A Guide to Composting Yard & Food Waste. N.p., 2015. Web. 27 Feb. 2015.

<http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/massdep/recycle/reduce/composting-yard-and-foodwaste.html>.
This article from Energy and Environmental Affairs is a guide to composting yard and
food waste. It talks about why should we compost and the benefits of composting.
Moreover, it tells what kind of environment we should choose for composting, and how
to make a compost pile.

"American Forests About Us | American Forests." American Forests. N.p. n.d. Web. 23 Feb.
2015.
The people who is with this organization gets the experience to restore forest ecosystems,
plant trees and protect wildlife habitats. This website is expressed on their projects and
why they do what they do. Although they are not in California, there are ways to
contribute to the forests we have here in the region.

Britannica Online Academic Edition. (2012).

This article was about the ecosystem and its definition. Ecosystem is defined as the
complex living of organisms, and their relationships with each other. The ecosystem
includes the soil, minerals, water, sunlight, even non living elements. Each are very
important and essential. The energy transfers and travels through each organism. For
example, the autotrophs use the sunlight to make food, and the autotrophs provide as food
or make food for some heterotrophs. The food chain -- or food web -- is the pathway of
energy through the ecosystem.

"Center for Land-Based Learning." Center for Land-Based Learning. N.p. n.d. Web. 22 Feb.
2015.
The Center for Land-Based Learning(CLBL) is an organization that reaches out to the
youth to promote sustainability and leadership development. This website shows the
various ways to be involved with this organization and be able to join or contribute to the
programs that they have. CLBL has many opportunities for students and they are able to
change the way students may approach the environment and sustain a better and healthier
habitat.

Christensen, N. (2014). An historical perspective on forest succession and its relevance to

ecosystem restoration and conservation practice in North America. Forest Ecology and
Management, 312-322.
This article was about restoration of forest and parks. On the role of disturbance and
succession (simultaeneous replacement of species by another) in the ecosystem,
restoration and conservation organizations formed to help. For example, the National
Parks Services - in Yellowstone, for example - formed to conserve scenery, the natural,
historic objects, and - of course - the wildlife. They were aiming for no more disturbance
by humans in the areas. Frequent forest fires are important and light burning was needed
to restore healthy forest conditions.

Cochran, Soni. "University of NebraskaLincoln." Vermicomposting. Nebraska Extension

Lancaster County. n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.

Vermicomposting is composting with worms. When composting with worms, theyre not
the usual worms that anyone can find in their back yards. They are redworms that are
usually purchased when trying to make one at home. This website allows their readers to
DIY(Do It Yourself) at home or for projects. Vermicomposting allows their castings as a
rich, natural fertilizer for crops and plants.

Duruibe, J. O., M. O. , Ogwuegbu, and J. N. D Egwurugwu. "Full Length Research Paper."

Heavy Metal Pollution and Human Biotoxic Effects 2.5 (2007): 112-18. May 2007. Web. 18 Feb.
2015. <http://www.academicjournals.org/article/article1380209337_Duruibe%20et%20al.pdf>.
This article is about the pollution from heavy metals and its effects on humans. Heavy
metals are important manufactured products that serve important uses to humans.
However, the biotoxic effects from these heavy metals can be life threatening if not given
attention. This article explains that people should be informed of such situations to
prevent heavy metal pollution and possible human poisoning.

Halden, Rolf U., and Kellogg J. Schwab. Environmental Impact of Industrial Farm Animal
Production (n.d.): 1-35. Web. 18 Feb. 2015. <http://www.ncifap.org/_images/2124_EnvImpact_tc_Final.pdf>.
This article is about impacts of the environment of animal production in industrial farms.
Estimated to more than millions of people consume groundwater that contains moderate
or severe contamination caused mainly by excessive usage of agricultural fertilizers and
large rates of animal waste.

