Reflection: Week 15 & 16

IT'S FINALLY SUMMER

Im gonna keep my last reflection short and sweet.

Week 15:

It was our final week of class and I think one of the best ones! We had our last advocacy projects. We had to find a game or activity for our group members to complete related to our advocacy project topic. I think that this assignment was one of the best that we were assigned. On the last day of class we all went outside and reflected on the semester. It was kinda bittersweet. Everyone seemed to really enjoy this class! Everyone had the opportunity to say what they learned in the class or what they liked most about the class.

Finals week.

Obviously we didnt meet this week, but we were assigned a couple of last minute blogging assignments. Which I would take over a final any day!!!

Its sad to see the class come to an end. I have learned a lot reguarding the environment and I how I can help improve the environment and the earth. I look forward to making a positive difference!

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!

Eye Opener: Online Learning Activites

My Groups Activities:

Jeff's activity define the following terms:
Pre-op-Before an operation
Post-op- After an operation
Out-patient- Not hospitalized overnight, but has made a visit to the hospital
In-patient- Staying overnight at the hospital
Receptionist-Administrative Assistant
Doctor- Medical Practioner, practices medicine
Nurse- responsible for the treatment, safety, and recovery of patients
Pharmacist- distribute prescription drugs
Anesthesiologist- Is responsible for putting individuals under before a procedure and "waking" them up
Radiology - Does imaging technology. For example, X-Rays



Lauren's- The Salmon Challenge
A Bird came and ate my poor fish Jessica after only 5 questions!! She didnt even live that long
:(


Hannah's-Biking Barriers
I was trying to think of a bicycle-motorist accident, and I couldnt really think of one that involved a motorist. So I decided to mention one with just a bicyclist. In middle school a boy from my grade was doing jumps/going down hills on his bike. He came to school a week later from being in the hospital. During one of his jumps he flu over the handle bars and landed on his head. He wasnt wearing a helmet so he was injured pretty bad. He had a broken nose, lost his front teeth and had a head injury. I never thought a great deal about bike safety until that incident. That accident could have been avoided by simply wearing a helmet and not being so careless on a bike. Now I know just how important it is for you to wear a helmet and be aware of the kinds of things that can go wrong while riding a bike.

Erika's-Test your WaterSense
My final score was 980, I answered 8 out of 12 questions correctly. There was some interesting facts in the game that I didnt know prior to the activity.

Overall I really liked completing everyones activities I learned a lot of new and interesting facts!!

GOOD JOB GROUP MEMBERS!!

Advocacy Project: Online Peer Environmental Health Learning Activity

Advocacy Project: I don't want to clean my room!

Hello group! I had a bit of trouble finding an activity that matched perfectly with my topic, so I went with an activity that fit close to my topic. The game that I choose teaches kids how to recycle and promote a healthier environment which in a way goes with my advocacy project topic. Enjoy playing the game!

Help Anita clean her room and learn about how to recycle items in the house.
Play Game -Anita's ROOM

Reference for game: http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/index.cfm

Purpose: To teach and promote kids to maintain an overall healthier environment, by keeping their room/house clean and showing them how to recycle and where things can be recycled.

Instructions: Read the comic about Anita and her room, then complete the actitivy. There is 24 object in Anita's room that has to place them in the correct recycling bin. There are four different bins. They include a composting bucket, bottle and can recycling bin, paper and cardboard recycling bin and a garbage.

Its important for kids to learn how to recycle for numerous reasons. One reason is that it helps maintain a healthy environment which my advocacy project talks about. Another reason would be for kids to learn the importance of recycling and the positive effects that it has on the environment.

Reflection: Weeks 13 & 14

WEEK 13:
On Tuesday we watched a little video called the story of stuff. It talked about the process that the things we use goes through to get to us and where it goes when we are done with it. It was really interesting I had no idea that there were so many processes that go into making some of the things we use . The video took us through the extraction to sale, when we use it and when we throw it away or dispose of it. It also informed us on what is hidden from our view such as how all the stuff in our lives affects the communities in our towns and abroad. It really opened my eyes up to the process of making things, and how it affects not only where we live but other countries. Some of the terms that were mentioned in the video included:

Extraction: taking the planets resources--wood, minerals, coal, fossil fuel, water, plants, animals, and soil out of the earth and starting their journey through the materials economy.
Production: In the production stage, we use energy to add toxic chemicals to the natural resources to make toxic products.
Distribution: involves transporting and selling all the stuff quickly and cheaply.
Consumption: our choices at the supermarkets, are pre-determined and limited by political and institutional forces beyond the store.
Disposal: Virtually all the resources flowing through the materials economy eventually end up as waste to be disposed somewhere, usually dumped or burned or recovered for recycling. Recycling can solve the growing volume and toxicity that our environment is experiencing.

