Share and Voice: Blog on Award

So I just got the blog on award for my last share and voice about paper towels vs. hand dryers! I received this award from Dr. V. for the Health Educator in me. I had a question, so I found answers. So now it is my turn to pass on the Blog on Award. There were a lot of really great posts, but one that I thought was really cool and also demonstrated good Health Educator qualities was Hannah's Share and Voice on Air Pollution and Environmental Justice. I really liked her post because it related really well with the Documentary that we just watched in class, "Green". Her post shows the health disparities that low income and urban communities face. Please check out her post. It is really shocking! Great job Hannah!!!



Award Instructions

1. Leave a comment below so that I know you "picked up" the award.
   
2. Create a Share and Voice post that says you've received the award and indicate who the award is from (be sure to hyperlink).
3. Also indicate to whom you are going to pass on the award and why. Be sure to hyperlink the blogger (use main blog URL) and the blog title (use the specific URL for that blog post).
4. Copy and paste these instructions at the bottom of your post.
5. Publish the post.
6. Visit each blogger you've awarded and leave a comment telling them they've won.
7. Continue the process...

Have a Great Day!!!

Eye Opener: Environmental Working Group

For this Eye Opener I went onto the webiste, Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Database, to see how bad one of my main cosmetic products is for the environmetn. This website didn’t have my exact mascara color, but the information below is for the closest option. I currently wear Cover Girl – Very Black, Waterproof, Lash Blast Mascara. The website had waterproof, black brown Lash Blast Mascara. So here are my results from the website:





COVERGIRL LASH BLAST WATERPROOF VOLUME MASCARA, BLACK BROWN
last updated: 04/01/08 brand: Cover Girl by Procter & Gamble




SCORE
4
moderate hazard (out of 10)



BETTER PRODUCTS
13% of mascaras have lower concerns




INGREDIENT CONCERNS
Percentage of ingredients in this product that meet these criteria:

Ingredients in this product are linked to:
Cancer
Developmental/reproductive toxicity
Violations, restrictions & warnings
Allergies/immunotoxicity

Other concerns for ingredients used in this product: Persistence and bioaccumulation, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Multiple, additive exposure sources, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Contamination concerns, Occupational hazards, Biochemical or cellular level changes

This manufacturer:
Compact for Safe Cosmetics signer
Conducts animal testing

Ingredients from packaging: Petroleum Distillates, Polyethylene, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Carnauba Wax - Copernicia Cerifera, Trihydroxystearin, Propylene Carbonate, Pentaerythrityl Hydrogenated Rosinate, Tall Oil Glycerides, Tocopheryl Acetate, Propylparaben, Panthenol, Tocopherol, Phenoxyethanol, Iron Oxides, Titanium Dioxide - May Contain, Ultramarines - May Contain, Talc - May Contain


Directions from packaging: Discard bottle cap.Replace with brush and close cap completely before first use.




Warnings from packaging: Safeguard Purity: Always handle/apply in a careful, sanitary manner.Don't share or add anything to mascara. Treat applicator in a hygienic manner, don't reuse in a new case.Don't use if change in odor or appearance occurs. Cap tightly.Do not dilute.Never use if your eye is irritated, infected, or scratched.In extreme cases, eye infections can lead to blindness.Consult an eye doctor immediately in case of injury.

I thought that this Eye Opener was really fun and interesting. I never really thought about how my mascara is effecting the environment. Now I know, how cool!!! The one thing that made me the most upset about my results was that my cosmetic item is tested on animals. That is reallly disappointing to me. :( I have never really looked at the packaging before to see if the product I am interested in tests on animals, so I guess I can maybe try to check the packaging next time. I really don't want to wear something that has been tested on animals.

One thing that I found incredibly intersting is that on the website, the same mascara, that wasn't waterproof, had a score of 8! That is twice the score of my waterproof mascara. How weird. I expected my waterproof mascara to be much worse becuase manufacturers need to add something to the original formula to make the mascara waterproof, so I just always assumed that that chemicle would be worse for the environment. So I guess this information makes me feel better about my choice.

