Blog 19

1. I had no idea that sewage water undergoes such an extensive process to be cleaned, filtered, and disinfected before it is released back into the environment. Prior to this module, I somehow thought that sewage and wastewater just disappeared - which makes no sense.

I looked up the locations of treatment plants in San Francisco and was not surprised to find out that there are some in Hunter's Point/Bayview - which experience high amounts of disparities in the city. Given that this area already experiences disparities, it's certainly an environmental justice concern.

2. It's hard to imagine a new campaign for getting toilets in India, but I would hope that international pressure and an overall call to action by folks around the world would encourage the government to take extensive action with this issue. It's a major social justice issue in that the poorest are without. If there was some way to create a community based campaign in which folks could be provided compost toilets that they then install and take care of, to increase community involvement, I think that that would be great.

Environmental News:
I read an article in the Atlantic about how warming sea temperatures allows algae to travel farther North - strongly disrupting the ecosystem. The algae, or 'red tide' as it's called, poisons the water and kills marine life as well as land species. Shellfish that are poisoned with the algae can in turn poison and kill human beings if ingested. It's a terrifying reality that red tides are spreading due to increasing temperatures.

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