We also had a Advocacy Project due this day, in which we were to take our issue that we choose and conduct an overview on it. It was interesting to reflect and research all the information that was related to your topic and learn more about it.

On Thursday we took a class field trip and headed over to Bagley Nature Area. While at Bagley we did a navigation activity. We learned how to use compasses (which was very useful for me to learn considering I have a slight problem with directions) and we were to find different flags that took us along a trail. I really enjoyed the activity it was a lot of fun to get out of the classroom and do something outside.

WEEK 14: On Tuesday we had a shorter class. We had a graduate student in UMD's Enviromental Health and Safety Master's Program come talk about his career and what he is currently doing in the environmental field. We also had another advocacy project due. We were to write a letter to our public representative and inform him/her on the bill we choose for our Healthy People/Thomas assignment.

On Thursday we had a "junking" day, we had strange objects that Dr. V collected from different places and we were put into our blogging groups to come up with repurposing ideas for the objects. It was interesting to see all the ideas that people came up with, some were really creative!! It was really fun to interact with out groups and get out of the normal classroom setting. Overall it was a really fun couple of weeks!!! I can't believe its almost over....

Share and Voice: Super One Foods

THANKS SUPER ONE FOODS!!!

Thank you Dr. V and Super one foods for giving us the reusable grocery bags! I am so excited to go and use mine. I dont have to decided on "paper or plastic" now:) Also thanks to Heather and Shar for their brillant idea for the thank you card!! Here are a couple interesting facts I found out about plastic bags and how we are going to help out the environment by using our eco-friendly grocery bags.

• Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute. Billions end up as litter each year.
  



• According to the EPA, over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year.
  



• According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually. (Estimated cost to retailers is $4 billion)



• Plastic bags don't biodegrade, they photodegrade - breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways and entering the food web when animals accidentally ingest

facts found on resuablebags.com

Thanks AGAIN

Share and Voice: Whole Foods Co-op

Whole Foods Co-op

Today my community health class went on a field trip and visited the whole foods co-op here in duluth. We went on a tour of the building and I learned that even the building itself is environmentally friendly! The building is made out of recycled materials. For example the art outside of the building is made from glass and hand rails from a school. The carpeting inside the store is used from recycled tires,and some of the wooden beams on the ceilings are from logs found on the bottom of lake superior. It was really interesting to find out how you can take and reuse materials that you just throw away. The building is even more "green" on the inside. It has bike racks to promote biking, and a shower inside in case you want to walk or jog to work. They also have a solar panel outside and on a sunny day it generates enough energy to keep the registers and other things going for 8 hours!!!! I really enjoyed the tour and learned a lot about organic food and how the store is going green! If you haven't been there go and check it out, its pretty cool:)

Advocacy Project: Letter to a public official

April 28, 2009

Jim Oberstar
House of Representatives
Washington D.C. Office
2365 Rayburn HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Mr. Oberstar,

I am writing you this letter to inform you about the current bill H.R. 1031 : To promote a better health information system. I highly recommend your support for this bill. The bill would provide citizens and communities with advanced understanding of the health information system and also provide communities with the opportunity for more sanitary water supply, better hygiene and a cleaner overall healthier environment. The proposed bill will help numerous communities and third world countries become more informed and aware of the significance of a health system. It will help reduce of the number of diseases that are among third world countries and countries who are suffering from poor health systems, unsanitary water, and insufficient health information. This bill would give people information that would help them create a healthier environment and a healthier means of life.

The people and the communities that would be positively affected by this bill would have less chance of disease and sickness which in turn would give them more opportunities to work and provide for their families. If people were constantly sick because of disease or sickness obtained by an unsanitary water supply, or an unhealthy environment it would be harder for them to perform daily tasks such as going to work and providing for their families.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 13 million deaths worldwide could be prevented every year by making environments healthier. In 23 countries worlwide more than 10% of deaths are due to just two environmental risk factors: unsafe water, including poor sanitation and hygiene; and indoor air pollution due to solid fuel use for cooking. If this bill was passed those statistics would go down and the number of deaths would decrease, just by providing more information on health systems and creating a healthier environment for people to live in.

