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2 0 1 0 N E W J E R S E Y

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT

SUSTAINABILITY ESSAY

Compiled and edited by: N.J. Smith-Sebasto, Ph.D.School of Environmental and Life Sciences

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Founded in 1855, Kean University has grown to become one of New Jerseys

largest institutions of higher learning. In 1958, Kean moved from Newark

to Union and currently occupies over 150 acres in Union and Hillside

Townships. Kean was granted university status on September 26, 1997. While

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a comprehensive institution offering 48 undergraduate and 28 graduate

degree programs serving some 15,000 students. Kean is a metropolitan,

comprehensive, interactive, teaching university. A campus dedicated to

the pursuit of excellence in higher education, Kean University supports astudent-centered learning environment that nurtures the development of the

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in a global society. It maintains a commitment to excellence and equity in

enrollment, instruction and administration.

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Contents

Introduction .....................................................................................................i

First Place, Alexander Davis, Elmwood Park Memorial High School ..............1

Second Place, Agnesa Redere, Kittatinny Regional High School ....................8

Third Place, Angela Hoover, Kittatinny Regional High School .....................15

Fourth Place, Michael Fogg, Kittatinny Regional High School ......................22

Honorable Mention, Dhara Shah, Matawan Regional High School ...............30

Honorable Mention, Evan Jackson, Ramapo High School .............................40

Kean University High School Student Sustainability Essay Contest

I believe that children are our future.Teach them well and let them lead the way.

I believe that children are our future.Teach them well and let them lead the way.

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According to over 1,700 scientists who signed the World Scientists Warning

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5$6.+(%"$6#$&',0'"$6'"%%#%56.('%,4"+6'(5(%"#$"3#-#%9K'"$6'%,',00.+'(,-5%#,$(',+'"*%#,$('%,'"66+.(('("#6'#((5.('%/"%'

can be implemented within the next decade. Advance registrations for the competition were received from

48 students. The actual number of essays submitted was 16. Judges used a comprehensive scoring rubric

to evaluate each submission. Essays were judged on originality of thought, demonstration of understanding

of principles and concepts of sustainability, grammar, syntax, and spelling as well as conformance to required

formatting.

In an effort to preserve the integrity of those essays that were judged to be the best, Ive kept my editing to a

minimum. Misspelling, errors of punctuation, etc. were the only changes I made. As a result, some essays may

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In addition to being published in this monograph, Dr. Jeffrey Toney, Dean of the College of Natural, Applied

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second place, $250 for third place, and $125 for fourth place. This monograph contains the top four award

winning essays as well as two honorable mention essays. These awards were presented at a ceremony on the

Kean University campus on 22 April 2009, the 40th celebration of Earth Day. Any student who chooses to

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2010 New Jersey High School Student Sustainability Essay Contest at Kean University

Introduction

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1

FIRST PLACE

ALEXANDER DAVIS

11TH GRADE

ELMWOOD PARK MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL

*************

In our society a new state of thinking has occurred. We have become obsessed with having more, regardless of the

consequences. We have become hedonistic, only thinking of the present and having no care for the future. This new instinctual,

or maybe id-like, mindset pervades our culture, from the highest level to the lowest. It threatens the current generation, the future

generation, and all the achievements of past generations. This threat is that of a lack of sustainability in any part of our culture,

be it economic, social, or environmental.

Just as the id in Freudian psychology, we are in the grips of a false state of timelessness, unable to understand the

effects that our actions can and will have. One such example is the state of New Jersey. If New Jersey were its own country,

then it would be the 32nd highest producer of global warming emission. The effects of global warming, such as sea levels rising,

will hit New Jersey with incredible force. We will lose our major beaches, because cities and nine percent of this State's land will

be flooded, and yet due to this culture of crass consumerism we have barely lifted a hand to stop it. To prevent these effects we

must wake up. We must grow from this stage of infantilism, alighting to form a super-ego.

New Jerseys problems do not just end there; a slightly more sinister problem is the destruction of the environment.

Throughout the years, New Jersey has tried to protect some of its natural beauty from destruction. Unfortunately, these efforts

have been opposed by certain businesses. These groups wish to take over the land and use it for other purposes, including but

not limited to: mining, manufacturing, and power plants. This may not sound like a true problem, but it leads to a dangerous

cycle. The effects could be devastating. The majority of the areas are woodland/forests, which absorb greenhouse gases limiting

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the effects of global warming. If these areas are removed then their effects of lessening global warming will cease. If whatever is

constructed there produces greenhouse gases, then that will increase the effects of global warming, which will lead to the

numerous problems mentioned above.

A third problem also exists: air pollution. New Jersey has one of the highest amounts of air pollution in the country. This

problem affects both people, causing numerous diseases and making living uncomfortable; and businesses, where 530,000

workers are unable to come to work due to the effects of air pollution. Air pollution shows few signs of stopping, and if it

increases it will only cause more workers to be unable to work. This may cause a vicious cycle that will damage businesses in

New Jersey, increasing poverty, and decreasing revenue to the state. That may increase New Jerseys reliance of both fossil

fuels and systems that cause pollution, damaging the state even further.

The United States, suffers from this problem. The United States has the world's largest national economy, but

unfortunately the base of this economy is unstable. The base that holds up the United States economy is starting to show some

cracks. This base is energy. The truly sad fact about this is that all of these cracks could be fixed through making the pillars

sustainable. This just increases the sadness though, for all of these problems have simple methods of fixing, yet due to laziness

and short-sightedness it seems unlikely for their repair to occur.

Energy consumption is the main fissure in this country's economic base. The United States economy consumes the

largest amount of total energy in the world, 100 quadrillion BTUs. This is at least double that of the United States' energy

consumption in the 1950. While some argue that this is not a bad thing, the economy is growing, so it is only natural for the

energy consumption to go up, but those people would not know the whole truth. The inconvenient truth is that this country is not

producing much of its own energy; the difference is primarily coming from foreign countries. This means that if any of those

countries faced its own economic catastrophe or stop selling its goods, the United States economy would be brought down. This

problem also leads into another issue: 86% of the United States' energy comes from fossil fuels. This means that not only is the

economy under the control (or at least greatly under the influence of) foreign groups, but that the economy is a) based on a

substance that will eventually disappear and b) a substance that causes mass environmental damage.

The threats that fossil fuels pose to sustainability are numerous and varied. The first and greatest problem of fossil

fuels is that they are in not at all sustainable. The result of this is that: The substance that makes up the majority of the energy

used in our economy is not sustainable. The reason for this is simple; all fossil fuels are the results of biological material placed

under extreme conditions for millions of years. Due to that fact, to produce any amount of this material would take longer than the

human species has been in existence. Of the three major fossil fuels, current estimates suggest that there will only be 43 more

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years of oil left, 61 more years of natural gas, and 148 more years of coal. Note that this is only if the amount used remains

stable, but the amount used is increasing which means that it is possible for these time periods to be much shorter. What does

this say about sustainability? It says that in a matter of a few decades the United States will run out of one of our most important

energy resources, with no backup plan.

As startling as the lack of sustainability of fossil fuels is, that is only the first problem of fossil fuels. This second

problem is global warming, which is a direct threat to all sustainability. Global warming, or more properly climate change, is a

change in the average temperature of the planet along with changes in weather patterns. One might wonder why this is a

problem, and the simple explanation is that the base of this country's society is weather patterns. A large number of major

agricultural centers exist near places with certain climate conditions. These conditions will change due to climate change so the

locations of agriculture centers may become worthless, or at least will be subpar. This does not even begin to describe the

damage that it will cause to the rest of the environment. Due to a greater amount of energy in the atmosphere, more volatile

storms will form, which will be a major threat to coastal cities, which will hurt trade.

Coming from the problems of fossil fuels, but not purely part of them, is how far behind the United States is in

renewable resources compared to the rest of the world. Renewable energy accounts for only 11% of the energy produced in this

country, which is a remarkably low number when compared to European countries. The problem is the lack of a back-up system

when the United States hits the peak oil stage. While other countries have an infrastructure that can adapt quickly to peak oil, the

United States cannot adapt to it. In fact, for those that think that 11% is high, the amount of electricity produced by renewable

resources is decreasing. Yes, in a time where this country needs greater energy efficiency this country is decreasing its energy

efficiency.