Maybe in the future I will research some of my cosmetic items before buying them so that I can see how bad they are for the environment. Thanks for reading!!

Have a Great Day!!!

Reflection: Weeks 5 and 6

I swear this class just keeps getting better and better! I feel like I am really getting a hang on blogging, finally. I now know how to add color, bring in picture, hyperlink, and even bring in a youtube video. I am super proud of that last one. YAY!!!!! I really never thought that I would be able to handle having a blog, and now I think that I can.

In class these last two weeks we have watched some really interesting documentaries. I really enjoyed "Diet for a New America". It was facinating to me that 12 pounds of grains produces only one pound of beef. I honestly don't think that I will ever forget that. And I am going to try giving up beef for a while becuase of that fact. We also just finished watching "Future of Food", which is all about genetically modified foods. I honestly didn't know how much of our food is modified, and I had no idea that these modified foods were/are making people sick. How scary!

These last two weeks we have done reading reviews and eye openers, like usual. I really liked the Eye Opener: CSPI. In this one we learned about how our food choices are affecting the environment. I thought that that was really cool. I was appauled by some of my results, but I feel like that is what was supposed to happen. I now think more about what I am putting in my body and how it will affect the environment.


Have a Great Day!!!

Share and Voice: Youtube Video on Lake Superior and Global Warming

Lake Superior and Climate Change: Part 2



Ok, so I have become really interested lately on how Duluth is doing on certain environmental issues. After watching that documentary in class about global warming, I really was interested to see what affects of global warming we are having here in Duluth. This youtube video is called Lake Superior and Climate Change: Part 2, and it is actually really interesting. It explains how global warming is causing larger storms, which then poorly effects the environment. It mentions the changes in the amount of ice that Lake Superior has been having, and the changes in water temperature. It also tells us what we need to do to keep this problem in check. Please check out this short video clip. I think you will find it really interesting.


Have a Great Day!!!

Eye Opener: Summary of Reading 18: Attacking an Arsenic Plague

This article was really short, yet very interesting. This article was written by Helen Epstein in 2002 about arsenic poisoning in the drinking water in rural Bangladesh. Arsenic has become a natural element in their drinking water. Due to this, thousands of people will die from cancer caused by the arsenic, and thousands more will suffer from skin lesion caused by the arsenic.

The World Bank gave the Bangladesh government 32.4 million to help them determine which wells are safe. The book explains that the Bangladesh goverment is very corrupt, therefore this money offering "is hampered both by its notorious bureaucracies and the sheer scale of the problem: Some 10 million private wells need testing" (McKinney 71).

This article discusses two new inventions that are hoped to help test and/or clean the water.

• The first invention was made by Pietro Perona, a Caltech electrical engineer. The device called the arsonometer. This device will turn the water blue if there is arsenic in it. This device seems very complicated, and there are ways that the test results can be off. So I, personally, don't feel like this device is the best way to go.
• The second invention was made by Fakhurl Islam, a chenist at Bangladesh's Rahshahi University. This device is a cheap filter that strips arsenic from drinking water. (McKinney 71) The dust particles that can do this com in 20 kg bags that cost three dollars. This bag of dust particles can filter 3,000 liters of water. Once the liter is full, it can be tossed out without worry of spreading the arsenic. This invention sounds like a much better way to go.

Hopefully these two devices can help stop the arsenic poisoning that is going on.

Here are a couple of articles that explain the current controversy on arsenic poisoning:

Arsenic in Groundwater Research and Rhetoric

This article is based off a study that finds that the arsenic posioning in groudwater is caused by the indiscriminate (careless) use of chemicals to improve agriculture. This finding challenges the conclusion reached by other parties that thought that the issue is basically geologic in nature (SOS-arsenic.net). There is arsenic in coal that is found in the ground. When combined with rainwater, it dissolves and can run into the groundwater that is used in wells.

Bangladesh’s arsenic poisoning: who is to blame?