Thank you for anything in the past that you have done to ensure a healthier environment for communites. I hope that you now realize the best course of action to provide healthier environments for our citizens is to vote "YES" to the house bill H.R. 1031 and promote a better health information system.

Thank you for your time,
Jessica

Share and Voice: Happy Earth Day!!

Earth day 2009

As you may know today April 22nd is Earth day. This day was founded by Gaylord Nelson. The idea of earth day came to be evolved in 1962, but we didnt start celebrating it till 1970. Twenty Million people celebrated the first earth day! One of the purposes of earth day was to give the environment a day to be celebrated!!!

There are great crafts and projects to do in honor of earth day here are a few:

~egg carton bug mobile

~tin can herb pots

Crafts from Nature Materials:

~pet rocks

~salt art

There has been quite a bit of environmental progress made since the first earth day! If people continue to celebrate earth day, much more progress can be made to help out the earth and the environment!

SO HAPPY EARTH DAY EVERYONE!!! go out and do something good for the environment:)

Ps sorry for the formatting I dont know what happened!

Advocacy Project: Issue Overview

Issue Overview

Introduction:
What is the issue/problem?

Global Environment-Global burden of disease due to poor water quality, sanitation, and personal and domestic hygiene.

What current legislation has been proposed to address this? (Identify bill # and name)

Related Bill from THOMAS:
Title: H.R.1031 : To promote a better health information system. (#44)
Sponsor: Rep Burgess, Michael C. [TX-26] (introduced 2/12/2009) Cosponsors (None) Committees: House Energy and Commerce; House Ways and Means

Who is affected by the issue?
Who is affected the most?
People from developing countries are affected the most. Countries/communities that don't have access to clean water, sanitation tools and resources needed for good hygiene.

Who loses, and what do they lose?
Companies, tax payers, local businesses

Its involves a lot of money to get proper sanitation, clean water, etc. Into a commuity and someone has to pay for all of the maintence and usuallythe majority of that burden falls on companies/businesses and tax payers.

Who gains, and what do they gain?
The community,the citizens, families

They gain access to the services/materials they need to improve their health and prevent from contracting a disease or any other sickness due to the lack of available water (clean), materials needed for good hygiene, etc.

What are the consequences of the issue?
For the individuals mostly affected?

The costs for individuals would go up. It costs a lot of money to maintain a clean water supply, and hygiene products aren't all that cheap. The familiesmight have to sacrifice some things in order to pay for the water supply,the hygiene products and the sanitation costs of the community. I think that most of the outcome of this bill would be beneficial and not so much consequential. The individuals, families, and society as a whole would become healthier, they would live in cleanier environments and their overall health would benefit a great deal. So i dont see many consequences for this bill to be passed other than the cost of some of the projects such as cleaning the water, etc.

What is the economic impact of the issue?
Some of the economic costs of this issue would be cleaning the water supply, maintaining the water supply, the cost for hygenic materials such as soap, etc. Also costs towards promoting a better health system such as flyers, speakers, materials,etc. The costs would fall mostly on the community and businesses. The economic benefits would include a healthier community, less health care problems, people wouldnt need to visit the doctors, hospitals as much. The people in the community would benefit the most (women, children, men).

What is the social impact of the issue?
What are the social costs of the issue, and who bears these costs?
A lot of people become sick and develop diseases from poor water sanitation and poor hygiene, so people tend to miss work or school. Companies, organizations, businesses all bear the costs of sickness and disease. The people who are sick also pay the price because they have to miss work and school and they can easily fall behind on the bills, or fall behind in school. The social benefits would include: more people becoming healthy and staying healthy, the community can become more knowledgeable on health and how to stay healthy which would in turn benefit the companies, organizations and businesses instead of hurting them.

What are the barriers?
What are the barriers to addressing this issue?