The preceding problem pale in comparison to the third: outsourcing to countries that are themselves producing

greenhouse gasses. The United States has a quite interesting conundrum: It uses up a great deal of energy, but it does not

produce much for export. Now, this is not merely a repetition of the myth that importing is bad, but is a factor in how the United

States lifestyle is unsustainable. The United States imports a great deal of material, which allows it citizenry to buy fairly cheap

products, but this system is not sustainable. The countries that the United States imports from have citizens with a fairly low

standard of living, which means that they tend to work for little pay. But, due to the United States continually trading with these

countries their standard of living will go up. This is, in and of itself, not bad. The problem appears when one realizes the impact

that this will have on the economy. Their increased standard of living will result in goods costing more, which will decrease

economic growth. A decrease in economic growth may lead to an economic crash, depending on market conditions at the time.

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This crash would most likely be an unfriendly environment for renewable resources.

The over reliance of importing has a second problem. If the standards of living do not improve, then to keep costs low

the countries will resort to using even more fossil fuels. Today this is seen, but the problem may become even greater if not

properly handled. If this increased use of fossil fuels occurs in other countries then it will a) decrease the amount available to the

United States, b) increase the rate of climate change and c) cause a potential rapid price increase. Depending on when each

country reaches peak oil, if a trading partner reaches it before the United States then this can cause a massive increase in

prices, which may further be aggravated by this country reaching peak oil, which could cause widespread economic collapse.

These problems of sustainability are not just specific to one country, but are global. Regardless of that, the United

States provides a microcosm of the problems facing the world. The world too is addicted to fossil fuels, but seems in part too

blind to realize that a society based on the substance is unsustainable.

As noted in the section on why the United States' addiction to fossi l fuels is unhealthy it is because fossil fuels are unsustainable.

There is only a limited amount of them in existence and there will never be any more, but the majority of countries continue to

use them. To be fair, a good number of countries are taking steps to use more renewable resources, but a roughly equal number

of other countries with the goal of industrializing are not. This once again poses a problem, because a number of the countries

that are not using more renewable resources are producing for the countries that are. When fossil fuels run out massive price

increases will occur in countries that have already made the leap from fossil fuels to renewable fuels.

Now, one might look at the running out of fossil fuels and think that it does not sound like much of a problem, but those

people will not be looking at the long term consequences of these events. The above predicts that countries will still be using

fossil fuels, for there is little incentive for them to change their means of producing energy. Despite the progress made by other

nations; climate change will go along right on schedule. The effects of climate change will be far reaching; some of the more

dangerous ones include the following: acidification of the oceans, melting of mountain glaciers, and changes in rainfall patterns.

The acidification of the ocean is probably something that we as a society should be most concerned about, for it will

show that we have reached a point of no return. The ocean is only able to absorb so much carbon dioxide, and it will eventually

reach a point where it can absorb no more. At this point the oceans will have become fairly acidic, which will cause a great deal

of damage to most sea life and will in turn cause damage to any country which relies on fish as a main source of food. Due to

this massive food shortage, many countries will most likely war over this limited resource. Millions of people will most likely die

from this food shortage, and it may be remembered as one of the greatest famines in history. From all these deaths and food

shortages international tension will most likely rise and wars will become more prevalent. Regardless of the societal impact, there

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are other effects; because the oceans can no longer absorb more carbon dioxide, there will be no buffer for continued production

of greenhouse gases, therefore the effects will be felt much more fully. An even more sinister possibility remains. This increased

acidity may release other gases stored in the ocean, such as methane, which will kill millions. All of these horrific effects from just

one slight effect of global warming could occur with incredible ease.

Melting of mountain glaciers is a major problem caused by climate change. Many towns, cities, even countries rely on

mountain glaciers for water, without them massive droughts will occur. This will cause the death of millions, and will horribly

destabilize areas. From this destabilization it seems likely that war will occur, which will increase the instability of the world. Even

if war does not occur, numerous other problems will result. From the mass number of deaths it will most likely be difficult for the

countries in question to continue to export, and if they fail to do so it will affect any country relying on trade with that one. Those

countries will in turn affect other countries, leading to a chain of effects that will severely damage the economics of many

importing nations. This too will increase global tension and could easily lead to a multiple wars. If this occurs with the acidification

of the oceans the problem will only increase and the chance of war occurring becomes a near certainty. The wars will cause

even more problems, for it will create a highly self-centered manner of thinking that will destroy any attempt to work on the

underlying problem.

The changing of the patterns of rainfall may not sound impressive to some individuals' ears, but the effects could be

devastating. We live in a country where there is a great water system, yet even we have to worry about droughts. For the whole

of human civilization, humans have formed groups near rivers and areas of normal rainfall. Changes in the distribution of rain

would negatively impact many developing nations, which as stated above would increase global tension and damage trade. This

threat is probably the most insidious of all, for changes in rainfall will also affect animal movements, which may cause a greater

conflict between humans and animals, which may further destabilize the environment.

Any of the above situations humans may be able to survive individually, but all three at the same time would be

disastrous. Each would damage the economy, would damage international relationships, and would damage the overall stability

of the world. All of the preceding events would increase one central problem, and that is selfishness. These three events would

require human beings to work together, to act as one united group, as one united nation on this island called Earth.

Unfortunately, this will never happen due to selfishness. This selfish attitude, which has its roots in the most primitive part of the

brain, will continue to resist working together.

The tragedy of commons states that when multiple individuals act rationally they will deplete a shared resource. In this situation,

Earth is that shared resource. Multitudes of rational, intelligent individuals are thinking only of themselves, acting purely out of

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self-interest. This is not necessarily a bad thing; most people act in a similar manner, and acting in this manner has been

beneficial in the past. This may be the worst part; the people who act this way have come to the conclusion, through experience,

that this way is good. They are out of their element. The sad truth is that this selfish manner of thinking will be the downfall of not

just these people, but also the world. In our three previous situations above, the resources that ever person needs have been

dramatically decreased, and so the leaders of the separate countries will try to gain more of these resources. They will most

likely try diplomacy first, but that will fail, for the carrying capacity of the Earth has been decreased. After the diplomacy has

failed, many of these nations will most likely go to war, which will decrease the resources even more quickly. Some nations may

win and some may lose, but another problem will most likely occur: a ceasing of manufacturing and/or exportation. Due to the

wars involved, most manufacturing will most likely turn to war related goods, which will decrease the number of other goods in

the market. This in and of itself may cause more wars. The wars may also cause many countries to set up an embargo, which

will cause many other countries to suffer. Even if the there is no embargo, most countries will most likely stop producing

exportable goods. This will result in even more international term-oil and may result in other wars. As one can see, even from just

a few of the negative effects of climate change the impact it will have on the human civilization will be horrific.

Where do all these problems come from? The answer to that is quite simple; it is a lack of sustainability. We live in a

culture that wants easy solutions, but in this case there are no easy solutions. We want everything now, but do not wish to have

to pay for it. We do not care about balance for we just want to increase the amount that we have, and the consequences be

damned. We wanted all the benefits from the Pied Piper, but refused to pay, and now we may be forced to suffer the

consequences. The effects of our demand for more are just now starting to be felt, and the only way to stop the negative results

from affecting us is to change both our style of living and our attitudes. We must find a way to live a sustainable life, rather than

an excessive life. When our goals were once to grow greater and bigger than ever before we must form a new goal, which must

be to strive for a state of equilibrium, or at least a state where we do not grow so large that we crash. In this case we should look

to nature, and observe how animals act, they boom and then they bust. Whenever animals in nature have their natural predators

removed they begin to rapidly increase in number. The rapid increase in number causes them to use up all their food sources,

resulting in mass starvation. Humans have no predator, and are rapidly growing; therefore we are vulnerable to this fate and

must avoid it. We must work together to reach a state where we will never boom, but also never bust.

Bibliography

"Blue Jersey:: New Jersey's Top 10 Local Environmental Issues for 2009." Blue Jersey - New Jersey progressive politics andnews. Web. 20 Feb. 2010..

"CIA - The World Factbook -- Country Comparison :: National product." Welcome to the CIA Web Site Central Intelligence

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Agency. Web. 20 Feb. 2010. ."Climate Change and Sea Level Rise." Climate.org - Website of the Climate Institute. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.

."Climate Change in the Pacific Region." U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Home. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.

."Fossil Fuels." University of Michigan. Web. 22 Feb. 2010. ."Global Warming - Environment New Jersey." Home - Environment New Jersey. Web. 20 Feb. 2010.

."Global Warming - Top 10 Things You Can Do to Reduce Global Warming." Environmental Issues - News and Information about

the Environment. Web. 22 Feb. 2010. ."Green Facts & Figures - Charleston, SC." Green Businesses in Hilton Head Island, Bluffton, Beaufort & Charleston - South

Carolina. Web. 18 Feb. 2010. ."Health | Climate Change - Health and Environmental Effects | U.S. EPA." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Web. 22 Feb.

2010. ."Latest News and Information on Energy In The United States." Latest News and Information on Pollution. Web. 15 Feb. 2010.

.Peak Oil, Matt Savinar, Life After the Oil Crash. Web. 22 Feb. 2010. ."Peak oil primer and links |." Energy Bulletin. Web. 22 Feb. 2010. ."The Public Health Impact Of Air Pollution In New Jersey - Environment New Jersey." Home - Environment New Jersey. Web. 22

Feb. 2010. ."Renewable Energy Sources in the United States." National Atlas home page. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.

."The Tragedy of the Commons by Garrett Hardin - - Articles." The Garrett Hardin Society. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.

."Tragedy of the Commons Described." U-M Personal World Wide Web Server. Web. 22 Feb. 2010. ."World oil supplies are set to run out faster than expected, warn scientists - Science, News - The Independent." The Independent

| News | UK and Worldwide News | Newspaper. Web. 20 Feb. 2010. .

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8

SECOND PLACE

AGNESE REDERE

12TH GRADE

KITTATINNY REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

*************

High school science classes teach students that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Even long after

graduation, few forget Newtons Third Law of Motion. Yet people still wonder why their water is contaminated after they spread

extra fertilizer on their lawn under the assumption that, if I put down more fertilizer, more grass will grow. This shows that there

is absolutely nothing wrong with Newtons Laws; the problem lies in the way Newtons Laws are taught. David W. Orr, in his

book Earth in Mind, commented that we have fragmented the world into bits and pieces called disciplines and subdisciplines,

hermetically sealed from other such disciplines (Orr, 1994). Orrs reference to the distinct subjects taught by school teachers

having no relation to one another is part of the reason why people cannot connect with the things they learn in school and why

our society is not yet sustainable. Making the populations of Earth sustainable will take time and will start with reforming

educational systems.

The problem posed by education lies in the way that school is separated from real life. Students memorize formulas

and vocabulary words to pass a test in school. However, right after the exam is completed, the information is forgotten from

short-term memory and is seldom used ever again. What students do keep in their minds is all the latest trends and gossip.

This shows that students minds are perfectly capable of storing and analyzing vast amounts of information. Then, why do they

not use this capacity to store, question, and use the immeasurable quantity of information presented by school? Educators

simply do not interest students in their subject and do not relate its significance to other issues. Orr continued:

By what is included or excluded, students are taught that they are part of or apart from the natural world. To

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teach economics, for example, without reference to the laws of thermodynamics or ecology is to teach a

fundamentally important ecological lesson: that physics and ecology have nothing to do with the economy. It

just happens to be dead wrong.

Relating ecology to economy is an important principle in achieving sustainability and only sets the stage for reaching

equilibrium between society and nature. Once students take interest in the effects of economy on ecology, they take interest in

how it affects their community. From interest rises devotion, and devotion to a community leads to devotion to a state, country,

and finally to the world itself. The goal of education is not mastery of subject matter but mastery of ones person (Orr, 1994, p.

xx). This means that the values instilled by education are of far more importance than the subject matter being learned. If the

world is to be sustainable, children must be raised to value nature equally or more than their MP3 players and video games. A

shift from technological to ecological literacy must occur to encourage people to make choices not only on the basis of their

desires (Hawken, 1994). When people learn to make choices based on the effects those choices will have on their community,

state, and county, they will positively affect the planet.

For example, the state of New Jersey is facing the issue of urbanization. A first impression may be that concentrating

a large population out of rural areas and out of wildlife habitat may be a good thing. However, an influx of people to urban

centers from rural areas can be just as destructive to the environment as building new homes in wilderness areas. The stress

placed on an urban center by an increase in population includes the need for more housing as the population of a city grows. As

more housing is erected, more roads are paved to create transportation to and from the housing. All of this causes the

destruction of natural habitat. Such destruction carries with it many risks including disruption of natural cycles and processes.

For example, paved areas create microclimates that are hotter than surrounding areas. Pavement removes soil bacteria that fix

nitrogen for plants that scrub carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Furthermore, pavement is impermeable and it is this

impermeability that disrupts the natural functions of the water cycle. Instead of collecting and seeping into the ground to

eventually reach an aquifer and replenish the drinking supply, water run-off occurs and collects innumerable chemicals such as

road salts and oil from cars (How does urbanization change a watershed. This contaminated water then enters nearby surface

water such as a river and upsets the rivers ecosystem. As pollutants travel downstream, damage to fisheries occurs and when

the run-off enters the ocean, it can damage marine ecosystems.

Urbanization causes the displacement of species from their natural habitat and crams them into an area of diminished

size where competition for space, food, water, and shelter takes place. Animals such as black bears are forced to include within

their home range housing developments. The result on the first day is a black bear rummaging through the garbage left outside.

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The next day, the bear does not leave when there are humans present nearby on the porch. On the third day of this scenario,

the bear enters the house, knocking down the screen door while in search of another easy meal. Once wildlife no longer has a

natural fear of humans, it is more likely to cause damage to property and even human life. This fictional bear would most likely

end up shot and killed because of developing aggression and fearlessness towards humans. All too often, scenarios similar to

this play out in real life.

Solutions for New Jerseys issue of urbanization can include various restrictions and incentives by the state

government but the most effective and well-received remedy will be educating the residents of the state. New Jersey residents

should not be bombarded with advertisements for cheap burgers and new cellular phones every time the television is turned on.

Burgers and cell phones are not the driving forces of life on this planet, yet they receive more attention than Earths natural

processes. Politicians and other concerned persons should sponsor advertisements detailing the effects of urbanization on the

plight of endangered species and their habitats in New Jersey as to attract attention to such matters. For example, New Jerseys

declining bat population will be accompanied by an increase in invasive and nuisance insects such as mosquitoes which carry

diseases including the West Nile Virus as well as parasites. An increase of invasive and nuisance insects will cause thousands

of dollars worth in damage to crops, livestock, wildlife, and peoples health. Public awareness of issues influences lawmakers

and if the public is concerned with issues regarding the urbanization of New Jersey, lawmakers will be encouraged to put into

effect various methods to solve the problem. Urbanization is only a threat to New Jersey residents if no action is taken to

manage the issue.

After considering the issue of urbanization, the topic of agricultural sustainability in the United States needs

consideration. How can daily food production meet the needs of the more than 300 million residents of the United States without

causing irreparable damage to the environment? People need to be more in sync with the sources of their food. Apart from the

farmer, few people know the story of the seed of corn being sown into the ground where thousands of seeds of corn have grown

before it in the Midwests Corn Belt. Growing a bushel of corn requires 1.5 pounds of nitrogen fertilizer (Hollis, 2008). In addition

to fertilizer, pesticides are applied to protect the crop and nearly 3,000 gallons of water are used to grow that single bushel of

corn (Bennett, 2007). This bushel may be converted into almost anything ranging from animal feed to building materials. Excess

nitrates in fertilizer cause ground and surface water pollution and adversely affect aquatic ecosystems and can also render

drinking water unsafe.

