Learning   Portfolio

             In my reading, I was particularly interested in the “Campus sustainability efforts are diverse” section about how students were working with their schools and staff to make their campus more environmentally friendly. I am very concerned about the shortage of fresh water in the world today, and I am especially troubled by the very apparent shortage going on in the American west. So I decided, for my investigation, to look more into how students are encouraging their campuses to conserve water resources, and what impacts new sciences and policies are making on the world’s water resources.

 

            The numerous creative efforts students and faculty have put into reducing their schools’ water consumption seem very promising. One of these schools is California State University, which has implemented numerous initiatives to reduce water consumption on campus. Many of these involve restrooms, using eco-friendly toilets and urinals which can use little to no water to run properly. Also, the use of weather tracking technology allows CSU Los Angeles to turn off all tap water systems while it rains. (Thara, 2012) The most interesting innovation to me is the use of wood chips to create mulch to use on crops. “Wood chip mulch reduces the need for weed control chemicals and frequent irrigation.” (Thara, 2012) Other universities found that removing trays from their cafeterias eliminates the need for them to be cleaned, reducing “not just waste, but energy and water consumption,” too. (Foderaro, 2009) These seemingly small improvements testify to the power of conserving water.

 

            If universities can save money and water by switching over to a few more eco-friendly policies, than cities should be no different. The government of Phoenix, Arizona, for example, has taken progressive steps toward decreasing water consumption. In fact, the city of Phoenix today has seen its population increase by five times what it was in 1957, yet it still uses the same amount of water that it did back in 1957. (Is Greater, 2015) The dilemma of drought in western cities like Phoenix lies in the lack of water resources available. However, Phoenix has been able to maintain its water resources from the Colorado River, Salt River, Verde River, and several reservoirs due to maintaining city ethics through tough laws and conservation practices. (Is Greater, 2015) This is made possible by further understanding of the science of Ethics. Ethics is one of the most important underlying sciences in water conservation. The science of Ethics was described by Charles S. Pierce as a formal and positive study of factual evidence based on experience. (Liszka, 2014) Essentially, Ethics can be used to study how law officials and the public react to new conservation strategies, and use these experiences to make more effective policies in the future.

 

            The introduction of new ideas and policies to conserve water is a constant movement that is rapidly creating fresh ways to save water. In recent years, a new method of recycling water has been introduced and proposed in Los Angeles, California. This process, called the Groundwater Replenishment Project, will “purify recycled wastewater and pump it underground, refreshing the groundwater supply at a rate of more than 4 billion gallons per year by 2022.” (Bradley, 2015) Los Angeles currently has a productive system witch recycles waste water to be used for agricultural and industrial purposes, but not for general consumption. “A new advanced water purification facility will… further treat the tertiary level water to produce purified recycled water.” (Groundwater Replenishment, 2014) This waste water will be purified through a more highly advanced system, and will be re-introduced to the San Fernando Groundwater Basin. This is turn will keep the city of Los Angeles’ groundwater clean and sustainable. This new innovation has the potential to spread to many other cities across the country and the world, replenishing the earth’s groundwater with environmentally friendly water.

 

            Because water is crucial for our environment’s and our own survival, conservation is a crucial step society must take. Decreasing water consumption not only saves money, as seen with the many universities that implemented ideas to do so, but it conserves water for later use. Conserving water is currently a major issue specifically in the American west, where access to fresh water is scarce. For this reason, western cities like Phoenix and Los Angeles are working diligently to conserve and reuse their water. By observing the powers of sciences such as Ethics, new policies can be introduced, like the Groundwater Replenishment Act. Society always has the opportunity to improve water consumption policies thanks to the more technology and research that is accomplished over time.