Reflection Weeks 8-15

The second half of the semester was just as fulfilling, thought provoking, and behavior changing as the first half of the semester. There were many activities that we did that I was able to take a lot from.

Web Groups & Share and Voice
This activity we did taught me a lot. We switched web groups up this semester, and I was able to learn a lot from three new people, and all of the different things they learned I was able to learn a lot from. I was really fond of Cole, Niki J, and Shelby, and all that they were able to teach me. Every week I took something different from them, whether it was Cole's great recycling ideas, Niki's advocacy for clean water, Shelby's great input on recycling, I really enjoyed having these people in my web group this second half. After all of these different share and voices were done I learned how to hook up to a linky party. This was awesome to be able to see what everyone else in class was doing as well. I was able to easily locate this, and explore from there. I had never learned how to do this until we did it in class, I really enjoyed the linky parties!

Junk Project
Whenever I had trash, or something that I thought I could not use anymore I would just simply throw it away. However, I learned that just because you think something is broken if you actually take a moment you can see all that it really can be, and nothing is really junk. I was able to take an old mirror that I thought was broken, and turn it into an earring tray, or even a candy tray, or serving dish. I now find myself looking at everything in my house and thinking of a ton of different uses that I could turn it into. I have learned to look at my "junk" differently, and find different uses for me. My classmates had so many cool ideas that I found really aspiring, and I am excited to redecorate my house now from this project. I really did learn that what is someone elses garbage really is someone elses treasure.

Advocacy Projects
After doing all of these different advocacy projects I really learned  a lot. It was not until I actually did these assignments that I even knew who represented me, or anything about them. I learned who actually represents me area, and all the different bills that are trying to be passed, and how difficult it actually is to get a bill to pass, and make it all of the way through, no matter how good it is. I liked looking at the one I did in regards to making less air pollution, because we are all the ones who are affected by this. I learned a lot more about politics that I ever have before, which was something I never took an interest in before. I also learned what it meant to actually advocate for something, and truly be apart and have an impact on an issue, or idea. This was something I had never known or learned before.

My Own Blog
I have learned a lot about blogging in general. Even though at first I was a bit frustrated with the whole blogging idea as I had never used it before, and was a bit overwhelmed I have come to learn that it really is a great tool that is very beneficial. I learned how to put my own ideas, view others, and comment on them to actually learn what they are saying while offering my own input. I believe blogging is a great way to interact and learn from other people as well.

Final Thoughts
During this second half of the semester I have learned so much in regards to blogging, being environmentally friendly, simple ways to change my behaviors, and that everything we do has some kind of consequence, and that if we really want to change we can. I learned so much from all of the different share and voices about where to shop, food labels, recipes, books, and many more things. I have created a list of everything I want to experiment and learn about. This really was a very beneficial class that I learned so much from that I am going to use for the rest of my habits. I have so many new, improved behavior habits that I am really proud and happy about.

Share & Voice: Video

Ever since taking this class, and seeing all of the different documentaries I have really changed all of my eating habits and behaviors. I use to go to Super One and buy whatever was on sale, such as Easy Mac or the most sugary cereals, because they were cheap. I never actually looked at the labels, and what was inside of them. However, ever since then I find myself actually looking at labels and shopping at Whole Foods. I try to buy organic foods, or attend farmers markets for local farmers around the area. My diet has changed entirely, and I am quite pleased with my new behavior. On the Whole Foods website I found this very informative and interesting video discussing how foods are labeled. In this video them emphasized the difference between organic, and natural. I now know that the only if it says "naturally organic" does that truly mean it is. I really learned a lot about labeling foods, and how companies use their own name on the labels at a cheaper price then a name brand item, but there is no difference in the actual ingredients, but because the label is more popular verses the store brand people think it is better, but really they are just paying more. Now when I go to the store I am actually going to look at the label or a store brand verses a name brand product and compare what is in them. So, I challenge you this, to read the labels next time you are at the store and compare the two products.
Are the ingredients the same?
How much is the difference in cost?
If you buy the store brand compared to what you usually do, does it taste different?

I went to the store and bought Great Value cheese tortillas chips, commonly known as Doritos.
I was able to get these for $1.79 less and there was a slight difference in taste, but they were not bad tasting at all. I was able to learn all of this from the video I watched on the Whole Foods websites about labeling and that there really is no difference if you know what you are really looking for.
Everyone should check it out, it is very informative!

