Author Archives: Eric Kramer

Posts by Eric Kramer

Weekly Response 13 Eric Kramer

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Eric Kramer

There should be some sense of urgency to adopt a version of the zero waste policies that have been effectively implemented in San Francisco and Scotland. We, being New York City and the greatest city in the world, should have started are own zero waste policy a long time ago. We should be the model and not have to resort to modeling other cities and countries. There is a parallel here to the space race. We wanted to show our dominance as a nation by becoming supreme in space exploration. It was our duty as one of the world’s superpowers. Well now, it is our duty to set an example of zero waste leading to a more efficient society, rid of the garbage problem. So long, Tullytown!

Life would be so much better without the need for landfills and incinerators. We will no longer have to worry about how to get rid of our trash and the creation of new landfills and incinerators. Debates about where to place these things and who has to suffer for it will become irrelevant. If the Fresh Kills Landfill did not exist, Staten Island would be a much nicer place. Particularly in my early years, I would have enjoyed not having the rotting smell fill the air.

The zero waste policy in San Francisco includes the composting of food waste, mandatory recycling, and laws against items that cannot be recycled. These three features are all actually very realistic. Fertilizer is very essential and many New Yorkers would be very enthusiastic about food composting knowing it will help the growth of organic items. Mandatory recycling is extremely easy to make happen and there is no reason why it should not be happening now. The third item, making laws against items that cannot be recycled sounds initially like it would be difficult to make happen, but after reconsidering, companies are always involving and improving their products, so they could work around these laws.

I am not going to say I am mad as hell about all of these environmental problems and the lack of government help and inability of the government to take rapid action. I am not happy about it either though. I accept is as a way of life, but certain, easy things can be done to improve this like implementing a zero waste policy. Of course money is at the center of this. A lot of money is dependent on the trash we send to Tullytown. Tullytown probably relies on this money, and if their landfill becomes irrelevant, the town may fall apart. Maybe we can use the advertisements created by Jackie and Joe to increase awareness and our need for a zero waste policy. I feel like those advertisements have a chance at being very effective, so why not try it?

The situation in Treece and Picher is very unfortunate. I find almost comedic that with all our advancement in technology nowadays we have a ghost town. These towns were forced to evacuate because of the harmful pollutants, particularly lead in the area. This is a serious matter that should not have been neglected for so long. The EPA should be much quicker responding to serious health hazards like this where lives are at stake. We should from Treece and Picher so we can prevent future mistakes from happening.

Eric Kramer Weekly Response 12

Posted on November 23, 2012 by Eric Kramer

I thought the debate was very interesting and engaging. Ben and Dan did a great job backing the case to shut down the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant while Simon and Demetra did an equally impressive job of saying why the plant should remain open. After listening to the intense discussion and reflecting on it for a few days, I think I support the use of nuclear power and believe the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant should remain open. I do believe however, that changes should be made to the facility to improve safety and security measures to help reduce the chances of incidents.

I am particularly wary about the human element of it all. I was told in my intro to psychology class that the Chernobyl and Three Mile Island disasters were caused by mistakes (poor judgment) made by sleep-deprived workers. More alert workers would not have made these mistakes. I think more measures should be taken to ensure employees are doing well psychologically and that they are alert. Perhaps installing random alertness/reaction time tests on the computers the employees are working on in the wee hours of the morning.

It was mentioned in the debate that the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant was rated the second worst nuclear facility in the nation. I was curious to see what was rated the worst, so I looked into it. As of 2012, Indian Point is now considered the worst and most dangerous nuclear facility. Second on this list is San Onofre in California. The third most dangerous facility is in Limerick, Pennsylvania. Interestingly, two of the three most dangerous nuclear facilities are located on the East Coast in fairly close proximity to one another.

