Reflection Post: Weeks 5 & 6

Week 5: October 12, 2009

During this class period we got the opportunity to watch a video called The Future of Food , which was kind of hard to watch.  My grandparents were farmers, my mom grew up on a farm, and my brother currently works on a farm so it was hard to watch this movie. The Future of Food basically was about how farmers are being wrongfully accused of using seeds that aren't theirs, and being forced to throw out seed that they have been producing over their entire farming career, and paying big money out of their own pockets to reach a settlement with the company they are "so called ripping off".  I was shocked by this movie, pissed off by this movie, and saddened that this is even happening out there.  Years and years ago there was such a wide variety of foods, there were lots of different kinds of potatoes, and no one had to worry about whether or not they were stealing someone else's seed, because they were making their own.  Now big wig companies are taking over and patenting seeds, which doesn't completely mean that they are the reason that we no longer have such a variety of types of grown foods; however, when these companies are accusing those smaller farmers who still have their own seed and are using, and then are taking that away from them, these companies are just killing off any hope of having a variety ever again!
Also during this week we had our second eco-chic lifestyle change goal and I found that I am really enjoying my goal, and that although drinking the required amount of water I set can be hard, it is well worth it!  We also had our first read 'n' seed  due this week, and so far I am enjoying my book.  There are a lot of interesting facts that I have come upon and I am looking forward to reading the rest of my book!
Week 6: October 19, 2009
This past Monday we watched a video called a Diet for a New America .  I really liked this video because it was really eye opening to how wasteful we are with our resources, and also showed that we are endangering ourselves with unsanitary practices at some farming facilities.  I am a visual person, so these videos always hit home with me!  I liked how the man went into the classroom and showed all the students what you can do with 12 pounds of grain, like making 12 loaves of bread.  He then went on to say with that same amount of grain if you were to feed it to a cow you would only yield 1 pound of meat.  This was alarming to me and made me think that as much as I feel like farming is important to many Americans we need to start changing some things!  Lastly Dr. V. showed us a clip on how to make a graphical header , we looked at some of our classmates headers that they have on their blogs, and then just discussed anything else we wanted to learn about blogs, or brought up questions that we had related to blogs.

Share and Voice: WLSSD

Last Tuesday my Community Health class went on a field trip to the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District, and boy was it a learning experience!  We got to go on a tour of the grounds, going in a variety of different buildings, and really getting a chance to see (and smell) what goes on behind the scenes at a place like WLSSD.  The tour guide gave us a lot of good information throughout the tour, unfortunately I was not taking notes; however, below is a link to WLSSD's website and I really think everyone should check it out!  It gives you great advice about recycling, and creating your own compost, and also will give you an idea about where all of your garbage is going and things that you can do to create a better environment for the Duluth community!  So go on, head to the website and start digging into everything WLSSD has to offer!

Western Lake Superior Sanitary District 

Share & Voice: Highway Clean-up

Just recently I became a member of Eta Sigma Gamma, which is a national professional health education honorary.  By being a member I get to participate in events that are not only good for the community, but turn out to be good for the environment too!  On Monday after Environmental Health eleven Eta Sigma Gamma members, including myself drove a little way outside of Duluth (apparently near Dr. V.'s house)  where we picked up trash over a two mile stretch of road.

I really didn't know what to expect, I knew that I would come across cigarette butts, pop cans, and things like that, but I was surprised by the kind of crap people throw out of their vehicles onto the side of the road.  
Just to give you an idea of some of the things I found I have created a list:

• cigarette butts
• pop/beer cans
• plastic bottles
  
• toilet paper
• cardboard
• condom wrapper
• broken CD
• styrofoam
• little flag post (looked like something a road construction crew would use)
• McDonalds bags
• An empty salt bag (what you put in a water softener)

These are just some of the items that I found!
Throughout the whole experience I just felt crappy knowing that I have thrown things out my window before, either leaving them for someone else to throw away for me, or to be broken down and put into the earth.  It seems so stupid that people throw things out their windows when they could just wait to throw it away in their garbage/recycling bin when they get home!!!  
All in all I really enjoyed myself, and I swear that I will never throw anything out of my car window again!!!!  I think the best moment from the entire night would have to be when a couple who lives in that area were out for a walk and thanked us as they were passing by for taking the time to pick up all the trash.  It really made me feel good, and made it even more worth while!  If you ever get the chance to do a highway clean-up I definitely recommend you do, you may just surprise yourself!

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 3: Weekly Update

My eco-chic lifestyle change SMART goal is to: drink six to eight 8 ounce glasses of water everyday in my re-usable metal water bottle!
So far things are going pretty well!  I still am finding it a little challenging to drink all of the water, but I am doing my best.  I had used a couple crystal light packets to make it easier to drink the water, but last night in my Women's Health Issues class I learned that aspartame  is in crystal light, so needless to say I am going to steer clear of crystal light.  I am going to just start using lemons and limes in my water to add flavor.
It is interesting how often I am hearing things about plastic bottles these days, I don't know if I am just paying more attention to what people are talking about, but every time I hear someone talk about how terrible plastic bottles are for our environment it makes me feel so good that I am doing this as my SMART goal!
I think the biggest thing I am learning from my SMART goal is that when you make a goal, even if it seems simple it feels really good to stick to that goal.  Every time that I re-fill my metal water bottle I feel good because I know what I am doing is good for me and the environment!
I don't see myself changing much for this upcoming week, so hopefully things will keep going well!

Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 3
Hosted by: Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy