Reflection Post: Weeks 13 and 14/Overall Reflection

Week 13: December 7, 2009
For this weeks class we went to Goodwill and boy was it a great time.  I had never been to that Goodwill ever before so being in the store alone was exciting for me.  The fact that we got to go behind the scenes and check out who is working there and what exactly happens with the clothes,toys, and everything else that comes through the doors.  I think it is so great that they employ people who otherwise wouldn't be working, and I also love the fact that they are making such strides in recycling and reusing. We did our final book review this week and our last eco-chic lifestyle change.  Overall it was a great week.
Week 14: December 14, 2009
Our last class period on Monday was very fun!  It was so neat to look at everyone's junking projects!  I had such a hard time figuring out what I was going to do for my project, but once I got started it was so much fun!  I want to continue to do junking projects and searching for new projects to start.  We got to create an online learning activity for this week also, and got to do our group members activities as a part of our last eye opener.  We ended class on Monday with one last class discussion about what we have learned from this class and what we are taking away.
Overall Reflection:
THIS IS A GREAT CLASS!  I am so glad that I got to be part of this class!  I got the opportunity to learn so many new things about the environment and learn about things that I can do to help out!  Dr. V. you did a great job of keeping things interesting yet challenging us to learn new things.  I loved doing the group commenting and all of the posts!  Blogging is a great way to run this class and I hope that you keep it this way!

Share and Voice: Caring for Nature on Barrow Island

For my last share and voice I wanted to find something that again shows what people are doing to help out our environment.  I came across the youtube clip below and was really intrigued by it.  On Barrow Island, which is just off the coast of Australia, Chevron employees have been working hard at retrieving oil from the island's land while keeping the island's environment the same.  This was very interesting to me.  I hope you all can take a chance to watch this clip, it isn't very long, but I guarantee it will catch you're attention and get you thinking.

Share and Voice: Alternative Energy

Throughout this whole semester it has been really eye opening learning about all the different challenges our environment is facing.  I always love finding websites, youtube videos, and reading my classmates blogs about things that we can do to help the environment or things that others are doing to help  the environment.  I stumbled upon a website called Alternative Energy and had such a great time reading through the different topics they address on the website.  It is nice to read about positive things that are being done for the environment which is exactly what this website is all about!

So, if you are at all interested in learning about solar energy and
non-renewable and renewable energy sources click on the link above
and enjoy!

Eye Opener: Online Learning Activities

Below are my responses to the online learning activities of my group members!  There were all really fun to do and of course eye opening!

Jordanne's Online Learning Activity:
Our group had to go to the Water Quality Association  website and click on diagnose your drinking water.  Jordanne asked us to pick two contaminants that are either in our water or that are interesting to us.  From the two contaminants that we picked we then needed to note the source of the contaminant, the effects it has on our water, and the treatment options that are out there.

The first contaminant that I chose is one that I know is present in my water, it deposits soap scum and bathtub rings.  It is Calcium Carbonate, CaCO3.
The source of this contaminant is natural deposits causing calcium (limestone) and magnesium salts in raw water.
The effects are that it consumes soap which makes cleaning it more difficult, it creates whiteish scale deposits, and creates soap curd and lime scum residue.
The recommended treatment for calcium in one's water is to remove all calcium and magnesium ions with a cation exchange water softener.

The  second contaminant I chose is one that I haven't had to deal with, but thought was interesting.  It is Odor in the water (rotten egg smell).
The sources of this contaminant are: chlorine, hydrogen sulfide, organic matter, gasoline contamination, methane gas, and septic contamination.
The effects are that it creates a rotten egg, musty, garlic, and chemical smell.
The recommended treatment for odor in one's water is: Activated carbon, air stripping, oxidation/filtration, and disinfection/filtration.

Karly's Online Learning Activity:
Our group was given a couple different sets of questions that we needed to answer, some where personal and some where about comprehension of material and the subject.  The article that Karly had our group read was Physical Education in Schools - Both Quality and Quantity are Important .
Below are the questions that Karly asked our group and my answers:

• Did your elementary/middle/high school have a Physical Education program? Answer: YES
• If yes...
  

• How many days a week did you have PE class? Answer: Everyday
• How long were the classes? Answer: 1 hour
• Were you required to participate? Everyone had to participate, if you didn't you were given a packet of homework questions about whatever sport or game we were playing that day in gym.
• Did you enjoy this class? Why or why not? I loved gym, I was in sports in High School so I didn't mind gym at all.

      Answer the following questions based off of the article mentioned above

• What are the current recommendations for children and physical activity? Answer: 60 minutes of physical activity everyday!
  
• What are the percentages of schools that are currently providing physical education? Answer: 3.8% of elementary schools, 7.9% of middle schools, and 2.1% of high schools.
• What percentage of schools DO NOT have a PE program? Answer: 22 percent.
  
