Well, well, well... Look who came crawling back. I knew this day was going to come where you'd realize what you've done and try to make things right. Well you can give up the act! There's no way I'm going to forgive you for the way you left me out to dry.
Oh, wait. That whole paragraph was actually what you were supposed to say to me. So, let's pretend that you said it and we'll move on. I think you've waited long enough for the end of this match up.
Wildlife Conservation
Positive News Stories (10 out of 30)
There are some pretty good news stories that relate to Wildlife Conservation. For example, Myanmar recently tripled the size of their tiger preserve. I know they've done some questionable things in that country, but it's good to see that they're committed to saving a species that has been on the brink of extinction for quite some time.
The reason why I didn't give this idea more points is that there really weren't a whole lot of news stories that were very notable. I think the reason for this is that people honestly don't really care about saving some bird they've never heard of before. They're interested if something like a whale conservation program is started, but that doesn't happen very often. Other than those darn Japanese, not too many people are still whaling today.
Negative News Stories (-1 out of -30)
Sorry, I can't say that I have any more stories of placentas (thankfully). Now, you'd think that I'd have a hard time finding stories that showed that Wildlife Conservation was a negative thing, but somehow I did. That's why I have a blog and you don't.
Great job, Wildlife Conservation experts... Here's the conversation that I imagine they had.
Expert 1 (Bob): "Hey, I've got a good idea. Let's STOP draining the Everglades. We need to do that to save some rare fish that only lives in the region (and 14 other places in the state)."
Expert 2 (Franccesca): "But Bob, won't some 18 year old have his hand bitten off by an alligator at some point in the future?"
Bob: "Come on, Fran, you know I don't believe in your psychic abilities. Come on, let's go feed some alligators so they become accustomed to human presence and gradually become more invasive into our cities."
Fran: "I wish someone would bite off your hand, Bob..."
That's not a direct quote, I'm just paraphrasing.
User Comments (0 out of 20)
Yup, we're still doing this. Get your comments in.
Results
Recycling: -1
Wildlife Conservation: 9
Well, the longest match up in history is now over! And Wildlife Conservation, the underdog, has pulled off the upset! I personally blame the placenta story...
I really hope that I can get back on schedule with this, and I'll do my best to not let you down. But don't hate me if I do skip a day or two... Come back Friday to see how Bikes and Hybrid Vehicles compare. And get your comments in!
Showing posts with label wildlife conservation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wildlife conservation. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Tournament Round 3, Match 1 - (1) Recycling vs. (6) Wildlife Conservation
Round three is just about to begin, and it should be a little bit more fun than previous rounds. I have a lot more flexibility in terms of coming up with silly news stories to share with everyone. I'm going to stretch this one out a bit longer so I can have a more thorough discussion of the topics. I'll only talk about Recycling today and talk about Wildlife Conservation Tomorrow. Enough of this chit chat, let's see how Recycling does!
Recycling
Positive News Stories (5 out of 30)
I'm not going to even pretend that I looked through all of the Recycling based news stories over the past year. I skimmed through a lot of headlines and I was pretty disappointed in what I found about Recycling. Most stories were from regional newspapers talking about the city or the county collecting some new item such as different numbered plastic or bottle caps or something. A lot of stories talked about raising costs to collect recyclables. But really, there hasn't been any remarkably exciting news stories when it comes to Recycling. It's become a pretty well developed concept that isn't going to change much each year.
Negative News Stories (-12 out of -30)
Negative new stories were somewhat easier to find. One in particular, which was posted 3 minutes before I started looking for news stories is the following:
(WARNING: Don't read this story while eating. Or if you plan on eating any time in your life.)
Bleaaaach! NO! Never! I originally didn't want to include this under Recycling because usually you think of plastic, not placentas when you think of Recycling, but I decided to leave it in here. Recycling, by its very definition, is taking something that you would throw away and turning it into something useful (such as a teddy bear or a lasagna).