Advocacy Project: Letter to an Elected Official

December 8th, 2011

Pat Strachota
Room 324 East
P.O. Box 8953
Madison, WI 53703

VOTE YES ON EH-2 Increasing the Different Means of Transportation Act of 2011

The main purpose of this proposed act is to offer alternative means for transportation that are more environmentally friendly that will produce less air pollution from the standardizes buses, trains, and cab services. I am in favor of this idea to promote biking, walking, or even car pooling in some cases to help keep healthier air for everyone to breath, and to promote a healthier lifestyle by implementing exercise into our daily lives. This act will provide an all around healthier lifestyle for everyone.

This act will help us all become healthier. It is proven that since 1980 cases of asthma have increased 75% and this is due to the quality of air we are breathing. All of the different buses, bus routes, taxi, trains, excessive driving produces mass amounts of pollution, and fuel going into the air. We are all greatly affected, since we are all breathing this dirty air. It is shown that shopping trips to the store, or local businesses are less than 5 miles from home, which would be the perfect opportunity to either walk, or ride a bicycle. It is known that obesity is a problem in our country today due to the newly developed sedentairy lifestyle we have developed. If this act is passed we all will be breathing healthier air due to increased air pollution from automobiles, and become more active, and healthy in terms of our own respiratory and cardiac health. The benefit of our health out weigh the cons in both short and long term effects.

Opponents of this bill may say that by promoting alternatives means companies are going to lose business. However, the same companies can also offer bike, or roller blade rentals, and they would still be making a profit. They would also be saving large amounts of funds as they would not have to supply their vehicles with the expensive gas prices they are having to pay. If they increase their prices of their company it will discourage many from taking the bus, or a taxi, but for the ones who really want to they are going to pay the amount, so all of these companies are still going to be making a profit. I believe for my solution and support for promoting alternative modes of transportation in our daily lives is a great idea for everyone's health, and daily behaviors, as we will all be benefitting in the long run from this. We all breath the same air, so we should all work to keep it clean, and not be selfish.

We greatly appreciate the efforts you have made to finding a solution to this problem, and look forward to hearing from you soon. We hope that you vote "yes" on this proposed act to help all of our well being. If you have any further questions, or concerns please feel free to contact me at, 262-222-3333 or healthylife@d.umn.edu.

Sincerely,

Lindsay W.

Share & Voice Week 3

Through my web group I have found myself SO inspired by all of the work that Cole is doing! Every week I look forward to reading her blog, and to see all of the great environmentally friendly things she is. I was very intrigued by her photo essay actually. I have always wanted to be better to the environment, but I would definitely get lazy, or didn't really know how to go about doing things. However, after seeing all that she did with her garbage and how easy it was to recycle I found to be awesome! Now there really is no reason that I should not be able to do that. After living in my house with 5 girls and people always over there is a lot of garbage scattered throughout, and empty cans. If my roommates and I all made an effort to be more environmentally friendly and recycle we would be helping conserve so much, while producing less garbage, and making it easier for garbage centers to not have to sort through all of our trash. She was able to go through tons of garbage and boxes from garbages to not even one full sized garbage bag after a week just by all of the composting, and recycle. I am truly inspired by her efforts, and think it is awesome what she is able to do!
Great Job Cole!
Everyone should check out her projects and all of the work she is doing at How Does Cole's Garden Grow?  I know I am going to continue to do so! Not to mention her fruit bars were also delicious, which I am going to attempt to make, even though my cooking skills are not the greatest.

Advocacy Project: Fact Sheet

Fact Sheet About Minimizing Public Transportation and Promoting Other Environmentally Friendly Transportation Options

What is the current problem? 

People rely too much on public transportation, or driving themselves places instead of walking, biking, or finding alternative methods. All of this driving pollutes the air, and people are unaware of how much this really affects all of us, because we are all the ones breathing the air. 

Who is affected by this?

1. Us (the citizens breathing this polluted air)

2. Transportation companies (buses, taxis)

What are possible solutions to reduce this pollution, but still provide safe ways to get around?

1. Have companies offer services for a small fee. This way they are still making money, but also discouraging people to rely on it so much, causing less pollution, and dirty air that we all have to breath. Many people are unaware of the long-term affects that occur from the air we are breathing now.

2. In the summer time offer rental bike services right by the train, bus, or taxi station, and have the option available to people.

Take a Bike Over the Bus and Here's Why!

(All found from Air Resource Board: Bicycle Awareness)

-More than half commute trips, and 3/4 of shopping trips are under 5 miles in length, which would be perfect for biking and getting outside

-About 27.3% of the driving public reported that they rode a bicycle at least once last summer, which equals to approximately 57 million people over the age of 16 who rode a bicycle and have access to one

-A bicycle is an excellent choice for an aerobic, enjoyable exercise

Asthma and Air Pollution

-Asthma has increased within 75% since 1980, which is affected our children and their potential health

-The long-term affects of breathing polluted air are still unknown

By helping to promote other means of transportation such as biking and walking we can help save ourselves and our health in the long run. Even though public transportation and automobiles are a good idea our health is more important. 

