until it got dark before I made my way over, there was still a huge pile of trash and this is what I found. The glass jar I'm going to use as an art project, I'm going to make a candle holder out of it. The rug is just one of many that I found that night, it sits on the landing going down into my basement. The fun thing about discarded carpet is making a floor with mis-matched pieces perfect for a basement that's dirty anyways. The last item that I found was a cake pan, I have a sister in law that makes different kinds of cakes, and I thought she might want it, if not its metal so it will go in the scrap pile for a bit of cash. So you might be wondering why I'm writing about this junk that I found and how it relates. Well the trash pile that I picked through the left overs, is still sitting there two days later, which is not uncommon in my neighborhood, and will most likely sit there for awhile. The way I see it if it's going to end up in a land fill I might as well use it. Whats the point of paying to carpet my basement when its just going to get nasty anyway, and most of the carpet I find is just scraps left over from a carpet job anyway. The other reason I bring up this situation is because of the community response to the people being evicted. They saw an opportunity for free stuff and took advantage over it, and aggressively too. People were shouting at each other as they called friends with vehicles to haul stuff away. The amount of things people accumulate, and then throw away is something to take advantage of. No one gets evicted by surprise, the people who lived at that house more than likely had ample time to get their stuff, and if they didn't want it other people do.

Carbon Footprint

After visiting the environmental protection agencies website I have learned a few things about my personal carbon foot print. A carbon footprint for those who don't know is everyone's personal carbon impact on the environment whether it the emission's coming from our cars, or the amount of electricity we use. The EPA's website was extremely helpful in providing options, and ideas for people to reduce their carbon footprint, increasing fuel efficiency, insulating our homes better, and recycling. The EPA's website also has a household carbon foot print calculator which I used to compare my household's carbon emissions with my brother's. Some of the things that factored into the calculator was data used from our monthly energy bills, whether we used natural gas, or propane, how many miles we put on our cars, and if we recycle or not. I found that my current household emissions is 14,320 pounds per year, compared to my brother whose yearly emissions was 27,272 pounds. One of the interesting things I found is that I currently live in a house with four people, we use one car, and don't recycle. My brother lives with his girlfriend so two people, they have two cars, and they do recycle, yet his emissions are higher. Another interesting thing I found was that the U.S. average household emissions is at 41,500 pounds per year which is much higher than my average. There are a few reasons why my brother's household emissions are higher than mine. For starters his girlfriend works in Marshal which is about forty minutes from Kalamazoo. My brother also has central air, and because I don't my electricity bills will be lower in the summer, as opposed to the winter. So it doesn't really surprise me that my brother has higher carbon emissions than I do, I have a car but  I don't really drive it, and I consume less energy annually than he does. One of the things I think could be improved upon with the carbon calculator is to include people that rent their homes, and try to provide options for them to decrease their carbon foot print as well. Most of the options like replacing windows, and the furnace with a more energy efficient one is just not a practical option for people who rent. Also there was a question on the calculator that asked if one of the vehicles used could be replaced with a more fuel efficient one, I felt that taking the bus or riding a bike might be a better option that would be more available to people who may not be able to afford a new fuel efficient vehicle.