Reflection: The last 2 weeks 15 & 16

Wow, I can't believe it is all over....a month ago I thought we'd never see the end but looking back on everything we have done in this class time really flew by!

WEEK 15

During week 15 we all had to find an online learning activity that either related to our advocacy topic or something health related that we were interested in. I found fun activity for kids dealing with learning how to eat healthy and what foods belonged in what food groups. On Tuesday, Dr. V had Sue Whitney come to class and teach us all how to become JUNKERS! Sue gave us all a copy of her book Junk Beautiful which was really generous and useful! Dr. V also gave us a challenge to make something creative out of something else to show in class. On Thursday, we found out the winners of the challenge who got Sue's other book. We finished up the class outside in the courtyard at UMD with everyone telling what their favorite part of the class was. It was a beautiful day and a great way to end the class.

WEEK 16

Our class didn't meet during week 16 but we still had postings to do. We had to try out our web groups online learning activities and post a eye opener about each one. My group found some really good activities that were fun to try out. This week was a little stressful for me because of the finals and all the end of semester stuff that was due, but I am glad it's all over. I really enjoyed this class, it was unlike any other class I've taken which is good :) I hope everyone has a wonderful summer and keep up the good work~!

Eye Opener: Online Learning Activities

Hey everyone! Last week we had to find a fun online activity to go along with our advocacy project or something that was important to us. This is a summary of what my

web group found for learning activities!

Noah: Health IT Puzzle

Noah choose to have us do a crossword puzzle, which I thought was a great idea. Even though am not the best crossword puzzler, I attempt a couple crosswords a week. It was cool to try doing one in a different format it was was also challenging which added to the experience!

Sara: Stop Smoking Quiz

Sara had us take a stop smoking quiz which I thought was perfect because she seems passionate about this issue. The quiz had shocking statistics as questions that I felt really got the point across to STOP smoking!

Valerie: Health Care Wheel of Fortune

Valerie had a Wheel of Fortune game that was a lot like hang man and forced us to brush up on our health terminology! This game was also fun and challenging, I also found out that it's a little difficult to think of all those different words during the game.

Samantha: Open Door to a Healthy Heart

Sam's game related to mine which focuses on kids eating healthy. This was a cute game that allowed kids to learn more about eating healthy, also I thought it was good that it allowed you to re-do the quiz if you got something wrong.

Good Job Everyone!

Advocacy Project: The Food Groups Game

Title:
Food Groups Game
Reasoning:
So I couldn't find a game that would promote people not being able to sue companies for getting injured while overweight but I did find a fun game for kinds to play to teach them the different food groups.
Purpose:
My hope is that if kids know about the different food groups and which foods belong in them they can make healthier choices. The game is called The Food Groups Game and it's an interactive game where kids drag and drop different foods into the food group it belongs in. The food group spaces vary in size showing how much is needed from each group, for example the grains space is much larger that the oils/extra space. I found this game on the Sheppard's Software Nutrition for Kids website which also offers fun health games called Food Group Drop Game, and Food Group Frenzy.

Instructions:

• Click on this The Food Groups Game hyperlink
• Press the PLAY button in the middle of the screen
• Start dragging and dropping different foods into the provided food groups

hope you enjoy!

Share and Voice: National Atlas

Hello everyone...

I had to an assignment for one of my other classes on the National Atlas website and I found it really cool that you could make your own map and depending on what interests you there are all different things you could map. You can map the whole country or just an individual state things like, crime rate, mortality rates, cancer rates, climate changes, water concerns, transportation, population, and many more. The website is http://nationalatlas.gov/ when you get to the home page all you have to do is click on the yellow "map maker" icon in the upper left hand corner and start making a map! Enjoy!

**The picture above is showing where the most hazardous wastes are handled**

Reflection: Weeks 13 and 14

Hello Everyone, these past two weeks flew by and were a lot of fun!

WEEK 13

During week 13 we all met up at Bagley Nature Area and learned how to use a compass and navigate our way through the woods. There were 14 different stations, we split up into groups and used the markings on the trees and our compasses to find all the different stations. It was a beautiful day and it was really nice to get out of the classroom.

WEEK 14

During week 14 we had someone currently working for Americorp come talk to us. This was really cool because he was actually working at UMD and he was in Grad school, he seemed really driven and was an inspiration. During the end of week 14 Dr. V brought a bag full of "stuff" to class, we broke up into our web groups, and came up with different ways we could use the different items. I really enjoyed this activity because it made everyone think out of the box and there were a lot of great ideas!