Eye Opener: Photo Essay

I never took the time to realize all of the little things UMD has to offer when it comes to being environmentally friendly and promoting recycling right here on campus. I would always see various items throughout the halls as I would glance at them, but when I really took the time to look I realized there actually is a lot of different ways in which UMD promotes helping the environment. I had never noticed all of the different recycling bins compared to garbages, and all of the little signs placed throughout campus as well. I was actually surprised to see all of this, and in a way I guess I took it for granted, and never really appreciated the efforts that were being put forth right in front of me. All of the pictures that I found were in the parts of the schools where I usually am, and I was able to find all of this! I am definitely going to explore the rest of the school and see what else UMD is doing!

 Burt's Bee, organic shampoo and conditioner that is offered right in the student store. Along with this there was also lotion, and chap stick as well. This is an easy investment, and very accessible to all students. It also wasn't too expensive, so it would be appealing to students as we all go for the cheaper items. The colors were also something that caught my eye as I was wondering around.

 There is a section in the freezer in the student store dedicated to organic and naturally grown frozen foods. I have to say the enchiladas, pizza, and mac & cheese did look quite delicious. I actually ended up buying an organic pizza (never had this before) and ended up loving it. This was a great investment that I will be buying more of.

 "Go Green" light bulbs that were also found in the student store. All of these were energy saving bulbs that were on sale. This is the perfect idea for everyone, especially the students who live right on campus and need a bulb for a desk or bed lamp. I also bought one of these for my lamp at home.

 "We Recycle!" This is a just a simple recycling bin (as there is a ton of these throughout the school) but a little effort goes a long way. The top of the bin is shaped so only paper could fit into it, which saves a lot of time in the long run because people get lazy and if it were bigger any type of garbage would be thrown into this. This saves time and money by not having to sort all of this out when the garbage is taken out.

This is just a simple recycling bin, but I saw so many of these ones! In the gym and athletic area alone I counted 9 of them! This is just a simple gesture but is easy to do and makes it impossible for there to be liter around, because there are so many garbages scattered throughout the school!

 Right outside of the gym and weight room there is a station to refill a water bottle. This is a great idea to have after everything we learned about the pricing and garbage that comes from plastic bottles. This idea is very beneficial, because instead of buying water it is easily accessible right when you are done working out! I use this piece of equipment almost daily.

 To go along with the idea of having your own reusable water bottle instead of a plastic one that would just be thrown away I found these cool UMD ones right in the student store as well. There was a lot of different kinds, like the color scheme and design, but these just happened to be my favorite! This is a great idea to invest in one because you are promoting your school and have easy access to water all throughout the day, which is the most important nutrient for you to ingest.

 This was what I believe to be the best idea when it came to recycling that I saw. This was located right outside of the library, which is the perfect spot as many students (or should) go there. There was 4 different compartments, each with a different place to recycle from bottles & cans, trash, aluminum, and plastic. This would make it simple to sort out off the garbage and recycling if people would just take the extra effort and put there trash in the right spot. I definitely believe this to be the best idea!

"Be bright. Turn off the light" This was on the light switch right in a bathroom. This is a great idea to have this sign here. There are many times I go into the bathroom, or even our locker room and no one is in there, but the light is still on. If we would simply put this sign there we would be saving a lot of electricity. I actually put a sign like this in our locker room right by the switch, just so we could help to conserve energy when we are not in there. It is already catching on, which is very exciting to see!

The University of Minnesota-Duluth is home to all of us, and really is making an effort to help keep our school and community clean with offering so many ideas and various equipment to help, so there really is no excuse to not have a beautiful school. Let's all do our part and help keep UMD environmentally friendly!

Check out everyone elses's ideas!

Advocacy Project: Issue Overview

Introduction

Pollution in the air from motor vehicles and excessive public transportation

HF0400 Environmental and Natural Resource Money Availability, trying to find different methods of funding, and ways to get around without polluting the air as much

Who is affected by the issue?

All of the citizens are affected by air pollution, because we are the ones that breathe the air. People that are in more industrialized and crowded cities, such as Minneapolis are affected more, as they are around it more.

All of the citizens in highly populated cities lose the most, like their health because they are the ones breathing this air, and polluting their lungs. Also, by relying on public transportation they are partaking in less exercise. These citizens lose their health and fitness compared to the citizens living in the cities that don’t breath in as much smoke and smog, and walk around their land more.

The public transportation drivers (bus and taxi) and businesses gain money and revenue, as they know people depend on them, and their services, because people take the easy way and are lazy.

What are the consequences of this issue?

The consequences are poor health, air pollution, and short quality of life.

The individuals’ health is affected. Their families are affected by having their loved ones potentially become sick from the pollution, and decreases expected life.  The consequences for society are more overall pollution, less air quality.

What is the economic impact of the issue?

The economic costs are expensive to pay for all the gas used to transport people, maintenance repairs, and miscellaneous costs. It would be more worthwhile to not offer so many options, or reduce the number of buses and taxis available.

The economic benefits stem from all of the revenue public transportation brings in. All of the business owners, and employees of these companies benefit from this.

What is the social impact of the issue?

The social costs of this issue are an opportunity to meet other people while traveling publically, so everyone can benefit from this. Also, a recreational activity, and sight seeing opportunity. The companies providing this service bear the cost since they are the ones paying for repairs, and gas. Also, everyone is affected by the pollution at its costly levels.

Some of the social benefits are getting to be around new people, and in different parts of town. When you take a public bus there are a lot of stops along your route which gives you a social opportunity, and you get to learn from others, and see different parts of town that you may of not known were there. Everyone can benefiting from this new experience while getting to know and learn from others and their experiences.

What are the barriers?

The barriers are that there is a need, and high demand for different ways to get around the city due to the lack of cars people have, and high gas prices, so they use these methods to save money. Taxis are used for people who are under the influence and need a safe ride home. Also, in the cold weather people will not want to walk, or take a bike from place to place, it does become a safety concern.

The barriers to addressing this issue are people are stubborn, and won’t want to make a change, or try something different. People are also lazy and even in nice weather they will refuse to walk, or use a bike and will just expect to be picked up, and taken care of from public transportation.

The people can be overcome by seeing how bad it is to breathe the city, highly polluted air, and all of the damage it does to their body. There are a lot of long term affects that people are unaware of, so stressing those. Also, all of the damages their methods do the environment, like ruining the eco system, and plants.

What are the resources?

The resources needed to address this issue are evidence and statistics of breathing in poor and polluted air stressing the health affects long term from this. The safety concerns from taking public transportation at night, or by yourself when you do not know who is around, or the kind of people on the bus. Also, the effects from the smoke and smog that go into the air from big buses and trains.

The health affects can be found by comparing the breathing capacity and quality of breaths from an individual who lived in the city, and rode the bus for many years compared to someone who lived out in the country, who hasn’t been exposed to as much pollution.

The safety issue can be found by looking and observing the people around bus stops, and on buses late at night.

What is the history of this issue?

The history of this issue in the community is known to not travel alone at anytime, it is just unsafe. Also, breathing in this type of air is comparable to cigarette smoke, and the poor affects it has on your lungs, brain, and respiratory system.

The past efforts made were trying to promote different methods of transportation that would help benefit your health and be a source of exercising, like biking or walking.

The results of this were in the warm weather people would attempt other ways, but once it was cold or poor weather they resulted back to using the bus everyday, or driving themselves.

Allies & Opponents

The people who would support this issue are the citizens concerned with preserving and maintaining the environment. Also, healthy people who want to live and long healthy lifestyle, and do not want to be breathing poor air. Fitness buffs would also like this idea, as walking or biking is healthier then driving places, and a good source of exercise.

The people who would oppose this issue are the companies that own buses, taxis, cabs, or the people who drive everywhere and do not like to exercise or go out into the cold or outside in general.

To involve both the allies and opponents regarding this issue would require a bit of compromise. Both sides are looking to help out people, whether it’s providing transportation, or promoting their own health and well being, so both sides share that. In order for both sides to win they could both focus on promoting walking, or biking in the warm weather times, and then come winter offer more public transportation, so it will cut down on the pollution, and help promote a healthy lifestyle, yet still as a back up offer public transportation.

Your Recommendation

I want policy-makers to vote in favor of spending more money on advertising, and alternative transportation methods that don’t pollute our air and environment like buses, trains, and cabs. I want there to be more of a push for car polling, only if absolutely necessary. I would like to see more promotion towards walking places, making it accessible and a realistic idea, or even renting a bike to use would be beneficial and less air pollution, while still being quick.

Sources:


http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/objectiveslist.aspx?topicId=12


https://www.revisor.mn.gov/revisor/pages/search_status/status_detail.php?b=House&f=HF0400&ssn=0&y=2011


http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eco-friendly


http://library.thinkquest.org/26026/Environmental_Problems/air_pollution.html


http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/air/