Synthetic pesticides threaten not only the lives of pests, but also the livelihood of beneficial species. It is a well-known

fact that the national symbol, the bald eagle, was driven to the brink of extinction during the years of 1947 to 1972 because the

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synthetic pesticide DDT made eggshells fragile. Furthermore, from where does the 3,000 gallons of water needed to produce

one bushel of corn come? The majority of water for irrigation comes from aquifers and surface water and a small amount of

reclaimed wastewater comes from sewage-treatment plants. There are two methods of irrigation: one is the flood process and

the other is spray irrigation (Faqs, 1998). The flood process can wash away essential topsoil and during spray irrigation a

substantial amount of water evaporates before being taken up by plants.

Driving the processes of manufacturing fertilizers and pesticides; pumping water for irrigation; and planting, harvesting,

cleaning, and transporting crops are oil and coal. Today, it is common knowledge that both oil and coal are difficult to extract

from the Earth and their refinement and eventual burning releases countless toxins into the atmosphere. Agriculture in the

United States impacts the land in several ways including destroying natural habitat, eroding precious topsoil, and discharging

countless quantities of contaminants into the environmentall while consuming precious nonrenewable energy sources.

Meat production in the United States is an even more disturbing story. The Second Law of Thermodynamics states

that whenever energy is converted from one form to another, some energy loses its quality (Miller, 2006). For example, raising a

cow requires providing the cow with more calories than its meat will produce. Each year, 35.7 million cows are slaughtered for

the meat industry (Cows). The Ten Percent Rule states that as energy goes up the food chain, only ten percent is passed on to

the next level. For example, if a cow consumes 100 kg of grass, only ten percent of the calories within that grass will be passed

on to the cow, and only ten percent of the cows calories will be passed on to the human who consumes a hamburger. This also

means that acre upon acre of habitat must be converted into feedlots to support the enormous number of cattle to feed the

people of the United States. Cattle are given feed that is derived from other products produced by the agricultural sector. By

considering the Second Law of Thermodynamics, the Ten Percent Rule, and the process of growing plants discussed earlier,

one easily reaches the conclusion that raising cattle requires the energy-intensive and extensive exploitation of resources

perhaps one that is not worth the effort.

Another important part of the agricultural production in the United States to consider is that getting the groceries from

the farm to household is yet another energy-demanding process. In the United States, a meal traveled an average of 1,500

miles to the consumers plate in the year 1980 (Pirog, 2006 ). As the price of gasoline increases, so does the price of food.

The problem in the United States is not that the production of agriculture is unsustainable. The problem is that

consumers do not know where their food is coming from, how it is produced, and what its constituents are. It is because of this

lack of knowledge (and therefore lack of education) that unsustainable farming practices have succeeded in the United States.

Perhaps this is also because children are taught that Newtons Laws of Motion are fact and that there is no reason to question

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fact. The way we produce food and fiber is responsible for the loss of 24 billion tons of soil each year, the sharp decline in

biological diversity, and the spread of deserts worldwide (Orr, 1994). The American consumer accepts this trade-off as a

necessary one, but Americans need to question every aspect of food production. By doing so, America will see that factory

farming is not the only way to produce food to feed the more than 300 million Americans. That realization will lead consumers to

invest their money in healthier food grown by local farmers using sustainable means. Consumers will also drive lawmakers to

pass legislation making labeling mandatory in order to educate the consumer on what is actually in the product he or she

purchases. The more informed the consumer, the more likely that he/she will make better choices for her/himself. Moreover, as

the number of enlightened consumers increases, the number of people who are diabetic, over-weight, and obese will decrease.

In addition, fewer factory farms mean a smaller environmental impact.

New Jerseys problem of urbanization and the United States problem of agricultural sustainability can both be solved

through proper education. Concerns about the alarming rate at which the human population is growing throughout the world can

too be solved by appropriate education. Third world countries account for most of the worlds population growth, but have the

least number of formally educated persons (Miller, 2006). In many third world countries, young girls chose prostitution as their

best means of putting bread on the table. These girls are in a position where they have no other choice. Any girl attending high

school in the United States of America would not likely consent to choosing prostitution as a profession. There is a direct

relationship between level of formal education and rate of reproduction. Typically, a high school graduate would seek further

education to ensure her/his ability to provide adequate time and money to raise a family. By first seeking an education and

profession into which to settle, a woman will be substantially older when she bears her first child. Such a delay also lowers the

amount of children born to one mother because the later in life a mother has her first child, the less time she has before

menopause. Simple logic proves this. Most importantly though, a woman who has obtained a degree from a four-year institution

and has settled into a job that allows her to provide for herself allows her to choose a partner who can provide additional funds

toward raising their family. Such a mother will not likely choose someone who might leave her. Empowering women by

providing them with opportunities of receiving an education will therefore slow the reproductive rate of people in poor countries

and stabilize the worlds population. The more ecologically educated the people of the world are, the fewer bumps will be along

the path to sustainability.

Proper education exposes students to diverse attitudes and ideas different cultures have to offer. This not only

produces more open-mindedness and tolerance, but upon the examination of various opinions and histories, one can see the

connections between how what happens in Uganda affects what happens in the United States of America. David W. Orr notes in

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his book, Earth in Mind, all education is environmental education. Dr. Orr believes that the focus of the educational system of

today is on theories instead of values, concepts rather than human beings, abstraction rather than consciousness, answers

instead of questions, ideology and efficiency rather than conscience. Aldo Leopold (1949) offered thoughts similar to Orrs

statement in his essay entitled Natural Country.

What is our educational system doing to encourage personal amateur scholarship in the natural-history field?

We can perhaps seek an answer to this question by dropping in on a typical class in a typical zoology

department. We find there students memorizing the names of the bumps on the bones of a cat. It is

important, of course, to study bones; otherwise we should never comprehend the evolutionary process by

which animals came into existence. But why memorize the bumps? We are told that this is part of biological

discipline. I ask, though, whether a comprehension of the living animal and how it holds its place in the sun

is not an equally important part. Unfortunately, the living animal is virtually omitted from the present system

of zoological education.

Such problems regarding the approach the modern educational system takes to producing so called well-rounded

students is the reason Rachel Carson (1962) ignited the environmentalist movement in the 1960s by warning:

In some quarters nowadays it is fashionable to dismiss the balance of nature as a state of affairs that

prevailed in an earlier, simpler world a state that has been so thoroughly upset that we might as well forget

it. Some find this a convenient assumption, but as a chart for a course of action it is highly dangerous. The

balance of nature today is not the same as in Pleistocene times, but it is still there: a complex, precise, and

highly integrated system of relationships between living things which cannot be safely ignored any more than

the law of gravity can be defined with impunity by a man perched on the edge of a cliff. The balance of

nature is not a status quo; it is fluid, ever-shifting, in a constant state of adjustment. Man, too, is part of this

balance. Sometimes the balance is in his favor; sometimesand all too often through his own activitiesit

is shifted to his disadvantage.

Humans are a product of nature and the environment. By definition, environment is all of the external factors

influencing the life and activities of people, plants, and animals. This is why we must not bite the hand that feeds us. Homo

sapiens are given their livelihood by the environment, just as every other organism on Earth. Yet we continue to challenge that

which gave us the opportunity to live much like a teenager rebels against his or her mother and father. Nature has not ceased to

forgive us, however unless we reach a compromise with her, we will have no one to blame but ourselves for the fall of the human

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race. In April 2009, Roger Chao stated: Only when all facets of environmental sustainabi lity (including pollution, overpopulation,

resource depletion, and mass consumption) are taken into consideration can we fully assess the sustainability of a certain action

(Chao, 2009).

Each one of us must learn to look at the big picture and see how respect and devotion to ones community results in

devotion to the world; devotion to the world ultimately results in a united effort to achieve sustainability for generations to come.

Bibliography

Bald eagle facts. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/birds/bald-eagles.aspBennett, D. (2007, December 28). It takes a lot of water to grow a corn crop. Southeast Farm Press

Retrieved from http://southeastfarmpress.com/grains/122807-corn-water/Craddock, M. (2006, October). Conserve wildlife foundation of new jersey's ~ exploitations, October 2006.

