OCR Text |
Show Monday, October 6,2008 %r THE SIGNPOST FEATURES Green with 'Cats go green By Mckenna Mitchell correspondent I The Signpost Weber State University students are becoming more environmentally conscious. "You hear about it alj the time, especially in all the magazines, that celebrities have gone completely green/' said Shana Davis, a WSU sophomore. "Not that what celebrities are doing should affect my helping the environment." Catherine Gross, WSU student, said she keeps her thermostat set a few degrees higher in the summer and a few degrees lower in the winter. "I have also been rotating florescent light bulbs," Gross said, "and have started washing most of my laundry in cold water." By keeping the thermostat just a few degrees colder or warmer, households can save money and energy. Florescent bulbs save money by lasting longer and conserving energy. "I have also noticed a lot of students riding bikes and taking the bus," Davis said. "I have been driving with my friend to school, and just waiting for her classes to be over; it saves a lot of money." Some students use online banking to save paper. "I stopped the bank statements from coming to my house as soon as I found out it was possible," Gross said. "It helps the environment, and keeps _my bill area less cluttered with unnecessary papers. I also buy recycled toilet paper, and all-purpose cleaner; they are cheaper." Jamie Mishaud, the director of Sales and Operations for Ritz-CarJton Global Reservation Sales and Customer Care, said they are doing all they can to start to be more environmentally conscious throughout their entire company. "Our hotels worldwide have been saving power by 50 percent," Mishaud said, "and our call center has been trying to do the same t»y recycling everything, and using a new system through the computer called PURE, for information, alerts, and anything else we might need it to do so that we can run our center paperless." Some students use a laptop to take notes from lectures and classes, instead of writing down the notes in a notebook. "I never thought of my laptop as being environmentally safe," Gross said, "but now I realize that I have been saving so much paper by using my laptop for my notes." Davis said her computer was very expensive, and she purchased it for that same reason: to save paper. Gross and Davis both said they have stopped buying water bottles, and have bought one reusable bottle for water. Stores are also helping by selling reusable bags for grocery shopping. It may cost a bit more to purchase these bags, but will help the environment in the long run. Comment on this story at wsusignpost.com. By Tricy Taylor features editor I The Signpost PI I O I O BY CATHERINE MORTIMER | THL StCNWDS 7 Weber State University Professor Garth Tuck fills up his natural-gas powered Honda Civic. Natural gas vehicles: going green or just saving green? A natural gas vehicle can save money and help the environment. By Lara Douglass corespondent I The Signpost Imagine going to the local gas station, and leaving $5 poorer. And no, not from buying a 64-ounce soda and a candy bar, but from getting a full tank of gas. This might sound like something from the 1970s, but for many natural gas vehicle owners, it is a reality. With compressed natural gas selling for 88 cents per gasoline gallon equivalent, a full tank costs much less than a traditional vehicle. Garth Tuck, a Weber State University multimedia producer and instructor, traded in his van for a 2004 Honda Civic GX, a natural gas vehicle. Tuck, who was already in the market for a new car, said he had two main reasons for looking at a natural gas vehicle. First, gas is a lot cheaper, and second, he said he was trying to do his part for the environment. "I wouldn't consider myself an environmentalist by any means," Tuck said, "but that's one of the benefits." According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Honda Civic GX is the cleanest internal-combustion vehicle available. The California Energy Commission tests have shown natural gas vehicles have lower-carbon fuels, and produce about 25 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline vehicles. John Kelly, the Department Chair of the Automotive Technology Department said,"They are very, very clean vehicles." While Kelly said he agreed with the advantages of natural gas vehicles, he believes more people are trying to save money than trying to be "green." "I don't think most people are interested in a clean environment when they buy a vehicle," Kelly said. "I think they are interested in what it costs to drive that vehicle. I think that their wallet is probably most people's main reason for buying whatever vehicle they get." Natural gas vehicles do have some disadvantages. According to Kelly, natural gas vehicles are hard to come by, and very expensive. Even buying a brand-new Honda GX can leave customers on an 11-month long waiting list. Kelly also said natural gas vehicles are not as efficient, and only get about 200 miles per tank. Tuck said there are some disadvantages and inconveniences to having a natural gas vehicle, one of the biggest being where to fill up. Although there are gas stations throughout Utah See Natural Gas page 5 The message is everywhere: "Go green!" But this isn't a new message at all. Some of us were green before T-shirts told us to be. That "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" song has been around for decades and each of us has been aware of our eco-sins the whole time. Celebrities have brought green out into the open. Celeb-sites, magazines and numerous shows boast the eco-loving habits of the rich and famous. But there is one fundamental difference between them and us: Celebrities can afford to fight environmental degradation with dollar bills. Celebrities can buy chefs to cook environmentally kind foods. They can buy entire islands and call them ecohavens. They can even hop on a private jet and head to an eco-spa. But if we want to help our big old earth, it probably won't be so glamorous and we might get a little dirty. If I had as much money as some movie stars, I wouldn't just wear a shirt that says "Save Our Planet," I would actually build a community where we live off all of our own waste and power our giant TV's with treadmills. Here's to dreaming. It seems like you almost have to spend a lot of green to look green. But that's just the sexy side of eco-friendliness. There are plenty of inexpensive and fairly easy activities that help reduce waste or protect the environment. The downside, however, is that no one may notice your efforts. But