The taxpayers who may already be healthy and not want to pay more money to promote a healthier lifestyle may not agree with the bill and try to fight it. Another barrier that may occur reguarding this bill is not following through with it. It is one thing to inform a community on ways to become healthier and maintain a healthier lifestyle but it is another to follow through with it and change the environment of the community. These barriers can be overcome by getting the majority of the community to support this bill. To inform them on the benefits of promoting a healthier lifestyle and giving them facts on clean water, good hygiene etc.

What are the resources?
What resources will we need to address this issue?

There are two main resources that will be needed to address this issue. One would be money, which will be needed to supply the personel to inform the community about better health, it will also be needed to make flyers, posters, brochures to promote a better helath system and to follow through with the bill and provide clean water for the community,families and individuals. Information will be needed to inform the community on what a "good health system" is, what is considered good water quality and good sanitation, etc.

What is the history of this issue?
This issue was addressed in the house in on Feb. 12, 2009. There were no cosponsors and the commities involved included: House Energy and Commerce and House Ways and Means.

I dont believe anything has happened since this issue has been addressed

Allies & Opponents
Who would support this issue?

I think that the majority of the community members would support this bill. Also I think that any health organization would support this bill.

Who would oppose this issue?

I think that the only people who may oppose this issue would be businesses, doctors, companies anyone who may lose buisness or who might have to pay more money to support this bill.

Your Recommendation
I want our policy makers to vote YES to this bill!

I had trouble finding the history of the issue, so any comments reguarding that question would be greatly appreciated!

Reflection: Weeks 11 & 12

WEEK 11:

During week 11 we watched the documentary "Unnatural Causes". I thought that this documentary was one of the best ones we have watched so far. It talked about how money influences a persons health. I knew that poverty and health were connected, but it was really eye opening to see the people and how much their lives differ depending on their job, income and the money they have. We were also introduced to the Healthy People 2010 this week. Healthy people is basically a set of objectives which can be used by different people such as States, communities, professional organizations, and others to help them develop programs to improve health.

WEEK 12:

This week our advocacy project was due for Healthy People/Thomas. We were to pick a health objective and build off of that and do some background research on it. It was interesting going through all the national goals/objectives and seeing which ones are moving towards their target and which ones still have a long ways to go. We also had to read chapter 20 in our text books which talked about the Ozone layer. It said that in the next year its expected to repair itself, which is a good thing to hear! It was nice to think that we as humans are helping the environment in some way, and not always harming it.

Well that pretty much sums up the last couple of weeks! hope everyone has a good weekend!

The Big Ten's Environmental Impact

Impact of Schools on the Environment

I recently found this environmental journal called EJ, there was an article in it that talked about the environmental impact that some of the big ten schools have. I thought it was really interesting so I wanted to make a share and voice with some of the statistics found on the universities. The journal is from 2007 so its a little dated but I still think it gives you an idea of how much of an impact these schools can have on the environment.

The schools that were included in this article was: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin.

Electricity:

School, Electricity (Killowatts-hrs) per GSF (Gross Square Foot), Electricity (kilowatts- hrs) per student

Illinos No report No report

Indiana 17.73 6,672
Iowa 20.28 8,436
Michigan 20.63 7,738
Michigan State 12.61 5,387
Minnesota 18.50 7,614
Northwestern No report No report
Ohio State 24.10 9,400
Penn State 16.74 7,166
Purdue 16.67 6,623
Wisconsin 19.04 10,087
Average 18.47 7,680

Energy Terminology: (found in the journal)

Kilowatt- hours are the common curency among power producers

A killowatt is defined as the amount of energy needed to heat one pound of wter one degree Fahrenheit.

~The rate at which energy flows (electrical current) is the kilowatt-hour, which measures the amount of energy flowing from producres to consumers in any given system One kilowatt hour is the energy required to keep a standard ligth bulb lit for approximately 10 hours.

