Think Twice Before You Buy Sodas

It’s time we address the health issues of America. Many parents in America have been calling out for a change in policy to solve the obesity problem. But now there is another reason to make a change: pollution. Sweet beverages are often thought to only have impact on the health of people. But the mass consumption of sweet beverages has placed a heavy burden on Mother Earth. The air pollution produced in the transportation process has become more severe as the demand for these beverages skyrocketed. In fact, soft drink companies produce 10.4 billion gallons of sugary drinks each year. That’s enough to serve every American a 12-ounce can every day, 365 days a year.

Although people are aware of this information, the demand continues to increase. Perhaps they should think of the environmental impact if the health concern is not enough. Most people only think of what the beverages do when they’re consumed, but the transportation required to get them to the hands of consumers should also be noted. If the demand for these drinks is this high, that means that the beverage companies will be using more resources toward transportation. More trucks will be used; vast amounts of oil will be used; the trucks will deliver more often, producing more gas emission. Even if you’re not an environmentalist, it will impact you: The resulting air pollution will make it harder for you to breathe, and put you at risk for asthma, chronic respiratory disease, lung cancer, and heart disease. Even if you didn’t get heart disease from diabetes alone, you still cannot be assured.

As if these factors aren’t abysmal enough, the huge supply of cans used to store these beverages heightens the problem of overflowing litter in this country. Some of these cans can be recycled, but that doesn’t mean they are. Unfortunately, people continuously throw these cans on the sidewalk carelessly, exacerbating the situation. Even with implementation of recycling, the overabundant cans cannot be recycled fully, and recycling will require much resources and efforts. As you can see, the health setbacks, the air pollution, and the excessive litter are a triple whammy for everyone. The only way to stop these beverage companies from producing so much supply is by reducing demand. Therefore, parents, do not think that the companies are going to back down because they won’t. They are making more profit than they could have ever dreamed of, and they will continue to feed the consumers as long as they have demand. So my advice is this: change what you buy, because if everyone joins the movement, they will have to give up.

Diana Lee, Gunn High School 

Shark Fin Legislation by Diana Lee (Dahyun Lee) Gunn High School

The shark fin legislation has been an ongoing war between opposing sides for many years, and even celebrities have stepped in to voice their opinions on the issue. At last, that war is over because the ban on possession, sale and distribution of shark fins has been passed, effective in 2013. Government Jerry Brown made the final decision clearly stating, "The practice of cutting the fins off of living sharks and dumping them back in the ocean is not only cruel, but it harms the health of our oceans. Researchers estimate that some shark populations have declined by more than 90 percent, portending grave threats to our environment and commercial fishing. In the interest of future generations, I have signed this bill." Brown could not have done a better job of summing up the points. Now, California joins Hawaii, Washington and Oregon in having accomplished this long awaited mission.

However, we must acknowledge the brave souls that partook in this great mission. To start off, Richard Branson, the billionaire business tycoon, and Yao Ming, a retired professional basketball player, attended a press conference fighting against eating shark fins in Shanghai, China. Branson even personally called Governor Brown and urged him to sign the ban, which greatly surprised Brown. Yao told the story of how he gave up eating shark fins in 2006 and abstains from events where shark fins are served. In the political office, assembly members Paul Fong and Jared Huffman took the first step and introduced the bill, in hopes of being able to convince other assembly members. When asked how he was able to convert other assembly members to advocates of shark fin ban, he simply answered, “It wasn't that difficult, actually. The [assembly members] have received tens of thousands of support letters from voters. That was key -- the overwhelming amount of people in California that support the shark fin ban.” This is the uplifting truth, and I hope that many people will be inspired by this to take action, famous or not, even when it seems like it won’t make much of a difference. Every voice counts, and tens of thousands of voices may lead to the light at the end of the tunnel.

Like every controversial issue, this one caused a furious reaction on one side, in this case the Chinese restaurant owners. "I think it's a case of discrimination against Chinese because it's only Chinese who eat fin soup," said Pius Lee, chairman of the Chinatown Neighborhood Association in San Francisco. "I'm very disappointed that the governor did not investigate the whole set of facts. We believe that cutting fins and throwing the other part of the shark back is entirely not true." Those opposed to the ban must understand that the tens of thousands of advocates of the ban were well aware of the fins’ role as a Chinese delicacy, but the environmental impact was too great to ignore. One must remember that doing what is right is more important than trying to please everyone.

Cement

Cement is more than just a widespread building material. Often overlooked by many people, the fact is that the pollution and corruption caused by cement plants in the area have done much more harm than good. While it may seem like cement plants are only beneficial due to their use as necessary building materials, the unavoidable truth is that cement plants pave the way to deleterious effects on the surrounding air quality, and often provide insufficient workers’ rights. By contributing to smog, cement plants harm the environment of local towns. For example, the Lehigh cement plant in Cupertino is one such contributor. Gaining frightening power as a corporation, the Lehigh Permanente Cement was honored as the Large Business of the Year in 2001-2002 by the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce. Although the cement plant received this reward, the price it comes with is not acceptable. Even if the cement plant is able to gross large profit, a large part of this profit is usually spread abroad, while the pollution remains domestically in our towns. The Lehigh Cement plant ranks as the fourth largest cement plant in terms of kiln mercury pollution.

It gets worse: Santa Clara County has favored the big corporation over the community once again, in a unanimous decision voting for Lehigh Heidelberg Cement Group over the citizens. The board ruled in favor of the “vested rights” of large companies, meaning that the rights given to the company at its founding still apply today. Now the company does not have to apply for a land permit, cementing a right to freely use public lands. This means that the land from the mines can now expand effortlessly without so much as public approval. Many people led a sticky protest, including Councilman Barry Chang, due to the potential health detriment from expanding a cement plant. The Councilman and his fellows formed a group called the No Toxic Air in response to this expansion. The group appealed to the County Board by citing evidence of cases that overruled “vested rights” when public health concerns were present. However the Board grayed over the examples and ignored the appeal. In response, No Toxic Air is considering the possibility of challenging the board’s decision in court, or seeking a referendum on the issue before voters. Cement creates gray areas and unnecessary problems, which paves the way to future dilemmas in our society, a burden that we do not need.

New Apple Building

The city of Cupertino is currently reviewing Apple's plans to build a new campus in its downtown area. If approved, Apple will able to use the entire 175-acre piece of land between Wolfe Road, Homestead Road, Tantau Avenue, and I-280, a site currently occupied by a large number of office buildings, most belonging to Hewlett-Packard. The new facility, in addition to dramatically increasing the amount of landscape and natural scenery in the area, would also be run almost completely on solar energy due to the voltaic solar panels covering almost every surface of the compound. Furthermore, the campus would be part of a citywide bus transit system, greatly decreasing the amount of Carbon emissions made by commuting workers.
However, this plan is coming under heavy fire by a number of Cupertino citizens, most of them cyclists. Their complaints stem from the fact that a private access ramp within the complex would cover the western part of Pruneridge Avenue, a road used commonly by cyclists who want to avoid the notoriously traffic-heavy Homestead Road.

The first phase of development includes a preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment conducted by the city of Cupertino, which will assess the compound's impact on a variety of environmental factors, such as air quality, noise control, and impact on traffic. While the Assessment is being completed, residents of Cupertino will have the opportunity to voice their opinions in a series of public hearings conducted by the city council. The final report will be available to the public in the Spring of 2012.

Save the Bay Celebrates its 50th Anniversary

In 1961, three women came together in an effort to stop filling in San Francisco Bay. Kay Kerr, Esther Gulick, and Sylvia Mclaughlin organized thousands of supporters, convincing the city of Berkeley to cancel its plans to fill the bay. Over the next half century, Save the Bay continued to expand, both in numbers and in influence. In 1965, they established the Bay Conservation Development commission, the first coastal protection agency in the nation. More recently, programs like Bay Area Hot-spots and the watershed education program have gotten the community involved in environmental health.

Today, Save the Bay has become an environmental giant, consisting of 25,000 supporters and over 2,000 active volunteers. To see how Save the Bay grew to one of the largest environmental efforts in the region, we sat down with campaign manager Josh Sonnenfeld.

Q: So Save the Bay is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year. What makes it so special?

A: Save the Bay is the largest and oldest organization dedicated to restoring and preserving San Francisco Bay. We have a lot of different programs in place that get the community involved. Every year we get thousands of volunteers to come out and help the bay. We get kids to take out invasive species and plant native ones. We meet with community groups to spread awareness about how to protect the bay.

Q: How has Save the Bay changed in its 50 year history?

A: Nowadays, Save the Bay has over 30 staff members and 25,000 supporters and volunteers. When they founded the organization back in 1961, they were happy just to get to 2,000. In the 60’s, the bay had over four dozen trash dumps lining its shores, and it wasn’t nearly as clean as it is now. Today, it is a lot cleaner, and there are no dumps pouring their waste into the bay. We also restoring over 40,000 acres of wetlands around the bay. We have made a lot of progress, and we owe most of it to the public, who changed their attitudes about conserving the bay and helped clean it up..

Q: What were the some of biggest achievements in Save the Bay’s history?

A: One of our biggest achievements was the establishment of the Bay Conservation and Development Commission. It was the first type of legislation in the country to regulate things based on environmental impact. We have also helped set up organizations that educate the community about local environmental issues.

We also talked about Save the Bay’s current projects, most notably their opposition to the proposed Cargill development off of Redwood City.

Q: Are there any non-environmental concerns that come from building “Cargilleville”?

A: .Oh of course. We are talking about 10,000 houses and 30,000 more people, which is basically a whole new city. There will be added traffic on Highway 101. There are concerns from the port of Redwood City, which is right next to the marshes where the new development would be built. Cargill hasn’t even said where they will be getting their water, and there is already a strain for water on the peninsula.

Q: What are the major obstacles in stopping the Cargill development?

A: There are a few major ones. First, Cargill is the largest private company in the nation, and they employ over a dozen staff just to promote the development. They run full page ads in the newspaper, donate to community groups to gain support, and even hire lobbyists to ensure that the development plans get passed.

Q: If the Redwood City council is most likely going to pass the proposed building of Cargill, what is Save the Bay’s plan to stop this?

A: More likely than not, this development is going to go down to the ballot, so the citizens of Redwood City are probably going to have to vote on it. And what Cargill doesnt have is the public opinion. My job is reaching out to the community and talking to as many different people as possible and making sure they know about the development and know the concerns with it.

When asked what’s next for Save the Bay, Sonnenfeld quoted its founder Kay Kerr, saying, “The Bay is always in the process of being saved.” With over 90% of the Bay’s wetlands gone, the statement seems very true. But with more work, we may soon have a Bay we can be proud of.

One Man Stand

Gladwyn d’Souza is the perfect example of how one person can make a difference in

society. Born in Nairobi, Kenya and raised in Goa, India, Gladwyn lived in a village

with no electricity or running water. From a young age, he saw how easy it was to live

a green life; he carried this idea with him into today’s society and now one of the most

environmentally friendly citizens around.

Gladwyn is a part of the Sierra Club, choosing to join it because it is a grassroots

organization and he believed that it was a more affective way to make a change. He

says community is key in making a change. The community has to have an active role,

and that is also why he chose the Sierra Club, as it has a very strong influence with the

community and most people stand behind it. In the Sierra Club, Gladwyn is a part of the

transportation committee. They work to study the price of parking and compare the cost

of driving, walking, and riding a bike. He also works with the San Mateo County food

distribution network, ensuring that the produce and animal products sold locally are from

good, sustainable sources and not from damaging factories halfway around the world.