If you really want something more normal, I did find an article that discussed how a Recycling program in California took in $1.2 Billion dollars but they wasted so much money that it actually cost the state around $1 Billion. No wonder California is having so many budgetary issues!
User Comments (4 out of 20)
To answer your concern, Chris, I update the Tournament picture on the right hand side of the page so you can see the current match up.
Okay, now that the suspense has been built, you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see how Wildlife Conservation does and who the winner is.
Recycling
Positive News Stories (5 out of 30)
I'm not going to even pretend that I looked through all of the Recycling based news stories over the past year. I skimmed through a lot of headlines and I was pretty disappointed in what I found about Recycling. Most stories were from regional newspapers talking about the city or the county collecting some new item such as different numbered plastic or bottle caps or something. A lot of stories talked about raising costs to collect recyclables. But really, there hasn't been any remarkably exciting news stories when it comes to Recycling. It's become a pretty well developed concept that isn't going to change much each year.
Negative News Stories (-12 out of -30)
Negative new stories were somewhat easier to find. One in particular, which was posted 3 minutes before I started looking for news stories is the following:
(WARNING: Don't read this story while eating. Or if you plan on eating any time in your life.)
Bleaaaach! NO! Never! I originally didn't want to include this under Recycling because usually you think of plastic, not placentas when you think of Recycling, but I decided to leave it in here. Recycling, by its very definition, is taking something that you would throw away and turning it into something useful (such as a teddy bear or a lasagna).
If you really want something more normal, I did find an article that discussed how a Recycling program in California took in $1.2 Billion dollars but they wasted so much money that it actually cost the state around $1 Billion. No wonder California is having so many budgetary issues!
User Comments (4 out of 20)
To answer your concern, Chris, I update the Tournament picture on the right hand side of the page so you can see the current match up.
Okay, now that the suspense has been built, you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see how Wildlife Conservation does and who the winner is.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tournament Round 2, Match 2 - (2) Reducing/Reusing vs. (6) Wildlife Conservation
Round 2, Match 2! Reducing and Reusing tag team Wildlife Conservation!
Reducing/Reusing
Reducing and Reusing (R/R) are back again and ready for action!
Green Pride (16/20)
This one's really tricky because it covers such a broad range of different activities. R/R can be as simple as a child turning an old egg carton into a flower planter or it can be as complex as a graduate student preparing a thesis that could reduce the energy use of a hospital by several hundred megawatt-hours per year. For the sake of this blog, I'm going to shoot for something in the middle, and base it off a homeowner that just got a utility bill and seen the results of all the conservation efforts she's put in over the past month.
People are pretty proud to cut back or reuse. I can imagine people bragging at parties how they were able to cut their water bill in half with a new shower head or how they were able to build a golf cart from parts they salvaged from a junk yard. So, yeah. People are pretty proud of R/R.
Green Guilt (4/20)
Sorry humanity. I understand how you are. Everything else just seems to be a bit more important. "Oh, I meant to build that picnic table of wood we salvaged from the neighbor's shed, but I've just been too busy now that I have lung cancer." Right, like lung cancer has ever been a good excuse to get out of doing things.
Reader Comments (0/10)
I couldn't decide either. Maybe next time!
Wildlife Conservation
Wildlife Conservation is probably more important than Wetland Conservation but people don't realize that. Let's do an example. Let's say we didn't figure out that DDT killed baby bald eagles until it was too late. All the bald eagles are now dead. Aw, that's a shame. Most people would be thinking about whether the US should replace it as the official bird or to honor its memory by leaving it. But what they should be worried about is what's going to happen to all those mice that the birds are now not eating. Those mice will be eating all of our crops and carrying diseases that may or may not decimate the human race. I guess eagles are pretty important after all, right?