Although I support the use of nuclear energy now, I am hopeful that we can develop safer, alternate forms of energy that would eradicate the need for nuclear power. I keep hearing and believing that our future lies in solar energy. We need to start harnessing the renewable power of the sun to provide our energy. Basically, the reason I support the continued operation of Indian Point is that I do not see any particularly feasible alternatives. That being said, I do agree that we should employ retrofitting to new homes. Why not try to limit our energy consumption? We should be looking to limit our energy output regardless of what type of energy we are relying on.

Going back to the point of sleep-deprived workers, sleep deprivation is becoming a huge problem. It seems that people are becoming less and less efficient and are suffering from health problems stemming from sleep deprivation including depression, diabetes, and hypertension. I am currently doing an internship where we enroll patients in studies in the emergency department of St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital, and I recently proposed a study looking at these possible problems stemming from sleep deprivation. Hopefully, this study will be implemented and correlations can be found in the emergency department population between these health problems and sleep deprivation and whether or not people are aware of what is happening. Many people think it is possible to work at maximum efficiency off of 5 hours of sleep a night, but in reality, you really need 8 hours a night.

Weekly Response Eric Kramer

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Eric Kramer

PlaNYC sounds wonderful and it seems that we are making real progress in improving land, water, transportation, energy and air. While it is nice that we set goals for where we want to be, it is even nicer that PlaNYC is acting to work towards achieving these goals. The updates from 2011 and 2012 showed some progress here in New York City, a sign that PlaNYC has been effective. Hopefully, other cities all across the globe will marvel at our success and rush to emulate PlaNYC.

I am a bit skeptical about all the success that has been attributed to PlaNYC. The 2011 and 2012 updates noted that 250,000 more residents are within a 10-minute walk of a park. First of all, I am sure there are ways to make these numbers appear more impressive than they actually are. My big question is what exactly is a park? Does it have to be a green area? Does a swing set and a bench constitute as a park? I would define a park as a place where someone can go for recreation and be able to appreciate nature. There should be green at a park and schoolyards should not count. Ideally, a park should be able to accommodate several recreational activities from nature walks to baseball games. Many of the parks that have been built for PlaNYC could be tiny, almost useless parks. Therefore, I am not completely sold on the progress PlaNYC has made.

One of the best park models I have seen is the plan to build a park at the former site of the Fresh Kills Landfill. While I do not support the creation of this park, I can only admire the park design. It will accommodate dozens of activities. It is set to be five parks in one, all comprising the Fresh Kills Park. The Confluence will contain a bunch of athletic fields and host waterfront activities. The North Park will contain natural settings for beauty, walking, running, biking, and picnicking. The South Park will contain soccer fields and mountain bike paths. The East Park will contain a scenic route and areas for Frisbee, golf, sports fields, and other recreation activities. Now THIS is a park! If only all parks could model this one. Unfortunately, this is completely unrealistic, especially in crammed cities like NYC where land is at a premium. It is only possible on Staten Island because it is being built over a horrific landfill.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about the creation of this park. Many toxins and known carcinogens have been detected in significant amounts at the landfill and in nearby residential areas. I have noticed high rates of lung cancer on Staten Island, maybe partially due to this. That is why I am skeptical about building a park where all these toxins are. I understand that the landfill is buried deep and will remain closed forever. I also understand that the air and ground will be monitored for toxins to ensure safety. However, I cannot get it through my head to accept it and watch future generations taking their children to the park at the former site of the landfill without even knowing it existed. But I do love the idea of taking advantage of the now unused land by building a park there. It seems like it will be an amazing park that I would love to go to. It will help Americans get outdoors more and enjoy nature. Hopefully it will be a step in stopping future kids from being hooked on electronics and staying indoors all day. Hopefully when it is all said and done, I will develop a clearer attitude towards this park and the former landfill.

Eric Kramer Weekly Response 10

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Eric Kramer

I always knew that NYC has far superior water to other places, which is why NYC has the best pizza, bagels, and other foods. Thanks to our lecture, I now know that our water is so great because of the careful measures NYC has taken to ensure our water is kept safe. Instead of building a ridiculously expensive water filtration plant, NYC bought much of the land around our watersheds upstate in order to ensure that the land would not be developed and contaminate our water supply. I am actually impressed with the way NYC was able to handle this, and I do not foresee any future problems that may result from this. The only argument against this is that the towns upstate want to use the land in order to stimulate economic growth, but they can succeed without those lands. If some citizens think NYC owning the watershed land is suppressing their growth, then move to a different part of the country.