Gladwyn’s house alone is extremely impressive. It is known as the greenest house in San

Mateo County, and for good reason. When planning the location of his house, the first

thing he looked for was distance from both train stations and bus stations. Being close

to these places was important to him because it made traveling and getting from place to

place both convenient and green. In addition his home has solar panels that provide all of

the energy needed to run his home. The wood of the house is almost all recycled wood

from old structures, which would have otherwise been disposed of. The house also has a

grey water system, which filters and recycles water to get the maximum efficiency. That

includes its own irrigation system which waters an extensive garden that produces a large

amount of fresh, local produce. His home has been widely recognized for its amazing

economic and environmental efficiency.

Gladwyn also had some advice to the average citizen who wishes to become greener. The

three big difference makers are transportation, waste, and water. If someone makes an

effort to walk, ride a bike, or take the bus, they can save a huge amount of energy from

not using their car. Not producing trash can save landfill space and conserve resources

and energy; luckily a surprising amount of waste can be recycled or composted safely.

Third, anyone who makes an effort to take shorter showers and use water more sparingly

can make a huge difference, as all the little efforts of people add up to save a huge

amount of water.

On the topic of the Cargill development in Redwood City, Gladwyn explained that it

will be difficult to stop it due to society’s customs, and in order to do so we will have to

put up a fight. The modern world is based off development and advancement, and as he

pointed out the entire populated peninsula was at one point either in a redwood forest or

in the bay. Cargill will make a huge amount of money selling thousands of homes on land

which is now salt flats, and without any concern of effects on wildlife or the community

this effort must be stopped.

When asked what the community can do to stop this, Gladwyn stated simply that public

awareness must be raised through events like informational movies. There are many

faults in the logic of the Cargill development, and if these can be brought to the public

eye it will be much more difficult for Cargill to get the project approved. If somehow the

project does get approved, though, there should be a list of people who can be contacted

to hold a last-minute campaign to get it overturned.

Through his efforts Gladwyn d’Souza has proved that he is one of the greenest men in

the area. He took his rural and efficient background and applied it to his life here in a

very wasteful society, and showed that it is possible to live very well on very little, taking

what we harvest from the Earth and using it to its full potential. Hopefully soon many

more people will start to follow the model set by this environmental pioneer.

~Franklin Rice and Laila Rafi

Not Just Another Activist

When questioned, a majority of people would say that the voice of one person is not enough to resolve anything--that one person struggling to change an issue will never see success.

Environmental activist Megan Fluke knows that this isn’t true.

A full-time staff member at the Sierra Club’s Loma Prieta Chapter, Fluke has been involved in the environmental movement since the age of fifteen, when a neighborhood group of Fremont residents protested a proposition that would allow land developers to build along hills of a steeper gradient and consequently ruin local habitats. It was the success of this campaign that made Fluke realize that even a small group of active people can make a positive change.

She has since been involved in a myriad of environmental organizations and

activities, from successfully protesting development in San Jose’s Coyote Valley to serving

as the Community Director of GenerationEngage, an organization designed to increase civic

participation rates among underserved young adults.

Recommended by a college professor, Fluke was elected to serve as a

member of the Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter’s Executive Committee in late 2008. Fluke now serves as the Grassroots Organizer of the same chapter, working to build community support for “climate- friendly neighborhoods.” These livable neighborhoods are within walking distance of public transit, such as Caltrain, and enable residents to meet everyday needs by

walking, biking, or taking public transit and thereby reducing both greenhouse gas emissions and disorders such as obesity and depression caused by excessive driving.

Fluke believes that it is relatively simple for people to become active in helping the environment. She stresses that one can help the environment even by doing seemingly insignificant things such as walking or using public transportation, eating less meat, recycling, and growing food.

Nowadays with the numerous environmental and economic issues confronting mankind, it is important to have people who are active in helping both the environment and people at the same time. This attribute is what sets Megan Fluke apart from most other activists, and makes her a valuable asset to the Sierra Club in addition to being an inspirational figure to others looking to follow a similar path.

~ Billy W. Zheng