Eye Opener: Junk on the Brain

According to Google Dictionary:


antique- made in or typical of earlier times and valued for its age

junk/junking- trash: dispose of (something useless or old

flea market- an open-air street market for inexpensive or secondhand articles

thrift shop- a shop which sells used goods (especially clothes) at low prices

upcycling- the repurposing of a material into a product of higher quality. An example would be a purse made out of woven candy wrappers

resale shop- a reseller is a company or individual that purchases goods or services with the intention of reselling them rather than consuming or using them


What do these items have to do with environmental health?
     These terms bring to light recycling and various ways to re-use items that are already in circulation. It encourages consumers to buy locally or buy recycled materials. It can also be cheaper to shop in a thrift shop or resale shop. Instead of always looking to buy new it introduces buying used.

Identify local resources for the terms above.
     Antiques: Canal Park Antique Center, 310 South Lake Avenue, Duluth, MN, (218) 720-3940
     Junk/Junking: not sure how local this one is, but they say they will pick up in Duluth, Donate Junk Car, (866) 770-5463
     Flea Market: Studebaker Drivers Club Swap Meet Flea Market & Classic Car Show. Lake Superior College, 2101 Trinity Rd, 2 mi S of Miller Hill Mall. Annually 2nd Sunday in August. (218) 722-8533, Email: stude.one@usfamily.net
     Thrift Shop: Goodwill, 700 Garfield Avenue, Duluth, MN, (218) 722-6351
     Upcycling: I couldn't find any specific upcycling places to go in Duluth, but I did find this website for Annual Green Gifts Fair in Minneapolis, and it looks very neat! Not only was it 'green' themed, but there were lots of different sub-categories for a variety of interests.
     Resale shop: Plato's Closet, 5115 Burning Tree Road, Suite 315C, (218) 733-9455


I want to rave about Plato's Closet for a minute. Although I haven't tried any of these other stores I listed, I have been to Plato's on numerous occasions. Not only is it nice to clean out your closet of old clothes you never wear anymore, but it is awesome to get money back for them. It comes in handy for a little extra spending money and as college students we know money is tight. And you may not think it would be a very trendy place to shop, I stopped there before school started this year and got some lightly worn jeans and a few name brand tee shirts for cheap. You can't tell where I bought them so why not save a few bucks? I recommend you try them out if you haven't already.

On JunkMarketStyle.com, these were my three favorite things.

1. Milk Strainer "vase" - I like the way vintage flower pots look and the use of these weed like plants is very in right now. It can dress up a plain wall or just decorate a boring corner. Very creative!

2. Hem Marker Memo Holder - I thought this one was cool because I always have 'to do' notes lying around and am very forgetful without them. This is kind of a cool way to make remembering things a little less uncluttered!

3. Barnyard Tealight Display -  I like mood lighting a lot and right when I saw this one it made me think of putting them in a bathroom or bedroom to make the usual light fixtures a little less harsh. Makes me want to try and make some!

 

Share & Voice: The 10 Healthiest Cities for Women

1. Burlington, Vermont.

2. Bethesda, Maryland.

3. Portland, Maine.

4.Cambridge, Massachusetts. 
5. San Francisco, California.

6. Honolulu, Hawaii.

7. Stamford, Connecticut.

8. Madison, Wisconsin.

9. Santa Barbara, California.

10. Fargo, North Dakota.

...click on the links to discover more about each city.

 According to MSNBC.com, this is the 10 healthiest cities for women in 2009.

"Women everywhere are making healthy changes. Now we’ve found the people doing it best: With the help of an expert panel and BestPlaces.net, we crunched 7,700 bits of data from 100 metro areas to find the 10 top spots for women. Not lucky enough to live in one? We asked gals in bottom-ranked cities to share how they create the good life absolutely anywhere. Because change happens one smart woman at a time." -SELF magazine

Would you ever move to any of these.. or visit? Have you already been to any of these cities? What do you think?

Read n Seed 3: Second quarter of "Smashed"

Chapters & Pages...

For the second quarter of Smashed.. I read pages 109-154. The section was called 'The Usual' and the sub-headings were All You Can Drink and Greek Mythology.

