The carbon footprint of a biologist?

Maybe I'm sensitive, but there seems to be a lot of articles on green living and such floating around recently. My roommate (a fellow budding scientist) sent me an e-mail petition (something about scientists concerned about the environment) to ask Toyota to adopt better fuel efficiency standards for all their cars/SUVs. This is all great. I'm not new to environmental issues; I've been talking about them since I was 9/10.

A list of concepts of interest (I'm not linking them, but I'm sure you can search for them):
1. small, compact fuel efficient cars get comparable mileage than hybrids, for ~$5000 less (that's a whooping 25-30% of the price of a car!).
2. Just because a company sells a popular hybrid car (like the Prius) does not mean that they are greener than their competition. Consumers and scientists have themselves to blame if they were ever deluded that Toyota is greener than any other car manufacturer.
3. eating meat is bad for the environment
4. an efficient, fully-loaded dishwasher uses less water than a person washing dishes by hand. (My problem with this is that I've been taught to turn the water off while soaping my dishes. Most people soap while leaving the water running, so I can see how a dishwasher is better. But I turn the water off, so how do I compare?)
5. global warming is for real! (those far-off ideas I heard about 15 years ago are actually true! *shudder*)

Anyway, focusing on my self evaluation, with particular relation to my current career path: a graduate student researcher.

Things that worry me:
1. I and my labmates throw away a ton of plastic every day -- eppendorf tubes, Falcon tubes, pipet tip boxes (I use the reloadable ones, but there aren't reloadable boxes for filter tips).
2. There are always styrofoam boxes, and cold packs (what's in them?) in the trash. These packing materials are necessary because we order enzymes and other perishables that need to be kept cold. Some companies (like BioRad) have a recycling program, but no one seems to take the trouble to read the form, fill in the labels, and bring the box back to shipping for return.
3. Where does the chemical waste go? We have strict rules for labeling and disposal of chemical waste, but it's still a ton of solvents. But if big pharmas deal with chemical waste, the amount put out by research institutes must be manageable.

In case someone else is reading this article, I am not worried about radioactive waste because we use minimal amounts of radioisotopes in lab, and they are properly disposed. I'm thinking back to the opening of the Molecular Foundary back at Cal, where people were protesting the use of radioactive isotopes. It's more public hysteria and misunderstanding, IMHO. Or I just have a magically higher tolerance for radioactivity than others.

So yeah, I was wondering about the environmental impact of different jobs.

Tales of Mere Existence

I was going to post links to this series of videos I just discovered on youtube before I realized that Safari (at least the version I'm using), doesn't allow me to add hyperlinks the way I used to. I'm pasting the ugly link like this (http://www.youtube.com/user/AgentXPQ) until I figure out how to make it look nicer...or until I get a new computer.

Anyway, to explain what I'm linking -- this guy does pencil and paper animation about the minute things in life. The series is aptly named "Tales of Mere Existence".

I've been a hapy Mac user for 2 years, but I feel like it's time to switch back to Windows again. Mac's software is great, but I've had 2 hardware failures the last 2 years I've owned my iBook. Perhaps I'm plain unlucky. I really like the Mac OS. The hardware is just not reliable for me. Between software issues and hardware issues, I think the choice is clear. PS. I'm not getting Vista, don't worry.

Fear

While I am really curious about all those reports that promise to give the true picture of what is going on in Myanmar right now, I'm afraid to click on those links. If you're curious and unafraid, you should check reddit out.

I think my fear stems from a documentary I saw many years ago when I was young, maybe about 9. It was about the genocide in Cambodia and it was on tv. For the first time in my life, I saw stacks of real human skulls. That, and an old faded Coca-Cola billboard is all I remember about that documentary. Cambodia and Myanmar are in similar parts of the world. It's not so hard to imagine Burmese skulls in a jungle.

I read an article linked by Reddit yesterday morning about how Singapore indirectly aids the Burmese junta by providing banking and medical services. It was disturbing. A friend later sent out an e-mail with more articles describing the Singapore-Myanmar economic/military link. I visited a monastery in Myanmar once. Is that famous monk who blessed me still alive? And if he is dead, was it before he could see the terrible things that are being done to his fellow monks?

I just want to stay in bed all day.