Parker, Laura. “Beach Clean-up Study Shows Global Scope of Plastic Pollution.” National Geographic, National Geographic, 10 Oct. 2018, www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/10/greenpeace-beach-cleanup-report-highlights-ocean-plastic-problem/.

This article discusses how every year tens of thousands of people volunteer to pick up trash from beaches. The largest effort comes from Ocean Conservancy which over the course of thirty year sof cleanups has collected over 300 million pounds. A quote from Nicholas Mallos states “Literally, the trash starts getting replaced as soon as you pick it up.” He states that it is quite hard to even bother, but states that it is much better than the alternative. It is also extremely expensive to do these beach cleanups. According to the article it cost local governments in 90 towns in Washington, Oregon, and California more than $500 million. In Orange County alone it is around $46 million in just one summer.

This is almost a reality check on what is happening out in the world. We don’t really get to see people putting all this plastic into the ocean, but when Mallos said how it seems to replace almost instantly, that was very powerful. It’s quite frustrating to think about this issue considering how easy it is to properly get rid of your trash. There are so many other alternatives than littering. The amount of money that we spend on just beach cleanups also surprised me, and really opened up my eyes on how much trash we all are really putting into the world.

Summers, Hannah. “Scientists Get Ready to Begin Great Pacific Garbage Patch Cleanup.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 8 Sept. 2018, www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/sep/08/scientists-get-ready-to-begin-great-pacific-garbage-patch-cleanup.

A group of scientists and engineers are planning on making an invention that if works properly will really help the plastic issue in the ocean. They plan on creating a 600m-long floating barrier that will be launched off the coast of San Francisco. It will be powered by currents, waves, and wind and they estimate will collect five tonnes of plastic debris each month. The barrier is heading towards the Great Pacific Garbage Patch which is a stretch of water that is three times the size of France. While it is out in the ocean, the team expects to send a support vessel out every six weeks in order to remove all of the debris that have accumulated, which will be transferred to the Netherlands to be recycled.

I believe that this is an extremely good thing. It seems like the team who made it has put in a lot of time and effort into this and it will be extremely beneficial if it works the way that they plan. This issue is also a group effort, as if we keep putting in the same amount of plastic that we already do into the ocean, I am not sure that this will have as great of an impact as they hope. Of course it will greatly help the cause, but if we really want to maximize the efficiency of this machine then everyone really has to make an effort to prevent more trash from entering the ocean.

Interior Designers (US) – Industry Research Reports | IBISWorld, Aug. 2018, www.ibisworld.com/industry-trends/market-research-reports/administration-business-support-waste-management-services/remediation/remediation-environmental-cleanup-services.html.

This article basically describes how the environmental cleanup services have shifted in the last few years. Based on data from August, the article talks about how over the last five years the Environmental Cleanup Services in the US has grown by 0.8% to reach of revenue of $16 billion. Along with this, the number of businesses has grown by 2.1%, but with that the number of employees has declined by 0.4%. They also provide some other information such as stating that natural disasters often generate waste that make it necessary for environmental cleanup agencies to step in. So a higher frequency of natural disasters may lead to an increased industry revenue. It is also mentioned that an estimated 35% of the industry revenue is accounted by government remediation and cleanup programs.

Overall this all seems like good information. It is good to know that over the last few years we have not decreased the amount of money going to environmental cleanup agencies. It is also quite nice to hear how the number of businesses has also increased along with that. If I had to guess why the amount of workers in the industry has decreased I would probably assume it is a result of things becoming more technologically advanced and that less people are needed in these specific companies.

Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-09-20/cleaning-the-pacific-ocean-plastic-patch-won-t-solve-the-problem.

This article discusses a company called Ocean Cleanup which was created by an 18 year old man with the promise to get the plastic out of the Pacific Ocean. Experts fear that although this sounds good, it is not really addressing the problem. What the companies plan is, is to use nets and other things to pull the plastic out of the water. But, scientists say that it is actually the plastic that has shrunk down to a much much smaller size that is actually the one that is poisoning and choking birds and sea creatures. In some areas, it is said that there are more plastic than there are plankton meaning animals at the bottom of the food chain will eat the plastic and starve.

My opinion on this is that I hope that it does have some effect on the amount of plastic in the oceans. Although the company may not be getting all of the “microplastics” that are in the ocean, hopefully they can help with the overall scheme of things while other people try and come up with a solution to try and get the smaller plastics out of the oceans. It is also going to take more effort from just the normal people who are not involved in the cause. According to the article, we are still adding eight million tons of plastic to the oceans every year, so in order for this company to actually have somewhat of a major effect, it is going to take effort from everyone to reduce the amount of trash that gets into the oceans.

“Designer Enzyme Conquers Sulfite Reduction, a Bottleneck in Environmental Cleanup.” ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily, 13 Sept. 2018, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180913142023.htm.

A few months ago at the University of Illinois, researches made big steps in the field of environmental cleanup. Professor Yi Lu and student Evan Mirts designed a synthetic enzyme that reduces the compound sulfite to sulfide. Sulfite reduction can interfere with the cleanup of major environmental contaminants. Sulfite also interferes with the elimination of more toxic compounds. Scientists had not been able to create catalysts before to remove sulfite as it was extremely complex and is very difficult to achieve. Lu and Mirts have been the only people successful with this and hope that their actions spark other people to get involved with environmental cleanup issues.

