Fate of the Earth Event

Anti-nuclear activist Dr. Helen Caldicott spoke about the environmental and military threats facing the planet at the First Congregational Church of Long Beach Sunday.

CSULB Campus Progressives were among the 22 organizations supporting the event, which promoted peace and nuclear disarmament.

Dr. Caldicott addressed the issues confronting the future of life on earth and began her lecture with the perils of global warming.

Deforestation contributes to climate change, she explained, because trees absorb carbon dioxide and emit oxygen back into the atmosphere.

The melting of the Arctic ice escalates the global warming effects because without the large masses of ice reflecting the sun’s rays back into the atmosphere and space, the ocean absorbs heat.

In addition, the melting of the Greenland ice caps poses an imminent threat for people’s fresh water resources.

As the ocean heats, the permafrost, soil at or below the freezing point of water, melts. The thawing of the permafrost causes trees to fall and previously trapped organic matter to decompose, which releases millions of tons of methane, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere.

Humans live in a “chemical soup,” Caldicott said. Plastic bottles and tephlon-lined pans, wrappers and babies’ pacifiers contain chemical toxins with “hormone-mimickers” that stimulate cancer cells.

Dr. Caldicott, who trained in medicine, compared the health of the planet to the human body. The ozone layer, which acts as the “skin” of the planet, continues to disappear. The “prescription”, she said, is to use renewable fuels to power our electricity and transportation.

She called for people to “become totally aware of how you live.” She urged people to install solar panels on their homes, hang dry their laundry on a clothesline and find alternatives to using coal.

Dr. Caldicott emphasized the threat to humanity with the 30,000 nuclear weapons existing in the world today. Ships carrying nuclear weapons arrive in nearby ports, information of which she said, the “military has no right to keep you in ignorance.”

Nuclear power continues to emit radiation into the environment, causing acute radiation sickness, such as cancer and birth defects. Nuclear power induces global warming because the making and transporting of nuclear power depends on the use of fossil fuels.

Furthermore, the proposed radioactive waste storage site at Yucca Mountain in Nevada could potentially leak waste into the water.

Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain have only addressed the issue of nuclear power once or twice, said Dr. Caldicott.

She encouraged people to “turn the media around” and demand for the media coverage of the facts about global warming and nuclear power.

“It’s up to this country and its wisdom to save this planet,” she said.

University by the Sea Going Green

University by the Sea helped downtown Long Beach become greener by providing environmental classes and encouraging people to find eco-friendly transportation to the event today.

University by the Sea provided free valet parking for those who rode their bicycles to the event. People had the opportunity to attend a composting workshop and explore organic gardens.

Separate trash and recycling bins were placed at street corners and in front of shops. Biodegradable food containers made from 100 percent post-consumer material were provided.

Traveling Recycling Education Center set up an interactive display for children to introduce youth into recycling and resource conservation.

University by the Sea fashion contest featured eco-friendly wedding dresses and accessories constructed from recycled, used or found materials. Jane Henry designed “Loofah Bride,” a dress made from bath loofah and recycled men’s pants.

Tree People, a nonprofit organization, hosted the urban foresting and tree planting class sponsored by the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency and Keesal, Young and Logan. Tree People consists of a staff and volunteers who plant trees in Los Angeles communities.

Tree People teamed up with University by the Sea to plant 34 trees in downtown Long Beach. The class explained how to properly plant a tree and the important role of trees to help reduce carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Students worked together to carefully transfer trees into the sidewalks along Third Street and Elm Avenue.

Algalita Marine Research Foundation provided a booth with information from its studies of the impact of plastics on the ocean. The research foundation takes samples from the North Pacific Gyre, a vortex extending from the coast of California to the coast of Japan that has accumulated 46 pounds of plastic to one pound of plankton.

Algalita Marine Research Foundation displayed a raft built from 15,000 plastic bottles that had sailed from California to Hawaii to raise awareness of the trash polluting the ocean. The foundation encourages using less plastic and provided examples of sustainable water bottles and free reusable grocery bags recycled from tee-shirts.

CSULB Recycling Center, cont.

The ASI Recycling Center has helped lower Long Beach's environmental impact, as well as actively promoting recycling in more ways than other local recycling centers.

Lisa Harris, city of Long Beach's recycling specialist, recommends the CSULB recycling center to people who are looking to be more environmentally-conscious. The recycling center is the "cleanest and most organized" recycling facility in Long Beach, she says.

The CSULB recycling center averages 120 people bringing in their recyclables daily. Monthly, the center recycles over 500,000 cans and bottles. The center collects paper, cardboard, cans and bottles from the University Student Union, Isabel Patterson Child Development Center and dining halls on campus. The center also works with University Facilities Management to handle recycling at special events.

The center is open to the public, allowing people and businesses who do not have curb-side recycling cans the opportunity to reduce their environmental impact. The center accepts material that many other recycling centers in Long Beach do not accept, such as scrap metal. The ASI recycling center is a state-certified redemption center, providing a place for people to receive deposits back on their beverage containers.

In addition to providing recycling services, the center also coordinates events to raise awareness in the Long Beach community of the importance of recycling and caring for the environment. The center provides educational tours of the facility, and nearly 500 people in the last couple of years have attended, including school-age children, boy scouts and girl scouts.

In August, with the city of Long Beach as a cosponsor, the CSULB recycling center held its first ever Kid ECO Fair to raise children's awareness of recycling. The center and lot 14A were closed for the day to set up educational booths with 20 exhibitors displaying information about various environmental topics.

About 850 children from day camps attended the fair to learn about the different environmental issues. The children visited the interactive booths and had opportunities to win prizes, such as rulers and pencils made from recycled material.

The recycling center currently has 80 recycling cans on campus. However, the center's goal is to have a recycling container next to every one of the over 400 trash cans on campus. The recycling cans cost about $450 each, and the center is seeking grants to help fund the cost of providing more recycling cans on campus.

The center, started by students in 1970, is self-supporting and is currently run by a staff comprised of one full-time coordinator and eight part-time student assistants. The center is trying to raise money for site improvements, including replacing the old office trailer and installing running water and toilet facilities.

CSULB Recycling Center

Associated Students, Inc.'s Recycling Center has accomplished significantly reducing carbon dioxide emissions by providing recycling services for the CSULB, as well as the Long Beach, community.

In a recent ASI Press Release boasting the achievements of the Recycling Center, the ASI Recycling Center coordinator Lee Johnson compared the center's impact of green house gas reductions to the removal of 449 passenger vehicles from the road for a year. In the last year, the Recycling Center saved nearly 3,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent by recycling over 1.7 million pounds of material.

Located on the north side of campus by the Walter Pyramid, the student-run center collects and processes cans, bottles, cardboard and other recyclables from the campus grounds.

In the past year, the center promoted awareness to the CSULB public of its services by selling shirts with the slogans "Recycle or Die" and "I am part of the solution" to students who recycled or donated at the center. The campaign successfully garnered a 20 percent increase in material collection since the previous year.

The Recycling Center also gets involved with serving the community by being proactive on campus. While new student residents moved in to the dorms over Labor Day weekend, the center helped recycle, collect and sort cardboard, Styrofoam and other accumulated recyclable waste from the student residents. Over the weekend, the center and other campus volunteers recycled 40 cubic yards of Styrofoam and 7,347 pounds of cardboard.