All You Can Drink: This part was about her freshman year of college. Koren entered very timid and scared as to how her experience was going to be, and eventually fell into a lull where she went out all the time and for the most part just thought she was living 'the college experience'. She participated in cheer/dance for a while, but even that got old for her and she stopped going. It showed how critical of a point it was for her life that she had nothing else to look forward to besides her drinking and going out. She had a lot of come and go friends during this time, where the only thing they had in common was their drinking. She found that when she sobered up, they didn't have much to say to one another.

Greek Mythology: This part introduced her to sororities and Koren decided to join one. This was also a very critical part of her life, since drinking was also a major part of this sorority life, starting immediately with the hazing she experienced to be allowed in, and the constant themed parties they threw where each and every one of them would make fools of themselves and wake up with extreme hangovers only to do it again the next night. I believe this was another low point for Koren, she seemed to become a heavier drinker throughout this period of her college life. She mentioned how she started to gain weight from her drinking, and some sort of a depression surrounded her when she was sober. She also experienced a 'blackout' and waking up next to a boy not knowing what happened the night before.

Terminology...

A blackout is a phenomenon caused by the intake of alcohol in which long term memory creation is impaired or there is a complete inability to recall the past. Blackouts are frequently described as having effects similar to that of anterograde amnesia, where the subject literally does not remember what has happened in the recent past. 'Blacking out' is not to be confused with the mutually exclusive act of 'passing out', which means loss of consciousness.

Fraternities and sororities (from the Latin words frater and soror, meaning "brother" and "sister" respectively) are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In English, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in North America, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations. Similar, but less common, organizations also exist for secondary school students. In modern usage, the term Greek letter organization is often synonymous with the terms "fraternity" and "sorority".

What this section of the book meant to me...

I feel that this section of the book was critical for Koren, and me, as the reader. Not only did she experience her freshman year of college, but she experienced a blackout, which is an extremely dangerous part of drinking, but she started to sink into a depression and without her parents around, there was no one there to discipline her or monitor how bad her drinking was really getting. She had to deal with the consequences of her actions and she had trouble doing so. It went from a few drinks a week, to drinking every night with random people and forming friendships where alcohol was the only thing they had in common. 

 

 

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 4: Weekly Update

wEEk 4.

What was your SMART goal?

     My SMART goal was to limit my shower time to 3 minutes on non-shave days, and 6-7 minutes on shave days.

Successes.

     Well, as gross at it may sound.. I have limited my showering to once a day or once every two days and stayed within my time limits. I am getting used to the length and it isn't as hard anymore to get in, get clean, and get out.

Challenges.
    I think a constant challenge until the end of all this is the self-discipline it takes to keep myself honest about how long I am in there. Remembering the environment helps me to do so.

http://www.rdbmagazine.com/images/article/1161621811074_showers2.jpg

What I learned...
   I continue to learn other ways to be aware of our environment. Each time we have class it opens my eyes to a whole new perspective and another angle at which I have not yet seen. I like that.

Next week: In the following week, I will continue to maintain my short shower times and limiting the amount of times I take showers to the maximum of one a day. I will still listen to different songs to keep showering for that short of a time a little bit fun, and as I mentioned already, I will remember the environment through my struggles! 

Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 4 hosted by Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy

Eye Opener: Environmental Working Group

MAYBELLINE COVER STICK CORRECTOR/CONCEALER

After surfing around Skin Deep a little bit, I found one of the facial products I use on a daily basis. Luckily, despite some of the negative problems that have been linked to this product, it was only given a 4, or a moderate hazard to the environment. Although anything above a zero should be seen as a problem, there were far worse products talked about on the site. Ingredients in this product were linked to: Developmental/Reproductive Toxicity, Violations, Restrictions, & Warnings, Allergies/Immunotoxicity, and other general concerns... which all freak me out a little bit. Do I really want to be applying this concealer to my face? When something is related to the word 'toxic', I have trouble applying it close to any body openings such as my nose, eyes, or mouth. 

http://www.talkingmakeup.com/pics/news2/fw1.jpg

 

It was also kind of interesting to read about the specific ingredients in it and how hazardous they are. I think I will be referring to this site quite a bit more before buying cosmetics in the future!