Recycle:

Illinois

waste recycled (tons/yr): 4,885

paper recycled (tons/yr): 2,062

plastic, glass, metal and aluminum recycled (tons/yr): 698

Indiana:

waste recycled (tons/yr): 1,900

paper recycled (tons/yr): 1,150

plastic, glass, metal and aluminum recycled (tons/yr): 155

Iowa:

waste recycled (tons/yr): 1,273

paper recycled (tons/yr): 1,272

plastic, glass, metal and aluminum recycled (tons/yr): 1

Michigan:

waste recycled (tons/yr): 3,458.45

paper recycled (tons/yr): 2,279

plastic, glass, metal and aluminum recycled (tons/yr): 234

Michigan State:

waste recycled (tons/yr): 2,000

paper recycled (tons/yr): 1,658

plastic, glass, metal and aluminum recycled (tons/yr): 342

Minnesota:

waste recycled (tons/yr): 3,306

paper recycled (tons/yr): 1,854

plastic, glass, metal and aluminum recycled (tons/yr): 544

Northwestern:

waste recycled (tons/yr): 1,200

paper recycled (tons/yr): 628

plastic, glass, metal and aluminum recycled (tons/yr): 231

Ohio State:

waste recycled (tons/yr): 1,446

paper recycled (tons/yr): 791

plastic, glass, metal and aluminum recycled (tons/yr): 95

Penn State:

waste recycled (tons/yr): 4,868

paper recycled (tons/yr): 1,670

plastic, glass, metal and aluminum recycled (tons/yr): 366

Purdue:

waste recycled (tons/yr): 1,592

paper recycled (tons/yr): 1,065

plastic, glass, metal and aluminum recycled (tons/yr): 295

Wisconsin:

waste recycled (tons/yr): 1,755

paper recycled (tons/yr): 1,179

plastic, glass, metal and aluminum recycled (tons/yr): 576

Average:

waste recycled: 2,517

paper recycled: 1,419

plastic, glass, metal and aluminum recycled (tons/yr): 321

From this data you can see how a school can effect the environment in a harmful way and how they can help out the environment! Its interesting to see what kind of an impact a major community such as a university has on the environment compared to a household or an individual.

Healthy People/THOMAS

Healthy People 2010

Goal: Promote health for all through a healthy environment.

8-29 Global Environmental Health
Reduce the global burden of disease due to poor water quality, sanitation, and personal and domestic hygiene.

Target: 2,135,000 deaths.

Baseline: 2,668,200 deaths worldwide were attributable to these factors in 1990.

Target setting method: 20 percent improvement.

Data source: World Health Report 2003, World Health Organization.

According to the Progress Quotient Chart, the global burden of disease has been reduced. It has been moved 161% to elimating disease and it has passed the 100% of improvement they were hoping for.

Progress: Progress has been made from Global Deaths from poor sanitation. It exceeded the target, achieving 161 percent of its targeted change.

Disparities: Data was unavailable or not applicable.

Opportunites and Challenges:

• The Health House program is an example of a national education program intended to raise standards for better indoor environments



• EPA is using education and nonregulatory approaches to address indoor air pollution.



• The HUD Healthy Homes Initiative supports:

~Activities that focus on researching and demonstrating low-cost, effective home hazard assessment and intervention methods.

~Public education that emphasizes ways in which communities can mitigate housing-related hazards.

Emerging Issues: (General-loosely related to my topic of Global Environmental Health)~Water supply- more people will face water quality and quantity problems because of worldwide water shortages, especially in developing countries.

~Increased international travel and improvements in telecommunications and computer technology are making the world a smaller place.

~Allergens/ Toxins in the Household

Related Bill from THOMAS:

Title: H.R.1031 : To promote a better health information system. (#44)

Sponsor: Rep Burgess, Michael C. [TX-26] (introduced 2/12/2009) Cosponsors (None) Committees: House Energy and Commerce; House Ways and Means

Latest Major Action: 2/12/2009 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Recommendation: I would recommend that we start by informing people on health information so that they can protect themselves and better there environment.

Vote: Yes
My Political Representative:

Jim Oberstar

Democratic/Farmer/Labor

Washington D.C. Office

2365 Rayburn HOB Washington, D.C. 20515

Phone: (202) 225-6211 Duluth Office 231

Federal BuildingDuluth, MN 55802

Phone: (218) 727-7474

Reflections: Weeks 9 and 10

Week 9:

During week 9 we started to talk about our advocacy projects. We learned and discussed what advocacy is and the truths and misconceptions about it. We also talked about our photo essays and covered the ethics of photo taking. This week we also did our first advocacy project, on our political/local representatives. For this project we had to research our local political representatives and find their contact information. I really enjoyed this project because I know very little about politics and I only knew a couple of my representatives here in Duluth. So I enjoyed learning who represents me and I found it very useful.