Green Pride (17/20)
Everyone loves a good story that talks about how some bug or bird or type of tree was saved by some group's conservation efforts. Yay for saving wildlife! These stories make everyone feel proud that their society is on the right track and is doing the right thing for once. And we can all sleep well at night!
(Does anyone else have a weird sense of deja vu? Oh, right, that's what I wrote for yesterday's Pride about Wetland Conservation. But really, most people don't see the difference)
Green Guilt (5/20)
I don't really see any need to change the score for this section either. People won't be guilty if they didn't see a need for it in the first place. Let me tell you a story of the Baiji. They were a species of dolphin that used to live in the fresh water rivers of China. Well, you know how good China is at keeping their rivers clean, right? So, anyway, these dolphins are now extinct as of 2006-ish due to pollution and overfishing and building dams and who knows what else. They probably eat dolphins in China... Gross...
Anyway, my point is that I'm sure you've never heard of the Baiji, even though the first aquatic mammal to go extinct in more than 50 years should be a big news story. But it's not because people like to advertise their successes (bald eagles) and hide their failures (Baiji). And everyone can sleep well at night because they don't want to know these things.
Reader Comments (0/10)
They're worth double now, so make sure you comment!
Time to tally the scores!
Reducing and Reusing: 20
Wildlife Conservation: 22
For some reason, I can't get the colors to change, but Wildlife Conservation did win. Just think, one comment could have tied the whole thing! But now Reducing and Reusing is gone forever, just like the Baiji.
Come on back on Friday and see how (1) Bikes and (5) Trains do against one another.
Reducing/Reusing
Reducing and Reusing (R/R) are back again and ready for action!
Green Pride (16/20)
This one's really tricky because it covers such a broad range of different activities. R/R can be as simple as a child turning an old egg carton into a flower planter or it can be as complex as a graduate student preparing a thesis that could reduce the energy use of a hospital by several hundred megawatt-hours per year. For the sake of this blog, I'm going to shoot for something in the middle, and base it off a homeowner that just got a utility bill and seen the results of all the conservation efforts she's put in over the past month.
People are pretty proud to cut back or reuse. I can imagine people bragging at parties how they were able to cut their water bill in half with a new shower head or how they were able to build a golf cart from parts they salvaged from a junk yard. So, yeah. People are pretty proud of R/R.
Green Guilt (4/20)
Sorry humanity. I understand how you are. Everything else just seems to be a bit more important. "Oh, I meant to build that picnic table of wood we salvaged from the neighbor's shed, but I've just been too busy now that I have lung cancer." Right, like lung cancer has ever been a good excuse to get out of doing things.
Reader Comments (0/10)
I couldn't decide either. Maybe next time!
Wildlife Conservation
Wildlife Conservation is probably more important than Wetland Conservation but people don't realize that. Let's do an example. Let's say we didn't figure out that DDT killed baby bald eagles until it was too late. All the bald eagles are now dead. Aw, that's a shame. Most people would be thinking about whether the US should replace it as the official bird or to honor its memory by leaving it. But what they should be worried about is what's going to happen to all those mice that the birds are now not eating. Those mice will be eating all of our crops and carrying diseases that may or may not decimate the human race. I guess eagles are pretty important after all, right?
Green Pride (17/20)
Everyone loves a good story that talks about how some bug or bird or type of tree was saved by some group's conservation efforts. Yay for saving wildlife! These stories make everyone feel proud that their society is on the right track and is doing the right thing for once. And we can all sleep well at night!
(Does anyone else have a weird sense of deja vu? Oh, right, that's what I wrote for yesterday's Pride about Wetland Conservation. But really, most people don't see the difference)
Green Guilt (5/20)
I don't really see any need to change the score for this section either. People won't be guilty if they didn't see a need for it in the first place. Let me tell you a story of the Baiji. They were a species of dolphin that used to live in the fresh water rivers of China. Well, you know how good China is at keeping their rivers clean, right? So, anyway, these dolphins are now extinct as of 2006-ish due to pollution and overfishing and building dams and who knows what else. They probably eat dolphins in China... Gross...