I really thought this article was interesting. This article explains how this poisoning began. UNICEF and the World Bank gave money to Bangladesh to help them provide clean drinking water to their population. Unfortunately no one tested the water for arsenic, which is common in groundwater, before providing wells to people. Then when people got sick from the arsenic, the doctors decided not to make a big deal of the information, so more and more people kept on getting sick. Now that this issue is finally publically know, the main problem is finding all of the wells. The article says that it will take roughly 30 years to do this. I wonder how many more will get sick?
The other really interesting this that I read had UNICEF saying that they didn't test before they dug all of the wells because there weren't tests in the 1970s that would detect arsenic poisoning in the geological formations in Bangladesh. A geochemist from University College London laughed at this comment.

So my question for discussion is: Who do you think is to blame for this mass poisoning?


Have a Great Day!!!

Share and Voice: My Dad's Photos

Hey!!! I went home this weekend and my dad was looking through his pictures and editing them like he always does, when I got the idea to share some of them with you. My dad has really gotten into photography in last few years. He is really great! He loves to go to different state parks on the weekends, and he loves taking tons of pictures on his vacations. Within this last year he has gone to the Boundary Waters, Canada, India and London, and taken some fascinating pictures. I would really like to share them with you. I hope you enjoy them.

Niagra Falls

Richfield Nature Center

Minnesota River Valley State Park

Woodlake Nature Center

Minnesota River Valley State Park

Wild Daisies from Woodlake Nature Center

Sunset at Woodlake Nature Park

Early in the morning at a local State Park

A Lotus from India

A Waterfall in India

A garden outside of the Buckingham Palace

Boundary Waters: This picture was actually published in the Star Tribune for the Travel Section.

All of these pictures were taken by Dennis Hensche. I hope you enjoyed them!

Have a Great Day!!!

Share and Voice: Paper Towels vs Hand Dryers

So today after I had washed my hands in the bathroom, I went to go grab some paper towels, and there weren't any. This frustrated me becuase I was in a hurry and prefer paper towels. I have always heard that it is more environmentally friendly to use the hand dryers, but I have always disliked them because it takes FOREVER for them to dry your hands. So back to today....in my frustration I got to thinking...Is it even better for the environment for people to use hand dryers instead of paper towels? What are the benefits for each? Why are both paper towels and hair dryers provided in bathrooms when one is better for the environment then the other....that is if one is truely better than the other. All of these thoughts inspired me to do some research of my own in order to get some real answers to my questions.



So here is what I found...Facts are found from the article "Electric Hand Dryers vs. Paper Towels" written by By Brendan I. Koerner. This article came from the website Slate.

• Both have a cost on the environment, so the best option is to wipe hands on your pants.
• The main benefits of using paper towels are that they don't use electricity, and the automatic ones are battery operated. Also, the trees that are used to make paper towels are typically replaced after the harvest; so deforestation is not an issue.
• The main disadvantage of using paper towels is all of the pollution that is created. Fossil fules are used for the woods' transportation to companies who make paper towels. The pulping process in making paper towels also creates a lot of pollution. Finally, the transportation of paper towels to clients who use them, creates even more pollution.
• Hand dryers do need to be delivered, but this occurs much less often then paper towel deliveries.
• Another disadvantages of using paper towels is that more maintanance jobs are needed for bathroom clean up, that aren't needed for hand dryer use. Just think about how often the garbage can needs to be emptied, and paper towel machines need to be refilled.
• Hand Dryers are the greener option!!!! They eliminate waste disposal and they are more hygienic than paper towels. They use less energy and last 7-10 years. The worst part about hand dryers is that it takes a little bit more energy up front to make them.
• The carbon emissions from a typical use of a hand dryer are .02-.08. This is much less than the carbon emissions from a typical paper towel use (typically 2 paper towels) which is 0.123.

I just want you guys to think about this. Is the added convenience of paper towels really worth the piles and piles of paper towels that are filling our landfills? Please take the extra minute, and try to dry your hands more often with a hand dryer.

