Paint it white

Creative global warming initiatives command attention

By Kate Hunt

ome of science’s greatest minds
S are getting back to basics when it

comes to tackling global warming.
Steven Chu, U.S. Energy Secretary and
recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics,
has proposed that we paint the world
white in order to reduce carbon emissions
and lower the global temperature.
Specifically, he advocates whitewashing
flat roofs and lightening the concrete of
roads and sidewalks.

If you are wondering how this
proposed scheme could possibly make a
difference, try casting your mind back to
Grade 10 science class. Dark surfaces,
we learned, absorb light and radiate heat
back into our atmosphere, whereas white
surfaces reflect 60% more light, thereby
sending the sun’s energy back into
space and reducing heat. If you’ ve ever
wondered why many buildings in hot
countries like Greece are painted white,
now you know.

According to Chu, these measures
could stave off global warming both by
reducing the amount of solar radiation in
our atmosphere and by lessening the use
of energy guzzling air conditioners. He
says the reduction in carbon emissions
from uniformly lightening the earth’s
surfaces could be equivalent to taking all
the cars off the roads for 11 years.

Painting surfaces white to combat
global warming is not a brand new idea,
says Chu. In California, all flat roofs on
commercial buildings have been required
to be white since 2005. Chu believes that
building regulations should follow this
lead. “I think with flat-type roofs you
can’t even see, yes, I think you should
regulate,” says Chu.

As environmental issues continue

 

to be at the forefront of our collective
consciousness, unique “green” measures
are becoming more and more common.
For example, staff uniforms at the Ritz-
Carlton Kapalua are fashioned out of
recycled bottles. And in the spring of
2009, Google famously hired a herd

of goats to “mow” the lawns at their
headquarters, stating that the goats cost
the same but were more sustainable than
using lawnmowers.

Here at the college, the Douglas
Students’ Union (DSU) is striving
to keep our campus environmentally
friendly. Right now the most prominent
initiative is the “Go Bottled Water Free!”
campaign, which advocates for more
water filling stations to be installed on
both Douglas College campuses and
for water bottles to be eliminated from
on-campus vending machines. As a habit-
changing incentive, the DSU has been
handing out free reusable water bottles to
students.

DSU Internal Relations Coordinator
Chris Dahan says the initiative benefits
students as well as the planet. More water
filling stations and reusable water bottles
would save students from breaking the
bank to quench their thirst. “For students,
that extra $2-3 a day could be used on
books or food,” says Dahan. Further, he
cites plastic water bottles’ detriment to
the environment: “Plastic water bottles
generate over 2.5 million tons of carbon
dioxide a year.”

The DSU is currently collecting
student signatures in support of the “Go
Bottled Water Free!” campaign. For more
information, or to get involved, visit
www.douglasstudentsunion.ca, or call
604-527-5110 (New Westminster) or 604-
777-6257 (David Lam).

 

at

  

The real story about vitamin D

By Kennedy Kierans

ancouver in the depths of winter:
it is almost by definition one
of the dreariest places around.

According to Environment Canada, we
get an average of just 60 hours of bright
sunlight for the entire month of January.
And rainy days? They say we typically
get five millimetres or more of rain three
times a week.

Besides being dreary and tedious,
this lack of sunlight, and the vitamin
D it contains, can also be bad for your
health. The non-profit Vitamin D Council
states that “vitamin D deficiency (is) a
major factor in the pathology of at least
17 varieties of cancer as well as heart
disease, stroke, hypertension, autoimmune
diseases, diabetes, depression, chronic
pain, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, muscle
weakness, muscle wasting, birth defects,
periodontal disease, and more.”

Statistics Canada, in a study released
last year, found that about two thirds of
the population had vitamin D levels low
enough to put them at increased risk.
They also found a significant difference
in levels based on ethnicity or race, with
whites having far higher levels of vitamin
D in their blood compared to non-whites.

Reinhold Vieth, a professor at the
University of Toronto and an authority
on vitamin D, notes that this difference is

largely based on biological factors. “At
latitudes farther away from the equator ...
darker skin requires longer exposure (to
produce enough vitamin D)”.

So what can people do? The Vitamin
D Council notes there are only three
ways to get enough vitamin D: sunlight,
orally (through food and supplements) or
tanning. Sunlight, when you can find it,
can be risky because of increased risk of
skin cancers.

Vitamin D occurs naturally in foods
such as salmon and vitamin D-enriched
milk and cheeses. Multivitamin
supplements offer a range of doses.
However, most foods and supplements
would have to be taken in massive
amounts in order to achieve the desired
levels.

And what about tanning? Researchers
in Michigan found that “most tanning
devices primarily emit ultraviolet
A, which is relatively ineffective in
stimulating vitamin D synthesis.” And
researchers in Massachusetts found that,
“indoor tanning bed use represents an
avoidable risk factor for...skin cancer.”

It seems, then, that the only thing
to do is balance things out: drink your
milk, take your vitamins, and get your
sunlight— but not during the middle of the
day, when UV levels are highest. And stay
informed for more developments in the
science of nutrition and overall health.

 

 

 

  

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