Happy Earth Week, Ten'ers! 🌎
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Season 2: Episode 102 Description
In today's episode: 🌎 One day is not enough for our glorious blue-green globe, we’re celebrating Earth Week! 🐄 Friend of the Ten, Laine Farber is here to tell us about a new way of handling cows’, uh, bathroom business… that could help slow down climate change. 🐟 Listen in as aquaponics farmer Garrison Harward shares 30-second of advice! ✔️ Fun Fact Check: How much milk does one cow produce in 1 day? And, test your farming knowledge on today's Trivia on the Ten! ✅
Sources
Earth Day (nationalgeographic.com)
aquaponics definition - Google Search
15 Fantastic Food and Farm Facts (fb.org)
Texas Ag Stats (texasagriculture.gov)
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TRANSCRIPT:
Bethany Van Delft 0:00
Hey, everybody, Earth day is almost here.
Ryan Willard 0:05
I know, I'm so excited. I'm gonna go on a hike, and plant some trees. Show my little sister how to recycle. I just, love the Earth so much, but one day doesn't feel like enough.
Bethany Van Delft 0:19
You are so right rain one day is not enough for a glorious Blue Green Globe. So at the 10 News, we're celebrating Earth Week. I'm Bethany van Delft. It's Tuesday, April 19. And this is the 10 news. Eights 765431. What on earth is Earth Day? Well, it's a day when people work to protect the planet from things like pollution and deforestation. You can celebrate Earth Day by picking up litter and planting trees to make our world a happier, healthier place to live. But one day just isn't enough. So we've decided to celebrate Earth Day for the whole week. All our stories and interviews this week will be focused on helping the Earth. First up friends of the 10 lane Farber is here to tell us about a new way of handling cows’ bathroom business that could help slow down climate change,
Laine Farber 1:24
Potty training is the not-so-glamorous process of teaching people where to put their pee and poop. It's not the most pleasant thing to think about. But we've all gone through it, and our world is a better place because of it. No joke. It takes toddlers anywhere from three to six months to master the porcelain throne. But cows learn where to place their bovine behinds much faster. Why? Yes, you heard me correctly. Today we're talking about potty train cattle. According to a recent study, it only takes 15 days for cattle to become bathroom-loving bulls and commode using cows. You're cheering. Now you might be thinking, Why in the world are scientists teaching cows to use the toilet? Well, to save the planet, of course, okay. You see, cows are big animals. They eat a lot and drink a lot to sustain their large frames. But when you eat a lot and drink a lot, you poop and pee a lot. Just how much pee are we talking about? Well, a single cow can produce eight gallons of pee a day. Roundup five cows and you can fill a bathtub That's gross. Cow pee and poo are not inherently bad. However, things get complicated when the scat and the urine unify. You see, the resulting mixture contains a chemical known as ammonia. And when ammonia soaks into the soil, it breaks down and becomes the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide. Though it only makes up 7% of the greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, nitrous oxide is not to be taken lightly. With this in mind, scientists at the University of Auckland came up with a wacky theory for reducing nitrous oxide emissions, managing the waste proactively by potty training the cattle first proposed as a joke. The idea eventually became a full-blown study involving specially constructed cow toilets called Moolose. Now, don't get too excited. The cows were not trained to sit on toilets. Oh man, the moo bears no resemblance to your bathroom at home. Rather, it's a special metal stall with a graded floor covered in the fake grass. scientists conducted the experiment with 16 young cows at an indoor lab in Germany. To begin the study. They brought the calves into the mu and waited for nature to take its course, once the cows peed, they were rewarded with their favorite special treat a molasses milkshake. shiz and any calves that released themselves outside of the designated potty training area got a little squirt of cold water. The process was repeated. And after about two weeks 11 of the 16 cows were entering the mu to pee without prompting. So the initial study was a smashing success. But what does it all mean? Well, training a handful of cows to pee in a cool box doesn't do our planet much good, but training a lot of cows to pee in special boxes could initial estimates from the Auckland study suggests that collecting 80% of cow urine produced on a farm could reduce ammonia emissions by more than half Excellent. Those are some pretty sizable numbers. And if scaled globally and implemented correctly, it's possible that potty training cattle could have a considerable positive impact on lowering greenhouse gas emissions awesome, but only time will tell if the idea of commode loving cattle and bathroom using bulls makes it into common agricultural practices. Until then, enjoy the fact that you get to use a real toilet instead of the moola,
Bethany Van Delft 5:02
Thanks, Laine. Maybe there'll be a way to train cows to be a little less farty in the future. Or maybe humans will do a better job of not causing climate change. Who knows we'll see. That's a news writing team Ryan Willard and Tessa Flannery took a trip to an aquaponics farm in Brooklyn, New York. Aquaponics is a way to grow plants where fish and other aquatic creatures create nutrients in the water, and the water is then cleaned by the roots of the plants. It's one of the greenest ways to grow plants, and it could be the future of urban food production. Ryan, what did you learn? Well,
Garrison Harward 5:47
We learned that Ryan is scared of bug larvae.
Ryan Willard 5:51
Okay, that is true. But does anybody actually like bug larva? Yeah. Anyway, we also learned some really cool stuff from the aquaponic. Farmer, Garrison. Harward. Check it out. So would you call this basically a, a grown-up science experiment that you're doing right now?
Garrison Haward 6:09
Absolutely. Yeah, this is 100% of a grown-up science experiment. The whole goal of it is to try to show that this kind of system can work. So I have a little bit of production I'm selling to a restaurant, I'm, I've got a couple of places that take the excess compost that I create and the excess larvae so that they can use those in their own production. But by and large overall, this is a science experiment. My goal is to figure out a process that can help all of our cities deal with food waste, and we are looking for 30 seconds of advice. Garrison, are you ready?
Garrison Haward 6:46
I'm ready. All right.
Ryan Willard 6:48
30 seconds of advice. Go.
Garrison Haward 6:51
My 30 seconds of advice is to don't be afraid to fail. The best thing that you can possibly do to learn is to try things and try things that you don't know how to do, you're gonna fail, you're gonna have a lot of difficulties. But the only way to get to the other side is to go through that and to keep on trying. So absolutely. Go out there, try new things, and learn new skills, it's the best thing you can possibly do. And everybody fails, so don't be afraid.
Ryan Willard 7:17
That was absolutely fantastic. Thank you, Garrison. All right, I say we go and check out this crazy aquaponic farm right now. Are you ready? Let's go do it. All right.
Bethany Van Delft 7:26
Wow, I cannot wait to hear more about Garrison’s aquaponics farm and I loved his 30 seconds of advice, right?
Ryan Willard 7:34
Ten’ers, you can hear the full interview with Garrison and the bugs and the fish on Saturday. He gives us a tour and it is awesome.
Bethany Van Delft 7:47
Tessa, got any fun cow facts?
Tessa Flannery 7:50
Abso-moo-tley, I couldn't resist. Did you know that in one day one cow can produce enough milk to make 8.7 gallons of ice cream? No. That's just about enough for my daily needs. Maybe I should invest in a cow. I don't think she could fit in my apartment though.
Bethany Van Delft 8:11
And now, here to give us the news rundown is our head writer Ryan Willard.
Ryan Willard 8:23
Thank you, Bethany. Spring has sprung in April a glorious month of springtime holidays. The holy month of Ramadan began on April 2. It's a special month of reflection and worship and signifies the month that the Quran Islamic holy text was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. It's estimated that 2 billion Muslims around the world are observing Ramadan by abstaining from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset. Fasting is just one of the five pillars or duties of Ramadan, which includes the testimony of faith, prayer, charitable giving, and making a pilgrimage to Mecca. Cool, happy Passover. Passover or Pesach started this past Friday and will continue until April 23. The Jewish holiday celebrates the freedom of the Israelites who were slaves in ancient Egypt. Passover kicks off with a family meal called a Seder, where the story of the Israelite’s Exodus is told with songs and prayer. An important part of the Seder meal is matzah. This unleavened bread that is flat and hasn't risen is eaten by Jews during the holiday to remind everyone that the Israelites fled their homes without having time to let their bread rise. Wow. Easter was just celebrated around the world on April 17. While some families go big on bunnies, baskets, candy, and egg hunts. It is actually the most important and oldest festival of the Christian church. It is believed that over the first Easter Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead and by doing so proved to Christians that he is the Son of God. And on a side note, if you have any leftover peeps from your Easter basket that you don't want, please nail them to our editor Pete Musto so he can fulfill his dream of eating more peeps than anyone else on the planet. Wow, Ryan, you really want me to puke? Don't you? Whether you're celebrating a holiday or not? We wish you a very Happy Spring. Back to you Bethany.
Bethany Van Delft 10:20
What's that over there? I think it's a What? What? What's the bag idea trivia on the 10 farming happens all across the USA. But do you know which state has the most farms? Is it a California be Texas? Or see Nebraska? Did you guess it? The answer is B. Texas has 248,809 Farms the most of any state Wow. The farms and ranches in Texas cover 127 million acres. One out of every seven Texans has a job in agriculture. That's our show. We hope you're finding fun ways to celebrate Earth Day or Earth Week. And before we go here's a quick note for the grownups. Thanks for listening to the 10 news. Look out for our new episodes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and extras on Saturdays. The 10 News is a co-production of small but mighty media and the next chapter broadcasts and is distributed by a Heart Radio. The 10 News creative team is potty training cattle and includes Tracy crooks, Pete Musto, Ryan Willard, Adam Barnard, and Tessa Flannery, Elaine Farber contributed to this episode. Our production director is Jeremiah turtle, and our executive producers are Donnell Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. I'm Bethany van Delft. And thanks for listening to the 10 news. Happy Earth Day to you. Happy Earth Day to you. Happy Earth Day dear Earthlings and earth. Happy Earth Day and the whole week to you and all of us.
