What are Fossil Fuels? August 2, 2016 Fossil Fuels are non-renewable fuels made from the fossilized remains of animal and plant matter that have decomposed over millions of years. Fuels that fall under this category are natural gas, coal, gasoline, diesel, and fuel oils (the last three being refined versions of crude oil). These fuels are used every day to power cars, generators, and sources of heat. Though they are the preferred for of energy and heat, fossil fuels have a huge environmental impact. As…

What is Footprint Neutral/Negative? August 2, 2016 Footprint Neutral/Negative is the idea of committing human activities that will neither increase nor reduce a person’s ecological footprint. This also means that sustainable actions done by a particular person can cancel out activities that could enlarge their footprint as long as the sustainable actions are equal or greater than the negative ones. An example of an action that could be footprint neutral/negative can be found in insulating a house. While purchasing and installing the new insulation will…

What is Food Waste? August 2, 2016 Food Waste is the action of throwing away perfectly good food because it is considered not fit to eat. This differs from food loss, where food is lost unintentionally such as a banana falling out of the back of a truck when it is being shipped. Food Waste is a continuing problem for humanity, especially in industrialized countries. Every year, 222 million tons are consumed in industrialized nations while in the United States, food and organics are the…

What is Environmental Psychology? August 2, 2016 Environmental Psychology is the psychological study of how humans interact with their surrounding environments. Environmental psychologists theorize that humans are psychologically affected by how they treat the environment and vice versa. They look at how people respond to their circumstances, reasons behind preferences to certain conditions, and human behaviours behind how they have treated the environment. Environmental phycologists concentrate on the environment people have built for themselves or the physical environment’s influence. Because of this, it is not…

What is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)? August 2, 2016 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a United States agency designed to enforce regulations that protect the environment and natural resources. It performs studies of environmental issues to shape and support legislation for environmental protection. Before the creation of the EPA, there was little regulation on pollutants and for resources. The American public assumed that water and air would be plentiful and industries continued to discharge sewage and waste into rivers and spew dangerous emissions…