Week 10:

Dr. V was gone this week at the AAHPERD convention so our job was to blog and complete our photo essays. I choose to do my photo essay on the Duluth roads. I always drive around and notice how bad the roads are here and I thought it would be interesting to do my photo essay on that topic. I wasnt really sure what I had to do for this project, but I took some pictures of our local streets and talked about how Major Don Ness plans to fix and restore over 100 miles of the cities roads. I enjoyed this project although I missed a day during week 9 so I wasnt sure if I completed it correctly.

That pretty much sums up the last couple of weeks! thanks for reading and enjoy your weekend:)

Eye Opener: Photo Essay

Duluth Roads: Pot Holes Everywhere!!!!

I found the majority of these pot holes on streets around campus!

















As you may be aware of duluth roads are full of pot holes and rough pavement. Especially during the winter. So what is the city of duluth planning to do about this problem? Well lucky for us the Duluth Major (Don Ness) recently passed a bill to fix up the troubled roads of duluth. Major Ness plans on improving 100 miles of Duluth streets in five years. He would use the money from the Fond Du Lac Community Investment Fund to fix up the roads. Ness plans on using a significant portion of the $60 Million dollar fund to improve the road ways and pot holes that consume the Duluth roads. The best part of this plan is that it wont raise taxes. Hopefully with in five years the duluth roads can be greatly improved and the pot holes will be gone!

Victoria's Secret goes organic?

Its true. Victoria's Secret now has a new line of body products that are organic. The New line is called Pink Body and it features body care such as body washes, body scrub, body mist and even nourishing shave cream. Some of the products include U.S.-sourced Citrus and Organic Mint to invigorate, a boost of caffeine from Organic Coffee Beans to energize and tone and Organic Shea and Cocoa Butters to help heal and hydrate. Along with body products Victoria's Secret is also branching out into naturally made hair care. One of their hair products includes Global Goddess, Au Naturel Shampoo and Conditioner. Although the hair products dont mention anything about being organic the shampoo and conditioner is infused with beneficial essential oils and plant-derived ingredients, all absent of synthetic fragrance, dyes and high impact additives. So there you go ladies, if you love to buy body products from Victoria's Secret now you can do it by thinking green!!

My Political Representatives

President:

Barack Obama
Democrat
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

NW Washington, DC 20500

Phone: 202-456-1111

Switchboard: 202-456-1414

Fax: 202-456-2461

U.S. Senator:

Amy Klobuchar
US Senator Amy Klobuchar, Junior Seat
Democratic/Farmer/Labor
Northeastern Office:
Olcott Plaza.Suite 105
820 9th Street North

Virginia, MN 55792

Main Line: 218-741-9690,
Fax: 218-741-3692
Washington, DC Office
302 Hart Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

phone: 202-224-3244, fax: 202-228-2186
Online: http://klobuchar.state.gov/

U. S. House Representative:
Jim Oberstar

James L. Oberstar,District 8
Democratic/Farmer/Labor
Washington D.C. Office
2365 Rayburn HOB Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-6211
Duluth Office
231 Federal Building
Duluth, MN 55802Phone: (218) 727-7474

Online: http://oberstar.house.gov/


Minnesota Governor:

Tim Palenty

Republican
Office of the Governor

130 State Capitol

75 Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard
Saint Paul, MN 55155
Phone: 651-296-3391Fax: 651-296-2089
Online: http://www.governor.state.mn.us/

State Senator
Yvonne Prettner

district Solon 07--Democratic/Farmer/Labor
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.,
Room G-9St. Paul, MN
55155-1606
Online: http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/members/member_bio.php?leg_id=10743

Thomas Huntley

District 07A-- Democratic/Farmer/Labor
585 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155

Phone: 651-296-2228

Online: http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/members/members.asp?district=07A

City Mayor:

Don Ness

Mayor's OfficeRoom 402,

411 West First StreetDuluth, MN 55802
Phone: (218) 730-5230Fax: (218) 730-5904
email: dness@duluthmn.gov

County Board President:

St. Louis County Board 1st District
Commissioner

Dennis Fink,

Board Chair

Room 208
100 N. 5th Avenue West

Duluth, MN 55802


Phone: (218) 726-2458

email: finkd@co.st-louis.mn.us



Sorry about the not having the pictures of the last couple people, my computer was being difficult:)

The Green Home

HGTV'S green house 2008>>>>>>>




Over the break I was watching tv with my mom, and we stopped on a show called Deserving Design on HGTV. The episode was talking about this family who decided to change their home and go completely green. In the show the designer (Vern Yip) comes in and remodels a room(s) in the family's home. The way the family is choosen by how deserving they are and what they are doing or have done to make them eligible for a room make over. This family did a lot to help out the environment. From recycling, to going green with furniture, and using eco friendly light bulbs and fabrics. So the design team came in with a Eco friendly design and re-did two rooms in the family's home, a yoga room and a surprise room. It was really interesting to see how little changes can make the room more environmentally friendly and help out the earth by using less hazardous materials and more recycled materials. Starting with the paint, the designer used VOC paint, which stands for volatile organic compounds. Some of the benefits for using VOC paint include:

Health: Reduced toxins benefit everyone, including those with allergies and chemical sensitivities.

Environment: Reduces landfill, groundwater and ozone depleting contaminants.

Effective:Low-VOC products perform well in terms of coverage, scrubability and hideability (covering flaws on previous coats).

Water-Based: Easy cleanup wtih soap and warm water.

Little or No Hazardous Fumes: Low odor during application; no odor once cured. No off-gassing. Painted areas can be occupied sooner, with no odor complaints.

Not Deemed Hazardous Waste: Cleanup and disposal greatly simplified.

In the rooms they used antiques for the furniture, which is a great way to be eco friendly because they are all recycled. For the flooring, mainly in the yoga room, they covered it in organic bamboo. It actually looked pretty cool and was said to be environmentally responisible, or not harmful to the environment. As for some of the accents, they used beeswax candles which were all natural and for the curtians they used flax fiber. Overall I found the episode really interesting and learned creative ways on how to make a home more eco friendly.

Review: Thirst

Thirst

Ok so here goes my attempt to summarize the documentary "Thirst". The main focus of the the documentary was water privatization, and how it affects communities. The film started off in Cochabamba,Bolivia. Cochabamba is Bolivias third largest city and also one of the poorest. Bechtel, a major company took over the water system, and raised the cost of water 30 to 300%. There were major riots referred to as "water wars" because of this change in prices and the new control over the water system. Snipers along with police were brought in during the riots and a 17 year old boy was killed. The community believed that the people should have a right to decide whether or not the water supply was owned by a company/industry or have it be a human right for all people with no individual ownership. Not only did the documentary also show Bolivia dealing with water privatization, it also focused on a small town in India. Many under-developed countries are struggling with water privatization and can not afford to pay for water. While Bolivia sees privatized water as bad, India looks at it from a different perspective. Since there is little rain in India, people have to take matters into their own hands and harvest the water that they do recieve. India preserves their water by a process called rainwater harvesting. They built ponds to help hold the rainwater, which then goes down stream into village wells to provide water to the community. By the community doing this and local people helping out they are providing "self help" for one another. Local companies can help them with this project since India recieves so little water. A man who lived in the small community of India believed that by starting to harvest rainwater in a small village can then extend on into the country and later into the world. Now onto the United States. The documentary focused on the town of Stockton, California. This town was also going through the process of water privatization. The major of Stockton, Gary Podesto, believed that privatizing the city's water supply would save the residents a lot of money over an extended period of time (around 170 million dollars over 20 years to be exact). This savings would come from not having to pay employees, benefits, insurance, etc. Thames water company was involved with mayor Pedesto and was interested in ownership of the city's water supply. The people of the community on the other hand, disagree. They dont want local companies to own their water supply, they think it should be a common right as a citizen and shouldnt be under someones ownership. Some employees even said that they would refuse to work for local companies and want to remain working for the government. Throughout the documentary it was clear that the majority of the community didnt like the thought of water privatization and thought that the water supply should be a human right compared an ownership.

Discussion:

When we were discussing the film in class some good points got brought up. Sara J mentioned that the council men who come up with the decisions on whether or not the water supply should be privatized, probably have the same views as the mayor, so the majority of the community is not fully represented. The council men are usually volunteers so the point was brought up, why would anyone work for someone or something that they dont agree with? Another idea that was mentioned in discussion was what if the price of water becomes as much as the price of gas? I mean we have seen how expensive gas has been, just last summer it was around $4 a gallon. How would we afford water if it cost that much? There are some ways to get around paying for gas such as walking, riding the bus, riding a bike or carpooling. How would you get around using water? Its a necesity a way of life. Being a college student I know I wouldnt be able to pay that much for water, I dont know what I would do if the price of water was that high, its scary to think about.