• What are some of the benefits of PE in the school? Answer: Improvement not only in fitness, but academic performance as well.  There are also positive impacts on tobacco use, insomnia, depression, and anxiety.
• Now answer the following questions:

• Do you feel as though PE in the schools should be a required course? why or why not?
  
• If yes, up until which age/grade? Answer: Yes it should be required and I feel that it should be k-12.
  
• Do you think that it should be the parents job to make sure their children are physically active and not the schools? Answer: I think that it is both the schools responsibility and the parents. Both can have a great impact on whether or not a child is active or not.
  
• Do you believe that having PE in the schools incorporates other beneficial qualities besides   fitness? if yes, what?  Answer: Yes!  I would have to agree with all of the benefits that I listed earlier!  I feel like the more active you are the less likely you are to be out getting in trouble are participating in unhealthy things.

Maggie's Online Learning Activity:

Our group had to answer a variety of questions for Maggie's online learning activity too!  First we were asked to answer the following questions:

1.What was your school lunch like growing up? Answer: My school lunch was actually really great!  I come from a very small town and from a very small school.  We actually had homemade lunches for a while and everything was always very healthy

2. Would you consider it as healthy? Answer: Yes
3. Do you remember how it was paid for/ by whom? My parents paid for my lunch.  We had to bring in checks whenever the office notified my family that my account was getting low.  I don't know how much each lunch cost thought.

Maggie then asked us to read the Legislative Issue Paper, The Chicago Healthy Schools Campaign and to watch a video The Food Lobby Goes to School.  We then needed to answer the following questions:

4. What are some obsticles that got in the way of providing American school children with healthy lunches. Answer:  All the politics, marketing, lobbyists, and commodity groups. 

5. What health problems affect American children? Did this surprise you? Answer: I think the saddest health problem is type II diabetes.  I am not surprised by this, but I am definitely concerned. 

6. Consider what you have read and the video you have watched: What do you think is the #1 thing that you think can be done to improve school lunch? Answer: I honestly think that people need to stop being so greedy and thinking about their bottom line, and start thinking about the health of our nations youth.  School lunches need to be healthy and that is that in my mind.  

Advocacy Project: Water Quality and Sanitation Activity

Purpose:
This online activity will hopefully open up everyone's eyes to two huge issues affecting millions of people all over the world.  I think that it is one thing to read information on this topic and gain some knowledge as well as being able to put yourself in the shoes of those who are suffering from these two issues.  I have broken down this activity into two parts for that very reason.
Background Information/Importance:
Below are links to three different websites where I found a lot of great information on the bill that I have been advocating for as well as general information about poor water quality and sanitary resources.
Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act 2009 Report to Congress
Environmental Health Perspectives 
Institute of Medicine
There are a wide variety of consequences from poor water quality and lack of sanitary resources, but I think that the biggest consequence is that people are falling extremely ill and dying because of these two issues.  This is why I think it is so important that people are made aware of this issue and become supporters of bill # H.R. 2030 .
Instructions:
Below is a crossword puzzle with 9 questions for you all to answer.  The questions all came from information I have previously stated in other Advocacy Project posts.  You can't actually type into the crossword puzzle so I would like you to respond to this post with your answers to each question.
The second part of this online activity is for each of you to reply to this post answering the following question: What do you think it would be like to live without access to clean water and sanitary resources?

Across:

1. People are losing their self ___ because of their lack of sanitary resources.

6. The other main issue that is affecting individuals in developing countries

7. One of the biggest barriers in reducing the amount of people affected by poor water quality and sanitation.

9. The percentage of people who lack access to clean drinking water in the world.

Down:

2. How many countries worldwide are in need of assistance when it comes to water quality and sanitation.

3. One of the main issues affecting individuals living in developing countries?

4. An economic impact of poor water quality and sanitation would be reduced worker _____

5. People are being infected by _____ on a regular basis due to unclean water.

8. The acronym for one of the leading agencies who is helping out with water quality and sanitation problems?

Please note: For some reason my crossword puzzle picture is not showing up completely on the screen, but if you click on the picture it blows it up.  You will need to see the big picture in order to know how long each word is supposed to be.  Sorry for the inconvenience!

Good Luck!

Share and Voice: Recycling Tips

Below is a youtube clip that I thought would be helpful for anyone who is unsure about what exactly they can and cannot recycle.  It may seem like common sense, but I thought that it was worth putting up.



Hope you enjoyed the video clip and learned something new!