Reflection: Weeks 5 & 6

For week 5, we watched a video called the Future of Food. It was very interesting to learn about how food is actually processed and the positives to eating organically. We also did an eye-opener that related to that and Pam and Jordanne brought apples with peanut butter and nutella for our snack time. I also got farther into my book, "Smashed", and continue to learn more blogging shortcuts.

http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/strollerderby/2008/07/23-End/organic-food-g.jpg

In week 6, we watched Diet for a New America and learned how to create graphical headers for our blogs. Abby and Hailey brought apples with caramel for snack time. We are into our third week of our eco-chic lifestyle changes and I am trying new things to keep my short shower times from being so hard. I figured out how to join the Linky parties, i was struggling with those but managed to figure that out easily this time.

Learned about myself & blogging...
In weeks 5 & 6, I learned that the more time I put into blogging, the more I get out of it. I was pretty frustrated at first since I really hadn't blogged much before and I wanted to do all the cool features of it but couldn't figure out how. Now I just google anything I want to know, and wha-la.. I have discovered the world of blogs.

Learned about the environment...
I learned that even though I am doing an eco-chic lifestyle change, there are so many people around me not being environmentally friendly. I have taken it upon myself to say things to anyone I see that isn't doing their part and in the end I hope it makes everyone around me be eco-chic too. The environment will continue to change for the worse unless we are proactive.

As we are nearing the halfway point, I feel like my eyes have been opened to this whole new aspect of life that deals with the environment. I am so much more accountable for my actions when it comes to 'eco-chic-ness' and I like doing something positive while I'm in college and for my life after. Live green!

Share & Voice: Monster Dash 10-mile

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46414000/jpg/_46414223_374d0b11-f692-4d48-afa5-9e325b52dd63.jpg

Hi everyone!
Next weekend I am participating in my second 10-mile race of October. It is called the Monster Dash and the course winds around the beautiful Lake Harriet. Now to a lot of people 10 miles seems like an absolute CRAZY length to run, let alone walk, but I beg of you to open your mind to the idea. 

In high school, I used to think 'running for fun' (cross country) was absurd. These people want to run miles upon miles after school everyday.. and then a couple times a week race people from other towns at these distances?? They are nuts!! As I travelled off to college and explored new options for exercise, running kept coming to mind. For me it is something that not only keeps me in the best shape, but it is a great stress reliever. I just don't seem to get the same benefits from using the elliptical or stair stepper. 

What is nice about the Monster Dash (or really any race put on) is that they offer different distances so that the participants are anywhere from beginning runners to experienced runners who want to challenge themselves. For my first 'longer' distance run, I chose to do 10 miles because I could easily run 4 or 5 so that was an attainable goal for me while still having to challenge myself. 

http://marathons.ahotu.com/images/blog/runners.jpg

Not only is running good to get into for the health benefits, but the cardio endurance you build up allows you to do more things throughout your day without fatiguing as easy. A lot of people prefer to walk or jog over taking their car and that is how I like that running ties in with maintaining our environment. I encourage everyone to just get out there for a walk if you are really anti-running. Leave the car at home, your heart and the environment will thank you!

Share & Voice: Are flat-screen TVs power hogs? Calif. weighs

Check out this article!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33310363/ns/us_news-environment/

California is contemplating passing a law about flat-screen televisions. Some people say this will be great for the environment and force all the big manufacturers to maintain an eco-friendly environment while producing these energy sucking appliances. And as you would guess, they are retaliating. Televisions are a HUGE part of their business and by forcing them to regulate their tvs and make them more eco-friendly, the prices may go up and the consumers may cut back on their purchasing of them. So my question to you after reading this article is, do you think this is a needed regulation on the production of TVs and other appliances?

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 3: Weekly Update

THIS HAS BEEN A HARD WEEK FOR ME!!

Not only is it getting difficult to take short showers but the temperature is starting to drop and it is harder to get up in the mornings knowing I have to take a short shower. I used to really rely on my showers to wake me up but now I struggle to get out of bed to make it to class in time!