compared to "Water World," that just doesn't matter. Don't just purchase cute un-recyclable green merchandise. Saving our planet will take more than money. It will take effort. It's time to own up to our bad behavior, not because it's cool, but because it may be our only hope. We won't save the planet from global warming; we must save it from ourselves. It may seem easier to buy a tree online, but making your own compost pile is more rewarding. So dig in. If Jack Johnson wants us to be green, it must be serious, and if that's the message people are getting, so be it. At least they're getting the message. Comment on this story at wsusignpost.com. A day in the life professor of geoscien By Tricy Taylor features editor I The Signpost water resources. SP: Would you give us an example of one the projects? Marek Matyjasik, Geosciences professor MM: I would like to give you all at Weber State University, knows a lot about three of them, because they are all just water. He knows where it comesfrom,and amazing projects. One project is Wetland that it's running out. ecosystems in the Uintah Mountains. This is The Signpost: What does Geosciences a project where we collaborate with the U.S. include? Forest Service. I work with two other faculty Marek Matyjasik: Geosciences work with members on this project: Dr. (Rick) Ford and the way our planet works, including plate (Michael) Hernandez from Geosciences. We tectonics, how mountain ranges form, the work with five Weber State students, two of formations in the earth, rocks, minerals, them are botany majors, and three of them are environmental issues, water resource quality geosciences majors. The botany majors help of our environment. us identify plants in the wedand ecosystems, SP: What is your and the geosciences specialty? majors help us to MM: My specialty is "Knowing that we study the chemistry overall management of don't have that much of groundwater and water resources, and, surface water. So to be more specific, water in our area, we go to the Uintah management of Mountains and we groundwater resources, and knowing that take samples. Right water chemistry, and water levels decline now we are analyzing water quality. the samples, we try to SP: Do you feel there should make people understand the water PHOTO BY SICNPOS1 r nuiun i TRICY IHILT TAYLOR inuuN || THL t tit iri_,/vru are environmental issues chemistry. Weber State University Professor Marek Matyjasik, of Geosciences, is working with other WSU faculty and students on three think about ways to students could be more SP: What are you projects to better understand and conserve water. aware of? conserve water/' looking for? piece of understanding the dynamics of State. We try to understand how we can MM: I think the we try to understand how the global climate geochemical cycles. The application of the divert part of the water from the Weber River, MM: In particular, changes affect geochemical cycles. majority of Weber State nanoscale technology and atomic force and inject it into the sub-surface, and store it students as well as the - Marek Matyjasik, we are looking for We collaborate with faculty, and students relationships between microscope can show us how things change in the sub-surface, so that we don't lose water general public would from Poland. They organize Arctic field WSU professor of water chemistry on mineral surfaces at nanoscale. This because of evaporation, and we can use it at benefit from a better expeditions to an island of Spitbergen. geosciences nanoscale technology has been available a later time when we need it. and plant wetland understanding of how Spitbergen has been in the past, covered ecosystems. Our for, maybe, a decade in the sciences. So, This is the project that we started six years our daily decisions affect by glaciers. These glaciers started to retreat this is really the cutting edge research, and collaborators from ago. This was a big project that was funded the environment. One example is that, in the two decades ago. Our collaborators send Weber and Morgan Counties, the average U.S. Forest services are interested in why us samples of minerals from Spitbergen. scientists all over the world just provide by the U.S. bureau for acclimation, and family uses 400 gallons of water a day, which there are different plant ecosystems, and We look at changes that happen on mineral small pieces of understanding. When we put also involved several state of Utah agencies, really translates to an average of 100 gallons in what way they depend on groundwater surfaces that tell us how the changing them together, every year we understand a and was coordinated by the Weber basin a person. Knowing that we don't have that chemistry. It's a very important project for temperature and moisture content affects Little more, but these are essential pieces of conservancy district. Our part was to build research that will help us make predictions. a computer numerical model that shows much water in our area and knowing that the U.S. Forest Services, and our students are chemical reactions in the minerals. very excited, they do,a lot of hands-on work How climate will be changing on the earth, how water flows in the sub-surface, in the water levels decline, should make people We have had at least six students from including fieldwork and lab work. think about ways to conserve water. Weber State that have been involved in this how earth materials will respond to the water bearing layers. And, when you divert SP: What is your second project? SP: What are you working on right now? project. I collaborate with Dr. Colin Inglefield climate of the earth, and how the earth will water from the Weber River, what is going to look in 10,50 and 100 years. happen exactly with this water, how fast is MM: I am working on three projects right f MM: In the second project we use atomic from the Physics department. forc e SP: Does your third project also have to it going to flow, what direction and how we wthatareextremelvexririne.Thevall n* u ™croscoping, which is a very powerful now that are extremely exciting. They all w work SP: What are the implications of the do with climate change? can utilize it in the future. with water resources, and they all work with technology that allows us to look at different information you gather? MM: Well, in a way. This is the project environmental applications of managing types of surfaces with the precision of a MM: This is just one very tiny small where I work with 10 students from Weber See Gepscience page 5 single atomic layer. In this particular project, ^_j - - - - j j ^ ^ O^ |