Holl, K. (2011). When and where to actively restore ecosystems? Forest Ecology and
Management, (10), 1558-1563.
This article was about what to do if you want to restore an ecosystem. Disturbances from
land usage can slow down recovery. For example, restoring tropical forests goals include
maximizing carbon sequestration, restoring plant composition, or conserving wildlife.
Limited funding is always something to think about when doing restoration projects.
When seeking to restore some part of the ecosystem, it would take time and dedication,
because an active site restoration could take 5-10 years, when a one time planting - for
example - could be done with a limited budget and way less amount of time.

Hribar, Carrie. Understanding Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations and Their Impact on
Communities (2010): 1-19. National Association of Local Boards of Health. Web. 18 Feb. 2015.
<http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehs/docs/understanding_cafos_nalboh.pdf>.
This article is about the operations of concentrated animal feeding and how they impact
communities. The article talks about the numerous environmental and public health
problems that are cause by large industrial animal farms. This article also talks about the
importance in monitoring these animal operations consistently to avoid harming the
community surrounding them.

Jambeck, Jenna, Elisabeth Farrell, and Sara Cleaves. "Food Scraps to Composting and Back to
Food." BioCycle, 47.12 (2006): 29-34.
The article of Food Scraps to Composting and Back to Food reports on the composting
program initiated by the University of New Hampshire (UNH) in Durham. Since the
program started, more than half a million pounds of food residuals have been composted.

Food wastes are collected from the university's dining facilities and from several local
restaurants. Finished compost is then used in a campus garden, with produce coming
back to the dining halls.

Khan, Mashhood A., and Arslaan M. Ghouri. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION: ITS

EFFECTS ON LIFE AND ITS REMEDIES 2.2 (2011): 276-85. 2 Apr. 2011. Web. 18 Feb. 2015.
<http://www.researchersworld.com/vol2/issue2/Paper_23.pdf>.
This article is about the different types of environmental pollution and the effects they
have on living organisms. The types of pollution talked about is air pollution, water
pollution, and land/solid waste pollution. Altogether, those types of pollution affects
organisms such as humans, animals, and plants. Pollution causes the environment to die
which then causes diseases and other negative effects on living organisms.

Kunz, T. (2011). Ecosystem services provided by bats. Year In Ecology And Conservation
Biology, 1-38.
I read the part where it talked about the different ecosystems and how they work.
Ecosystems are the relationships between organisms physically and chemically. There are
two types of ecosystems: Terrestrial and Aquatic. Terrestrial include forests, grasslands,
deserts, and caves. Aquatic include rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, estuaries, and the
oceans. In record, for thousands of years, humans have been disturbing natural
ecosystems, being increasingly threatening as the years go by. Healthy ecosystems need
insect suppression, pollination, seed dispersal, water purification, air purification,
stabilization of soil, decomposition, etc.

Longcore, T. (2007). Management by Assertion: Beavers and Songbirds at Lake Skinner

(Riverside County, California). Environmental Management, (4), 460-471.
This was a response to habitat destruction and urbanization, thinking of ways of
conserving and managing adaptations. Theres an Adaptive Resource Management
approach, in which has six steps: Compile information, state goals and objectives,
develop a model based on the information gathered, manage, monitor/reflect based off of
experiment, analyze and evaluate. In January 1999, it was observed that beavers were a
threat to the songbirds in Riverside, California, resulting in the locals to build a Reserve
for them. With management for biodiversities, its proven that we humans can protect
species peacefully. It was recommended that if people were to help build reserves and
such, it should be approached sophisticatedly. Funding for nature reserves are usually
insufficient and management needs to be asserting.

Logan Waste Service. Composting. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2015.

<http://www.logan.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/70259/composting.pdf>.
This article from Logan Waste Service is about the process of composting. It also shows
the materials that require for the process of composting, and the materials you do not
need. It talks about the benefit of composting such as allows nutrients in an ecosystem to
be used over and over again so as to sustain the ecosystem.