I have to keep reminding myself that this change is for a good reason, I am helping our environment. When I sit back and think of that, it is usually enough to get me going and keep me maintaining my choice. I notice that many things I do now directly reflect my thoughts on saving the environment and I am trying to get as many people around me to add this to their everyday lifestyle as well.

I find that if i change the song that I play while I'm in the shower, it adds a little bit of excitement than having the same song playing every time. I also bought a new razor with different changeable colored tops to keep shaving my legs exciting, which can get pretty bland after 10 years of it.

I plan to keep up my shower length SMART goal. It is a good challenge for me and when we get our utilities bill, I am excited to see if there are any noticeable changes yet from just the few things we have started doing around the house to conserve our resources. Bring on week 4!

Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 3 hosted by Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy

Read 'n' Seed 2: First quarter of "Smashed"

The first quarter of Smashed that I read covered pages 1-105. The chapters were First Taste, First Waste, First Offense, and Coma Girl. The overall quarter of the book was called 'Initiation'.

First Taste

This section Koren talked about her friend Natalie and how they first experimented with alcohol together. Natalie's parents were away for the weekend and so her and Koren went in their liquor cabinet. They didn't drink very much; the alcohol just made them sleepy. It was interesting to read this about her looking back on when she was first introduced to alcohol. I think we can all relate to this part quite well, and kind of makes you reflect back upon that time.

First Waste

As she bounces through girlfriends in high school, she meets one called Billie. This part leads up to the first time she gets drunk, and the plan is for Halloween night. It is Koren, Billie and a couple of older boys and Koren ends up doing some things with one of the boys after she gets drunk. This is also a thing for everyone to reflect on, since we all hear that a lot of people's first sexual encounters are alcohol related.

http://antibioticsandalcohol.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/alcohol.jpg

First Offense

I like how this book goes in order of major events in Koren's life in regards to drinking. It puts all other things in her life aside and makes drinking the prime thing with everything else just in addition to that which I think is kind of a neat perspective. Her first offense is on her family's summer trip to the ocean, where she and another of her come-and-go girlfriends sneak out at night and get so drunk they get caught by her parents and have to face consequences, in other words, Koren gets grounded for a very long period of time. It talks more about them getting into their later teenage years and the excessive experimenting with alcohol. 

Coma Girl

This chapter is almost scary to read, because of the brutal honestly of it and how scared it makes you to think we go to a college where tons of kids go out and get this drunk a few nights a week. Koren drinks enough on this particular night where she ends up in the hospital and wakes up having no idea of how she got there. Her parents are not only furious with her, but even some of her friend's parents won't allow their kids to hang out with Koren anymore. Even though this would be a huge red flag for many, Koren seems to head in the direction of a slight depression because of her loss of friends and her reception of yet again, more punishment. To me, this chapter was a huge eye opener. I can't wait to read on.

Throughout these chapters, Koren inserts statistics about teenage drinking and binge drinking. I thought that was kind of cool how she related her own life experiences with current, true statistics.

Terminology

eulogy-   a speech or writing in praise of a person or thing, especially one recently deceased or retired, can also praise a living person or people who are still alive, which normally takes place on special occasions like birthdays etc

unmitigated- being so definitely what is stated as to offer little chance of change or relief

viscously- Having relatively high resistance to flow

I think this book has a lot to offer people our age. It is incredibly eye-opening to read about a girl our age who goes through the same life changes as we do and the same alcohol experimenting that we do, but has the courage to write incredibly honestly about it. She admits early on she never thought she had problems with drinking. She admits she believed the choices she made were ok. I think every single college student can truly relate to that. Even though it is written by a girl, I think boys could benefit from reading this as well. It is a better read than just a factual book of alcohol statistics. She finds great ways to tie in these stats while offering her own personal story of her struggle with alcohol. I am extremely happy with my pick and really excited to keep reading! :)

Share & Voice: St. Louis County Health & Human Service Conference

On Tuesday, October 6th, I attended the St. Louis County Health & Human Service Conference located at the DECC here in Duluth.

I hosted for a professor from St. Scholastica that talked about the relationship between depression and alcohol abuse. It was very interesting to hear how much they go hand-in-hand with one another. Many alcoholics fall into a state of depression while many people suffering from depression become alcoholics. She stressed the fact that we cannot simply just treat one or the other, we must treat them both at the same time or they will just relapse.

There was an exhibit hall set up in the DECC that had tables from various health related organizations from the area such as the American Heart Association and the Alzheimers Association. I was able to chat with a few of the advocates and I learned a lot of interesting things about these organizations that I didn't already know. I would recommend going next year if you have the opportunity. If you happen to be in Dr. Tornabene's Health 4000 class at the time of the conference, you will actually get the opportunity to host for one of the speakers! Fun, fun, fun!

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 2: Weekly Update

My SMART goal was to spend only 5 minutes or less in the shower each time I showered and I have to say, this week was difficult. It wasn't so hard on days when I didn't have to shave my legs, but on those days I really had to book it to stay within the allotted time.

I used a song that was a little longer than five minutes to allow me some time to start the music, undress, then get in the shower. When the song starts to come to an end, I know my time is running out. I caught myself wasting time a little in the mornings because the house is getting colder and I enjoy just standing under the warmth of the shower for a bit too long before I shampoo and condition. :)

I got a little angry that I have to be so fast and efficient about my shower-time but I remember when it starts to bug me that I am doing a good thing for the environment and if I keep up with this it will help our world and make me feel a lot better about myself. I learned that even though I know I need to do it, sometimes my laziness gets the best of me and I want to go a little bit longer in the shower.

http://www.glogster.com/media/2/3/90/20/3902099.png

Since this week was pretty tough for me, I have decided to make the length of my shower 7 minutes on days that I have to shave, and move it down to 4 on days that I don't. That should even it out, and not stress me out when those legs get hairy. I am looking forward to keeping up with this change!


Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 2 hosted by Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy

Share & Voice: Environmental Health: How to Cut Household Water Usage

This video is a direct correlation to environmental health AND to my SMART goal!!! I was excited when I found this because I am trying to conserve water when I shower. The man in this video is very informative and brought up some good points about ways you don't even think of to conserve water.

For example:
  1. Landscaping (don't leave the water running)
  2. Washing machine (running it less)
  3. Shorter showers (he made fun of this, but I honestly think this is the biggest waste of water that we all do on a daily basis, and yes, it DOES make a difference!)

Eye Opener: CSPI

I chose to tour the food supply.  Some interesting facts that I learned:

1. Slaughterhouse workers have an injury rate three times higher than that of an average factory worker. (Wow!)
2. About 1,000 people die per year due to food-borne illnesses.
3. Less than one-quarter of all adults eat the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables.
4. Livestock are often fed newspapers, sewage, and other trash. (Yuck!)
5. Livestock manure pollutes waterways.
6. Fertilizer factories pollute the air with acids, ammonia, and various greenhouse gases. (Global warming??!!)
7. Pumping water for irrigation depletes natural aquifers produced over the millenia.
8. Pesticides that kill weeds may also kill beneficial insects and plants.

I had some idea about these statistics, but again, had no idea the magnitude of it all. Livestock are fed sewage and other trash? Are you kidding? They are living things, why on earth are they eating sewage?

They are a food source for us. If they eat sewage we eat sewage. There's some food for thought.. no pun intended.

I was also a little disturbed to learn about the death-rates at slaughterhouses. It kind of makes you wonder how many body parts are processed into your meats...

Definitely an eye-opener! I continue to learn things about our world that just shock me... tbc.

Share & Voice: Get fit! Health & Fitness Information

The website I would like to share with you comes from the American Council on Exercise. On this website, you will find tons of fitness tips and information to further your fitness knowledge. Not only do they give facts about exercise, but they give some tips on how to make your workout more fun!

http://www.acefitness.org/getfit/default.aspx

Explore this site for a while, you might be surprised what you learn!

Reflection: Weeks 3 & 4

In week 3, we didn't actually have class time. I meet with Jayme and she went over the blog requirements with me. I seemed to be keeping up for the most part, I struggled a little bit with finding everyone's blog so I could follow them and also remembering to comment on all of my group member's posts. We also had to pick our book for Read 'n' Seed, explain what it was about, and decide how we were going to split up the reading. I am very excited to get started on this!