Fracking (hydraulic fracturing) is such a strange issue because of the ignorance people have towards it. I think the videos we watched were each very intriguing. The lady in North Dakota mentioned a case where a friend of hers became ill due to fracking in the area and the exposure to fracking fluids. While this has not been proven, there is pretty substantial evidence. According to the video, fracking fluid contains 29 known carcinogens, which is something I find astonishing. Fracking fluids have been detected in the water beneath the ground, but above the area where fracking occurs. It does not take a genius to figure out that the fracking fluids in the water came from fracking deep beneath the ground, even though there is no scientific evidence to support or refute this. Research needs to be done to figure out ways to prevent the fluids from making it into the water. There must be a way to continue fracking where the fluids can be contained and prevented from spreading. Research, however is going to prove costly because once it is proven scientifically that the fluids from fracking spread into the water, the amount of court cases is going to skyrocket. People suffering from illnesses due to exposure to fracking fluids are going to be demanding compensation from these large companies, and rightfully so. I am okay with fracking continuing, however I think people should be thoroughly informed and warned about the health hazards and be given the opportunity to move away from fracking areas at the expense of the large companies. My major concern with fracking is that even though it may help serve our needs for fuel in the near future and make us less dependent on other nations for oil, it is only a Band-Aid. Fossil fuels are still a finite source, which will eventually disappear completely. Sometime in the future, people will no longer remember what fossil fuels were, unless we make unimaginable strides in the near future. We need to search for alternative, infinite sources of energy.

It’s definitely a good thing that buildings now must adhere to the green building rating system from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). This system sounds like a good start, paving the way towards sustainability. Having green buildings that work efficiently and can be energy independent certainly looks good for the future. Additionally, we will be looking to create buildings following Biophilic design in which buildings will be created looking to embrace and reconnect with life, instead of creating buildings that have negative effects on life. All of our progress with cradle-to-cradle design, LEED, and Biophilic design makes for a bright, sustainable future, yet we still have a long way to go in other areas.

One more thing that crossed my mind is that in our course, we focus on NYC only. The course is called, “Science and Technology in NYC”. Why not focus on global science and technology? I understand that we have to start small and build up and that most issues in NYC apply elsewhere, but there must be issues in other parts of the world that warrant continued discussion and education.

Weekly Response 8 Eric Kramer

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Eric Kramer

I really enjoyed the adaptation of Macbeth put on by Tom, Tom, Seong and Hayley. It was funny, intelligent, and relevant to our class and what we have been discussing. Everything seems to always come down to money and the idea that when people are given power, they tend to abuse it. Macbeth was the ideal example of this in their adaptation of the play. He was ruthless, manipulating and used others to gain power. This illustrates the idea that men are inherently greedy, always wanting more. He managed to make it to the top at the expense of others and the environment. He illegally cut corners and deleted records to maximize profit. All he cared about was making more money, even though he was already affluent and did not need more. This goes to show that money always drives higher-level decision-making.

I now know that change needs to happen now. We need to start embracing the principles of green engineering and the cradle-to-cradle model. By doing so, we will create less waste and make sure to reuse the waste that we do create. This will help solve the problem of having to figure out what to do with all the waste that we produce. This can possibly limit the amount of active landfills and incinerators we need. In order to do this however, we, as individuals need to choose to change.

We need to choose to fight for the implementation of green engineering and cradle-to-cradle design. We need to advocate for advancement in the use of solar energy. Most people seem to think our future lies in solar energy, which is perfect because it is a renewable source that will never run out (unless the sun explodes). Wind energy is also a viable alternative, but it is difficult to harness and put the turbines in places that are easily accessible.