I can't believe we are almost done....keep up the good work everyone!!~Thanks for reading

Share and Voice: Jack Black & Global Warming Video

Hey everyone I found this video on YouTube about global warming with Jack Black and I thought it was pretty funny but true at the same time....hope you enjoy it!

Advocacy Project: Letter to Public Official

TO: U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar
302 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

FROM: Shannon

21Green Falls Road Leaf Town, MN 71111

April 28, 2009

Dear Senator Klobuchar,

I am writing to you to inform you of a serious issue that is happening in our country and I believe you have the voice to make change. Health complications due to weight are increasing in the people of Minnesota and around the U.S. I believe that once the blame is taken away from the companies and manufactures who produce the unhealthy foods, and put on the consumers who choose to not eat healthy, we can make a large step towards a healthier country. The Commonsense Consumption Act of 2009, H.R. 812 proposes that there be a law stating that no legal action may be brought against a food manufacturing companies due to injury someone encountered while being overweight. Many people believe this is a serious issue and I would like you to consider being on our side.

Being able to sue due to injury caused by being overweight is sending the wrong message to our youth. Children need to see adults making healthy choices and taking responsibility for their choices whether healthy or not. While it is unfortunate that people get hurt due to their weight it is not the manufactures fault. Because these people were not forced to eat unhealthy or forced not to exercise they should not be allowed to blame anyone but themselves for the injury. The focus needs to be put education and promotion of healthy living. As a health educator I believe that if I, along with other professionals in the health field work together to promote healthy living at a young age we can decrease the amount of overweight people we have not only in Minnesota but in every state.

I hope to see you vote "yes" on H.R. 812 to ensure the responsibility be put on the consumers who make food choices. We need to protect our children from the path we are headed down and by this bill being passed we can start to make change. In 2004 the health care cost of obesity in Minnesota was $1.3 million, by voting yes and focusing on the education children receive in schools we can reduce this amount as well as all the unnecessary court costs and lawyer fees. I appreciate you taking the time to read my letter and look forward to you supporting this issue.

Sincerely,

Shannon

21Green Falls Road Leaf Town, MN 71111

Source: www.health.state.mn.us/divs/hpcd/chp/obesity/pdf/obesityfactsheet2008.pdf -

*FOR ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH COURSE ONLY

Share and Voice: Further Hand Soap

Hey guys I found this cool story to go along with this new hand soap. It's called....

Further Hand Soap

Further hand soap is made by a guy who for years was going around the fine restaurants of L.A. emptying they're grease traps, through the distillation process of grease he made bio-fuel but was left with lots and lots of glycerin. Him and his wife then combined different essential oils and exotic grasses with the glycerin to make hand soap made from bio-fuel!! Now he sells the soaps to the very restruants where he gets the used grease, making a environmentally friendly circle!

Share and Voice: Planetary Parenting

Planetary Parenting

So this topic doesn't exactly relate to me yet but one of my really good friends is about to have a baby and I found a couple good tips to keep your baby clean and green!

Diapers:
There are cloth diapers that can be washed and reused but if your like me and probably would never use cloth diapers they have biodegradable diapers that can be tossed, flushed, or composted!

Food:
The most natural way to go is breast milk and like we saw on the video The Story About Stuff today, breast is best. But, when babies start to eat solid food, home cooked healthy meals are way above baby food from a jar

Fashion:
I know its fun to dress them up and make them look even more adorable but of you can try to use hand-me-downs unless its a special occasion.

*all these are good money savers too*

Hope these were helpful...maybe not yet but maybe in the future!

Advocacy Project: Issue Overview

Advocacy Project: Issue Overview

What is the issue/problem?

The problem is that manufactures are being blamed for people being overweight and getting hurt because they are overweight. It is not the manufactures fault for being in business, we need more education and promotion on eating healthy and staying active to ensure less people are getting injured due to their weight.

What current legislation has been proposed to address this?

Commonsense Consumption Act of 2009 H.R. 812 According to THOMAS

On 2/3/2009 it was referred to House Committee and then referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary where is currently is.

Title: To prevent legislative and regulatory functions from being taken over by civil liability actions brought or continued against food manufacturers, marketers, distributors, advertisers, sellers, and trade associations for claims of injury relating to a person's weight gain, obesity, or any health condition associated with weight gain or obesity.

Who is affected by this?

Who is affected the most?

The people who are affected by this are the manufactures who market, produce, and sell the unhealthy foods that make people overweight. Also, the people who get hurt because of their weight and feel that they can put blame on the companies who made the unhealthy food instead of on themselves.

Who loses, and what do they lose?

If there wasn't a bill to protect the food companies, the companies would loose a lot of time and money dealing with lawsuits. This may not sound too bad, their rich big time companies right? But I think it would be a waste of time and energy because I don't agree with being able to blame the manufactures for getting hurt while overweight.

Who gains, and what do they gain?

Food manufactures-who are protected from lawsuits. People that get hurt due to their weight- if there is no one to blame but themselves they could take responsibility and hopefully make changes to live a healthier life.

What are the consequences of the issue?

For the individuals mostly affected?
I can't think of a consequences for not being able to bring legal action against food companies if you get hurt because you ate too much of their food. But, I guess for the individuals who get hurt because of a weight problem the consequences would be not having a way to blame someone else for their injuries, also maybe not receiving monetary compensation for winning a lawsuit.

For their families?
Having an injured family member and not having a way to solve it, besides helping that family member get better.

For society?

I think it would send the wrong message to society if there wasn't a bill like this, people can't sue cigarette companies if they get cancer.

What is the economic impact of the issue?

What are the economic costs of the issue, and who bears these costs?
I think the economic cost would come from the judges, lawyers, and court fees that would go along with legal action. The people who are injured and the companies would have to pay for lawyers, and who pays for the Judges and court fees? The tax payers in that area.

What are the economic benefits of the issue, and who benefits?

The benefits would come from wasting less time blaming others and making more time to educate and promote prevention in the future. Instead of taking time to sue the food companies these people could educate family, friends, and their community on the "what not to do's and why not to do's"

What is the social impact of the issue?

What are the social costs of the issue, and who bears these costs?
The social costs are when anyone thinks it is okay to eat whatever they want no matter the health value and when they get hurt because of their choices they feel like they have someone else to lay the blame on

What are the social benefits of the issue, and who benefits?

The social benefits are similar to the economic benefits, more people could spend time on prevention and education which would lower the number of people getting hurt due to weight

What are the barriers?

What are the barriers to addressing this issue?
The barriers to addressing this issue is not wanting to offend anyone. Weight is a touchy subject for a lot of people, I wouldn't want to offend anyone by saying its their fault and not the food companies but I would want more focus put on early education and prevention methods

How can they be overcome?

I think they can be overcome by people working together as a team. If we have everyone on the same page (I know its not possible to have EVERYONE but the majority) we could make our efforts work in a positive way. If we had all different types of people working towards the same goal I think we could focus on the real problem which is not eating healthy and not exercising.

What are the resources?

What resources will we need to address this issue?
We need to address promoting healthy eating and active lifestyles to grade school, junior high, and high school students to make them aware of the issue and give them tools to prevent health concerns later in life due to being overweight. We would need more school programs and more creative activities to get kids excited about being healthy

Where and how can they be tapped?

We can start with the schools and families, once we have a large group interested in promotion and education of healthy eating and exercise we can work together to find new ways and better ideas to reach our goal.

What is the history of this issue?

What is the history of the issue in the community?
I couldn't really find much information in the history of this issue which leads me to believe it's not too common of a thing, but I think the issue of starting young to help prevent adult obesity and taking responsibility for choices is something that happens in every community. Obesity has grown over the years to become a huge player in pre-mature deaths, diabetes, cancer, and many other health related problems.

What past efforts were made to address it?

Besides the bill currently being discussed I couldn't find any other past efforts made to this issue. I don't believe this issue happens a lot but it must have happened at some point because this bill would prohibit any new law suites and dismiss any pending law suites.

Allies & Opponents

Supporters:

Food processing companies

Food manufacturing companies

Food distributors

Tax payers

Opposers:

Injured parties

Families of injured parties

My recommendation

Policy makers should vote YES to this bill to ensure the ability for people to market and sell their products and to force consumers to take responsibility and make healthy choices

Reflection: Weeks 11 and 12

I can't believe that week 12 is come and gone! These past two weeks like all the others have gone by really fast but were fully loaded with an interesting documentary, reading, assignment, and discussions.

During week 11 we watched the documentary Unnatural Causes...is inequality making us sick?which was a very powerful film for me. The film was about people from various parts of Kentucky and the environmental factors that people in different social classes deal with and the effects it has on their health. The film introduced four different people which I thought was a good way for us to relate to the issue. During the last part of week 11 Dr. V walked us through the Healthy People 2010 website and explained how to do the research needed to do our Advocacy Project: Healthy People/THOMAS project that was due on Tuesday of week 12.

