A bit about the Blogger

Hi!

Thanks for taking a look at my Blog.

The short version of my story is that I am a 22 year New Jersey native. I went to Roselle Park High School in Union County, NJ. Then, in order to learn the most I possible could about the environment (and it's sciences) I went to school 300 miles away- where I attended classes at the University of Vermont. The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources is an amazing melting pot of concepts, ideas and opportunities. The small school size allowed me to get close to professors and get super involved in the 'Greening of Aiken' projects during my time there. Although I started college intending to focus on conservation biology, I actually ended up becoming passionate about Ecological Design.

Then to get some design background, I added a minor in Green Building and Community Design.

Then, to boot- I realized how much opportunity actually lay ahead for me back in good ol' NJ and NYC- and how much I really tended to lean towards urban projects any way. So here I am, Sustainability Intern at the Willow School in Gladstone, NJ- and this is what I'm learning!

Comments

Eating Garbage

Garbage is Beautiful. And let me tell you why. In 2010, the EPA estimated the US produced over 240 million tons of municipal solid waste. That is over four pounds of garbage, per person, per day. We travel through our day throwing things ‘away’. But where do they go? Does your trash go to a landfill, incinerator, or Waste to Energy Plant? Currently in NJ, thirteen counties have solid waste landfills and five counties have resource recovery facilities (incinerators). Of the five counties with resource recovery facilities, three also have landfills to receive waste that cannot be burnt. Eight counties have awarded waste disposal contracts and require that all waste be sent to one facility for disposal. The remaining thirteen counties have a free market system and transporters may send waste out of the county or state. The majority of us don’t know information like this, and don’t care as long as we don’t have to look at it. But if we were forced to look at the garb...

Celebrating National Bike to Work Day, May 16th 2014

BIKE TO WORK DAY MAY 16, 2014 Bicycle Safety (now you know!) Bicycles on the roadway are, by law, vehicles with the same rights, and responsibilities as motorized vehicles. Bicyclists should travel with traffic, in the shoulder or as far over as is safely possible. In NJ, helmets are required for anyone under 18- however if you are biking in location where there is automobile traffic, it is highly recommended to take the extra step. When riding in groups, never ride more than 2 across. On narrow roads with no shoulder or bike lane, ride single file. Use hand signals to notify motorists and other riders when you are turning or stopping "More than half of the U.S. population lives within five miles of their workplace, making bicycling a feasible and fun way to get to work. With increased interest in healthy, sustainable and economic transportation options, it’s not surprising that, from 2000 to 2011, the number of bicycle commuters in the U.S. grew by more tha...

Breaking News- Renewable Energy can STILL power our planet!

Yesterday, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released an exciting report about the potential of Renewables and the world energy market. Over 120 world experts produced a scientific document over 1,000 pages long that provides a solution to 'business as usual' carbon emissions. They believe that we could meet the globe's energy needs with 80% renewable energies by mid-century . This would be a socially, politically, and physically strenuous task. If we eliminate all the complications and shift our paradigm, we still have issues like that which Ramon Pichs, Co-Chair of the Working Group III, added: “The report shows that it is not the availability of the resource, but the public policies that will either expand or constrain renewable energy development over the coming decades. Developing countries have an important stake in this future—this is where most of the 1.4 billion people without access to electricity live yet also where some of the best conditi...

Building Alive, Designing to Thrive

Search This Blog