Response #7

For the past few lessons, the lectures have turned opened up to a brand new, exciting portion of our semester’s arc.  Recently we have focused on the ways in which we can change the negative influence us humans have on Earth, as well as fixing already existing problems.  I enjoyed the organization of last week’s lesson, starting with the definition of a word we already thought we knew.  A directly expressed distinction between our passive and active knowledge of vocabulary is important in clarifying definitions that compound with other words we are not familiar with.  Engineering is applying science to design or develop structure, machine, apparatus or manufacturing processes.  It was interesting to see that the class, one composed of majority native English speaking HONORS students, failed to easily come up with an accurate definition.  I am disappointed in myself and the class. Tisk tisk.  Green engineering is directed toward improving local and global environmental quality.  And now back on track, cradle to cradle we learned is assessing the life cycle and impact of  a chemical in a process, but more importantly we learned that natural systems operate on the sun’s limitless energy which drives the Earth’s biogeochemistry to sustain productive, regenerative biological systems.  Technical systems designed to operate by the same rules approach the effectiveness of the closed-loop cycling of living systems in which almost no waste is unused.  Which comes to the idea that we should potentially be investing in solar income, as well as the potential to use more sources of alternative energy.  The ideal I came out of the class with had to be changing our perspectives.  A paradigm shift is necessary for the population of the Earth, if we are going to waste less, and keep the intrinsic value of the Earth alive.  What we consider waste in this country is completely different from what the citizens in places of Guyana consider waste.  Especially here in New York, for example, I find that many people who I encounter that are on a “diet,” do not change the ways they eat, but rather just buy a full meal, and throw out half of it.  This is an extremely effective means of controlling portions, because one is just reducing the portion in half.  The problem here is that if someone in a rural Kyrgyzstani village saw a picture of my friend throwing out half of a Chipotle burrito, they would probably cry from frustration.  One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.  In this scenario I have created, to us New Yorkers, a cheeseburger with ONE bite taken out is trash, but to a huge population of the world, that cheeseburger is a luxury.