Thanks for reading!!

Here is the main webstie where I found most of my information. Please feel free to click on it if you want to learn more!

http://www.slate.com/id/2193740/

Have a Great Day!!!

Eye Opener: CSPI

I really enjoyed doing this Eye Opener! I have always wondered how my eating is impacting the environment. I feel like I eat fairly healthy. I have grown up being conscious of my food choices and have always aimed to eat a well balenced diet.

So here are my results:

• Health Score: 122
• Environmental Score: -40
• Animal Welfare Score: -39
• Grand Total: 55 = Good

Wow...Well that appears to be pretty bad to me! The only part that I am happy about is the Health Score, and I was expecting it to be good. The other two categories I need to improve and fast! Yikes!!!

The area that I scored the highest was vegetables. This score was WAY above the rest of my other scores. The other higher categories were whole grains and fat-free dairy products. I feel that this is correct becuase I am a very healthy eater. I always eat my fruits and veggies, wheat products, and as low fat of foods as I can. The reason why the vegetable score was so much higher than the rest was becuase I was above the average servings of vegetables per week, and I just really like vegetables.

The areas that I scored the lowest on where chicken and dairy. I find this to be a little shocking. I didn't think that drinking milk and eating chicken were that bad for the environment, but it does make sense that these areas are the worst for me becuase I eat these items daily.

My scores for the Environment and Animal Welfare are equally bad. I believe that my score for the environment is so bad becuase I eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables; most of which need to be shipped here, and I think that the reason my score for Animal Welfare is so bad is becuase I eat meat on a daily basis. I know that I should really try to change both, but for right now I know that I can change my impact on my Animal Welfare score by trying to eat a vegetarian meal once or twice a week. This is a change I am confident that I can do.

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a Great Day!!!

Reflection: Weeks 3 and 4

These last two weeks have been going great! I FINALLY think I am getting a hang of blogging. It still isn't something I look foreward to do, but I also am not dreading it anymore. Yay!!! I think part of the reason things are getting easier for me is because i finally talked to Dr. V. and had her go over some of the blogging lingo that I still didn't understand, and she explained google reader to me, so that made things a lot less complicated and helped me save some time. Another reason why I think I am handling blogging better these last two weeks is becuase we are mainly doing posts now. The first two weeks were focussed on setting up our blogs, and that was WAY too much for me. So these last two weeks have been much easier.

These last two weeks we read an article on the use of documentaries on environmental issues. This article made me veiw documentaries in a different way. I still believe that they are important for the general public to learn about things that they don't have easy access to, but, I also now realize that what I am seeing isn't exactly what things may look like.

This last week we have been watching "An Inconvenient Truth" by Al Gore. This documentary is all about the effects of global warming. This film really openned my eyes. I had no idea how bad global warming can get, and had no idea how bad it has gotten. This film really put things into perspective, and I really am going to take this issues much more seriously from here on out.

Finally, this week we had our first Eye Opener assignment due. We were suppost to learn about ecological footprints and take three environmental quizzes and talk about our result. By the end of this assignment, we all knew what our ecological footprint was, and how many earths it would take for the world to live the way that we lived. This assignment was really interesting, but I was very let down and dissappointed with my results. I learned that I really am not living as "green" as I thought I was. This was really great for me to learn though, becuase now I can start to try different things that will help make my ecological foootprint smaller.

Have a Great Day!!!

Eye Opener: Ecological Footprint

Ok...so I just took the Earth Day Footprint Quiz, and if everyone lived the way I did, we would need 4.2 Earths. I am really shocked that I am making such an impact on this earth. I really thought that I lived a pretty green lifestyle. I ride the bus to school, I always recycle, I try my best to turn off the lights when I am not using them, and I try to conserve water. So in doing all of this I am really bummed that I still have such a high impact. The quiz made a pie chart for how my ecological footprint breaks down and I got a better idea of why my footprint may be so high. Food makes up more than 1/4 of my ecological footprint. The first question of this quiz was how often do you eat meat, and my response was every day. I think that that made a huge impact on my footprint. The second question was how much of the food that I buy is locally grown and fresh, and I had to say probably only half. I learned in Community Health that Duluth hardly makes any food locally, so I knew that a lot of my food that I purchase isn't local. I know that that also made a HUGE impact on my footprint. The other part of my pie graph that really stood out to me was that almost 1/2 of my footprint was made up of the services I use. I think that represented my house, electricity, trash, and bus usage. What I learned form this is that I really need to start walking more and begin to eat less meat.