We need to lose our American way of thinking of always wanting more. If something isn’t broken, who do we try to fix it? Is there really a need for thousands of different kinds of cars? Why not only have the environmentally friendly ones? Do we need access to fruits when they are off-season and difficult to get? The answer should be no. Millions of dollars are being wasted to accommodate the American life we are so used to. President Obama’s campaign slogan, “CHANGE” was correct, just in the wrong thinking. We need to stop putting off the environment for future generations and start caring for it now.

Yes, money is nice, but money won’t matter when the environment becomes so bad we cannot live properly. Instead of fighting of every last cent, the CEOs of big corporations should be making contributions to the search for alternative energy and the implementation of cradle-to-cradle design. It should be mandated that all factories and other institutions that apply that are building from the ground up need to use cradle-to-cradle design. This would create a much more efficient setup. It should also be mandated that all existing factories make an effort to convert to a cradle-to-cradle design, and they should be offered tax breaks as an incentive. Yet again, money is the only incentive that will work. The fact that you are helping the environment should be the only incentive needed to motivate a company to change to cradle-to-cradle.

Written Assignment Eric Kramer

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Eric Kramer

KOYAANISQATSI! When trying to fall asleep an hour after I finished watching this bizarre movie, all I could hear in my head was “KOYAANISQATSI” in that slow, robotic voice. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but what I do know is that I did not enjoy this unique movie. Although there were several intriguing and symbolic moments, it was just not my cup of tea. However, I did see some value in this movie in the way it portrayed the world and left it open to interpretation.

Before starting this movie, I knew nothing about it. All I had heard was that someone had said in class that it was something like the show Planet Earth. It turned out to be very different from what I was expecting as the movie consisted solely of slow, panoramic views of random sights ranging from the Grand Canyon to car and pedestrian traffic without any voiceovers. I assume the background music was supposed to be soothing, but I found it rather irritating. Perhaps I was just not in the proper mood to watch the movie. I feel like it would make for a better watch in the wee hours of the early morning.

The movie started and ended on the same note with a rocket being launched. I guess this showed how far we have come as a human race in that we are able to launch rockets into outer space. However, we still have so much more to go as we have barely begun to explore space. There is still so much more room for technological advancement, and hopefully we are on the brink of breakthrough.

The biggest message I took from the movie is how we are small, helpless, and insignificant parts of the world. It is almost comedic the way we drive our cars around, listening to traffic lights, having no way to get to where we want to go faster. We just accept having to stop and follow all the rules of the world without questioning them, like stopping when the light turns red.

There were many beautiful sites shown in the movie. The Grand Canyon is a beautiful place where I would like to visit someday. It seems like it would be extremely relaxing there. At one point in the movie, there was an astounding field of many different colored flowers. It was an extravagant array ranging from pink to green that reminded me of candy, however it was still a site unmatched by anything I have ever seen.

My favorite site in the movie was a skyscraper that was shown along with dozens of tourists admiring it. The sides of the building were glass, so it reflected all sorts of light and images off of it. The way the sun reflected off the glass was a remarkable sight. I believe the tourists were well warranted in admiring the spectacular, once in a lifetime view.

I was very confused when there was an airplane on the screen for several minutes. The pilot was nowhere in sight. The airplane was moving and you can see into the cockpit, but there was no one there. This was alarming because a moving plane should have someone flying it.

I immediately noticed the incinerators when they were shown because of the giant chimneys. These incinerators are an example of a necessary but unfortunate part of our world. We need a way to dispose of our waste and there are no better current alternatives. The sight of these incinerators reminded me of our need to find better ways for waste disposal. Going along with items relevant to our class, there was a landfill featured in the film. I was able to see the massive mounds where garbage would be dumped and was able to tell the landfill stretched for many acres. Landfills and incinerators are currently our best two options for waste disposal, but personally, I advocate incinerators over landfills. I believe landfills waste too much land and incinerators are getting better at filtering and limiting the toxins emitted into the air. The movie also showed a lot of oil drilling. Once again, the movie was showing a finite resource that we rely on to live our lives, so we need to find alternatives for it. Oil drilling has many consequences including destroying the icecaps, endangering Arctic wildlife, and maybe most importantly affecting decision making at the higher level because everything always comes down to money. We need to be careful when it comes to oil drilling.