In the beginning of week 12 our Healthy People/THOMAS assignment was due. For this assignment we had to find an environmentally related issue that we were interested in and find the goal in Healthy People 2010. We also had to talk about the progress of the goal, the emerging issues, disparities, and opportunities & challenges. After we did that we needed to find a related bill within THOMAS and report on the last major action taken, the political representative for the bill, and state whether we wanted to our representative to vote yes or no on the bill. I chose to do mine on goal 19 nutrition and overweight. This assignment was interesting and it was cool to read all of the other postings that people in class wrote.

Overall the past two weeks were very informational and I enjoyed the documentary and our advocacy project. We will be doing more with our advocacy projects later on which I am looking forward to. Thanks for reading hope you all have a good weekend!

Advocacy Project: Healthy People/THOMAS

Healthy People 2010 Goal 19: Nutrition and Overweight

Goals:
1. Increase quality and years of healthy life
2. Eliminate health disparities by race and ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic
status, disability status, and other characteristics

Objective 19-1:
Increase the proportion of adults who are at a healthy weight
Target: 60%
Baseline: 42% of adults aged 20 years and older were at a healthy weight in 1988-1994
*A healthy weight is defined as a body mass index equal to or greater than 18.5 and less
than 25

Progress:
The progress quotient charts shows that we have moved 50% away from the target goal of 60% during the survey dates of 1988-1994 to 1999-2002. Objective 19-1 has decreased from 42 percent to 33 percent.

Disparities:
Race and Ethnicity- The group with the best rate from the baseline was Non-Hispanic/White population. The group with a 10-49% disparity from the best group was Hispanic or Latino.
Gender, Income, Disability- The group who had the best rate was females at a higher income level and without disabilities. Males at a lower income level rated less than 10% compared to women with no disabilities and higher income. Male and females with disabilities rated the worst.

Opportunities and Challenges:
We need national action and community involvement working together to promote healthy diets among all Americans and to ensure the reverse the trend of increased overweight and obesity. We also need to promote policies and programs that support healthy behaviors in youth to meet our goal in the prevention of obesity and diet-related disease in the United States.

Emerging Issues:
With the increase in technology more and more procedures are becoming available to reduce the effects of obesity and weight. It is becoming clear that rather than treatment, prevention may be the key in reversing the trend in increased obesity in the United States.

H.R. 812:
Title: To prevent legislative and regulatory functions from being taken over by civil liability actions brought or continued against food manufacturers, marketers, distributors, advertisers, sellers, and trade associations for claims of injury relating to a person's weight gain, obesity, or any health condition associated with weight gain or obesity. In other words...manufacturers, marketers, distributors, advertisers, and sellers should not be able to have legal action brought against them for injury or health problems that arise from someone eating their foods.
Sponsor: Rep. Dan Boren
Last Major Action: On 2/3/2009 it was referred to House Committee.
Status: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

My View: The fault does not lie within the food manufactures, marketers, distributors, advertisers, ect., but rather in the education people receive as children from parents/guardians, schools/teachers, and role models.

My Political Representative: Amy Klobuchar

• By supporting My Pyramid and Coordinated School Health Programs, education on healthy eating should begin with our youth. If a child learns how to eat healthy and stay active they are more likely to carry that lifestyle throughout their adult lives.
• By by writing to our representatives stating our concerns about overweight kids leading overweight adult lives we can raise awareness of the problem. There needs to be more responsibility put on the schools and parents instead of blaming the food manufactures.

Review of Documentary: Unnatrual Causes

We just watched the Documentary titled Unnatural Causes. This film was about the inequality of money in the United States and the effects it has on our health. The first statistic that hit me was that the U.S. is responsible for spending almost half of all the health dollars spent around the world and 47 million people in the U.S. do not have health insurance. This film examined the different areas in Kentucky that had varying life expectancies from district to district. For example, in district 5 life expectancy is 69 but in district 16 the expected life span is 79.3. That's over 10 years difference withing the same state!

I enjoyed how the film introduced us to different people who all lived in different districts with different lives. One story that was sad to hear was about a lady who lives in a poorer district named Mary. Mary only eats 1 meal a day towards the end of the month just to make sure her 3 children get what they need. Not being able to provide for your family and having to worry about where your next meals are going to come from is extremely stressful and this film discusses the correlation between heavy stress and being unhealthy. When people are under stress their brains release a hormone called cortisol which helps the body deal with situations but when someone is under too much stress for long periods of time, the cortisol starts to decrease the immune system. When an immune system is threatened, a usually normal healthy person is less likely to be able to fight infections.

