FOCUS FROSTBURG 2012

Focus Frostburg 2012

By Jenny Toke, ENGL 336.002

 ................

As part of 2012’s Earth week, FSU hosted a daylong session welcoming students from the university, local high schools, faculty, staff, and community members to learn more about Living Green during Focus Frostburg on Wednesday, April 18^th. Numerous professors, faculty, and students presented lectures, artwork, and even made available Earth Week lunch specialties all held in Lane University Center from 9:00 in the morning until 5:00 in the evening.

            The room filled to the capacity of standing room only by the time 11:00 rolled around and Ben Norris, part of FSU’s department of Chemistry, was ready to present his lecture about biodegradable plastics. He began by exemplifying different plastics found in everyday-encountered items such as plastic cups and bags, coffee bags, and soda bottles. He initially introduced three plastics: Cellulose, used for the crinkly outside of the coffee bag; poly(ethylene terepthalate) (PET), the items you see with a recycling triangle and the number 1 such as a 20 oz soda bottle; and poly (lactic acid) (PLA). Cellulose has been around the longest, PET was used commercially around 1950, and PLA introduced in 1980 but not commercially popular until 2007-2008.

 “Plastics are moldable solids. Their ability to be moldable distinguishes them from solids such as rocks, for example,” Dr. Norris explains. Plastic comes from ancient Greek plastikos meaning “of molding.” Most plastics are therefore organic polymers. Polymers are high molecular weight compounds consisting of repeating units. Two classifications of polymers are natural and synthetic. Natural polymers are made by organisms such as DNA, proteins, starch, and cellulose. Synthetic polymers are manufactured by humans such as the plastics we are all familiar with. The natural polymer, cellulose, is made by plants who make glucose from the atmosphere. PLA is a synthetic polymer which is “actually not made from lactic, but it is made from a lactide monomer.” As said, cellulose is the oldest commercially used polymer, but it is a semi-synthetic polymer. “It comes from nature, but we don’t just take it from the plant, we put it through a lot of manufacturing.” Cellulose was discovered in 1838 and the structure was determined in 1920. Celluloid film is an example used early on but although it was easy and inexpensive to prepare, transparent, flexible, and resilient, the production generates strongly acidic waste and it is very flammable. PET film was also cheap and easy and stable in a variety of conditions BUT it is too strong and resilient. Dr. Norris explained that he used to work at a movie theatre and when there was the film jammed, “PET breaks the projector when there’s a jam.” Lastly, Dr. Norris explained that biodegradability occurs at faster rates depending on hydrophilicity, the rate of hydrolysis, and the toxicity of hydrolysis products. There is research being done to make products with copolymers such as self-dissolving stitches.

~

A second presentation was given at 1:00 pm by intern and FSU student Megan Spindler. She shared her learning experience from interning for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. Some of the projects the CCAN has been involved in includes trying to stop building of DC’s keystone XL pipeline, Virginia’s offshore wind, and particularly Maryland’s hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” to drill shale gasses. To learn more about fracking, check out this website: http://www.powerincooperation.com/en/pages/drilling-and-completion.html?utm_campaign=Non-Branded&utm_medium=PaidSearch&utm_source=Google&utm_content=Drilling&utm_term=what%20is%20hydraulic%20fracturing

            Fracking has contaminated drinking water, caused damage to forest and stream systems, and caused damage to eco-tourism, “diminishing aesthetic quality to the county,” Megan explains, accounting towards 10% damage in Allegany and 13% in Garrett County. The biggest thing fracking has had an influence on is climate change. The climate tipping points are between the next 15-30 years.

            Governor O’Malley formed a bill to look into other ways to obtain these gases but he lacked the funding power in the end. In 2011 the formation of the Marcellus Shale Safe building Initiative study was ordered. There is already hydrolic fracking in PA and New York, but Maryland would have been the first to think ahead to create more safety features.

            CCAN chose a FSU student due to proximity and “the fact that we may be the future decision makers.” Megan applied for CCAN because she had limited knowledge of fracking, her interest in policy, her passion for sustainability, and her passion for Western Maryland—“I really do love this area,” she said. To do research she read a lot of papers, dove through websites, and met with a lot of lawmakers and others dealing with the issue. “I felt like a stalker sometimes but it had to be done.” “I don’t want to drive down 68 and see gas wells everywhere.”

            Positive aspects to her internship is that she helped raised awareness and she gained invaluable experience; “I would rather not have fracking at all, but making it safer is a good move, too.” To learn more about CCAN visit http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/