At one point in the movie, a passed-out homeless gentleman was put on a stretcher and taken to the hospital in an ambulance. This reminded me of the internship I am doing now. I am a research assistant in the Emergency Department at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital, so I see intoxicated patients come in all the time. The emergency room staff hates dealing with them because most of them come in frequently and act obnoxiously and are harmful to themselves and others. I witnessed one intoxicated patient bite an emergency room physician as well a different intoxicated patient slap an EMT. Many times, the staff is forced to sedate these patients, as they are an inconvenience to the employees as well as other patients. It is a shame and we need to work better to improve unemployment and get help for people suffering from mental problems and other disadvantages.

Something that I thought was symbolic was the buildings collapsing or being demolished. I thought that this was saying that we need to keep advancing and making progress or we are going to crumble like those buildings. The sight of those buildings falling was tough to watch and the amount of ash and dirt released into the air when these buildings collapse is disgusting.

The outdoor elevators on some of the buildings really captured my attention. The elevators were outside at each corner of the buildings, and they reminded me of the wonkavators from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I think buildings in Manhattan should make elevators like that as they would transform a normally boring experience into a fun one.

The movie showed a full moon bigger than any moon I have ever seen before. Strange things tend to happen under a full moon and according to the messages at the end, I have many strange thoughts on the movie. The title is very fitting as it translates to life out of balance or crazy life. I like the way the movie reveals these translations at the end. It makes sense as the movie shows random scenes of beautiful, natural sites like the Grand Canyon as well as damaging, manmade sites such as oil drilling. This is a great example of how life is out of balance. A translation for the Hopi Prophecies sung during the film is, “If we dig precious things from the land, we will invite disaster.” This is what we have been learning in our class as messing with the equilibrium always has bad consequences. It would be better to harness natural energy, specifically solar energy to fuel our society instead of finite resources like oil, which we must remove from the land.

 

Weekly Response 7 Eric Kramer

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Eric Kramer

Cradle-to-Cradle design represents a paradigm shift in thinking. Instead of thinking about what to do with the waste we create, cradle-to-cradle design aims at limiting the waste we need to dispose of by reusing our wastes in a closed loop system. This is a brilliant idea, and so long as it works, it is a huge step towards achieving sustainability. This article made me much more aware of certain things.

Engineering is going to be an extremely important field in the near future. We are going to continue to rely on engineers to design new mechanisms to further technological advancement in order to be sustainable. Perhaps an engineer (Patrick?) will design a way to harness solar energy more efficiently, or devise a better way to harness wind energy. Maybe engineers will have a breakthrough in space travel design and become able to visit other planets. Maybe on these other planets we will find alternate sources of energy that we need so very badly.

I think the three tenets of cradle-to-cradle design make perfect sense and should actually be followed. The phrase, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” comes to mind when it comes to “waste equals food”. In an ecosystem, there is no waste, because everything occurs in equilibrium and is constantly being utilized. For example, in humans require oxygen for respiration and plants require carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. Conveniently, humans release carbon dioxide as a waste product and similarly, plants release oxygen.

I think we all know that our future is in solar energy. This goes along with tenet 2, which states, “Use current solar income”. All ecosystems rely on the sun to sustain life. We do too, but we should further our use of the sun. Solar energy is the most natural energy because the sun is always shining down on us. We need to create more efficient ways to harness the power of the sun to fuel our society. If we can do this, many effects of fossil fuels and other harmful sources of energy can be reversed or at least stopped. The keyword when it comes to solar energy is renewable. We would finally have a renewable source of energy. We cannot continue to rely on fossil fuels because they are non-renewable meaning the Earth will eventually become entirely depleted of them.