The film made several comments on how things in our country need to be changed. There are other countries who are not as rich and the U.S. but have a longer life expectancy and in this film the U.S. is compared other countries. I do agree that something does need to change and maybe we need more equal distribution of wealth but I'm sure it is not as easy as it sounds. This documentary really opened my eyes to another issue and this idea that-just because somebody doesn't make a lot of money they are without the opportunity of living a life as long as their rich neighbors....?

Reflection: Weeks 9 and 10

Well...two more weeks have come and gone. These past two weeks were a little different than the previous weeks but it was a nice change!

During week 9 we learned about advocacy and the 7th responsibility as health educators which is to advocate for health education. For our first part of the advocacy project we were assigned to post about our local political leaders, their names, and contact information. Also during week 9 we learned tips on how to take good pictures for our photo essay that was due during week 10.

During week 10 we didn't meet for class because Dr. V was in Florida for the APPHERD convention-lucky gal! It was nice to have one less class for a week and it gave me more time to focus on other classes and my photo essay. Our directions for the photo essay was to find something that interested you and had something to do with the environment. When this was first assigned I thought this was going to be quite a challenge. I thought about what I was going to do for about a week and my first idea was to compare the pollution in west and east Duluth. Unfortunately we had a snow storm during week 10 even though its APRIL ~ all the snow covered the ground and I needed to find a plan B. I decided to look for all the different recycling bins around school and the city. This was fun and opened my eyes to how many places there are to recycle.

The last two weeks were fun and out of the ordinary so I am looking forward whats to come in the next couple weeks! Thanks for reading...have a good week!!

Eye Opener: Photo Essay

Hey Everyone! For my photo Essay I decided to go on a hunt to find all the different ways people choose to recycle. I found many different types of recycling bins on campus and around Duluth. We all know how important it is to recycle and I think these pictures prove how easy it is.

This is a recycle bin for cans and inkjets, in the Humanities building

These are 2 bins to recycle paper located in the Writing Dept. at UMD, the smaller one is for mixed paper.

These are a couple different containers in front of the library at UMD. The bins are for paper, cans, and plastic bottles.

This is another variety of

recycle bin in a hall at UMD.

Two other types of bins in the library at UMD.

This is a hallway in the Humanities Dept. showing three different bins.

This one is totally different from the rest but I seriously found this in my neighborhood.

Unfortunately, some people have recycle bins but do not put them to use :(

I never noticed how many recycling containers there are around us but after this Photo Essay, I see them everywhere. Like these pictures show, it is really easy to find a place to recycle, even if you don't have access to a fancy blue container for your recyclables you can make your own. The sad thing is to see some of these containers not in use. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the pictures and keep on recycling!

Advocacy Project: My Political Representatives

President

Barack Obama - Democratic
Contact Information: The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500

Congresspersons

State Representative
Thomas Huntley - DFL
Contact Information: 585 State Office Building

100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155
Phone: (651) 296-2228

State Senator
Yvonne Prettner - DFL

Contact Information: 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Capitol Building, Room G-9
St. Paul, MN 55155-1606
Phone: (651) 296-4188

U.S. Representative
James L. Oberstar - DFL
Contact Information: 231 Federal Building
Duluth, MN 55802
Phone: (218) 727-7474

U.S. Senator
Amy Klobuchar - Democratic
Contact Information: 302 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3244

Governor, State Legislators

Governor
Tim Pawlenty - Republican
Contact Information: 130 State Capitol
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155
Phone: (651) 296-3391
E-mail: tim.pawlenty@state.mn.us

St. Louis County Board

1st District
Commissioner

Dennis Fink, Board Chair


Contact Information: Room 208
100 N. 5th Avenue West

Duluth, MN 55802

Phone: (218) 726-2458

Email: finkd@co.st-louis.mn.us

2nd District Commissioner
Steve O'Neil
Contact Information: Room 208 100 N. 5th Ave. W
Duluth, MN 55802
Phone: (218) 726-2359

City Mayor
Don Ness - DFL
Contact Information: Mayor's Office, Room 402 411 W 1st St

Duluth, MN 55802
Phone: (218) 730-5230
E-mail: dness@duluthmn.gov

Sign

Made with My Cool Signs.Net

Share and Voice: Green Vacations

So with spring break right around the corner I was curious to see if there were any good ideas out there to be more "green" when we on vacation. I found some really good ideas:

• Use Public Transportation: trains, buses, subways are good ways to save money gas
  
• Pack Light: don't bring more luggage than you need it adds weight to whatever transportation
• Book an Eco-Friendly Hotel: if you have the choice, try to stay at a place where they care about the environment too by using recycled materials and conserve more energy
• Shoot Digital Shots:rather than using a disposable camera, you'll get better pictures anyway!
  
