HUNBlog

Galveston's future

When Hurricane Ike hit Galveston, Texas it not only destroyed local businesses but took out many natural habitats. Galveston island depends a lot on the seawall which covers 1/3 of Galveston island. The wall was built and in completed in 1962. After Ike many businesses were lost and did not recover due to new building codes that where extremely difficult to meet on financial levels for the local lost businesses. I live near Galveston and have visited after Ike hit and strongly feel that the city of Galveston should build a taller seawall more than the present 17 feet. If the seawall were taller it would minimize the damages after hurricanes and storms hit. Although the seawall should not be the only infrastructure Galveston should depend on. Galveston is in great need of having a modern engineering project that could protect the city overall from storms and hurricanes. The city is not able to bring in a sustainable income from tourism due to the majority of the businesses closing and the dirty beaches. The beaches are so dirty due to visitors not having enough trash cans to throw their litter away. Galveston could bring in money by fining people for littering  and buy bigger trash and recycling bins to be placed along the beaches to prevent dirty litter. Galveston could bring in money by charging people to come into the island. This money could help start new and old businesses that once existed. The money could also help clean the natural habitats that sea life has built around the dirty marshes that have been polluted by sea trash that has floated into Galveston island. Galveston should also do a survey with tourist to see what bought them to Galveston and what could Galveston do to bring the tourists back.

http://www.galveston.com/seawallphotos/

"Turn off the Lights! Let's Save Money!"

 On off. On off. Energy is apart of Houstonians everyday life. We use energy to see, eat, and live comfortably. Yet, we can be smarter and more frugal with the amount of energy that we use everyday. There are simple things that we as Houstonians can do in our own homes to better the community and to sustain/conserve energy.

    One easy way to conserve energy is by simply turning the lights off! Mother nature has blessed us with beautiful sunlight on sunny days, why not use it? Open the blinds up and keep the light switches down. This will bring a person's personal electricity bill down and will also help Houston as a whole. Minimum use of electricity also applies when leaving the room in the evening. it is okay to turn off the light once someone has left the room. This will once again save the green in one's pocket and the green on the earth.

    Another simple way to sustain Houston's energy is to lower the amount of televisions in the home. Some families have up to seven televisions that are only a family of four. When able, maybe a family night, everyone can come together and watch one television in the household. This would hightened the amount of family time spent, and lower the electricity bill.

    A third simple way to sustain Houston's energy, but certainly not the last. People can unplug unused electronics, especially when leaving town. Electricity is still being used if an appliance is plugged up, even when it is not turned on. So it'll be great to simply unplug that fan that is not in use, or the television in the guest room that only gets turned on 4 times out the month.

    Houston is making its way in sustaining and conserving energy. There is a program called "Lights Out" Houston that is all about being green. "It is estimated that by eliminating just 50% of the lights routinely left on overnight and on the weekends in downtown Houston, Houston could save almost $1 million dollars annually." (www.greenhoustontx.gov) More information can be found on the website: www.greenhoustontx.gov. Any Houstonians are more than welcomed to join the movement to a more sustained energy conserving Houston, TX. Come on and "Turn off the lights, let's save money!"

Going Green in Houston

    Community gardens are created to improve a community.  Today's gardens include a wide range of purposes. They consist of not only gardens where people grow food together for their own consumption, but also donation gardens fighting hunger, educational gardens for school children, market gardens for extra income, and gardens even provide mental or physical therapy. Some are simply a venue for love of gardening. What all these gardens have in common is that they are what  brings people together to work toward a common purpose.

 

    Community gardens are examples of how if sustained properly, people can come together and create beauty. The same skills used to create and sustain commuinty gardens is the same energy and effort hat should be exemplified in the majority of decision making. Plus, the regular presence of responsible adults reduces crime rate and is influential on showing the benefits of productive activities.

 

    Community gardens also help fight hunger and encourage better nutrition. Most Houston area residents and many Americans don't eat enough fruits, herbs, and vegetables and their health suffers. Community gardens can show people how to grow the best tasting varieties of fresh, pesticide-free produce, and make delicious, nutritious produce more available. Hunger is a chronic problem in Texas. More than half a million people are estimated to go without food for part of each month. With regular work, community gardens typically produce about 500 servings per year. Community gardens can replace the canned foods that are not nutritional lining the walls of food pantries with valuable sources of vitamins and minerals.

 

    In addition to providing the community with nutritious food, today's organic community gardens teach and inspire sustainable land use. As our population continues to move from rural areas to urban centers, we have no system in place for teaching or experiencing wise management and use of the land we have around us.

 

     Health, physical exercise, or therapy are other possible aims of community gardens. Taking care of plants, watching birds and butterflies, enjoying the outdoors, and getting exercise are all good for body and spirit. Community gardens can help people suffering from stress and many forms of mental and physical illness.

    

Chemical Plants and Refineries

Refineries and Chemical Plants

Houston area is surrounded by chemical plants and refineries. We have some at Pasadena, La Port, Texas City, etc.  We know that these affect our air quality.

Chemical plants and refineries produce a lot of pollution and in a long run it affects our health. Especially it affects the children who live very close to these areas where these plants are located.I wonder if one day they would take in to consideration the people who live close to them.

 It is stressing to live in an area where the smell is bad. Having to hear sirens go on and not knowing if it is a test or is real is stressing. Children at a very young age have respiratory problem due to all the pollution on the air. I think that something has to be done. It is important for people who live around this area to get informed about what is around them and training should be provide.

Besides affecting our health and the quality of the air, plants affects our daily life. You never know when to expect a shout down. One day I was at the library and I had to stay there for more than what I expect due to a shout down. It has been times where students have to stay at school for more time due to shout downs. I think that all of these things create a negative aspect of the environment in the children’s view.

I strongly believe that something has to be done in order to provide a better environment for our society. Shout downs are done in order to protect us, but besides that they should come up with something else. Maybe, they can use some of their money in order to protect the people.

This link takes you to a recent issue at Texas City.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42761336/ns/us_news-life/

Are you ready for the 2011 hurricane season?!

After the 2010 hurricane season was over, many people were astonished to hear that there were 19 named storms and with that 12 of those fully developed into hurricanes.  The 2010 hurricane season was the third most active season on recorded. Given this many people all over the gulf coast are really not looking forward for this upcoming 2011 hurricane season.  Early forecasts for the upcoming 2011 hurricane season suggest 16 named storms, nine hurricanes and five major hurricanes with sustained winds of 111 mph or greater. The season will officially start on June 1 and end on November 30, 2011. The question is ARE YOU READY for this upcoming season which sounds to be really scary… Well some of the things that to keep in mind in order to be prepared for any storm whether it’s a tropical storm or a hurricane is to have a family plan. With this plan the family should discuss any hazards that could accompany the storms, from flooding to wind speeds. Then the family would want to have a safe room within the home; though certain circumstances the safest areas may not be your home but within your community. One would also like to have set escape routes from your home and places to meet, another major thing is have checked your insurance coverage due to that flood damage is not usually covered by homeowners insurance.  One would like to have a supply kit which could be used if any hurricane is to hit. Some of the things that you would like to include would be, water have enough for the people in your home and enough to last a while. Have food non-perishable packaged or canned food are highly recommended, blankets are also important to have, First Aid Kit , medicines, prescription drugs flashlight , batteries and a radio would all be very necessary. A fully charged cell phone is a must have and of course, have cash with you thus electricity might not be functional and the family night need to buy something. One of the most important things to do is have your cars filled with gas, just in case of a greater emergency. Make you that if you plan to travel out of the city when a hurricane is announced for the area of Houston, have a route set and a place to go. Make sure to have a safe place where you can go and have enough gas to at least get you there, leave with time, because no one would like to be stuck in traffic. Overall talk to your family don’t be scared to make plans, it is never too early to have a hurricane readiness plan. So, have you thought about any of these ideas?

Destroying natural habitats

There are many worries that the development on Katy Prairie will cause many more severe and frequent floods in the future. Development encouraged by a planned segment of the Grand Parkway connecting Interstate 10 to U.S 290 threatens to diminish the environmentally sensative prairie's capacity to absorb floodwaters. For decades the Katy Prairie has provided very valuable wetlands and wildlife habitat. Pretty soon we will all see that habitat disappear in the event that they start to build more and more. What can be done to stop it? Will the desire for more businesses and homes be enough to destroy the wildlife and natural habitat? It looks like the company that is responsible for developing the 11,400 acre community will spend 28 million dollars in flood mitigation that would adversly affect the development. They were asked if they could assure that the development would cause future flooding and  the response was that they had no problem guaranteeing that. Flooding of streets and homes is probably unavoidable when it rains really hard especially over long periods of time but the more you pave over stuff the more flooding we are going to get.

No more birds in Texas?

Ok. That was a hyperbole, to get you to click on my blog. But there may be no more black capped vireo or golden cheeked warbler in the state of Texas because of climate change. If you are like me you might need to see a visual before you can keep reading about these birds and how climate change is threatening to make them extinct so I will provide some for you.The one on the left is the golden cheeked warbler and the one in the right is the black capped vireo.

  

 

Now that you have seen the birds and how cute, small, innocent and defenseless they seem you may want to continue reading. Birds are not only being affected in Texas, this is a problem that the whole United States is having but these two are local.

We have all seen how this state has been growing, "wild" areas have been "civilized". What was several animals habitat is now somebodys property. This in itself has a toll on birds because they loose their habitat and it is harder for them to search for food seeing how most of the ground is now cement.

"The report cites increased threats to bird populations from deeper and longer droughts, more intense flooding, hotter fire seasons and other weather phenomena associated with climate change." Texas is a state with crazy weather, it will be rainy on second and really sunny the next. Recently it has been hit by severe hurricanes which do not help the birds at all. Any nestings that these birds may have can be brought off the trees any second.

"“I think the debate about whether or not climate change is occurring is a debate that is over...the scientific community is unanimous in its opinion that we are seeing climate change upon us. We would be foolhardy not to move forward and to address the impacts of climate change.”" I very much agree with this.There are clear signs that  Texas climate is changing.Growing up in Texas , specifically Houston I could only dream of seeing snow. But now that is no longer a dream, it has snowed in Houston for the past two years,that has to mean something.