My opinion on this is that it is very good. Any advancements that work and will have a good effect on environment are obviously very useful and important. I agree with what the creators said about what they hope this will lead too. If this means that more people get involved with helping to develop different things or contribute in different ways to the environmental cleanup cause, then that would be extremely beneficial.

Troubled Waters 2018. (2018, March 15). Retrieved August 26, 2018, from https://environmentcalifornia.org/reports/cac/troubled-waters-2018

Many industrial businesses are causing pollution to the water. According to national data on Clean Water Act Compliance shows that about 40 percent of all major industrial facilities exceeded their pollution limits at least once. Three-quarters of that amount did this more than once as well. Pollutants were also being added to waters that were already too polluted for things such as fishing or drinking water. In order to prevent this  from going further states such as California must take action to enforce the core environmental laws and protect our water.

This article discusses how many of these industrial facilities are exceeding their pollution limits and more times than not, putting them into the water. This is just terrible as our water already has so much pollution in it. On top of all of that, they continue to add more and pass their legal limit, a lot of the time more than once. This causes serious damage to our oceans, as well as the wildlife that lives in there. I agree with the article that we definitely must prevent this from going any further and start enforcing the core environmental laws more more than we are currently.

California has worst US air pollution: Report. (2018, April 19).

Retrieved August 26, 2018, from https://phys.org/news/2018-04-california-worst-air-pollution.html

A United States study found that California has the most polluted cities in the United States. According to the study “Almost 134 million people were exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution…up from 125 million in the previous report”. At the same time, there have been improvements continued in year-round particle contamination thanks to cleaner power plants and a higher usage of cleaner vehicles and engines. The report said that progress to cleaner air is essential in order to reduce things such as asthma attacks and other lung based issues.

This article basically covers how California has some of the most polluted cities in the whole of the United States. The ozone levels are very high in major cities such as Los Angeles, which can cause a threat to people with lung issues. I do hope that over time these levels do start to lower, as within the past few years they have only been seen to have been increasing. According to the article, cleaner power plants are being used as well as an increase of electric car usage which is very good. I hope that with a combination of these factors plus many more, we can start to lower down the amount of pollution that is in our air.

Har, J. (2018, April 30). Tolerant San Francisco Fed up With Dirty, Smelly Streets. Retrieved August 26, 2018, from https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/california/articles/2018-04-30/tolerant-san-francisco-fed-up-with-dirty-smelly-streets

San Francisco is said to have hit peak saturation with the tent camps, urine, and trash that is all over the streets of the city. Mayor Mark Farrell has promised to use $750,000 to hire people to just pick up discarded needles. Within the next two years, he has also promised $13 million for steam cleaners and pit stop toilets. Citizens say that the amount of trash covering the streets of San Francisco is far too much and that it is time that people start to make a change.

This article covers the problems that San Francisco faces with keeping it’s environment clean. It discusses how people are starting to take more action in cleaning up the almost seemingly endless amounts of trash that litter the streets. As I have been to San Fransisco many times, I identify very strongly with this article. I have witnessed first hand, the trash on the streets, and the smell of urine as you walk by. I very much hope that more action is taken and people start to try and keep the streets more clean.

Nguyen, C. (2018, June 08). Bay Area: Home to five of California’s most polluted beaches. Retrieved August 26, 2018, from https://abc7news.com/travel/bay-area-home-to-five-of-californias-most-polluted-beaches/3575427/

Five of the most polluted beaches in California, based on harmful bacteria levels are in the Bay Area. Poor water circulation as well as wildlife are two of the main contributing factors that lead to the poor water quality. Water with high bacteria counts can lead to many different health problems some of which include, skin rashes and ear, nose and throat infections. Citizens in the area claim that the beaches are very dirty and that action must be taken quickly if people do not want to get sick when they go to one of these places.

This article covers how five of the beaches in the bay area are some of the most polluted in all of California. It discusses how the harmful bacteria level is very high and there is poor water quality.  Being from the Bay Area this is scary to hear and as the residents in the article said, I hope people can start taking action quickly so that people can go to these beaches and feel safe.

Allington, A. (2018, January 18). Toxic Pollutants in California Mudslide Present          Cleanup Challenges. Retrieved August 26, 2018, from https://www.bna.com/toxic-pollutants-california-n73014474287/

There was a potential environmental hazard as cleanup continued from the California mudslides. There was pollution from toxic mud and sludge, some of which is being dumped on local beaches. According to sources, 1,700 cubic yards of mudslide cleanup has been dumped on a nearby beach. Local citizens are concerned that putting the contaminated mud right next to the ocean will only make the environmental cleanup more difficult. It is said to contain things such as sewage, oil and gas, and possibly chemicals from inside houses.

My opinion on this is that it is just totally unnecessary and disgusting that these people thought that dumping these toxic chemicals on a beach was alright. This article overall discusses how these environmental cleaners are taking what they clean and putting it somewhere else, ultimately worsening the problem overall. It damages the beaches, infects the water, and kills wildlife. This is not alright and a solution has to be found on how to properly dispose of the waste.