The View of an (aspiring) Environmental Engineer

(1)     Wood is a Bio renewable resource with plentiful applications and a variety of uses which make it a valuable resource. The main wood products we think of are paper and lumber. The “greenness” of these products can be affected by a great many factors. One big factor is how the fore sts the wood is sourced from are grown and harvested. Wood can be harvested through clear-cutting, shelterwood, selection harvest, and seed trees , all of which have their pros and cons (2). Clearcutting is the most effective way to harvest wood in one go however has some of the worst environmental impacts. Clearcutting foresting leads to the destruction of habits, can impact water quality, and leads to large amounts of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere (3). Shelterwood cutting leaves rows of trees to provide shade for new trees to grow however without the support of neighboring trees the chances of trees falling drastically increase (4). On top of this shelterwood cutting require...

  For the past 50 years, humanity has lived beyond the capacity of the earth. (1) When people hear something like that, they don’t know what to think because they simply don’t understand what it means. In layman's terms, for each of the past 50 years, humans have consumed more resources than the Earth provides in one year. All products no matter how “green” have to come from somewhere and all consumption plays a part in environmental damage that is happening on a global scale. In today’s blog, we’ll look at renewable and nonrenewable resources to better gauge the environmental impact of each and decide which has a lower environmental cost. First, we’ll look at the two main renewables in the US: Corn and Wood Corn (ethanol production) https://www.cropprophet.com/what-state-produces-the-most-corn/   WHAT STATE PRODUCES THE MOST CORN? [IN 2021] Around 40% of all corn in the US is used to make ethanol. (2) The 3 big problems with corn production are air pollution, water pollution...