Blair Crickmore

Love Canal Report

In your opinion are environmental hazards something we should be concerned about on a daily basis?

1.  I would say yes because since the environment is something we live in everyday (I know I'm a genius) we should definitely take into consideration the hazards that are around us all the time. For example, pollution can be a serious health hazard if it gets bad enough. I don't know if we need to obsess over it, but it is an issue we should pay attention to. So to answer your question directly, I say YES, we should be concerned about them on a daily basis.

2. Yes! That's how you prevent catastrophes. Addressing the part about whether we should be concerned with it on a daily basis, it depends on where you live, your habits, etc.

3. I don't necessarily think that environmental hazards should be things we concern ourselves with every day, but I do believe that they are important and need to be kept in consideration. The effect the environment can have on our lives can be immediate, sudden, spontaneous, and unexpected. This can at times include situations which can cause a lot of damage to the lives of individuals and communities, so I feel that these hazards do need to be considered, but thankfully due to their inconsistency and seldom occurrence, not on a daily basis.

4. I think this shouldn't be something that should consume our daily lives or that we should stress about daily, but I do think some measures should be made to improve the situation, because it is serious. Usually the people who stress about environmental hazards every day are people whose jobs involve it in some aspect.

5. I don't think it should consume our daily lives, unless it is your job (then it better stress you out), but I do think we should be a lot more careful with our waste and where we put it. Personally, I think if people used their brains there wouldn't be dangerous stuff buried underground close to people's living quarters! It's something that needs to be thought about before just dumping crap and burying it. 

6. Plastic is a hazard i really hate. It pollutes the ocean and every beach in the world. It never disintegrates. So yes, because I surf a lot, I do think about it most every day.

7. I think that our society of rampant consumerism is part of the problem. It's not just toxic waste it's all the waste we unnecessarily produce that is a huge problem. Like Reid said about plastics, if people were careful, reused, recycled we wouldn't have half the problems we do. I hate disposable plastic water bottles. Buy a reusable bottle use it, reuse it you save waste, money, energy. I mean I diapered six kids in cloth diapers. Water is renewable, disposable diapers not. And don't get me started on plastic grocery bags. Use them and recycle don't send them to the landfill or flying out your car window! Landfills are the problem now.

8. Everyone is different and has different wants and needs and problems than others, but one thing that makes us the same is our dependence on the Earth. We need clean water, air, and food to survive, yet we continually destroy the one thing sustains our lives. I think everyone could be more conscious of how they act on a daily basis to preserve the very thing that preserves us.

9. Yes, I think it is important to be aware of our environment every day. We don't have to be doing anything huge, but I think we should be making small steps to improving our environment each day. This could mean picking up someone's litter, recycling, etc. I don't think each individual needs to be an environmentalist, but they just need to be aware and involved in making sure our planet is healthy.

10. I think environmental hazards are something that we should think about often but maybe not on a day-to-day basis. Individually we can make changes like using less water, recycling, etc. But I think in order for any significant changes it would have to be a universal change in lifestyle and habits. This won't happen very quickly but if people were more informed and thoughtful of the environment, it could bring about a positive change through time.

My answers:

1. Were you aware that environmental tragedies of this magnitude still exist today?

Obviously I was aware of major tragedies that have been covered in the news, but I don’t think I would have paid nearly as much attention to those environmental tragedies if they hadn’t been such common knowledge. I definitely don’t think I know about all the environmental tragedies that happen today due to a lack of public knowledge. In conclusion, I think that I was generally aware that tragedies of this magnitude still exist today, but I’m not sure that I cared as much as I should have.

2. Do you believe that environmental crises affect you/your family today?

I think that occasionally there are environmental crises that affect my family and me today, but I don’t think it is very common. I do live in California, which is known to be common for earthquakes, but I never find myself worrying or thinking about it. Obviously there are small earthquakes sometimes, but they are never major enough to occupy my thoughts. It is probably bad that I don’t think about natural disasters more, but I feel like they are so rare that it is hard to worry about something that may never happen.

3.Why should we care about something that happened over 30 years ago?

I think that we should care about something that happened over 30 years ago because it teaches us what we need to do to avoid a similar catastrophe. Also, the past is known to repeat itself, which tells us that we need to know what to do in order to counteract whatever may happen. Basically, we have to learn from our past to make a better future.