Diversity is such an underrated part of successful ecosystems. We need to make sure we do not generalize about all ecosystems, but rather look at them specifically. We give ourselves intrinsic value and so we must move away from our anthropocentric ideas and assign intrinsic value to all living things. This will help promote diversity.

Hopefully, engineers will be able to follow the principles of green engineering and begin to make more significant progress in the near future. These principles make a strong foundation. Words are nice, but I always feel better when I see real action occurring. A good thing to do that Ford has started, is to make cars that follow the principles of green engineering. They used reusable material for the upholstery. We could make all cars the same, instead of having luxurious, more harmful cars. Why not have all cars follow the green principles?

Weekly Response 6 Eric Kramer

Posted on October 16, 2012 by Eric Kramer

Emotional engagement is important, yet it can be tricky. In order to be successful, an individual must find a balance between using your emotions as your motivation to fuel you actions and having your emotions cloud or judgment, creating bias and altering your actions.

Outsourcing is an extremely controversial issue. However, I believe that we need outsourcing and I do not see a better alternative. We all need the items created in third world countries, especially now because practically everything is made in third world countries. When I go to school everyday, everything I wear was probably produced outside of the United States. The only reason for this is because it is simply cheaper, and I don’t see anything wrong with this. Yes, in certain scenarios like Nike, the conditions are horrible and unacceptable, but those are most likely few and far between. Efforts should be made to create better living conditions for these people, but the fact remains, the benefits we get from outsourcing will never lead us to want to stop it. No one wants to be paying probably fifty percent more than what they are paying now if items were to be made domestically.

Something I found intriguing was the idea that world leaders recognized the importance of voluntary action. This is ridiculous that this is coming out now, but even more upsetting is how about the importance of mandating certain actions. Why not increase the deposit laws a little? People buy these sodas and do not recycle them half the time. Why not make the deposit a significant amount of money to force the consumers to want to recycle their bottles? If they decide the increase in price is too much to pay for soda, then that is good as well because it will help reduce obesity. These people could then drink water instead of sodas and other sugary beverages. Obviously the beverage companies will not agree to an increase in the deposit laws because sales will decline. The government should give these companies significant tax breaks to convince them to allow it. Another possible idea is just making it a law to recycle bottles, punishable by jail time or hefty fines. This is an example of mandatory action which would be much more effective than voluntary, the only problem being it is much less realistic.

Voluntary action is nice in theory, but few actually take action. In order for voluntary action to be effective, you need masses of people to contribute and take action. You need organized groups and recruitment. A big problem is that many working people do not have the time or at least think they do not have the time to help out. But guess what, if you do not help out, the world is going to go to shit and you won’t have that time anyway. I should not be talking because I am one of those people that understands the problems but does nothing to help. I need to change my attitude. We all do.

Weekly Response 5 Eric Kramer

Posted on October 6, 2012 by Eric Kramer

When I first started reading the New Bedford article, I began to question the relevance of learning about the history of the area. Then, however it all made sense because we need to know the history to figure out the causes of problems, if these problems can be remedied, who is responsible, and usually these problems accumulate over long periods of time. Therefore, the best way to learn about an area’s environmental status is to review the history of the area and put the pieces together.

Something I found fascinating in the New Bedford Study is how the building of a bridge could have such huge negative impacts on the environment. The new presence of the bridge altered the current in the river and caused sediment to build up along the shore. These effects were difficult to foresee, but from studying the history of the area, we now know and can prevent the same mistakes from happening again.

After our lesson on the Greenhouse effect and global warming, I can put to bed all the theories that I have heard that global warming isn’t actually real. It is in fact a real issue that needs to be addressed immediately. Poor polar bears, seals and penguins, but especially the Polar Bears! These animals, along with dozens of others I am sure, rely on the presence of icecaps and cold climates for their survival. If the Earth keeps becoming hotter and hotter with every year at such a quick pace, these animals will become extinct and our children will grow up not knowing what a polar bear was. Future generations will feel about polar bears the way we feel about dinosaurs. We cannot keep treating the Earth like we do now. We take everything for granted without having the slightest inkling of the damage we may be causing. Environmental lessons should be taught at early ages, starting in elementary or middle school. Kids today have little knowledge about environmental problems, and it is harder to develop a desire to help at older ages.