Lunt, I. (2012). Using assisted colonisation to conserve biodiversity and restore ecosystem
function under climate change. Biological Conservation, 172-177.
This article is linking colonization and ecosystems. The issue about our ecosystems have
been evolving around climate change recently, going on the issue of habitat

fragmentation. This author saw it as a push and pull factor. Push is the pushing of
populations to areas to maintain them under climate change. The pull is pulling into
other areas to restore function of the population. Relocation of species were tested to see
where they would thrive.

Miller, Peter. "Energy Conservation." National Geographic Magazine. N.p. Mar. 2009. Web.
27 Feb. 2015.
In this article, Miller shows his readers the way his family is able to conserve energy for a
better lifestyle. Including the way to save more money, Miller finds more ways to make
sure his surroundings are efficient and he is using methods that can save energy and stop
overusing it. Some ways are by riding bikes and not drive, take the community bus if
traveling and reducing the power they use at home. He kindly shares statistics about CO2
emissions and analyzes that the way he reduced energy usage was more productive and
he felt good about himself.

Nakasaki, Kiyohiko, Hiroshi Mimoto, Quyen Ngoc Minh Tran, and Akiko Oinuma. "Composting
of Food Waste Subjected to Hydrothermal Pretreatment and Inoculated with Paecilomyces Sp.
FA13." Bioresource Technology, 180 (2015): 40-46.
The article of Composting of Food Waste Subjected to Hydrothermal Pretreatment and
Inoculated with Paecilomyces Sp. FA13 talks about the study of how to dispose food
waste by composting. It shows the information such as what kind of environment and
temperature is better for composting, and the chemical data for composting is very
detailed.

Nowak, David J., Satoshi Hirabayashi, Allison Bodine, and Eric Greenfield. "Environmental
Pollution." Trees and Forest Effects on Air Quality and Human Health in the United States
(2014): 119-29. Elsevier. 26 May 2014. Web. 18 Feb. 2015.
<http://www.fs.fed.us/nrs/pubs/jrnl/2014/nrs_2014_nowak_001.pdf>.
This article is about trees and that they help remove air pollution in the areas where they
are planted in. The main focus is that it is more important to plant trees in urban areas
than in rural areas. Urban areas (such as cities) have more amounts of people living there
which causes more air pollution in cities than in rural areas. By planting more trees in
urban areas, the trees will remove large amounts of air pollution. This will then result in
generating generous health benefits and monetary values across the nation.

Obasohan, E. E., D. E. Agbonlahor, and E. E. Obano. "African Journal of Biotechnology." Water

Pollution: A Review of Microbial Quality and Health Concerns of Water, Sediment and Fish in
the Aquatic Ecosystem 9.4 (2010): 423-27. Academic Journals. 25 Jan. 2010. Web. 18 Feb. 2015.
<http://www.academicjournals.org/article/article1380812311_Obasohan%20et%20al.pdf>.
This article is about the relationship between microbes and humans related to water
pollution. Human productivity can cause harmful effects to organisms living in the water.
This journal article talks about what people could do to minimize and prevent harmful
effects that impacts organisms living in water.

Ruckelshaus, M. (2008). Marine Ecosystem-based Management in Practice: Scientific and

Governance Challenges. BioScience, (1), 53-63.
This article was about marine ecosystems. From observations, there has a been a
widespread of habitats and species that are in need of help. Overfishing was one of the

problems that developed into endangered marine animals. There are many teams working
right now in the Ecosystem Based Management (EBM), trying to save marine habitats
and such. They work together to specify which marine animals are able to be kept when
caught, and others are to be returned and recorded. Theres a Californias Marine Life
Management Act (MLMA) that became law in 1999 that conserves marine resources,
sustains fisheries, and conserves/restores habitats.

"Sacramento Tree Foundation." Sacramento Tree Foundation - Sacramento Tree Foundation.

N.p. n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.
Sacramento Tree Foundation gives communities from all over the valley to be a part of
giving back. Specifically to their community and to create better environments. They
offer volunteer experiences to learn how to plant and be involved within a community.
This website allows people to look into the events and projects more so that they will
plan ahead and help with the projects they have going on.

Safanda, David. "The Hungry Owl Project." The Hungry Owl Project. N.p. n.d. Web. 22 Feb.
2015.
This website is about projects for owls. It is to build some habitats and home for owls
when they need it. This website allows us to see the various types of ways to consider
purchasing or even building boxes for owls. It really depends on the location and
appropriateness for the owls and the community. Just like how people might build houses
for birds, it is the same as for owls, even though they have different living styles.

SINCLAIR, A. (2006). Understanding ecosystem dynamics for conservation of biota. Journal of

Animal Ecology, (1), 64-79.
This article was a better understanding of ecosystems. Everything that happens in an
ecosystem is a chain reaction. Fires, floods, and earthquakes are examples of disturbances
of the Earth. Even though disturbance in the ecosystem is bad, it also gives structure,
producing long-term changes that'll affect all the organisms. It could lead to endangered
organisms and such, that's why top predators could also cause and help the ecosystem.
Ecosystems are always changing, either long-term or sudden shifts.

Smith-Sebasto, N. "Food Scraps Recovery and Composting: A Sociological Imagination for

Sustainability." Sociological Imagination, 50.1 (2014): 69-85.
The article Food Scraps Recovery and Composting: A Sociological Imagination for
Sustainability is about the significance of food scraps recovery and its composting in
increase soil fertility and thus agricultural produce in the U.S. Topics include growing
agricultural crisis, and a data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the
role that higher education institutions can play in imparting awareness and knowledge of
human ecological sustainability among people.

"Sustainability." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency. n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.

This website is about sustainability and they have lists of various ways for the human
race to be able to help sustain healthier lives on Earth. They want to reduce atmospheric
levels of pollution and greenhouse gases, use greener materials and not toxic ones. One of
the ways towards sustainability that really caught my eye was to manage, protect and

restore water usage. I think the ways we use water will be hard to manage now, but if
there is a limited supply, we should adapt to using less.

United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Compost Council. Food Waste
Composting Regulations

White Paper California Integrated Waste Management

Board . N.p., Oct. 2009. Web. 27 Feb. 2015. <Food Waste Composting Regulations White Paper
California Integrated Waste Management Board>.
The article Food Waste Composting Regulations White Paper California Integrated Waste
Management Board talks about the requirements of safety to compost product in
California. Also, it talks about the food waste composting and its regulatory issues.

"Water." Pollution Facts, Effects of Pollution, Clean Act. Natural Resources Defense Council,
n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.
This article also ties in with sustainability because they show the ways that we can
conserve the water supply and improve the water quality. They express water efficiency
so much because they want what is good for the community. Since there has been severe
droughts and the water supply has been cut short, they want to protect the water and
preserve water ecosystems.

Yadav, Kunwar, N Mistry, Daxesh Pandya, and Bhupesh Ganvit. "Composting of Food and
Vegetable Waste." IUP Journal of Environmental Sciences, 4.4 (2010): 27-38.
The article of Composting of Food and Vegetable Waste talks about composting is one of
the easy and inexpensive way for disposal of organic waste, and turn into valuable
products. The goals are to find out the degradation rate in terms of change in volatile

solids during the composting process; and to study the leachate characteristics of food
and vegetable waste.

Zell, Hanna, David Quarcoo, Cristian Scutaru, Karin Vitzthum, Stefanie Uibe, Norman Schffe,
Stefanie Mache, David A. Groneberg, and Michael F. Spallek. "Journal of Occupational
Medicine and Toxicology." Air Pollution Research: Visualization of Research Activity Using
Density-equalizing Mapping and Scientometric Benchmarking Procedures 5.5 (2010): 1-9.
Occupational Medicine. 2010. Web. 18 Feb. 2015. <http://www.occupmed.com/content/pdf/1745-6673-5-5.pdf>.
This article is about the research in air pollution. Before in the past, not much focus was
made towards air pollution. However now as time has passed and air pollution has started
to present visible problems, the scientific interest in air pollution has increased. Today,
people are putting more amounts of effort in researching air pollution.