Today we talked about aspects of environmental engineering. Reflect on class today, and find an article to review that is related in some way to environmental aspects of engineering.
I enjoyed your talk, it made me think of things differently. Especially when it comes to household products, when you think about the energy/materials need to make just one thing is kind of mind boggling. I really got interested in the Cradle to Cradle concept, and wanted to learn more, so i decided to get an article from there website.
Cradle to Cradle is a non-profit institute that certifies products that are, restorative (environmental or industrial), and have a positive impact on the environment. For a product to become Cradle to Cradle certified it is graded into 5 categories: Material Health, Material Reutilization, Renewable Energy/ Carbon Management, Water Stewardship, and Social Fairness. Once graded the product is given a basic, bronze, silver, gold, and platinum ranking. The whole idea of Cradle to Cradle is to have companies strive to meet their standards and, to make customers aware of the impacts of the product they are buying. The certification of Cradle to Cradle allows the customer to make a conscious decision to purchase products that are renewable, and environmentally friendly while lowering the environmental impact. I think this is a great idea, I just wish they advertised this more to get the word out about Cradle to Cradle. I am kind of embarrassed to say this, but I did not know about this concept until yesterday, and I feel I am always thinking of ways to reduce my environmental impact. Cool idea.
I was really interested on Lori's talk during class because I learned a little more about being an environmental engineer. It made me think more about everything I throw out and the impact it has on the environment.
I chose to read an article called "Human Footprint: Where Does All the Stuff Go?" from the national geographic. It begins the article with "Our human footprint doesn't end after we buy and consume things". As Americans we generated about 251 million tons of trash in 2006. Our average trash per capita of trash disposal rate is about 4.6 pounds per person per day. I believe that we should be more conscious about our trash and what we dispose. We might not have a problem at the moment, but this will lead to cause a problem with the future generation. If we consider this a problem now, we should work harder on finding better ways to store garbage so the problem won't intensify over the years.
The article I chose to read this we talked about how University of Minnesota engineers came up with a device that'll allow them to acquire up to 26% more solar energy. Basically, the article talks about the materials that are needed to make solar cells affect the performance. Two engineers theorized with addition certain particles to the solar cells, it would help extend the distance light travels within the cell, thus converting more infrared spectrum in electricity.
This article was interesting because it can potentially increase the amount of energy we produce just by making solar cells more efficient and experimenting with them.
I enjoyed your talk, it made me think of things differently. Especially when it comes to household products, when you think about the energy/materials need to make just one thing is kind of mind boggling. I really got interested in the Cradle to Cradle concept, and wanted to learn more, so i decided to get an article from there website.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.c2ccertified.org/about/what_is_cradle_to_cradle
http://www.c2ccertified.org/product_certification/c2ccertified_product_standard
Cradle to Cradle is a non-profit institute that certifies products that are, restorative (environmental or industrial), and have a positive impact on the environment. For a product to become Cradle to Cradle certified it is graded into 5 categories: Material Health, Material Reutilization, Renewable Energy/ Carbon Management, Water Stewardship, and Social Fairness. Once graded the product is given a basic, bronze, silver, gold, and platinum ranking. The whole idea of Cradle to Cradle is to have companies strive to meet their standards and, to make customers aware of the impacts of the product they are buying. The certification of Cradle to Cradle allows the customer to make a conscious decision to purchase products that are renewable, and environmentally friendly while lowering the environmental impact. I think this is a great idea, I just wish they advertised this more to get the word out about Cradle to Cradle. I am kind of embarrassed to say this, but I did not know about this concept until yesterday, and I feel I am always thinking of ways to reduce my environmental impact. Cool idea.
I was really interested on Lori's talk during class because I learned a little more about being an environmental engineer. It made me think more about everything I throw out and the impact it has on the environment.
ReplyDeletehttp://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/human-footprint/trash-talk.html
I chose to read an article called "Human Footprint: Where Does All the Stuff Go?" from the national geographic. It begins the article with "Our human footprint doesn't end after we buy and consume things". As Americans we generated about 251 million tons of trash in 2006. Our average trash per capita of trash disposal rate is about 4.6 pounds per person per day. I believe that we should be more conscious about our trash and what we dispose. We might not have a problem at the moment, but this will lead to cause a problem with the future generation. If we consider this a problem now, we should work harder on finding better ways to store garbage so the problem won't intensify over the years.
I was very interested in your presentation and how even the smallest object can greatly effect our environment.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/renewable-energy/boosting-solar-cell-efficiency
The article I chose to read this we talked about how University of Minnesota engineers came up with a device that'll allow them to acquire up to 26% more solar energy. Basically, the article talks about the materials that are needed to make solar cells affect the performance. Two engineers theorized with addition certain particles to the solar cells, it would help extend the distance light travels within the cell, thus converting more infrared spectrum in electricity.
This article was interesting because it can potentially increase the amount of energy we produce just by making solar cells more efficient and experimenting with them.