Everything we use in our lives comes from the Earth somehow

Hello Everyone!! 
The topic of this week involves the things we use daily, and how many of those things come from the Earth! The assignment was to record items we saw to be or come from "earth resources" for an entire day. At the end of the day, organizing the  items into eight different categories:  Food and drink, Housing and other buildings, Transportation and roads, Clothing, School supplies,  Personal care products, Leisure activities, Other.  After organizing I will choose one item mentioned and elaborate on the item and go into detail telling of things like, what it is made of, and how it is used. Finally reflecting on the entire task at hand and summarizing my findings. And lets just say what I found was surprising!
I recorded my items on Monday October 14th
Food and Drink:

• Water
• Orange juice- Oranges
• Coffee- Coffee Beans
• Doughnut- Flour, sugar, etc.
• Banana
• Apple
• Ham Sandwich (Bread, Ham, Cheese, Mayo, Mustard)- Pig, Cow, Wheat, etc.
• Arizona Iced Tea
• Spanish Rice and Bread (Rice, Cheese, Meat, Tomatoes)- Cow
• Milk- Cow
• Paper plate
• Silver Ware
• Glass Cup
• Aluminum Can

Housing and Other Buildings:

• My house (everything in it)
• Electricity
• Work (Warehouse)
• School (Quad, Math Science Building)

Transportation and Roads:

• My Truck and its different components  
• Gas (petroleum)
• Roads (asphalt)
• Road signs, stop lights
• Approximately 30 miles of driving

Clothing:

• Towel
• Shirt(2)
• Shorts
• Jacket
• Jeans
• Socks/underwear(2)
• Belt
• Sunglasses
• Shoes(Two Pairs)

School Supplies:

• Pen
• Pencil
• Paper
• Binder
• Note book
• Backpack

Personal Care:

• Water
• Bar of Soap
• Body Wash
• Shampoo
• Deodorant
• Body Spray
• Tooth Brush
• Tooth Paste
• Mouth Wash
• Hair Brush

Leisure Activities:

• TV
• Cell Phone
• IPod
• Car Stereo 
• Bed/Couch

Other:

• Wallet
• Money (Coins, Bills)
• Visa Card
• Keys
• Work Knife
• Fiber Glass Adhesive Mesh (Work)
• Foam (Work)
• Fork Lift (Work)
• Propane (Work/Fork Lift Fuel)

     It is amazing how many things you use and come in contact with in one day. When looking really hard at everything you begin to see that almost everything you use has come from the earth some how. Out of all those items in my list I am going to focus on natural gas, what we use to cook with and heat our homes. Natural gas is colorless, shapeless, and odorless in its pure form. Every uninteresting except,  natural gas is combustible, abundant in the United States, and when burned it gives off a great deal of energy and few emissions. Unlike other fossil fuels, natural gas is clean burning and emits lower levels of potentially harmful byproducts into the air.
     We require energy constantly, to heat our homes, cook our food, and generate our electricity. It is this need for energy that has elevated natural gas to such a level of importance in our society, and in our lives. Natural gas is a combustible mixture of hydrocarbon gases. While natural gas is formed primarily of methane, it can also include ethane, propane, butane and pentane. In its purest form, such as the natural gas that is delivered to your home, it is almost pure methane. Methane is a molecule made up of one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms, and is referred to as CH4. Found in reservoirs underneath the earth, natural gas is often associated with oil deposits. Production companies search for evidence of these reservoirs by using sophisticated technology that helps to find the location of the natural gas, and drill wells in the earth where it is likely to be found. Once brought from underground, the natural gas is refined to remove impurities such as water, other gases, sand, and other compounds. Some hydrocarbons are removed and sold separately, including propane and butane. After refining, the clean natural gas is transmitted through a network of pipelines, thousands of miles of which exist only  in the United States. From these pipelines, natural gas is delivered to us, where it will be used.
    Natural gas is nothing new, most of it is brought out from under the ground from millions of years old. It was not until recently that methods for obtaining this gas, bringing it to the surface, and putting it to use were developed.Britain was the first country to commercialize the use of natural gas. Around 1785, natural gas produced from coal, being used to light houses, as well as streetlights.
Manufactured natural gas of this type was first brought to the United States in 1816, when it was used to light the streets of Baltimore, Maryland.
     There is an abundance of natural gas in North America, but it is a non-renewable resource. For natural gas to form takes thousands and possibly millions of years. It is important that we understand the availability of our supply of natural gas, as we increase our use of this fossil fuels. As natural gas is essentially irreplaceable, we need to have an idea of how much natural gas is left in the ground for us to use. However it is complicated but no one really knows exactly how much natural gas exists until it is extracted because it is hard measure how much is in the ground. How the world functions, natural gas has become a necessity. So far we have found no other economical alternatives to replace natural gas. Without it, most of the world would be greatly effected, it is how they cook their food, and heat their homes, no to mention all of its other uses.

  This weeks assignment was surprising. Keeping track of all the items I used in a day seemed to be a challenge. I never knew I used and consumed so many things and keeping close record of those things really opened my eyes. People don't realize that almost all of the things in their daily lives come from the earth in some way or another. The assignment opened my eyes to how much I am consuming. To conserve some of the earths resources I need to cut back on my consumption of unneeded goods, fuel, and electricity. The earth has a limited amount of resources, its only a matter of time before we use them all up.