The next quiz I took was the Air Polution Indicator Quiz. This quiz asked for my zip code, and then evaluated the air polution in my county (St. Louis). Apparently, as of 2002, St. Louis County had 20% of the worst/dirtiest air released carcinogens due to emissions from factories and power plants. Also, 6% of St. Louis County houses are at high risk for Lead Hazards. In 1999, Smog caused St. Louis County to have 10% of the worst/dirtiest air comparred to other counties, and that it had 20% of the worst noncancerous air emissions. These results really make me nervous about the air that I am breathing.

The last quiz that I took was the Travel Calculator. This one asked all sorts of different questions about how far you travel to do different activities, how many people you travel with, and what your mode of transportation is. This quiz made me feel better about myself. While I am at school I don't have a car, and I don't travel home too often, so I can understand why my results said I am better than average in my travel impact on the world. The only time I drive a lot is when I finally get to go home. I drive all the way back to south of the cities, which is about a 150 miles one way. Then I drive around to see my friends. I think that I can cut back on my driving when I go home and walk to some of my friends' places, or at least make sure that I carpool.

Overall I learned a lot from this activity. I learned that everyone really needs to be careful of the amount of resources that they use and REALLY try to minimize their impact on the world. I think that more people need to learn about their ecological footprint, becuase I bet that many people may feel the same way as me, and think that they are already doing enough. I learned from this activity that I am not.

Have a Great Day!!!

Reflection: Weeks 1 & 2

During the first week of class we created a gmail account and looked at a couple UMD Environmental Blogs. In class we were introduced to the class and participated in a rope activity. This activity was used to represent environmental issues that we are facing today.

During the second week of class we learned about the basics of blogging and blogging etiquette. This week we started actually working on our blogs and learning about the class assignments and requirements for our blog. Our assignment for this week was to completely set up our blog according to Dr. V's requirements. I found this to be kind of challenging. There is just a lot of new terms and processes that I need to get used to. So far I find this class a little overwhelming, but I think once I get more practice I will become more comfortable.

I don't think I have learned much about the environment in these first two weeks, but I definitely know that I don't know much about it, and I am really excited to start learning more. I took Computers in Education last semester and we just briefly touched on how to make a blog, so blogging for this class is much more complicated. I have learned a lot so far. I know that the technology aspect of this class is really going to challenge me because I am not super tech-savvy, but I am ready to give it a try, and I am hoping for the best.

For class we had to read about blogging etiquette, and I am going to make sure that I follow proper etiquette for my blog. I will be passionate about the environmental issues that I write about, I will always give credit to other blogs or resources that I get my information from, and I will always be respectful to fellow bloggers. Well thanks for stopping by!

Have a Great Day!!!

Keep it Safe With Me!

Hi, my name is Sara! I am a Community Health Education major at the University of Minnesota Duluth. This blog is going to focus on different ways to keep the environment safe.

There are 5 possible types of posts on my blog. They include:
Advocacy Project
Eye Openers
Reflections
Reviews
Share and Voice

If you notice at the bottom of this post, the categories will be listed as labels. This post is has been labeled with all five 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:

1. Noah: Noah's Greenlicious Environment

2. Shannon: Keepin' it green with Shannon

3. Brenda: Brenda's Environmental Health

4. Samantha: Running with the Wild

5. Valerie: Valerie the Spring Girl

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."

Thanks for visiting my blog! I hope you keep coming back to help me discover and share new ways to keep the environment safe!