We certainly need to deal with the methane deposits that are concealed under the permafrost in Russia. Regardless of how expensive it may be, the deposits need to be dealt with. Nations around the world should all chip in and help remove the deposits and dispose of them in a safe way. Somehow, pipes can be laid out to transport the gas to an offsite location where it can be dealt with. Otherwise, as global warming continues, the methane deposits will inevitably be released and cause crippling damage. Apparently, the amount of methane (CH4) in the deposits is massive and has the potential to cause serious damage. A large presence of methane has been linked to the global warming problem and even endangering certain species.

As a living human being on the planet Earth, I feel as if it is my duty to help preserve the Earth, or at least pass it on in the same condition I had it in. It is like borrowing something from someone, you are not going to borrow a hammer from someone and the return it in pieces. You want to give it back in the same condition you received it in. We are morally responsible for ensuring the continued health of the human race and survival of planet Earth.

https://spaces.usu.edu/download/attachments/20971966/Last_Polar_Bear.jpg

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/exclusive-the-methane-time-bomb-938932.html

Eric Kramer Weekly Response 4

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Eric Kramer

Being from Staten Island, I was able to relate to all of the talk about landfills. When on Staten Island and not at the Hunter dorms, I live with my family in fairly close proximity to the Fresh Kills Landfill, also known as the Staten Island Dump. Now, when passing through Staten Island, there is no way of knowing that the island is actually home to an enormous landfill. However, I remember growing up and smelling the foulness of the landfill every time I would pass by it. The Staten Island Mall is basically right across the street from the landfill, so the landfill was actually adjacent to residential and commercial areas.

I actually did a research paper and PowerPoint presentation on the correlation between the Fresh Kills Landfill and Lung Cancer on Staten Island for an internship I participated in during the Summer of 2010. I had noticed that several people in my neighborhood were suffering from lung cancer and I decided to look into it. I found reports from years past stating toxins that have been known to cause lung cancer and other health problems were detected in noteworthy amounts in nearby residential areas. This information was upsetting to me and I think better care needs to be taken when it comes to landfills.

Something that nearly everyone takes for granted is the idea of throwing out garbage. People just put their garbage out on the street on certain days when it will be picked it without giving any thought to where the garbage is actually going. We create millions of tons of garbage annually and it has to go somewhere. More people need to be aware that this is a significant problem and we need to make a more concerned effort to recycle, conserve, and search for alternative methods of waste disposal.

I found it shocking that disposable diapers are a significant part of the garbage we create each year. Firstly, that is disgusting because of what diapers are for. Secondly, this tells me that we need to find an alternative to disposable diapers. Perhaps people could start reusing their diapers, or a more efficient disposable diaper could be created.

With regards to the incinerator in Detroit, I am all for it for now. It is pretty much the best option we have for waste disposal and I think the people living in the area should just move away. Perhaps they could be given some sort of compensation such as a tax break to assist their transition. I do not, however think that incinerators a permanent fix. We need to find better, alternative methods of disposing of waste that will hopefully have no negative effects.

Citi Field, the home of the Mets, is a venue I enjoy going to because I am a huge Mets fan. Every time I go see a game, I cannot help from noticing the Brownfield that is Willets Point, also known as the Iron Triangle. The area is home to dozens of cheap, auto-repair, car shops, and junkyards. Because of the abundance of transmission fluids and other car parts, the area has become a Brownfield. Considering the area can be a very nice place to be, the city needs to clean up the Iron Triangle. I previously understood that there were plans to clean up the area, but many current storeowners are against being evicted because their shops are their lives. Somehow, a decision needs to be made.

P.S. I am a huge Seinfeld fan and I really appreciated the clip you played for us.

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