I took the Tour of the Food Supply and was saddened by what I read. Animals are treated inhumanly in slaughterhouses. They live in horrible conditions. Even those in the feed lot are treating bad. They sometimes are so crowded that they are forced to live in their own manure. "Livestock manure is the source of disease causing bacteria on fruits and vegetables"! Their manure also produces airborne pollutants and runs in the water.
There are 5,000 deaths a year that are caused by food-borne illnesses. It's shocking to learn that the meat you buy at the store, was probably fed with trash and the feed that they did eat was full of fertilizers and pesticides. Fertilizer factories also pollute the air with chemicals. It seems that everything that is done to produce meat for us to eat is inhumane and causes a lot of pollution.
It's really amazing to read how animals are treated before slaughter and what all the chemicals used in pesticides and fertilizer do to the air. When I shop for meat I don't really think about where it's been or whats been on it. It's sad that the priority for all these business's is efficiency and not the health of the animals or even the people who will be eating whatever chemicals or antibiotics these animals are given. This activity will make me think twice about whatever meat I buy.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Reflection: Weeks 1-4
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!
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!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Share and Voice: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
I found this video when looking for pictures for my Read'n'Seed. I can't believe I have never heard of this before. I feel so out of the loop. It's so sad and disgusting.
Have any of you heard of this before? What's your reaction?
Have any of you heard of this before? What's your reaction?
Read'n'Seed: First quarter of "Paper or Plastic: Searching for Solutions to an Overpackaged World"
In "Paper or Plastic: Solutions to an Overpackaged World," I covered 9 chapters, pages 1-26. The main topic that these chapters are about are the packaging of products. Packaging has become an essential part of our lives in our daily needs. American's have a tendency to overpackage.Think about how many things you buy that are covered in plastic wrap. Containers and packaging represent the largest amount of U.S. municipal solid waste (household waste) at 75 million tons. An interesting survey result done in 2001, reported that 80 percent of the people surveyed bought Christmas presents for their pets and 67 percent wrapped them. I personally have never thought about that waste before and have to admit that I'm guilty of doing this. I mean, do pets really need to have things wrapped up?
Packaging uses a lot of energy because to make packaging they are turning raw materials into finished products. Producing 1 ton of paper consumes over 98 tons of resources. Recycling glass saves about 1/4 of the energy over virgin materials production. Unfortunately, plastic has has been steadily replacing glass since the 1970's. I myself recently have noticed some drinks in the store that have always been in glass bottles and are now in plastic.
One chapter talks about the impact of food and packaging production. For every 100 pounds of food waste Americans throw away, 65 pounds of packaging waste was also thrown away. All this packaging waste uses a lot of energy and resources. We could save so much by buying locally grown food. It saves energy because it's not being transported from far away,it saves waste because it's not in packaging, and it is also probably healthier than most foods that are packaged seeing as how most packaged foods are processed foods. I don't think we really want the rest of the world to increase it's packaging. If Americans waste this much, how much more waste would their be if every other country did the same? Plastics are increasingly being co-mingled with other materials, which decreases the recyclability of plastics. Even though you may recycle, not every plastic is. It's hard to make a change, since it's the companies packaging everything in plastic, but you personally can start by buying foods locally. It wouldn't hurt to spread the word either. Teach others about how much damage plastic can do and, oh yeah, don't wrap presents for pets.
Image is of a river in Indonesia.
Packaging uses a lot of energy because to make packaging they are turning raw materials into finished products. Producing 1 ton of paper consumes over 98 tons of resources. Recycling glass saves about 1/4 of the energy over virgin materials production. Unfortunately, plastic has has been steadily replacing glass since the 1970's. I myself recently have noticed some drinks in the store that have always been in glass bottles and are now in plastic.
One chapter talks about the impact of food and packaging production. For every 100 pounds of food waste Americans throw away, 65 pounds of packaging waste was also thrown away. All this packaging waste uses a lot of energy and resources. We could save so much by buying locally grown food. It saves energy because it's not being transported from far away,it saves waste because it's not in packaging, and it is also probably healthier than most foods that are packaged seeing as how most packaged foods are processed foods. I don't think we really want the rest of the world to increase it's packaging. If Americans waste this much, how much more waste would their be if every other country did the same? Plastics are increasingly being co-mingled with other materials, which decreases the recyclability of plastics. Even though you may recycle, not every plastic is. It's hard to make a change, since it's the companies packaging everything in plastic, but you personally can start by buying foods locally. It wouldn't hurt to spread the word either. Teach others about how much damage plastic can do and, oh yeah, don't wrap presents for pets.
Image is of a river in Indonesia.Image from deputydog
Friday, October 1, 2010
Eye Opener: Ecological Footprint
I completed the Ecological Footprint quiz and was really shocked at what I learned. It showed me that if everyone lived like I do, we'd need 4.2 Earths do provide enough resources for everyone! That's a big shocker! It takes 18.6 global acres of the Earth's productive area to support my lifestyle; that's 18.8 tons of carbon dioxide that would need to be produced. Services have the most impact on my ecological footprint at 48%, then it's Food at 21%, Goods at 15%,shelter at 11%, and Mobility at 4%. Those percents show how much of each I demand out of the earth. It's amazing to think about how much of the Earth's resources we (as in the whole world) are using and not really even thinking about it.
I looked at how I could change my ecological footprint and learned some really interesting facts. If every American purchased products that used less packaging or were made out of 100% post consumer recycled content material, we'd use 645 million fewer global acres. That's an area that would cover about 484 million football fields! By eating less animal products, carpooling and buying more recycled products I could change how many global acres I use on this earth. Those are three things I'm going to try to do more to bring down my ecological footprint.
I looked at how I could change my ecological footprint and learned some really interesting facts. If every American purchased products that used less packaging or were made out of 100% post consumer recycled content material, we'd use 645 million fewer global acres. That's an area that would cover about 484 million football fields! By eating less animal products, carpooling and buying more recycled products I could change how many global acres I use on this earth. Those are three things I'm going to try to do more to bring down my ecological footprint.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Share and Voice: Fall in Duluth
Since today was such a gorgeous day, I decided I needed to go outside and just be in nature. Fall in Duluth is one of my favorite times. The colors on the trees are all so beautiful, and it looks so nice with the lake in the background. These pictures were taken in Bagley Nature Area and Chester Park.
I love when there's a reflection of the trees in the lake.
All the trees just look so beautiful! Go take a walk in the woods before all the leaves fall!
If your looking for somewhere nice to walk around campus, try Chester Park or Bagley. Both have spectacular views and really make you appreciate nature. It's also very relaxing to just walk around in the woods and get away from the stress of school.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Read'n'Seed: Paper or Plastic: Searching for Solutions to an Overpackaged World
The book I chose to read is called Paper or Plastic: Searching for Solutions to an Overpackaged World by Daniel Imhoff. The book is about how much waste is used to create paper and plastic bags; and how much waste we cause by using them. The book tells about how people can make a more sustainable future. I chose to read this book because where I work, we are trying to get people to go bag free or use reusable bags. We are always supposed to ask customers if they NEED and bag and not if they WANT a bag. I think it would be really interesting to learn more about the waste people cause with bags.
3 Links about book:
The book is 168 pages and has about 24 chapters. Therefore, I will split it up by reading 6 chapters for every quarter of the book.
3 Links about book:
The book is 168 pages and has about 24 chapters. Therefore, I will split it up by reading 6 chapters for every quarter of the book.
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