Granted, weather is not something that we can control, we cannot make rain stop falling, or change the track of a hurricane once it is headed this way. But maybe in the future they might be able to develop such technology. Lets hope so because it would be sad to see these birds disappear.

City Wide Preparedness

    With Houston, Texas being a major metropolitan city having a population of over 6,000,000 million people we have to think about sustaining against hurricanes that we are prone to having. We need to develop a better drainage system to keep some our city streets from flooding so badly just because we have received some steady amounts of rain over a extended period of time. Especially in the less afluent areas of Houston. Also, the way our freeways flood sometimes we need to look into some kind of better drainage to keep those from flooding. We shouldn't have our highways flooded out because that is how we as a city evacuate, we have to be able to use our highways to get out of the city if need be. We need to better prepare as a city because we have way too many people leaving here for these problems to occur especially with the way we have hurricanes and tropical storms developing along our coast line. This isn't something that we should take lightly because there are certain parts of Houston that really floods and can cause some damage to those living in those areas. There is no excuse for streets having to be pumped when we could develop a better drainage system for our streets and highways to help water drain on its own, and we won't be so paranoid about it flooding in Houston.

Air Pollution in Houston

For many years I remember worrying about my brother with his severe asthma in the Houston outdoors. The humidity plus the pollution were not a good combination for his little lungs, nor is it very good for the environment. You can see the effects from the gunk on our cars, the fogginess on what is supposed to be a clear day, and the air as we are running through our beloved Memorial Park. We should not have to worry about "air quality" and if it is okay to take our children outside to enjoy what is supposed to be fresh air. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is working with the community to help us understand what air quality is and how to read the index, and we should be taking steps in order to clean up the air in Houston. While the government is doing their part we can do ours as well. We have all heard the same old thing time and again, hairspray is bad, don't drive your car and walk instead, etc. BUT there are little things that we change and still to the normal everyday things that we need to do. So here are a few things we can do in order to do our part as Houstonians: (from:http://www.tceq.texas.gov/airquality/monops/ozonetips.html)

Share a ride to work or school.

Avoid morning rush-hour traffic.

Walk or ride a bicycle.

Take your lunch to work or school.

Combine errands into one trip.

Avoid drive-through lanes.

Postpone refueling until after 6 p.m.

Don't top off your gas tank when refueling.

Postpone using gas engines such as lawnmowers until after 6 p.m.

Keep your vehicle properly tuned to keep exhaust levels low.

We can each do our part without really inconveniencing ourselves very much. We each need to become a responsible person and do our part to help the future generations.

Recycling In Houston

As Earth Day approached this year, I learned a lot about the phrase we’ve all heard before; “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”. But it wasn’t until recently that I learned about the impact the buildup of trash is making in our community, all around the nation, and even right here in Houston. Trash is taking over our communities and we need to do everything in our power to reduce, reuse, and more importantly recycle the products we already have. For example, the neighborhood I grew up in when I was young now has a landfill directly in front of it. If landfills are already flowing into our cities and being placed right in front of our neighborhoods, where will they end up next?

According to Earth Buddies sponsored by S.E.E.K (Squads for Environmental Education for Kids), “Americans are the worst when it comes to garbage.  Americans produce an unbelievable amount of garbage simply by living their daily lives.  As a matter of fact, the average American generates about 4.6 pounds of solid trash a day!  That means each average American produces about 9.2 pounds of trash in only two days.  In a year’s time, that equals 1,460 pounds of trash per person. “ http://library.thinkquest.org/06aug/00442/wu3rs.htm

It is important that we find a solution to this trash epidemic. As we know, the city of Houston provides some homes with recycling pickup, picks up ‘junk’ and tree waste, and recycle bins are being seen more and more around our city. But is this enough? I would say not.

In some cases, recycle bins have actually been removed from places like local grocery stores because there was too much being recycled. So even though we are recycling, we’re not recycling everything we can because there is too much or because recycling is too expensive. But in the end, I think it is the Earth and our city we need to think about. Would you rather spend a little extra money on recycling or have a landfill put in front of your neighborhood? So how do we fix the problem?

I think recycling dumpsters need to be placed at every school or neighborhood- just somewhere nearby where it is convenient for people to recycle. I also think the recycle companies should be able to stop pushing trash away, and for the City of Houston or the State of Texas to invest more money into recycling products. We hear that the job market is low and the economy is bad, but if we build and start more recycling factories, more jobs would be created, and landfills would fill up slower because there would be less trash thrown into them. Even though recycling may be expensive now, in the long run it is going to help everyone by having less trash, less landfills, and less damage to the Earth.

For example, “Every time it rains, the trash washes into our best natural feature, our bayou system. And from the bayous, the crud floats to Galveston Bay. That flotilla of water and soda bottles isn't just ugly. It's a threat to wildlife, and it hurts recreational use of the bayous and bay. After all, who wants to hike or canoe past thousands of bobbing soft-drink bottles? What tourist wants to bask on a beach covered in trash?” (Houston Chronicle, ‘Bottled Up’, April 21, 2011, Author Unknown)