In week 4, we watched the video called 'An Inconvenient Truth', by Al Gore. I had read the book a long time ago, but this movie reminded me what I read. I covered a lot of aspects of global warming and climate change.

http://www.climatecrisis.net/aboutthefilm/

That is the official site for An Inconvenient Truth. Check it out!!

We also chose what we are going to do for our Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change. I chose to take shorter showers. We will see how that goes!!

In these couple of weeks, I learned there are a lot of things I can personally do that I am not doing already to make myself more eco-chic. Those ecological footprint quizzes we took were incredible eye-openers, I told a bunch of my friends to check them out!

The Al Gore movie really made me focus on the environment. We all definitely take our resources for granted and need to change the way we live immediately. This is something I want to become a walking advocate of.

Blogging is going well! I think I am starting to really get the hang of this!! :)

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 1: My SMART Goal

My SMART lifestyle change is going to be to decrease my shower time to 5 minutes.

Specific: 5 minute shower time.
Measurable: I'm going to set an alarm on my phone, or find a five minute song so that I know when the time is up.
Attainable: This goal isn't unachievable, it will just require me to be faster in the shower.
Realistic: A shower time of 5 minutes is very realistic, you can even shave in that time.
Timely: I can change this part of my life immediately because I shower daily. :)

This lifestyle change is eco-chic because it is using less water. The more you shorten your shower, the less water you are wasting.

I chose this activity because it is something I really wish to improve on. It bothers me when people are in the shower for a half hour and they just stood there and wasted all that water. There are so many people that live day to day without clean drinking water and they just let clean water run down the drain like it's nothing.

This morning I actually started my change, but not by choice. Someone in the lower level of my house turned on the shower and made mine cold so it was all of two minutes long. Nice way to start out my goal!

Eye Opener: Ecological Footprint

I would have to say I'm a bit shocked after taking a few quizzes about my ecological footprint. I didn't necessarily think I was a very 'green' person, but I certainly didn't know I was this bad. According to The Center for Sustainable Economy it would take 6.26 earths for everyone to live my lifestyle and according to The Transport Impact Center my total annual pollution from road transport is worse than average. The average is 1.26 tonnes, and my average was 4.63 tonnes. That is around 3 times the average.

It sure makes me re-evaluate my lifestyle. It makes me want to unplug things when I'm not using them and take my bike to school. It makes me want to use an aluminum water bottle and air dry my clothes. Just those little things could improve my carbon footprint.

Another website, The EarthDay Footprint Calculator says it would take 5.8 earths for everyone to live my lifestyle. Many sites, but the results are similar. I need to change the way I live. My eyes are definitely opened.

Read 'n' Seed 1: Smashed

The book I chose for Read 'n' Seed is called Smashed. The book is written from the author's perspective and covers all her encounters with alcohol, from her first taste up to her now alcohol-free life. Along the way she tells the stories of situations she deals with and friends she goes through. It should be a good thing to read having been in college for a few years and seen people drink this much firsthand.

I chose this book because I am really interested in alcohol education, especially at the college level. I don't think some kids realize that drinking in college can lead to a lot bigger problems later on, even alcoholism. Here are some links to reviews about the book:

Curled up with a good book
New York Times
London Times

There are 13 chapters and 339 pages. The book is sort of divided into four parts, which I will divvy up among the quarters. The first quarter I will read Initiation. The second quarter I will read The Usual. The third quarter I will read Excess, and the fourth quarter I will read Abuse. I am looking forward to this eye-opening biography!

Reflection Post: Weeks 1 & 2

The first week in class I learned the basics of blogging. It was a very informational week. We spent time customizing them and doing our first post. I was very intrigued and wanted to learn more about this blogging phenomenon. My favorite part about blogging is that you can share your thoughts and feelings more than you can on facebook or other social networking sites.

The second week in class we watched a video about how much the government omits when it comes to our knowledge of global warming. It really makes me think about how much else is out there that our government feels is appropriate to keep from us. Makes it seem kind of scary we trust them with our money and laws. I am a little bit shaky on blogging but am starting to feel a little more comfortable with it and I am exciting for the book I chose!