Read 'n' Seed 6: Final Review of "Fast Food Nation"

Overview of Book:
Fast Food Nation was a very eye opening read, and I think that is really the purpose behind this book.  The author, Eric Schlosser, goes behind the scenes of mainly the fast food industry along with the meatpacking industry, digging up the truth behind the all American meal.  He meets and interviews real people working in these industries as well as individuals who have been negatively affected by these industries.  Schlosser does a great job of putting the familiar saying "you are what you eat" into context.  This book is a great read for anyone looking to become more informed about what they are putting into their bodies, and it's effects on the environment.
Three Significant Issues:
The three main issues that have really stuck with me after finishing this book are: employee treatment, slaughterhouse conditions, and the overall effects the fast food industry has had on the environment.  All over the world fast food employees are being paid poorly and mistreated.  They are being taken advantage of mainly because of their age and their lack of experience out in the "working world".  Also employees of slaughterhouses are being injured and barely taken care of.  Slaughterhouse employees have one of the highest injury rates in the U.S.  They are getting injured on the job and forced to return to work with a very limited amount of time to recover if they get any recovery time at all.  The slaughterhouses are also extremely disgusting in my opinion.  Because of the demand for meat from the fast food industry they are pushing their employees to the limit and carelessly handling our food in the process.  E-coli has now become a major concern for individuals who consume meat products, which in the past, before there was such a demand for meat, E-coli was not such a problem because meat was handled with more care.  Lastly, the more that these fast food chains keep popping up, the more that our environment is going to suffer.  When a building goes up, more land is taken away, more food needs to be processed, the more food that needs to be processed, the grain and resources are going to be used.  It is a viscous cycle!  All of these things add up and they are harming our planet, not helping it.  We the consumer have been consumed by the fast food industry!  The more we know about this topic gives us the ability to do more about the problem.
Meaning and Importance:
The topics discussed in this book are important to me because in the long run they affect me, my family, and everything on earth really.  Without the environment where would we be?  We wouldn't be, it is as simple as that!  This book has really opened up my eyes to what is going on in the fast food industry and has given  me some great knowledge.  Again, I feel that the more that you know the more you can do to prevent/reduce the problem.
Recommendation: 
I would most definitely recommend this book to others!  I have been saying this all semester long, that I want everyone to learn what I have learned from this book.  I don't think that this book covers everything that people should know about this topics, but I think it is a great starting place to become more engaged in what is going on in the fast food industry.  So, if you are looking for a great read that is informative and will get you thinking critically, this is the book for you!

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 10: Overall Project Reflection

My SMART goal:
To drink six to eight 8 ounce glasses of water in my reusable metal water bottle everyday, and to also use a reusable bag every time I go to the grocery store!
Successes and Challenges:
When I first started my SMART goal of drinking six to eight 8 ounce glasses of water everyday the biggest challenge I faced was getting used to drinking that much water and not getting sick of it.  I tried adding crystal light for flavor, but then I found out that aspertame was in crystal light which I do not want in my body, so I started adding in lemons and limes to give my water an extra zip!  Once I got used to drinking all that water the challenge then became meeting the second part of my SMART goal, using a reusable bag every time I go to the grocery store.  The biggest challenge I faced for this part of the goal was remembering my bag.  I quickly learned that I not only need to put a few reusable bags in my car, but I also needed to put one in my purse.  I'm glad that I ran into a few challenges, because I was able to prove to myself that I can get past obstacles that may be in my way.
Benefits and What I Learned:
This whole project really taught me that if I put my mind to something I can really do it.  I know that sounds cleshay but it's the truth.  I'm not usually that much of a goal setter, at least not obvious goal setting that I keep checking in on and commenting on along the way.  Behavior changes aren't always easy, but I feel like you really can shine if you stick with it!  All in all I am really glad that we did the eco-chic lifestyle change for this class because it isn't something I would normally do on my own!
Benefits for Others and the Environment:
The reason that I chose this smart goal was that by drinking all of that water I would not only be bettering myself, but I would be helping out the environment.  I learned quite a bit about plastic water bottles filling up our landfills and polluting our oceans through this SMART goal, and anything I could do to decrease that amount was crucial to me!  I also learned about the importance of using reusable bags because plastic bags just like plastic water bottles are not good for the environment what so ever!  By bettering the environment I am also helping out each and every individual who is living on this planet.  If you think about it everything that happens in the environment good or bad some how effects human beings.  So, the more we are willing to do for the environment, the more it will do for us!
The Future of My SMART goal and Recommendations: 
I ABSOLUTELY WILL BE CONTINUING TO WORK AT MY SMART GOAL!  I don't want to stop just because the semester is coming to an end, that seems ridiculous to me.  My SMART goal has very much become a part of my daily life and there is no way I am getting rid of it!  The only recommendation that I have for others about making a lifestyle change would be to make sure that you challenge yourself while being realistic!  Also, don't get discouraged if you hit a bump in the road, that happens, the important thing is to be able to get back on track and learn from past mistakes!  


Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 10 
Hosted by: Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy