Sustainable Home Protection

Earlier in the week, I read a very interesting article about the sustainability of home security systems. The article was very interesting, and discussed a study of carbon emissions and effectiveness of various home security systems. The most effective and least emissions came from door and window locks. The least effective and most emissions came from security alarms. Somewhere in the middle were things like sensor security lights and timed interior lighting. The high carbon emissions from alarms create a less sustainable home, and the alarms are proven to be less effective at preventing burglaries.

I decided to discuss this article because I found it very interesting. It also reinforces the points that sustainability does not need to cost a lot, and can be simple in some cases. In addition, it stresses that being sustainable can be many different things. I never would have thought about home security as a sustainability issue, but it is. I plan to use points from this article in my future sustainability writing.

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170313085854.htm

Is Organic Food Sustainable

Tonight I read an article discussing the sustainability of organic food. The article voiced how many people think that eating organic food is more sustainable, when in reality it isn't. It actually takes more space to grow organic food crops than it does regular crops. Growing organic food is shown by study to put less harmful pesticides in the air, however. Ultimately, the article stressed that the solution was not in picking either inorganic food or organic food, but in picking each type appropriately, taking sustainability into account.

I plan to use this article as a reference in my writing on sustainability. It is yet another aspect to be explored when discussing the creation of a more sustainable world. This topic is also a personal interest of mine because I often buy organic food thinking I am helping the environment. Sometimes this is the case, but others it is not. It was surprising to learn this, but now I can take it into account when I am buying organic or inorganic foods. This will help me to become a more sustainability friendly consumer in the future.

Source : https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170310142337.htm

Schoolhouse Sustainability

Today I read an article on converting schools to green cleaning products. The change was brought to this school district by a state initiative. The district had to change,  but it needed to be over time, so they began changing before the law made them. They had to spend a lot of money initially to make this change, but the outcomes saved them more money in the end. Going green also made the schools safer and created a more healthy learning environment. The expenses were worth the outcome. It also indirectly teaches the students about sustainability and green initiatives.

The reason I chose this article is the question it answers that has been asked a lot. This question is simply: is becoming sustainable worth the money in the end? According to this article the answer is yes, and it is backed up by specific figures. I can also use this article as a reference, and support in my writing.

Source : http://www.cleanlink.com/hs/article/Benefits-Of-Green-Cleaning-In-Schools--20489

Buisness Sustainability

Tonight I read a forum on sustainability in business. The initial question was: Are more distributors creating internal sustainability initiatives? If yes, why is this happening now. Most of the contributors answered yes. The reasoning was very widespread. The main point was cost and demand. Customers want more sustainable options, but distributors don't want to pay for them. The distributors solution for this is to get the products in demand and not worry about down the road because of the expense. This solution, however, is directly clashes with the principles of sustainability. The other reason contributors brought up was education. The more educated we become about sustainability, the better we can incorporate it. This seemed to be the ultimate goal for most companies.

I chose this article to explore another angle of sustainability in real life situations. The more outside references and knowledge I can bring into my writing about sustainability, the more credible it is. I also was interested in hearing why or why not people are considering sustainability. It is something I have considered writing about before, and more information is helpful.

Website : http://www.cleanlink.com/sm/article/Sustainability-In-Business--20247

Mom Knows Best

When I was a freshman in high school, I had a conversation that changed my views on being a multi sport athlete forever. In ninth grade, I was playing three sports year round. I played ice hockey, soccer and softball. I had been really focused on soccer and was thinking about dropping my other two sports to specialize in soccer in hopes to maybe play in college. I decided to ask my mom how she felt about it, and we ended up having a very eye opening discussion. My mom was against me specializing ultimately because of injuries. She made several points about overuse, and being an RN with a medical background she had the success baggage to get me to start thinking. We talked about how the things I learned outside of soccer were helping me sustain my body and physical state. It dawned on me about halfway through this conversation that I was the only one on my soccer team who never got sore muscles, and hadn't had some problem with the ligaments in my knees at 15. I was also the only one who did year round workouts to strengthen these ligaments for hockey. The things I was being required to do for hockey were actually saving my knees and ACLs to the point where when I had an injury with my knee, the ligaments held instead of tearing. I had never thought about this circular use until my mom brought it to my attention. My mom then discussed thinking about this from a reverse angle. I was one of the only players on my hockey teams, girls or boys that could kick a hockey puck from my skates to the blade of my stick without losing balance. This was because of my soccer background. I had never thought of how many skills from sports had come in handy in different sports until my mom opened my eyes and made me really think about it. I had no idea how important being a multi sport athlete was to my physical health until I thought about not being one.

I chose to share this conversation because it has stuck with me for a long time. If I were to write about sustainability in athletes, I could use my own examples as support to my argument. This conversation was very eye opening for me, and if I had not asked my mom, I probably would have ended up becoming less physically sustainable as a person. I also noticed that sustainability of athletes is not talked about as often, and it is a different view to sustainability than what people usually think of.

Source: Shelly Lehto, Abby Lehto

Recently I read and article from ESPN W on multi sport athletes and why it is important to keep your options of sports open as a young athlete. The article stated that playing multiple sports allows for muscle recovery and lessens the chance for overuse injuries. It also discusses the different skill sets acquired in different sports and how learning something in one sport can carry over to help an athlete excel in other sports. The final important point the article emphasized was the exposure to different roles on a team that different sports let an athlete play. On the soccer team  you may play every minute of every game, but on the softball team you may play very little, but still be a key to the team at critical times. Each of these roles is a different mindset, and each teaches different lessons.

Upon reading this article, I immediately related it to sustainability of athletes. A sustainable athlete is one who can play many roles on a team, and has skills outside of the sport they are playing. This also has to do with injuries. If your muscles are tired, and you are prone to injury, you are not very sustainable as opposed to a strong athlete with well rested muscles. These relations to sustainability were the main reasons I chose to write on this article. I had originally thought of potentially writing on sustainability of athletes as I was a three sport athlete in high school, and I had the personal connection already. I would still like to in the future, and I feel having this information will be helpful if I choose to write on this subject.

Source: http://www.espn.com/espnw/voices/article/17831948/5-reasons-want-your-kid-multi-sport-athlete