Share & Voice: The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

Currently, in Copenhagen, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is taking place.  119 heads of state and government have joined together to make positive decisions affecting climate change.  It's said to be the largest ever of its kind.  Decisions being made include how to cut emissions and how much to cut them by.  Almost more importantly, they are making decisions on how to hold each country accountable for sticking to the decided policies. 

According to the UNFCCC, "The 119 heads of state and government represent countries that account for 89% of the world's GDP, 82% of the world's population and 86% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Included in the 119 countries are the 20 largest economies and the top 15 greenhouse gas emitters in the world."

This conference could make some pretty monumental changes in the way of reducing carbon emissions and slowing down (and hopefully eventually reversing) the effects of global warming!

I encourage you to all stay on top of the issues and make sure you check out what our world leaders decide!

Reflection: Weeks 13 & 14 & overal course review

The last two week of class have come and gone!


In week 13 we went to the Goodwill in west Duluth.  It was a very interesting experience.  I've already been there a couple of times.  I've gone on my own, and I've gone a couple of times with my clients at the group home I work for.  I wasn't expecting that I would learn so much.  I had no idea Goodwill was known for hiring individuals with disabilities.  I think what struck me the most is when we talked about the different jobs that the workers do.  I loved how they said they didn't really care about how efficiently things were done.  They would use several individuals on one task as long as it was beneficial to those individuals.  After we went on a tour of Goodwill we went to the store and did a little activity.  We were each given a task and we had to complete it with a budget of only $20.  My group completed our task by finding plates, bowls, silverware, glasses, and decorative items for a kitchen!  I will definitely be visiting the Goodwill again!  You will always find a treasure of some kind!

During week 14, our very last week, we shared our junking projects!  I made my project while I was at home for Thanksgiving break.  I used an old box that held thank you cards.  I turned the box into a jewelery box by making dividers out of cardboard pieces from a shoe box!  I also used paper and a photo to decorate the box!

 

After we each shared our projects we talked about the most significant things we learned throughout the semester.  I talked about the power of social change.  

Overall Course Review:  It has been an interesting and fabulous semester.  I'd say this was one of the most enjoyable classes I've taken in all my time at UMD.  It's just so relatable to my life. It's unlike any other course you'll take - teaching style and subject alike!  I wish everyone had to take this class.  I think there is value in knowing how to create and operate a blog.  I also think there is HUGE value to the subject matter.  This should be a prerequisite just to be a member of earth!  I feel like so much more educated on issues I knew the minimum about.  I also feel like a more educated consumer.  I'm now an eco-chic consumer!  There is real life value to this class and I would recommend it to anyone.  The work load was pretty substantial, but it was spread out and it was something you just got in the habit of putting in your schedule.  I'm glad I did because now I have this amazing blog that I've created that is storing everything I learned this semester and it's mine forever!  It's almost like your very own little electronic portfolio of a semester's worth of knowledge!  

Share & Voice: Plastic bags - Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle!

By watching this video, I discovered that many places are taking steps to completely phase out plastic bags all together!  Some countries (and even U.S. cities) have banned plastic bags altogether.  Others are taking steps such as adding a bag tax, or requiring you to pay your plastic bags to cut down on bag production.  However, some of us may not be quite there yet.  If your household is anything like mine, then you undoubtedly have a cupboard in your kitchen somewhere almost popping open because it's so full of plastic bags (not that they're yours because you're so eco-friendly you only take reusable bags to the grocery store).  What do you do with this never-ending supply of bags?  You don't want to just throw them out because that would be wasting, but at the same time you can't fit one more bag in that cupboard!

There are numerous ways to get rid of plastic bags.  First, you can recycle them!  Well, not in the normal recycling at your house, but a lot of grocery stores offer places to recycle your bags.  Next time you go to the grocery store, look for these bins designated for plastic bags only! Second, you can reuse them!  I'm sure many of us already use these bags for garbage in our cars, or liners in our bathroom waste bins, but there are actually a lot of creative ideas out there.  I found a few websites with long lists of ideas! Some are obvious, but some are interesting and innovative!  Check it out!

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/reuses-plastic-bags.html

http://www.wikihow.com/Recycle-Old-Plastic-Bags

http://sayiamgreen.com/blog/2009/10/25-ways-to-re-use-plastic-bags/

I think my favorite way to reuse plastic bags is to make them into art!  Check out this street art using plastic bags!

Eye Opener: Response to the Online Learning Activities

Danielle's Discoveries: Response questions and answers to the videos

Danielle used videos to illustrate different sanitation issues in different countries and then asked us to anser a few reflective questions after watching.

Q: After seeing this video, how do you feel about the fact that this whole European program, creating better sanitation for all, is developed and carried out by women?

A: I found it pretty interesting that women cared more about sanitation and clean toilets, and clean drinking water than men did.  I think it's really awesome what the WECF are doing.  Clean drinking water and bathroom facilities is a human right that everyone deserves.  It's hard to imagine that there are places where the water is polluted by human fecal matter in Europe.  You really do think of Europe as always been on top of all the issues. 

Q: why is this happening so often? Don't we have policies, food inspectors? How do these recalls affect those selling these products?

A:  I am really interested to know how these products get contaminated in the first place?  I mean we can recall products, and tell people not to eat certain foods, but what can be said for taking preventative measures?   It seems like for the peanut factory there are policies on ensuring food safety and different procedures that must be done, but since they don't have anyone holding them accountable, who knows if they're doing what they say.  Something that I hadn't thought of before was how these recalls effect those who make a living from these products.  If there is a big salmonella scare in Florida because of tomatoes, I bet this affects tomato growers all over the US.  It's really unfair when you think about it.

These videos really brought home the point that there is still much to be done in the area of sanitation, even in developed countries.  It also showed that there are a lot of loop holes in the system.  There are clearly areas that need to be addressed.

Pam's Green Blog: Activity on FAS

Pam's asked us to identify which of the posted pictures of children exhibited physical signs of fetal alcohol syndrome.  I'm guessing that it's photo numbers 2, 4, and 6.  This is one of those things were you would feel bad if you guess wrong! 

Next we answered a few true and false questions.  1. False, 2. True?, 3. True, 4. False, 5. False 

I work at a group home and a number of the clients I work with have FAS.  It's really a sad thing because if the mother wouldn't have used substances while she was pregnant, then her child wouldn't be in a group home.  It's so preventable that it just makes me so upset that it even happens. 

Share & Voice: What do do with all those plastic bottles?

So, although I hate to admit it, I am a soda junkie.  I drink at least one soda a day.  Sometimes it's out of an aluminum can, and sometimes it's out of a 20 oz. bottle.  I hate looking in the recycling at our house and seeing all those bottles.  I didn't know what to do with them besides throw them in the recycling.  Then we learned about junking in one of our environmental health class and it got me doing some research.  I found a lot of different websites (and a lot of different blogs) that had many different ideas for ways to reuse plastic bottles and ways to create them into some pretty new and interesting things.  I don't think it would be the same if I just listed off the different things you can do with plastic bottles.  Instead, go to these sites and check out the many ideas (accompanied by pictures) of how individuals reuse their bottles!

http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/recycled-bottles-photos-4604

http://www.thedailygreen.com/living-green/blogs/save-money/reuse-plastic-bottles-460709

http://www.greenstudentu.com/eco_lifestyle/10_ways_to_reuse_plastic_soda_bottles.aspx

http://condo-blues.blogspot.com/2008/05/12-ways-to-reuse-plastic-bottles.html 

http://ecoble.com/2009/04/27/extraordinary-reuse-projects-10-amazing-ways-to-recycle-plastic-bottles/

Advocacy Project: Smoking Takes Your Breath Away

I'm calling this activity: Smoking Takes Your Breath Away

The purpose of this activity is to give you a first hand feeling of how smokers feel when they're trying to breath. More specifically, it give you the feeling of what someone with emphysema (smoker's lung) feels when they try to breath.  This is important because it's a good reminder for why you never want to start smoking, or why you might want to quit.

Smoking is the #1 preventable cause of death in the U.S (MIT).  It's the leading cause of lung cancer, emphysema, hearth disease, and throat cancer (CDC).  Not only does smoking affect those who do it, but it affects those around you.  53,800 people die each year due to exposure to second hand smoke (ANR).  This activity illustrates the addictive nature of tobacco by showing you how it feels to breath when your a smoker, and yet many continue to smoke.

For this activity you will need a straw.  A cocktail straw is best, but you could also grab a straw from the food court if you don't have one on hand at home.  Here's how you begin:
1. Breath through the straw for 30 seconds.  Has breathing become harder?  How much more restricted do your airways feel? 
2. Take away the straw and recognize how easy it is to breath again.  Did you immediately desire to gasp for a deep breath?
3. For 1 minute either run in place or do jumping jacks.
4. Immediately following that minute breath through the straw for as long as possible.  How long did you last before gasping for air? Did you notice how such a little amount of exercise made breathing so difficult? 

If you felt the way you did after 1 minute of exercise and breathing through a straw all the time, do you think you would be less likely to exercise?  In turn, what effect would that have on health? 

Feel free to answer some of these questions when you post about this learning experience!

Share & Voice: "The Cove"

I found out about a documentary called "The Cove".  The documentary is about the harvest of dolphins that happens in the waters surrounding Japan.  They specifically document in a town called Taiji, which is played off to be a town that is devoted to the awe and wonder of dolphins.  In this town is where the very secretive operations of the dolphin harvesters occur.  Many of the Japanese people that reside there have no idea that these things are happening.

The video was directed by a National Geographic photographer and it's looks really interesting.  I think there is a lot more to this video than I described, but you'll have to watch it yourself to find out!

Read 'n' Seed 6: Final Review of "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight"

The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight was an excellent read.  The book is basically an overview of the critical breaking point at which we find ourselves today due to war, famine, overpopulation, deforestation, the oil crisis, the lack of clean water, and more.  The book described all of these issues in a way that was easier to understand than trying to do your own research.  Next the book described how we got to this devastating point.  How could these things all be happening right now?  What direction did we go in that took us down this path.  Lastly, the book to a lighter note by offering up many solutions to the problem.  The cool part of the last section of the book were that the solutions truly were things that we could all do.  They weren't like stop buying, and stop driving, and stop eating.

There are absolutely more than 3 significant things I can take from this book, but here are 3 that will stick with me.  First off, I learned how bad our situation really is.  I think that the media does a good job diverting our attention from it with their smoke and mirrors, but the truth is we are running out of oil, and oil is our way of life.  We need to start looking for alternative ways to live and invest the oil we have left into making those alternative sources into a viable reality.  Secondly, I learned that our culture and other westernized culture have a lot to learn.  We have to stop trying to be the dominators of everything (people, land, plants, animals).  We could really learn a lot of lessons from older cultures who lived in harmony with nature instead of seeing it as a take what you can and give nothing back opportunity.  We have to stop seeing ourselves as the highest life forms.  We have to get out of the mindset that everything was put here for us to use and for our purposes with no consequences related to what we choose to do with it.  Lastly I learned that the best solution there is would be to change our way of thinking because that is how you change a culture.  It's easier said than done because culture, just like nature, is something that surrounds us.  It is something we are submerged in from the time we are born until our death.  How do you change something you hardly even realize is around you anymore?  

I learned some pretty deep and important stuff from this book.  For example if we change our way of thinking, than maybe we could change the social norms.  It used to be that professors could smoke in the classroom, but now if a professor did that their would be outrage and disgust by many of the students and other faculty alike.  In a matter of 30 years, the norms changed.  What if we could do the same thing with recycling, or oil conservation, or numerous other things? What if the mass majority of people would be disgusted if they saw you throw away a bottle instead of putting it in the recycling?  I think these and many other like it are the ideas this book tries to instill in the reader.  Change is possible, not easy, but possible. 


Would I recommend this book to others?  Yes, absolutely.  I think this book is stocked with important information and it has the power to change your perspective of being helpless in all of this environmental crisis if you go into it with an open mind.  I don't think this book is for everyone, but I do think anyone wanted a pretty simple and to the point overview on all this eco-distress this is a  good book to read!