Anyway, my point is that I'm sure you've never heard of the Baiji, even though the first aquatic mammal to go extinct in more than 50 years should be a big news story. But it's not because people like to advertise their successes (bald eagles) and hide their failures (Baiji). And everyone can sleep well at night because they don't want to know these things.
Reader Comments (0/10)
They're worth double now, so make sure you comment!
Time to tally the scores!
Reducing and Reusing: 20
Wildlife Conservation: 22
For some reason, I can't get the colors to change, but Wildlife Conservation did win. Just think, one comment could have tied the whole thing! But now Reducing and Reusing is gone forever, just like the Baiji.
Come on back on Friday and see how (1) Bikes and (5) Trains do against one another.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Tournament Round 1, Match 3 - (3) Paperless Living vs. (6) Wildlife Conservation
(3) Paperless Living vs. (6) Wildlife Conservation. Let's do it!
Paperless Living
Aaaaaaaand in the red corner, weighing in at 0 pounds is the featherweight champion of the world!!! Paperless Living!!!! Should be pretty self-explanatory. If you still have questions, you can see me after class at my office hours.
Impact on the Environment (6/15):
Most people, when they first hear 'Paperless Living' think that it's a pretty good thing for the environment. While I'm not going to argue with that idea, it's really not as good for the environment as you might think. A whole lot of the paper being used today comes either from recycled post-consumer product or from sustainably managed tree farms (there's a better word for that which is escaping me right now). And let's not even get into the extra electricity that's needed to manage all of the computers that are needed to replace that paper.
Practicality (3/10):
Trying to be completely paperless is almost impossible with our current technology. Let's say I notice that I drank the last little bit of milk out of the milk jug and I want my roommate to pick up some more from the store. I'm going to leave a Post-It Note somewhere, not go out and buy an iPhone and stick that to the front of the fridge. Right now, it's not going to happen. In fact, paper usage increased as computers became more popular, so Paperless Living may be a trend that doesn't catch on for some time.
Sustainability (9/10):
I've got to say, for all the crap I've been giving Paperless Living so far, it would be really really easy to maintain if we ever got to that point. If we find a good way to ditch paper, people will stop buying printers and then the constant temptation to print driving directions will ease up a bit.
Awesomeness (5/10):
I guess it's okay... It saves my car from being cluttered with directions to everywhere I've been in the past few years, but really, you don't see a whole lot of commercials with celebrities talking about how cool their lives are now they don't have a printer at home.
User Input (0/5):
Get those comments in, everyone!
Wildlife Conservation
Wildlife Conservation is pretty similar to Wetland Conservation except that this can cover not only places such as forests, but specific animals and types of plants. That and it's easier to turn a forest into a park than it is to turn a wetland into one.
Impact on the Environment (10/15):
Over the years, countless species have been saved from the brink of extinction by Wildlife Conservation efforts. But more importantly, cities are hotter on average than forests because the sunlight is absorbed by blacktop and concrete and all those good things as opposed to trees and plants that don't absorb heat. And even more importantly, trees and plants take in all the carbon dioxide that we have nothing better to do with than pump into the air and into the oceans.
Practicality (4/10):
Until someone can come up with a feasible way to live in tree houses, we need space for houses and movie theaters and candy shops and factories that manufacture tree houses. This is similar to Wetland Conservation, so check that one out for more.
Sustainability (9/10):
Even more than wetlands, forests will regrow the second we turn our backs for too long. I've always seen it as nature's just biding its time until we kill ourselves off or leave the planet and then it will all grow right back. For more on this idea, watch the show 'Life After People' or read the book 'The World Without Us.' As long as we don't cut down all the trees, we don't need to do much before it all bounces right back.
Awesomeness (8/10):
Forests are awesome. There's no denying that. And I have seen commercials with celebrities talking about how we should protect the Wildlife.
User Input (1/5):
On behalf of the Buckeye Trail, Wildlife Conservation gets a bonus point!
Alright, let's tally those scores!
Paperless Living: 23
Wildlife Conservation: 32
Congrats, Wildlife Conservation! You've pulled off the first upset of the Tournament! And you've beaten the most overrated concept yet! Tune in next time for the conclusion of the first round of the Green Practices Region with the match up of (2) Reducing/Reusing and (7) Energy Star Rating.
Paperless Living
Aaaaaaaand in the red corner, weighing in at 0 pounds is the featherweight champion of the world!!! Paperless Living!!!! Should be pretty self-explanatory. If you still have questions, you can see me after class at my office hours.
Impact on the Environment (6/15):
Most people, when they first hear 'Paperless Living' think that it's a pretty good thing for the environment. While I'm not going to argue with that idea, it's really not as good for the environment as you might think. A whole lot of the paper being used today comes either from recycled post-consumer product or from sustainably managed tree farms (there's a better word for that which is escaping me right now). And let's not even get into the extra electricity that's needed to manage all of the computers that are needed to replace that paper.
Practicality (3/10):
Trying to be completely paperless is almost impossible with our current technology. Let's say I notice that I drank the last little bit of milk out of the milk jug and I want my roommate to pick up some more from the store. I'm going to leave a Post-It Note somewhere, not go out and buy an iPhone and stick that to the front of the fridge. Right now, it's not going to happen. In fact, paper usage increased as computers became more popular, so Paperless Living may be a trend that doesn't catch on for some time.
Sustainability (9/10):
I've got to say, for all the crap I've been giving Paperless Living so far, it would be really really easy to maintain if we ever got to that point. If we find a good way to ditch paper, people will stop buying printers and then the constant temptation to print driving directions will ease up a bit.
Awesomeness (5/10):
I guess it's okay... It saves my car from being cluttered with directions to everywhere I've been in the past few years, but really, you don't see a whole lot of commercials with celebrities talking about how cool their lives are now they don't have a printer at home.
User Input (0/5):
Get those comments in, everyone!
Wildlife Conservation
Wildlife Conservation is pretty similar to Wetland Conservation except that this can cover not only places such as forests, but specific animals and types of plants. That and it's easier to turn a forest into a park than it is to turn a wetland into one.
Impact on the Environment (10/15):
Over the years, countless species have been saved from the brink of extinction by Wildlife Conservation efforts. But more importantly, cities are hotter on average than forests because the sunlight is absorbed by blacktop and concrete and all those good things as opposed to trees and plants that don't absorb heat. And even more importantly, trees and plants take in all the carbon dioxide that we have nothing better to do with than pump into the air and into the oceans.
Practicality (4/10):
Until someone can come up with a feasible way to live in tree houses, we need space for houses and movie theaters and candy shops and factories that manufacture tree houses. This is similar to Wetland Conservation, so check that one out for more.
Sustainability (9/10):
Even more than wetlands, forests will regrow the second we turn our backs for too long. I've always seen it as nature's just biding its time until we kill ourselves off or leave the planet and then it will all grow right back. For more on this idea, watch the show 'Life After People' or read the book 'The World Without Us.' As long as we don't cut down all the trees, we don't need to do much before it all bounces right back.
Awesomeness (8/10):
Forests are awesome. There's no denying that. And I have seen commercials with celebrities talking about how we should protect the Wildlife.
User Input (1/5):
On behalf of the Buckeye Trail, Wildlife Conservation gets a bonus point!
Alright, let's tally those scores!
Paperless Living: 23
Wildlife Conservation: 32
Congrats, Wildlife Conservation! You've pulled off the first upset of the Tournament! And you've beaten the most overrated concept yet! Tune in next time for the conclusion of the first round of the Green Practices Region with the match up of (2) Reducing/Reusing and (7) Energy Star Rating.
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