Reflection Post Weeks 9 and 10

Week 9: November 9, 2009:
This weeks topic was on advocacy , we didn't get to watch a documentary in class, but we did get to take what we had learned about advocacy and use it in a presentation to the class.  I really enjoyed listening to everyone present their information about advocacy and how it relates to health education and the seven responsibilities.  I also really liked the powerpoint that Dr. V. presented, it was simple, yet full of good basic information about advocacy.  This week we also got to look into who our political representatives are , which I found to be a great project.  I'm really not that political, but I still think that it is important for everyone to know who is representing them.  We did our eco-chic goal as usual this week, and ended the week by doing another read 'n' seed .  The section of the book that I read for this read 'n' seed was extremely interesting, but kind of hard to read at times.  I am starting to really enjoy my book!

Week 10: November 16, 2009:
I was excited to start off this week by doing an advocacy project post on a healthy people 2010 objective that I had found interesting.  As a part of the post we were asked to look further into the objective we chose by finding a similar bill in THOMAS .  The main focus of both the objective and the bill is better water quality and sanitation for all!  We also got to start of this week by watching a documentary called, "Unnatural Causes".  This has been one of my favorite documentaries that we have watched so far!  I always say that the documentaries that we watch are so eye opening, but they really truly are.  This particular documentary was just extremely interesting because of the way it looked at one's health and their wealth, as well as the color of their skin.  Sometimes it is  hard to watch documentaries like this, because you just don't want to think that this is how things work because it really shouldn't work this way.  On another note though, I had a pretty successful week with my eco-chic goal, so things are going pretty well when it comes to my lifestyle change!  All in all the past two weeks have again been very informative and just as excited as all the rest!

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Goal Week 7: Weekly Update

 My Smart Goal: To drink six to eight 8 ounce glasses of water everyday in my reusable metal water bottle, and to also use a reusable bag every time I go to the grocery store!

Successes and Challenges: This past week went pretty well for me!  I slipped up this past weekend with drinking all my water, which is kind of disappointing.  My sister was home from California so I was spending a lot of time with her and wasn't really paying attention to how much water I was drinking.  I finally went to the grocery store and got to use my reusable bag, which I was pretty excited about!  I just keep a reusable bag in my car so that I know every time I go to the grocery store I won't have to worry about not having it with me!
Feelings: Overall I'm feeling pretty good.  
I slipped up a little with my goal, but nothing too big.  My sister and I actually had a really great conversation about using reusable bags and water bottles, and how the things that you do may not seem like a big deal, but they can add up and make a difference. 
What I Learned:  My sister currently works for a company called Wellsprings in California, it is pretty much a weight loss camp/academy.  She said that they hand out plastic bottles of water to the individuals in their program all the time and that she knows those bottles don't always get recycled.  So, we thought it would be a good idea if she recommended to one of the head coordinators the idea that as a part of coming to camp each participant was given a reusable water bottle.  This way they would be cutting back on waste while still ensuring that the campers have access to water!
Plans for Next Week: I'm keeping everything the same for this upcoming week!  I am really happy with my goal so far and how everything is going!

Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 7 
Hosted by: Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy 

Advocacy Project: Healthy People/THOMAS

My Healthy People 2010 Goal:
I wasn't really sure what type of objective I was looking for when I started working on this advocacy project, but the moment that I found 8-29 I knew that I wanted to focus on this objective.  The 8-29 objective reads:  To reduce the global burden of disease due to poor water quality, sanitation, and personal and domestic hygiene.   I was really moved by the documentary we watched on water rights, which is why this objective stuck out to me.  I believe that everyone should have access to clean water at very low cost, should have sanitary standards where they live, and resources available to them for sanitary products, and on that same note personal and domestic hygiene goes hand in hand with access to good water, and sanitary resources.  
From the information off of the objectives and sub-objectives , I found that 8-29 has had no change in objective.  Great improvements have been made as you can see from the target figure below.  The following information on objective 8-29 was found from the World Health Report 2003, World Health Organization.  

	Target: 2,135,000 deaths. Baseline: 2,668,200 deaths worldwide were attributable to these factors in 1990. Target setting method: 20 percent improvement. Data source: World Health Report 2003, World Health Organization.

What's Happening:

161% - Met target 

Out of Healthy People 2010 under the Environmental Health category , nine objectives and sub-objectives either met or exceeded their targets.  8-29 (my goal) was one of those nine!  This is great but I believe that progress needs to continually happen.  I have chosen goal 8-29 because I want to dig a little deeper into this goal, and look into what is happening in our nation when it comes to disease due to poor water quality, sanitation, and personal and domestic hygiene. 

Related THOMAS Bill:

H.R. 2030 

Title: To provide 100,000,000 people with first-time access to safe drinking water and sanitation on a sustainable basis by 2015 by improving the capacity of the United States Government to fully implement the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act 2005.

Sponsor: Rep Blumenauer, Earl [OR-3] (introduced 4/22/2009) Cosponsors (69)

Related Bills: S.624

Latest Major Action: 4/22/2009 Referred to House Committee.  Status: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Recommendation: Vote_____(indicate Yes or No) for H.R. 2030.

My Political Representative: Congressman David Obey.