This is the last post to be done for the class. It seems very strange because I have been blogging so much for this class that it is normal for me to check my blog all the time. Week 13:During this week we went to Goodwill and got a tour of the company. It was very interesting to see behind the scenes. I did not know that they provided so many disabled people with jobs. By doing this they sacrifice efficiency for humanity, and I think that is a wonderful thing. Another interesting part of the tour was to see how they crush mattress springs into bundles so that a place can take them and melt them down. We had to do a blog post to our political representative about the bill we choose for the advocacy project. I thought it was very helpful to learn how to write a letter to a representative to advocate for something. This was also the last week for my eco-chic lifestyle change. I think over the past five weeks I have accomplished a lot with my lifestyle change. It is still now always easy to shower that fast, but I still try because I know the impact I am having on the environment.Week 14:This last week we presented our junk projects to the class. I made a serving piece out of a candle holder and 2 trays. I used gorilla glue to glue it together. Here is a picture of it.
We had to create on online activity about the bill we are advocating for. Then we had to complete all the activities in our web groups. I really like doing this because it was very short, but I learned a lot of information just from doing everyone's activities.Overall Reflection:This class has been the most eye-opening class that I have ever taken. The documentaries that we watched were very powerful and never failed to change my thinking about the topic. The video "Tapped" had the most impact on me and I refuse to ever buy a plastic water bottle again. I will continue to advocate for reusable water bottles. I really liked doing the eco-chic lifestyle change because I got to actually change the way I was impacting the environment. The most important thing I learned was about my ecological footprint. It is still crazy to me that I alone, use about 3.6 Earths of resources. I never thought that I had that big of an impact on the Environment, but now that I do I am going to continue to try to reduce the waste I produce and lower my impact on the environment.
As always, these past four weeks have been eye-opening.
Week 9: During this week we started our Eco-chic lifestyle goal. I learned how to create a SMART goal to use for my lifestyle change. I also started the Advocacy project. I had to look up all my political representatives. This was good to do because I actually learned who to talk to advocate for issues.Week 10: This week we watched a video called "Unnatural Causes." This video was about the effects of social class. We had to look at different bills for our advocacy project. This was interesting to learn about all the different issues out there. The second week of my lifestyle change went pretty well; it was fun to challenge myself.Week 11: We watched a video called "Story of Stuff." It was about what it takes for us to get products. It was interesting to learn how we are able to get products so cheap. I also learned that people usually only keep stuff for 6 months and then throw it away. The junk project was introduced this week. We looked at different junk items and had to think of ways they could be used or transformed. This was also the third week of the lifestyle change and I decided to make my goal more challenging.Week 12: This week I didn't do so well on my lifestyle change. It was more challenging but I thought I gave it a good try. For this week we had to do a photo essay on the environment. I took pictures of paper and plastics bags. I found that there are a lot more places starting to put out plastic bags recycling containers.Overall, I think I learned the most about different ways that I can be an advocate in or for my community. I'm learning to look more at junk as a potential treasure and not just junk. Right now, I think I will just be an advocate to my family; I hope I can start getting them to make some changes for the environment. It's almost the end of the semester! I can't wait to see everyone's junk project!
In the past four weeks I have learned a lot about the food we consume. In class we have watched a couple videos and I have continued to read my book. I have gotten used to the idea of blogging now. I check it a lot and am comfortable with posting and linking on my blog now.
In class we have talked a lot about food these past couple weeks. We watched two videos. One was about patenting seeds and genetically modified seeds,I believe it was called "Future of Food". This video really opened my eyes to the farming industries and I felt very sad for regular family farms that were having trouble with these big companies. It is scary to think that we use all these pesticides on our food and genetically modify them without really knowing the health risks. We also watched a video called "Fresh." This video was also about food. We did a couple of eye opener activities about the food industries that really made me rethink everything I eat. After learning so much about how this affects not only the environment but also the people, such as farmers, I am definitely going to try to buy more fresh products locally.
I finished reading my book by Dan Imhoff called "Paper or Plastic:Solutions to an Overpackaged World." I learned so much about how much plastic we waste in packaging. Companies package their items in too much. When items are in a box, is it really necessary to put plastic wrap over it too? The main thing I learned from this book was that the only right answer to the question "paper or plastic" is neither. Paper has just as much waste as plastic. We might not be able to stop the companies waste but we can help the environment by using usable bags,water bottles, coffee mugs,and by buying locally.
This last week in class we watched a movie called "Tapped." It was about the bottled water industry. After watching that video, I do not want to ever buy bottled water again. I knew it did not make sense to buy water when you could get it for free, but after seeing the affects it has on communities, people's health and the environment I definitely will stick to reusable water bottles.We just started learning about junking in class. I personally love looking through antique shops and resale shops for things. I always feel twice as accomplished when I find something good at a thrift shop vs. if I get it at any old store. I'm very excited to see what people come up with when we do the junk project. We are getting new blog groups, so I'm ready to read from some new people!
What I've learned so far in this class is to be more aware. I've learned about how much I personally impact or affect the environment, and how humans in general impact the environment. Putting into perspective how many resources I use, I realized that although I recycle, I really don't do too much to help the environment or be eco-friendly.
I also learned how to blog. I didn't know about all the gadgets you can put on a blog. I think I'm getting pretty good about doing everything on blogger now. From blogging, I learned that it's a really good way to get information out that you want others to see or be aware of.
After seeing the Bagley Classroom, I learned that there are different materials out there that are better for the environment that we could be using to save energy. It was really interesting to learn how they made the building and what they made it with.
The book I'm reading is teaching me all about the plastic waste we use and how it affects the environment. It's a very interesting read and I can't wait to read more. So far this class has been a big eye-opener and I'm excited to learn more!
My name is Alyssa and I am a Junior majoring in Health Education (Community). I love spending time outdoors; especially hiking in the woods surrounded by trees. The picture on the left is from a hike I took this summer. I hope you enjoy the environment too because this blog is going to be all about Environmental Health.
There are 6 possible types of posts on my blog. They include:
- Advocacy Projects
- Eye Openers
- Reflections
- Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change
- Read'n'Seed
- Share and Voice
If you notice at the bottom of this post,the categories will be listed as labels. This post has been labeled with all 5 kinds of posts.You will also see the number of each kind of post in my Labels Gadget at the top of the page. All post titles from now on will begin with one of the categories above.
The members of my web group are:
- Samantha @ Samantha: Green with Envi
- Adam @ Adams Outdoor Connection
- Emily @ Eco-Quest with Emily
- Kristen @ Kristens Coral Reef
- Katie @ Through Green Eyes with Katie
- Carly @ Go Blue too with Carly
You can subscribe to my blog by clicking the subscribe gadget in the gadget column. You can also follow my blog by clicking "Follow this Blog" in the gadget column. I am subscribed to all the blogs in my blog list gadget. You can see my complete profile and all the blogs I am following by clicking on "See Complete Profile."
Have a Treeific Time reading! I hope you can learn something new about Environmental Health from this blog and start taking steps to make this world a healthier place!
