Reflection Post: Weeks 3 & 4

Third Week: 09/28/2009
We got to meet with the T.A.'s on our fourth day of class and I really enjoyed this.  They helped me make sure that I was meeting all the blog requirements, and helped me fix a few things that I was having trouble with.  After I left that meeting I was feeling better about blogging, everything was starting to make better sense.  It may have only been 15 minutes long, but it was very re-assuring that what I was doing so far was right!

Fourth Week: 10/05/2009
I loved class this past Monday!  I like that we started out with an activity to get everyone going, and then progressed into talking about our eco-chic lifestyle change SMART goals!  I knew that I wanted to do something that would really benefit me as well as the environment, so I went with drinking six to eight 8 ounce bottles of water everyday in my BPA free metal water bottle !  I like that we are doing these eco-chic goals because they get you thinking not only about what you can do to better yourself, but also the environment!  The last half of the class we watched a documentary staring Al Gore called An Inconvenient Truth , and may I say it was really interesting and informative!  I have taken a few climate and geography classes, so I know a thing or two about global warming; however, seeing the statistics on the screen bright as day and in a way that makes it really easy to see what is happening was very cool!  I love graphs and pictures that really emphasize what speakers are talking about, so I really enjoyed this documentary for that reason.  It is quite alarming though to look at those graphs and to see what is happening to our planet!  It makes me mad to think that our government isn't really doing much about this, because they know it would require some changes, and probably money loss to them.  My favorite part from the video though had to be at the end when Al Gore broke down what we can do to help reduce the effects of global warming.  Very nice to see that little things can add up and we really can make a difference on this planet!

                           One of many pictures shown in the documentary An Inconvenient Truth

Have a great weekend everyone!

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 1: My SMART Goal

For my eco-chic lifestyle SMART goal I will drink six to eight 8-ounce RE-USABLE bottles of water everday in my metal BPA free water bottle (8 ounces in size).  I will do this for the next 10 weeks starting today!!!

This lifestyle change is eco-chic because I will no longer be re-using those plastic aquafina bottles that are not only hazardous to my health but to the environment.  By switiching to a metal water bottle I will no longer be wasting plastic!

I have chosen this particular behavior after reading about what a waste it is to keep buying and re-using plastic bottles.  I also chose this behavior because I want to be healthier (getting the recommened amount of water daily) as well as keeping BPA out of my body!

Metal Water Bottles

Good luck with all of your own eco-chic lifestyle SMART goals!!!

Hailey@Hailey's Health Environment

Blogged for the Eco-Chic lifestyle Change week 1. 

Hosted by: http://ecochicwithamy.blogspot.com/

Eye Opener: Ecological Footprint

An ecological footprint is a complex sustainability indicator that answers a simple question: How much of the Earth’s resources does your lifestyle require?  I found this definition at Redefining Progress: the nature of economics , and I found an additional definition at wikipedia which was: an ecological footprint is a measure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems.  When reading these definitions I didn't really grasp what all goes into creating my ecological footprint, so when I took the following quiz to assess my footprint I was quite surprised.


I used the Earth Day Network Footprint Calculator and found that I am really harming our environment by the things that I am doing on a day to day basis.  I drive a ton, going back and forth from school to my hometown, I buy a lot of processed foods, and I'm really not sure how much of what I am buying comes from locally grown places.  I know that I waste electricity by leaving things plugged in all of the time, and that I don't walk or ride the bus to school as much as I should.  One of the most shocking things I learned from this quiz was that if everyone were to do the same things as me on a day to day basis we would need 4-7 planets to provide enough resources.  Below are two charts that show my ecological footprint.

 

This really has been "eye opening" for me, because I really didn't see myself as someone who was such a contributor to our declining environment.  I am going to be much more conscious of what I am buying from the grocery store and where my food is coming from.  I am going to walk to school as often as I can, and ride the bus, or with someone else.  I want to look into tips for people who are looking to reduce their ecological footprint, so I can learn more, and also pass advice on to others around me!