Retrieved from http://www.conservewildlifenj.org/explorations/archives/octnov06/bats.htmlCarson, Rachel, Bragana, Luis, Pinheiro, Manuel, Poplaski, W., & Selverstone, Harriet. (2006). Silent spring. Houghton Mifflin

Harcourt.Chao, Roger. (2009, April 3). Effects of increased urbanization. Science, 610, 37.

Cows. (n.d.).Retrieved from http://www.cowsarecool.com/cows.asp

Faqs. (1998, May 8).Retrieved from http://www.purdue.edu/envirosoft/groundwater/src/faq.htm#4

Groundwater contaminants. (2008).Retrieved from http://www.lenntech.com/groundwater/contaminants.htm

Hawken, P. (1994). The Ecology of commerce: a declaration of sustainability. Harper Business.Hollis, P. (2008, May 27). How much Nitrogen is really needed for corn? Southeast Farm Press

Retrieved from http://southeastfarmpress.com/grains/corn-fertilization-0327/How does Urbanization change a watershed?. (1999, March).

Retrieved from http://www.njstormwater.org/tier_A/pdf/Urbanization.pdfMajor crops grown in the united states. (2009, September 10).

Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/oecaagct/ag101/cropmajor.html

Miller, George. (2006). Environmental science. 2006.Orr, D. W. (2004). Earth in mind: On education, environment, and the human prospect. Washington, DC: Island Press.Pirog, R, & Benjamin, A. (2003, May). Checking the food odometer: comparing food miles for local versus.

Retrieved fromChecking the food odometer: Comparing food miles for local versus produce sales to Iowa institutions.Producing profits. (n.d.).

Retrieved from http://lepton.marz.com/ncga/comm_dev_center/index_PG.aspSherry, Clifford, Company, R.R., & Leopold, Aldo. (1970). A Sand county almanac. Random House of Canada.US & World Population Clock. (2009, December 17).

Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.htmlWhat is Sustainable agriculture? (1997, December).

Retrieved from http://sarep.ucdavis.edu/concept.htm#AnimalPractices

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THIRD PLACE

ANGELA HOOVER

12TH GRADE

KITTATINNY REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

*************

Unfortunately, the ability to live in a sustainable fashion is an issue that has gone largely unnoticed in the developing world in

which we all live. With the drive to conquer, capture, spread, and claim more than just lands and people, we as a species have

tragically undermined exactly what it is we seek so relentlesslya safe, salubrious planet in which we may raise our children,

exist comfortably, and make livings for ourselves free from threat and harm. In our collective efforts to dissolve boundaries, erect

new testaments to human ingenuity and prowess, breach gaps in knowledge and barrel down the path of progress, we have

made an array of careless misjudgments and precarious sacrifices. To expand living quarters, we have slashed acres of

forested lands and paved over priceless bionetworks. The government turns a blind eye to heinous abuses committed by

businesses in order to insure less expensive products even though they may cost the trusting public its health at the very least.

Organisms from foreign sources traverse their native habitat boundaries with the influx of imported goods, all the while carrying

with them the potential of having deleterious effects upon the environment. Moreover, the question remainswhy such abuse?

Where did we as a species lose touch with our provider, Earth? What drove us from consciousness of terrestrial health? Most

importantly, how can we save ourselves from our destructive habits and learn to live sustainably? Are we too late?

Contrary to the opinions of some, there is reason to hope and always time to effect a change. In attempting to cure our

pressing sustainability quandaries, one may also question where we should begin. True, there are corruptions and contusions at

many levels, troubles to be addressed at every echelon of human living, but it is vital to solve certain issues above others if we

are to put the best foot forward on our seemingly daunting journey to stability. Grass root movements may hold the most promise

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in spurring us forward in the good fight, but that does not necessarily rule out national or global movements either, though

expenses and communication will turn out to be great obstacles in standardization and globalization of common regulations,

themes and movements. However, if we all start out considering our means and strive for reachable sustainability goals that we

can attain on our own personal levels, enough momentum will be collected so that bigger entities will have no choice but to follow

suit. Aside from individual input, a striking start to get the gears moving in a sustainability renaissance would be at the state level.

Here in our home state of New Jersey and many other heavily populated and growing states, one of most pressing

issues that arises is that of smart growth. When closely analyzing the cities and suburbs of our Garden State, one becomes

aware of thin veins of surrounding greenery with a great amount of human intrusion. This translates into a poor use of available

space at the cost of environmental health. Most of New Jersey follows through with this building code, this sprawling

development. With sprawl, infrastructural buildings and developments are erected in whatever formations are fit to the builders

fancies without regard to the natural cycle of the habitat. Here, the true value of a wooded lot or a vernal pool is thought too little

of and is redesigned in a heartbeat to accommodate for the builders vision. From the view of urban planning institutions, such a

building style is considered superior due to its attractiveness, pedestrian-friendliness and compactness (Beck, & Kolankiewicz,

2007). However, when emphasizing only the positive attributes, some ugly truths remain undisclosed to the public. Though the

new development is aesthetically pleasing and less congested, sprawl devours open acreage and disturbs ecosystems, among

other issues (Kasabach, 2005).

Sprawl threatens sustainable lifestyles in that the exploited lands cannot support such population growth for an

indefinite period. By spreading out developments instead of condensing them, we are not just eliminating open space, but

allowing our society to fall victim to other issues as well. With urban sprawl, tree cover is diminished, habitat is lost, and the

amount of impermeable surfaces rises, increasing groundwater pollution when precipitation is not allowed to leach into the water

table through soil layers (Hoyt, 2010). Upon the urbanization of all available free, open space in the state of New Jersey, we will

come to realize the great harm that is being done to not only our present living conditions, but to the future as well. What we

need to do here in our home state is put forth a strong initiative to condense developing areas to protect our precious open space

commons. Instead of pursuing development in the hopes of becoming prosperous, we must take stock of our resources and live

within our means. By spreading human presence over greater expanses of land, we are making it very difficult for the ecosystem

to thrive and regenerate. In doing so, we are limiting our prospects for the future. Frighteningly enough, New Jersey is not the

only state trying to cope with development based sustainability issues. The whole country is in a crisis due to poor land use, but

on the larger scale, all the more overwhelming.

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On a national scale, we should be targeting the dire situation of agricultural health for a sustainable tomorrow. Prior to

WWII, America was a nation raised upon the backs of small, individual farmers. Not only did they grow crops to feed their

compatriots, but they also knew how to do so in a sustainable fashion with the resources they managed to scrounge together.

After industrialization and increased demand, we in America are now deeply immersed in the age of the agribusiness (Krebs,

1998). Across the country, a colossal amount of acreage has been devoted to fields upon fields of staple crops such as corn,

soybeans, and wheat. While the importance of food is irrefutable to the growing country, its safety and adequacy have recently

come into question. Sanitation and contamination regulations are sorely lacking in the fields with major corporations and the

government being highly suspect. In our country, a sparse amount of federal agencies and even fewer inspectors work to

administer an entire gambit of outdated tests and regulations to over 100,000 farming tycoons, but to no avail (Meyerhoff, &

Schultz, 2006). From the field to the cooking pot, food travels unprotected and vulnerable through polluted fields, dirty

packinghouses and filthy supermarket shelves. With these bacterial infestations, millions of Americans fall sick every year with

fatality numbers reaching up to 9000 annually (Meyerhoff, & Schultz, 2006).

The problems that arise here also contribute to other issues within our nation. Lack of diversity proves to be unhealthy

and environmentally unstable in the long run (Picone, & Tassel, 2002). Staple crop species deplete the soil of its nutrients after

repeated plantings and spray-on pesticides are proving to raise more issues than were first suspected. In planting said

monocultures, we are participating in a genetic erosion among our crop species which will lead to the decreased ability to adapt

crops to future conditions (Picone, & Tassel, 2002). Not only that, but farmers agribusinesses are sweeping examples of poor

land use. Currently, the accepted way to grow any crop for the masses is to do so in bulk. This misappropriation of land is very

inefficienta healthier practice would be to maximize produce production in using only the most fertile lands, instead of every

acre of land that can be propagated (Lambin, 2010). Moreover, farmers incorrect or apathetic approaches to pollution,

pesticides, and contaminated wastes are conducive to public harm and abuse. This is most easily evidenced in reported

outbreaks of E. coli, Mad Cow Disease, Bird Flu and most recently H1N1, all traced back to contaminated food sources

(Silberner, 2009). If proper regulations had been followed and toxins dealt with or even proper recall protocols were to be

followed, catastrophic outbreaks of this magnitude could be prevented or stopping in earlier stages.

Currently, our methods of farming are not at all sustainable, nor are our techniques for stopping corporate abuse.

Traditionally, the Food and Drug Administration has served to be a reactionary organization in light of food-related maladies.

Sustainably, this is not the answer because if we focus only on cleaning up issues, we will never succeed in improving. The key

is in preventing problems from occurring in the first place while endeavoring to react to problems that arise (Silberner, 2009). In

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addition, by spreading out farms in an attempt to meet growing needs, we as a people are wasting land space and raping the

land of it precious nutrients. Such exploitation cannot go on indefinitely and moreover, neither can the publics ignorance in the

matter. The government must take a hard-nosed stance in disciplining abusive agribusinesses and entice farmers to be more

conscious of what they can and should grow as opposed to whatever is capable of reaping the most cash at market.

In order to solve Americas troubles in farming and horticulture, we need to start with the government and farmers. The

farming practices we are coerced into accepting today translate into so much more than agrarian ignorance upon deeper

analysis. In the age of externalized prices, contaminated acres, poisoned waterways, unwholesome air quality, abused animals

and diseases are not accounted for (Moody, 2009). To prevent volumes of chemicals and toxins from joining our water table we

as a society must realize the potential we have in merging older farming practices with the newfound knowledge of smart

irrigation and creation of arable land. In increasing crop diversity and condensing farm space with more efficient farming

practices, we have the prospective to create more open space capable of being reclaimed by the wilds. If we were to pursue a

wider, more diverse plethora of crop species, we may come to find that they have a greater tolerance for certain strains of pests

and disease, allowing cultivators to cut back on pesticide use. The problems we encounter as a result of our own nations

industries have the ability to be fixed with a great amount of determination and increased sense of responsibility. There is,

however, a growing problem that is proving to be more difficult in overcoming and it involves all the countries of the world.

Globally, nations should be conscious and proactive in preventing the invasion and spread of non-native species to

other countries. Historically, people have never been entirely fretful about whatever bizarre creature was crossing borders within

the confines of crates of imported goodsthe issue at hand was whether their newest shipment was intact and if it was procured

at a reasonable price. So what if a strange rogue creature scuttled out from the packaging and found refuge in the storeroom or

made its way to the bushes across the streetout of sight, out of mind? The situation remained normal until problems species

such as the Asian long-horned beetle, milfoil, Japanese Barberry, or even the Zebra Mussel found a favorable niche in their new

home (Campbell, 2004). These organisms in addition to a myriad of other harmful species have infiltrated areas all over the

world and wrought havoc upon not only native species, but to specific industries as well. Invasive species are harmful in that they

are vectors of new diseases, promote extinction among native species, reduce biological diversity, alter ecosystem processes

and prove to be economically damaging (Vitousek, D'Antonio, Loope, & Westbrooks, 1996).

Invasive species have found success in other countries based upon two broad sets of factorsthese include species

based adaptations as well as characteristics of the given environment. Introduced species are usually of a generalist nature in

living space and diet, tend to proliferate quickly, and possess the ability of phenotypic plasticity, the ability to shift phenotypes

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based on environmental stresses (Jong, 2005). Most invasive species exist in low population densities before spreading

throughout the infected country. Upon branching out to new habitats, invasive species will begin to compete with native species

for space, sustenance in the form of food and water and even nutrients. If these invasive species happened to evolve under the

influences of competition or predation in their homelands, the new environment may allow them to proliferate quickly if it lacks

prohibitive factors (Verling, Ruiz, Smith, Murphy Galil, & Miller, 2007).

Invasive species are so detrimental to the globe because once they cross borders to greener pastures, they are

incredibly difficult to eradicate and often have lasting effects upon the invaded area. For example, consider the Asian Tiger

Mosquito, imported to the United States in shipments of old tires. After the import of tires increased in the 1980s, the population

of mosquitoes also boomed. By 1992, the mosquito had made twenty-five new states its home and they have been spreading

ever since (Vitousek, D'Antonio, Loope, & Westbrooks, 1996). The propensity for mosquitoes to suck the blood of a great variety

of mammals has also allowed them to become vehicles for many diseases between species such as West Nile, St. Louis

encephalitis, LaCrosse (California) encephalitis, and Eastern equine and Western equine encephalitis ("Illinois department of,"

2007). Other species, such as the Zebra Mussel, have not only invaded costal waters successfully, but also work to alter

biological processes in the area they have taken over by decreasing biological productivity. Some invasive species are even

imported purposefully to new countries under the assumption that they will be beneficial in a new environment. Originally, the

golden apple snail was imported to the Asian rice ecosystem in hopes that it would provide the people there with a supplemental

source of protein( Vitousek, D'Antonio, Loope, & Westbrooks, 1996). However, the illusive gastropod wreaks disorder in the rice

paddies of Asia by devouring harvests.

We can solve issues such as this by enforcing stricter regulations upon imported goods and services around the world.

While many ecosystems may be able to cope with the attack of an invasive species in some sense through years of gradual

assimilation, the threat of invasive species around the globe is not a sustainable occurrence in the modern world if we desire to

remain stable. What remains to be done is to, once again, increase public empathy and global awareness. As of now, people are

under the impression that biological invasion is impossible to prevent due to the continued exapansion of the world economy and

that it represents a normal progression of evolutionary history across the planet (Vitousek, D'Antonio, Loope, & Westbrooks,

1996). While biological invasions have been a part of nature since the beginning of time, let alone our own history, the rate at

which they are occurring is far too high to be benign. While stemming the flow of foreign organisms into countries all over the

world will prove to be a difficult challenge due to the extensive reaches of global contact and trade, we must work together to

slow the process, even though halting it is unattainable. Hope does exist in convincing students, peers and the government that

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the problem of invasive species is one we can conquer and is an issue even worth attacking. By implementing educational

instruction in dealing with invasive organisms and enforcing stricter guidelines in the field of inspecting imports, we can make a

difference. Existing laws such as the Federal Noxious Weed Act of 1974, the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and

Control Act of 1990 and the Lacey Act need updating and can stand to be strengthened and even expanded (Vitousek,

D'Antonio, Loope, & Westbrooks, 1996). Furthermore, if the public were to provide more support in prevention of invasive

species and display a greater concern in their environment, they could take initiative to recognize invaders and terminate them

before they are given the chance to spread. When a greater consciousness of the issues at hand is instilled within the minds of

the masses, the public will more likely be able to understand and achieve a change in a positive direction.

When observing the plight of our planet and the maladies we must deal with in society as a result of our own choices,

one cannot help but feel a deep sense of chagrin. Everywhere across the globe, people have fallen for the seemingly flawless

face of unheeded progress often at the cost of what they need the most. For the promise of a successful plot of land, people

have unwittingly chosen to pollute their water sources. To find a home in a safe suburb, people have hacked the trees of the

forest down to their stumps only to wonder why ecosystems fail and native species fall to disease and famine. What we need to

do, as a collective group, is to traverse the ingrained ideal that growth is the supreme goal for all of us and instead embrace a

lifestyle in which we follow smart maintenance of both growth and economics (McKibben 2010). For far too long has our

country with all its states pursued great wealth and spoils, now even the rest of the world is trying to achieve the same status as

our country. What we need to do in the states and across the nation is make smarter investments, think before springing into the

best deal. Globally, we all need to bond together in assuring each other native floras and faunas will not infiltrate their borders.

In dealing with our shortcomings and mistakes however, we must not sweep anything under the proverbial rug, but display them

for the entire public to see. Together, we must all work to cure the population of its money lust and apathetic sentiments toward

the earth. We can accomplish this by thinking globally and acting locallyit is not too late. We have only been given one planet

upon which to live and grow. If we hope to persevere and continue to do so, a change must be effected. A sustainable future is

waiting for us just beyond the horizon and it is up to us all to make the first steps.

Works Cited

Beck, R., & Kolankiewicz, L. (2007). Sprawl city: u.s. bureau of census data on urbanized areas .Retrieved from http://www.sprawlcity.org/hbis/wis.html

Campbell, F. (2004, September). The Global invasive species team: regional lists of pests.Retrieved from http://www.invasive.org/gist/products/gallery/regionlist.html

Hoyt, A. (2010). How urban sprawl works.Retrieved from http://geography.howstuffworks.com/terms-and-associations/urban-sprawl2.htm

Illinois department of public health. (2007, March 29).Retrieved from http://www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/pcmosquitoes.htm

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Jong, G.D. (2005). Evolution of phenotypic plasticity: patterns of plasticity and the emergence of ecotypes. New Phytologist,166(1), 101-118.

Kasabach, P. (2005). New Jersey future. Retrived fromhttp://www.njfuture.org/index.cfm?ctn=9t45e1o30v9g&emn=5u92y86g2h42&fuseaction=user.xcontent&XContent=1_4

Krebs, A.V. (1998). Corporate agribusiness--America's merchants of greed.Retrieved from http://www.organicconsumers.org/corp/greed.cfm

Lambin, E.F. (2010, April). Solutions to environmental threats: Land use. Scientific American, 302(4), 58-59.Meyerhoff, A., & Schultz, W.B. (2006, September 24). Something's rotten in food oversight. The Washington PostMcKibben, B. (2010, April). Breaking the grwoth habit. Scientific American, 302(4), 61Moody, J. (2009). Agribusiness and the fall of Rome. Wise traditions in food, farming and the healing arts ,Picone, C., & Tassel, D.V. (2002).Agriculture and biodiversity loss: industrial agriculture .

Retrieved from http://www.landinstitute.org/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/08/23/439bd36c9acf1Silberner, J. (2009, July 27). Contaminated food: a more watchful eye needed.

Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106973542Verling, E., Ruiz, G.M., Smith, D.L., Murphy, K.R., Galil, B., & Miller, A.W. (2007, March 5). Supply-side invasion ecology:

characterizing propagule pressure in coastal ecosystems.Retrieved from http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/272/1569/1249

Vitousek, P.M., D'Antonio, C.M., Loope, L.L., & Westbrooks, R. (1996). Biological invasions as global environmental change.American Scientist, 84. Retrieved from http://ddr.nal.usda.gov/bitstream/10113/61/1/IND20537951.pdf

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FOURTH PLACE

MICHAEL FOGG

12TH GRADE

KITTATINNY REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL*************

What would you do if I told you that human beings would perish in 10 years due to unsustainable lifestyles, depletion of natural

capital, habitat destruction, and war? Maybe we should back up a little, lets say it wasnt just your average Michael Fogg telling

you this, lets say it was E.O Wilson, and he gave you a 6-hour talk on the why and how of it. If he told you that the only way for

the human race to survive is to conserve the remaining aquifers, endangered species, forests, and to stop the usage of oil for

replacement alternative energy resources like solar, wind, and hydropowers, what would you do and how would you do it?

Hopefully that will never happen, but I strongly feel that human beings must change their ways of living; such as energy use,

resource consumption, and land usage in order to improve the future for the planet we depend upon for survival. After having an

environmental science and then an environmental science honors class, I have learned the ins and outs of sustainability and its

importance to human beings as a species, and I hope to convey them to you in a way that helps to develop an environmentally

sound consciousness for the future.

Sustainability is the ability of the earths various systems, including human cultural systems and economies, to survive

and adapt to changing environmental systems (Miller, 2006). To survive is to endure, and to endure is what human beings have

done as a species for approximately 10,000 years. Through trial and error, adapting to different habitats, local extinctions, natural

selection, etc., humans have survived almost everything. Now we face a new, greater challenge brought upon by ourselves. This

new concept of sustainability has been brought to light over the last century via industrialization, urbanization, extinctions, and

depletion of natural capital. Therefore, not many people are familiar with this term and may want to know why it is so important.

What we do now is anything but sustainable. Our current population of approximately 6 billion uses resources, consumes

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energy, and lacks care for the environment (i.e. pollution/habitat destruction), and so forth. According to G. Tyler Miller, one path

to sustainability includes the following: Understand and conserve the Earths Natural Capital (the natural services and resources

that this planet supplies in order to keep all life alive), stop the degradation of natural capital (such as clear cutting, and water

usage), to find solutions to restore natural capital, as a result, the 4 th step involves trade-offs (compromises we must make for

the solutions), and finally individuals must work together to solve the problem of our current lifestyle. Living sustainably means to

live off what our planet provides for us and not compromising for future generations, what we do now is create our own ways to

live and create our own supplies that later harm the environment which will directly translate to future generations, therefore, our

current practices are unsustainable. In order to view the pressing issues of sustainability, we must look at the three different

levels; worldwide, nationwide, and statewide, beginning with statewide.

To begin, we look to our lovely garden state, New Jersey, in which we live in and cherish dearly. New Jersey is the

most densely populated state in the nation, having a population of around 9 million, on only 8,700 square miles. With so many

people, there has to be a large demand for resources and energy. In fact, New Jerseys forests have been cut at least 3 different

times for the charcoal industry alone, and only 1% of its original forests remain (Miller, 2006). Even though using all those trees

for charcoal, New Jersey mainly gets its electricity from nuclear power, with more than half the state being nuclear dependant.

According to U.S. Energy Information Administration (USEIA), there are three nuclear plants in New Jersey, one in Salem

County (PSE&G), one in Forked River (Exelon Corp.), and another in Lower Alloways Creek Township (PSE&G). Even though

using nuclear power produces fewer greenhouse gases than by using coal and oil, there are still the radioactive waste materials

of Uranium 235 with which to deal. After the fission is complete, the fuel rod containing the used uranium must be disposed of

because it can no longer be used again inside the reactor for useful energy. The huge problem with nuclear energy is that we

have not discovered a safe way to dispose of these spent fuel rods. The ways that we store them now is either in large swimming

pool-like places inside the reactor filled with boric acid (which helps to absorb the radiation given off by the uranium or

plutonium), or in large barrels that are specially made to endure weather and temperature extremes and also to be completely

sealed. This cannot be recycled into the environment naturally and degrade back into normal elements as most other naturally

occurring elements do. It would release radiation into its surroundings and cause many problems for the environment through

radioactive decay. As of now according to the USEIA, New Jerseys total usage of wind, solar and hydropower amount to less

than 0.1% of New Jerseys total power usage. So why havent we tried using more of whats free and always there? Money is the

answer, and in todays economy nothing much will come of it, with New Jerseys school budget cuts as an example. Creating

wind turbines, solar farms, and hydropower plants costs large amounts of money that New Jerseys government cant supply

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right now. In April 2006, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities approved regulations that expanded the States renewable

portfolio standard, requiring utilities to generate 22.5 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2021, with solar

sources generating at least 2 percent of this standard (USEIA, 2010). This is a promising look ahead for New Jersey for a more

sustainable lifestyle, but 22% is not enough, because there are still plenty of environmentally harmful electricity production ways

in the state, and in order to be completely sustainable (energy consumption wise) we would have to use all renewable resources.

Of course that presents a problem, because that involves oil companies losing business and car companies having to switch

over, and our entire oil dependant lives to forever be changed. With slow and gradual changes it is possible though, if every 5

years after the renewable portfolio standard increase, we change 10% of our energy consumption over for more renewable

resources, we could be completely renewable by 2066. With a cooperating governor of course, we could use a small state tax

increase in order to collect money for the construction of local plants for wind and solar farms, and hydro plants. Most of New

Jersey can be solar and hydro powered since we are a coastal state, and the fact that we live on the Delaware River can provide

for a lot of hydro power plants (assuming that the construction of said plants does not interfere with trout, shad, sturgeon, and

other fish migrations). The construction of these power plants must be preceded with heavy research done by Audubon societies

and NJ Fish and Wildlife in order to ensure maximum safety for local amphibians, fish, and migratory birds. The benefits of

renewable resources include its ability to repay for its usage. As argued in the Scientific American issue of November 2009,

The average cost in the U.S. in 2007 of its conventional power generation and transmission was about 7/kWh (cents per

kilowatt hour- a measure of the usage of electricity and its cost) and its projected to be 8/kWh in 2020, but today the cost of

wind, geothermal, and hydroelectric are all less than 7/kWh and projected to be 4/kWh or less in 2020. Eventually these

energy sources will pay off and we will not regret it when they do, because we will always have the sun, the wind, and

rivers/oceans as long as we walk this planet, but we wont always have crude oil. The unavoidable depletion of oil due to

humankinds attachment to it is something that we must all prepare for, this Long Emergency as James Howard Kunstler calls it,

and Beyond it is an abyss of economic and political disorder on a scale that no one has ever seen before. Of course those were

just his thoughts on what couldhappen, but the validity in his point is that if and when oil is completely depleted, unless we are

prepared for it we will suffer greatly. If we are to be prepared, we are to have to harness the most of the free energy our planet

provides us with in order to take those first few steps away from oil and onto a more sustainable lifestyle. Renewable resources

of energy may require a large amount of harnessing stations, but there is no harmful wastes produced just clean energy.

Secondly, we move to a national scale for the land of the free and home of the brave as we sing in our national

anthem, the United States of America. But just what and whom do we sing our love forcertainly not for the plants, of which we

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exterminate whole communities without batting an eye. Certainly not the animals, of which we have already extirpated many of

the largest and most beautiful species (Leopold, 1949). With this he was speaking of Americans and their national anthem,

exploring what we sing our love for. Do you think before you spray that RoundUp on your lawn to take care of those nuisance

weeds? Did that thought ever cross your mind that youre harming native plant species just because you feel like it may result in

ecological backlash or unintended secondhand harmful effects of a substance on the environment? For example lets recall an

incident a few years back when DDT, or dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane for you scientists out there, when Americans were using

this repellent on crops to keep certain pests away and eliminate malaria, without many realizing, this chemical was very toxic to

many aquatic species, such as trout, crayfish and other shellfish and fish, but most detrimental to raptors, or birds of prey. It

became a reproductive toxicant for the raptors and songbirds, causing their eggshells to thin and result in a very weak egg. This

causes a great concern for the species future because as we know, the most affected raptor, the Bald Eagle, was brought down

to a critically endangered state due to loss of young. Theirs eggs were being broken so easily that close to anything could break

it, and as a result, their population plummeted. With help of human intervention, the Bald Eagle was saved from almost certain

extinction. The effects that humans have today change the world everyday, and everything we do matters. Biodiversity is

something this world was blessed with, and we laugh in its face every day with commercial fishing, repellants, exterminators,

habitat destruction, clear cutting, etc. People want their lawns to look pretty by eliminating dandelions and replacing it with

Kentucky Blue Grass, and then sprinkling their lawns with fertilizers filled with phosphates. None of which is native whatsoever to

the Americas, originating from Europe and Asia, and Mother Nature certainly does not open up a bag of fertilizer every week and

cover the planet. To find anything native in America is hard anymore, like the Russian olive, dandelion, apple tree, or the zebra

mussel you see in the lake, or the Asian carp you see 3 feet out of the water sometimes. These are only a few examples of some

non-native species in America, most are brought in with hopes to improve things, or come on accident. The result most of the

time ends with the non-native replacing a native species due to interspecific competition, or competition among a species for

food and habitat. These can sometimes cause a complete extinction of a species with or without the help of humans. For

example, lets take a look at the case of the Passenger Pigeon; a once thriving bird in North America is now extinct. While it

thrived, it was a stupendous and biological success. When it perished, it perished quickly and totally. The First of its problems,

and the most obvious, was the excessive and greedy slaughter practiced against it by humans. (Quammen, 1996). This bird had

a population of approximately 5 million before humans had entered the picture (1880), once they did; the last one recorded was

in March 24, 1900. A completely human induced extinction and not the only one. There is the story of the Dodo, the Tasmanian

tiger and the Honeycreeper. David Quammen explores these extinctions thoroughly in his book The Song of the Dodo. Each

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mentioned species comes in contact with humans, and is later driven to extinction because of them. In the definition of

sustainability mentioned near the beginning of this essay, it said the earths various systems which includes all of the biotic

systems it supports. When humans intervene in these systems and disrupt the natural cycles, species loose habitat and some

become extinct. Something humans need to understand before clear cutting for logging industries is the species-area

relationship that we havent quite understood fully yet. What this says is within a given area containing a species, depending on

its size, part in the food chain and population it may or may not be able to survive in that given area. What we have generalized

is that a larger area will support larger species and or a larger diversity of species, or Less circumference encompasses less

area. That much is logically implicit. Less area harbors fewer species. Thats the empirical reality which Forster had seen with his

own eyes (Quammen, 1996). That is the general conclusion of the theory, but it has no specific amounts for any type of species

because there is no specific numbers for any species, each depend on the other for survival in any given habitat, and there is no

set number relationship between a species and an area. That is why it is so important for us to minimize out impacts on other

habitats, especially when clear cutting forests, because it can have detrimental effect on the species that live there. Even if a

single plant species were to be eliminated from a food chain, there could be other species that solely depend upon that for

survival, such as the story between the Dodo and the Calvaria tree. In response to intense exploitation of its fruits by dodos,

Calvaria evolved an extremely think endocarp as a protection for its seeds; seeds surrounded by thin walled pits could have

been destroyed in the dodos gizzard. These specialized, thick-walled pits could withstand ingestion by dodos, but the seeds

within were unable to germinate without first being abraded and sacrificed in the gizzard of the dodo (Quammen, 1996). This is

called obligatory mutualism, where one species depends on another for survival and is seen everywhere on the planet. If we

were to disturb the delicate links of the food chain, the effects could be detrimental to certain habitats. Now only 3% of Americas

original forests remain and most compose of what the average American owns in her/his backyard. In order to aim toward a

more sustainable lifestyle, logging companies must start the practice of planting trees for their own usage, to greatly reduce clear

cuttings devastating effects such as biotic impoverishment, loss of economic sustainability, and greater environmental instability.

Most importantly, forests provide the air that most creatures on this planet breathe, along with that they are a vital spot in the

food chain. So we must proceed with caution, conserve our remaining wildlife, practice alternative methods from clear cutting,

because they hold the key to our survival and for future generations.

On to our third and final topic, which brings us to a global scale and to our final and most important topic; Water

resources. Planet earth, as we know and love it, is covered in 75% water. The human body is composed mainly of water, having

a 50-80 percent of water. Water is the center of all life, and all life requires it survive in one way or another. It is also a perpetual

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resource, an essentially inexhaustible resource ion a human time scale (Miller, 2006). But through industrialization,

urbanization, and pollution our perpetual resources have become tainted. How is this possible though, isnt water constantly

moving and being filtered through the ground? The problem is that microscopic things like phosphates from fertilizers, small

polymers, fecal coli form, ammonia, and so forth have leaked into the ground where runoff and leaching occurs. The water cycle

is an important and long cycle in which every person must understand in order to conserve our aquifers for the future. Starting in

the sky, water is in a condensed form trapped inside of clouds until the clouds become oversaturated with water. From there, the

process of precipitation occurs, where water precipitates from the clouds onto the ground. Once on land, the water infiltrates and

runs off due to gravity, going where it pulls them. On a mountain, the water will run down the mountain, and slowly travel to the

nearest aquifer and or body of water. An aquifer is where enough water builds up underground for it to be extractable. This

process of runoff can take an extremely long amount of time and according to Michigan Tech. University, groundwater travels at

a rate of .33 feet/day. If theres a mathematician nearby he/she would tell you in the span of a year, this groundwater will only

travel approximately 120 feet. Once this groundwater has runoff to the nearest body of water, evaporation will restart the cycle

again, bringing the water back into the clouds. So why is this process so important to us? Because aquifers provide for more