• Rent a Smart Car: If you have to rent a car, rent a hybrid or a compact car
  
• Conserve In-Room Energy: turn the lights and air/heat off when you leave your hotel room
  
• Don't Generate Unnecessary Laundry: do you really need a new towel or your sheets changed everyday?
  
• Consume Locally: try to eat meals that were made right in the area you are visiting instead of eating foods that have traveled thousands of miles
  

Hope this helps you be more green on your vacations!

Reflection: Weeks 7&8

Another two weeks have come and gone! These past two weeks in Environmental Health have been very interesting and informative.  During week 7 we watched a documentary called GREEN which was made by graduate student Laura Dunn.  This film was about the landfills in Louisiana. The stories that were told in this film broke my heart.  Some people lived on top of landfills that had been covered up and they were getting poisoned by the toxins coming up through the ground. This sounds like a story that we would hear happening in a different country, not in the US! 

During week 8 we watched half of another film  called Thirst and had a day of discussion which was a little out of the ordinary and cool to hear everyone's thoughts. We talked about water privatization which is when a group or someone "owns" the water in a specific section. I have never heard of this before and it doesn't sound right at all. Nobody owns the water... it's all of ours! This got me thinking, you know how when talking about the United States or whenever something really tragic happens in our country everyone always says united we stand divided we fall? Well, these films about companies owning water and seeds and filing law suites against honest hard working people trying to make a living makes me sick.  Were not united, it's everyone for themselves. Most people with money and power are just trying to make more money and get more power, they don't care about anyone or anything else. I feel like the only time people will realize that we need to take care of each other and our earth is when it's too late.  Anyway, enough venting, I learned a lot in this class over the past two weeks and I'm excited to not have school for a week! Hope you all have a fun and safe break!!

Share and Voice: Earth Day

I saw a commercial advertising Earth Day and it got me thinking about what Earth Day actually is and what the history is behind it. Earth Day is a day set aside for people all over the world to put all of our busy schedules to the side and appreciate the world we live in and what the earth provides for us. It all started in 1969 during a conference in Washington, Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin announced that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on the environment. On April 22, 1970 the first Earth Day ever was celebrated. Over 2o million people participated on the first Earth Day and now more than 500 million people in 175 different countries celebrate on April 22. Senator Nelson chose this week in April because he wanted to maximize participation on college campuses. He picked this week because it did not conflict with spring breaks or religious holidays, but it was late enough to have decent weather. If you click on the Earth Day link above it will take you to the Earth Day site. This site has a lot of cool things like links to their current campaigns to improve our earth, another ecological footprint quiz, online store, and a countdown til the next Earth Day which is April 22, 2009! If you are interested in anything else about Earth Day you can check out any of these links:

• Earth Day


• Earth Day and Government


• Earth Day Crafts and Games

National Earth Day Symbol

Eye Opener: Environmental Working Group

For my product I choose my contact lens cleaner. Opti Free Express Lasting Comfort No Rub, Multi Purpose Disinfecting Solution. It scored a 2 which i thought was pretty good but when I started reading on I realized even though it is only a 2 its still harmful. The ingredients in my product are linked to Cancer and Developmental/reproductive toxicity. What? Why didn't I know this? Also the company who makes this product did not sign the compact for safe cosmetics which would mean that the ingredients they use in their products are not harmful or carry any health risks to consumers. Skin Deep's website also had a ? next to the "conducts testing on animals" I am shocked that companies may still test their products on animals...that is HORRIBLE! Another thing I noticed was the website said that 62% of contact lens cleaners have lower health concerns. Finally some good news! I found a better solution called Pure Eyes that scored a 0 and has no health concerns and its cheaper than what I was paying for my old solution!! I am definitely buying Pure Eyes from now on! This was a shocking eye opener for me, I am going to check out some other products I use and see if there are some better alternatives!

Reflection: Weeks 5&6

End of week 6 already? Wow time really flew by! These past two weeks have been eye opening for me, there have been a lot of great share and voices, and I feel like I learned a lot.

During week 5 we watched a documentary called "Diet For a New America" with John Robbins. It was about the meat industry and it was really interesting. If you click on the link above it will bring you to come clips of the film. I missed the last half of it because I was gone sick but I wish I could have seen the rest. I was sick for about a week and I fell behind in all of my classes. I didn't have any Internet access for a couple days which made me go crazy. Who knew that by the fifth week of class all I could think about was logging into Blogger and checking out what was going on.

During week 6 we watched another documentary called "The Future of Food." I found myself shaking my head throughout the whole film. The sad stories of the farmers and the lawsuits that were brought against them my Monsanto were insane! I couldn't believe some of the stories that were being told. The thing that made me most upset was that these big companies have so much power and so much money they can do almost anything they want. I don't think that's how it should be and I disagree with their views but it seems almost impossible to stop them, which is very unfortunate. These people of power need to have compassion and a genuine desire to help people instead of just trying to make money.

Overall these past two weeks have made me realize more of the problems that we have going on right now. It is heart breaking and not fair but it give me and I'm sure many others more of a reason to try and make a difference. Hope the last two weeks went well for all of you too!

Share and Voice: Can't wait for Summer

So I am looking outside and it is snowing like crazy and it looks super chilly. I started to look through some of my pictures and I found some I took in California last May. These pictures made me think of summer and thought I would share them with anyone who is ready for winter to be over and CAN'T WAIT FOR SUMMER!

Hope you enjoyed a little taste of summer!

Share and Voice: The Endless Feast

Hey everyone! So we got some new channels at my house when the big digital switch happened and we have a channel called Create. I was flipping through channels last night and I watched a show called the The Endless Feast. This show was really interesting. The show is based on a couple people who travel around the country to bring together local farmers, artists, and many other people to have one huge feast comprised of only local foods and drinks. The feast takes place outside usually in a field where some of the food came from. The episode I watched took place in California and the dinner had 5 courses. They interviewed a couple farmers who provided most of the meal, a guy who had his own cheese factory, and a guy with his own vineyard who provided 5 different kinds of wine to be accompanied with the meal.

I thought this was a really interesting idea and though it would be cool to be able to have a huge gathering of local people enjoying local food and drink. If you wanna check out the show just click one of the licks above it explains a little more about what The Endless Feast is about and what times its on TV.

Enjoy!

Review: Reading 22 Climate Policy Needs a New Approach

This article was written by David Applegate in May of 2001. This reading starts off talking about former President Bush and how he reversed a campaign pledge to regulate power-plant emissions of carbon dioxide and also made a statement that he would not take any action "that will harm our economy and hurt the American workers." My first thought was what good is our economy and our workers if we don't have a stable environment to survive in? This reading also stated that global warming is a problem and the public is realizing it but Bush needed to take action by enforcing a clear climate policy.

No Regrets
It has been known for some time now that carbon dioxide levels are rising and we are starting to link these levels with our warming climate. No Regrets strategies are policies focused on reducing emissions of greenhouse gases without the having to wait for extensive scientific research on climate change and an agreement on what it causing it.

Resilient Today, Adaptable Tomorrow
This section suggested that some geologists argue that hurricanes and natural disasters will occur more often and become more deadly with or without global warming. Wealthier people see the coast lines as the optimal place to live with its warmth and beauty, these people in some ways are just putting themselves in harm's way. I found this section to be interesting because it brings up points questioning the impact of human lifestyles on global warming. It is stated that the Antarctic ice sheet has been melting for thousands of years which would suggest that it is not all human related. For me I find this debate on whether global warming is happening or not to be silly. Who cares if its not? If its not happening and we take precautions and reduce our impact on the earth what do we lose? If we don't take any precautions and keep living the way the majority of us are living what is going to happen? What are we going to lose?

A Modest Proposal
David Applegate suggests that the President should consider a strategy that helps our society more resilient to natural hazards and policies for addressing climate change. Basically, we need to make progress and start moving in the "right" direction. Its better to be safe than sorry

Opposing Views
I found something interesting on the Douglass Report website, it was called The Truth about Global Warming. It calls the idea of global warming a "cash cow." Dr. Douglass is stating that global warming research has generated millions for the scientist, he even brought up Al Gore saying he has everyone brainwashed. The funny thing about this page is that there is advertisements all over saying "just enter your email address here to get your FREE copy of Dr. Douglass' The Cold Truth About Global Warming, Plus Dr. Douglass' Health Newsletter!" If this doctor was really trying to improve peoples knowledge and be beneficial to societies views, why is it necessary to plug his book and newsletter all over?
Another opposing viewpoint I found was on the Minnesota Public Radio website. It stated that the founder of The Weather Channel, John Coleman said "I can't find a single link between any warming that may have occurred and the activities of mankind." John Coleman also thinks global warming is a hoax and blames the media for creating this scam.

My Views
I am not any kind of doctor or scientist but from what I have read and learned on this topic there is a lot of convincing evidence that proves global warming is real and if we don't take specific action to stop harming our environment, very soon we are going to be in hot water. I found the reading informational and I agree with David Applegate the our country needs to take the initiative. I found my opposing view points not to have much of an influence on me and I am going to keep trying to get more green and learn more about this topic. I guess this assignment leaves me with one question. Is there any reason why we shouldn't reduce our emissions and be more environmentally friendly even if global warming doesn't exist??

Eye Opener: CSPI

For this Eye Opener I chose to take the eating green calculator. It started off asking me how much servings of beef, chicken, pork, milk and yogurt, hard cheese, and eggs I eat each week. It took me a little while to think of all of these because I guess I have never really thought about how many servings I consume in a weeks time. After I entered in my servings I clicked the calculate impact button. I was surprised when I saw the results. It stated that because of my diet I use up 0.6 acres of grain and grass needed to feed the animals I eat, 20.8 pounds of fertilizer and .02 pounds of pesticides needed to grow the food these animals eat, and the most shocking number is the animals I eat create 3890 pounds of manure! GROSS

After reading my results it asked me if I was able to cut down my servings of animal products I eat each week. I don't think it would be too hard to cut down on some servings so I re-took the quiz, imputing fewer servings and got better results. After the second time the quiz stated that with the changes that I made I would be consuming 13% less fat, 23% less saturated fat, and 44% less cholesterol each week and I only cut my beef, chicken and milk servings down by one.

At the end of the quiz it asked me if I was willing to take a pledge to eat less meat and dairy products and I took it. I think I can reduce my impact just by adding more fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains to my diet. I am looking forward to starting to be more concious of the food I consume and making a better impact on our earth.

Review: Reading 15 Feeding the World

This reading was very informative but also created some concern for me. The first sentence states that in 1999 the world's population grew over six billion! Currently supply and demand are growing at the same rate but there is growing evidence that demand will soon grow higher than supply. This reading is broken into five sections that explain the concerns with this issue, Society's Four Transitional Stages, Evidence for Negative Poplulation Growth, Future Food Supply/Demand Balance, Protecting the Environment, and The Challenges Ahead.

Society's Four Transitional Stages
The four stages of society discussed are traditional, developing, developed, and mature. These stages are based on demographics, economics, agriculutrual productivity, and technical advancements. Each stage referrs to a society's upward movement toward higher food production and technological output, lower death rates, and investments in education and science.

Evidence for Negative Population and Growth
Issues such as declining marriage rates, high divorce rates, increasing career goals, more women in the business world, and growing desire for financial success leave some to beilieve that fewer people are making having childeren less of a priority. This section was a little confusing when it states the United Nations projections of populations. I think it is good to be aware of the different things that may affect the population around the world but I find it hard to narrow it down to a certin ratio as they do. The low/medium world populaiton the UN projects for 2050 is 7.9 billion people and then a decline to 6.4 billion by 2150 (Mckinney, 56). I am assuming that these numbers will change over the next few years but crazy to think that in about 40 years our world popluation is going to be raised by about 2 billion!

Future Food Supply/Demand Balance
This section describes that in the future the demand for food will pass our food supply. This is kind of a hard thing to think about, right now we can access food almost anywhere and with little effort. I wonder what it would be like if there was a shortage and we actually had to worry about where to find food. I think most of us living in the United States have been spoiled with our resources and it's time to start making sure we can preserve them for as long as possible.

Protecting the Environment
The benfits of becoming more "green" and what do for our world is looked at in this section. The more people we need to house the more land we need to clear of forests and natural habitat. This section explains that the more people we have with higher incomes the more stress is put on saving our environment. Higher income promotes lower population growth, better recyling and consuming practices, more environmental quality concern, and more educational research all can contribute to preserving our environment.

The Challenges Ahead
This section pretty much sums up the rest of the sections stating agian that if we want our resources to keep providing for us we need to keep an eye on our population growth, the products we use and how we dipose of them. We need to look at all the possoble outcomes and be ready for anything. It would be silly of us, as one of the most developed countires to put off this likely disaster.

I think this reading gave me another view of what is needed for us to sustain our way of living. While it is great that people recycle and try to reduce emissions, a lot more needs to be considered. The growing population really needs to be looked at. As our healthcare gets better and better the average life span is getting longer and its taking a toll on environment. Education along with getting all of the up to date information on these topics is key if we are going to be successful in keeping our supply and demand equal as long as possible.