My thoughts:

When watching this documentary it got me thinking about our water supply. How we seem to have endless amounts of water at our fingertips. What if we lost all of the water from the lakes, streams, rivers and oceans and our water supply ran out? If we were put into the same positions as third world countries, what would we do? How would we get our water? What if water prices were as high as the price of gas? Would our country be able to afford it? All of these questions bring about concern for the U.S.. We see other countries such as India trying desperately to preserve their water supply so we know the possibility of not having enough water is there. Personally, I am going to try and conserve water as best as I can, hopefully our water supply wont run out and our country wont have to face water privatization.

Reflection: Weeks 7 & 8

Week 7:
At the beginning of week 7 we started to watch the documentary called "Green" which was directed by graduate student Laura Dunn. This documentary talked about "Cancer Alley" a 100 mile stretch of the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The documentary focuses on the affects of the community in cancer alley. We see people living in cancer alley and what its like for them to live near a chemical plant and how they are struggling to stay healthy and sell their land while living on polluted land. The residents living along the Mississippi are certain that the main reason for their illnesses comes from the Petrochemical Plants they live by. I thought that it was so sad that kids are getting rare forms of cancer due to the chemicals they are exposed to. Some families are trying to sell their houses and get out of the area, but who would want to live on a waste site/landfill or near a chemical plant. The town Norco got hit pretty hard when Shell had a power plant flare (gases and toxins released) occured. Seven people were killed in this flare and the only thing the plant did to help "calm" the community was offer people money and gave the town a new look. Its hard for me to believe that a company/industry can care so much about money and so little about peoples lives. Overall, this documentary really opened my eyes to how much a chemical plants can harm the environment, community and people around it.

This week we were also assigned the Eye Opener: Environmental working group. For this assignment I choose an item that I use everyday. I selected Johnson & Johnson's 24 hour moisturizing lotion. I discovered alarming results on the safety of the product. I went to the Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database, and found the safety information on the lotion. I found that ingredients in the lotion are linked to cancer, developmental/reproductive toxicity, violations, restrictions and warnings, Allergies/Immunotoxicity, and other concerns. I was really concerned while reviewing all the safety information. I use this product almost everyday and I thought I was making a good choice by selecting a baby friendly product but apparently I was wrong.

Week 8:

This week Reading 31: Privatizing Water was asssigned. The chapter talked about Chochabamba, Bolivia. This is the third largest city in the country. The city was going through water privatization and the prices of the water bills rose by 35%. The people in the city were very upset with the rise in price. If it was me I would also be upset if water prices rose that much. Being a college student I have enough bills to pay and worry about without having to worry about rising costs for water. This problem leads into the documentary we began watching called "Thirst". I was assigned to do a review on this documentary. Although we didnt get to watch the whole thing I got a pretty good idea on what it was trying to get at. The documentary also talked about the town of Chochabamba and how they were facing water priviatization. It also mentioned a town in India where they were harvesting rain water and providing a water supply for their town. The town made a pond which transferred water into the wells of the village. I thought this idea was ingenius, think if we all did this and provided water for ourselves how much more water we would have and how efficient we would learn how to be. The documentary also talked about Stockton, California who was also facing water privatization. The mayor Gary Pedesto wanted to privatize the water and thought that it would save the residents a lot of money. The people of the community thought differently. They believed that they should have the right to decide if a local company should be able to take over their water supply. I personally think that it should be the communities decision. If I was in that position I would want a say in who owns what and if something as big as water should even be owned by an individual or company. Overall, I thought this documentary was ok but it wasnt my favorite.

Well, that pretty much sums up the last couple of weeks thanks for reading have a good spring break!!! :)

Share & Voice: Water Recycling

Hey Everyone!
So all of this talk about water privatization and our usage of water has got me thinking. I cant imagine my life without water. Not only for drinking but for cooking, bathing, laundry, the list could go on and on. I know I can do more things to help out with the water supply such as cutting down on my 15 minute showers ( I know its horrible), and turning off the water while brushing my teeth, etc. I wanted to find out what we as a whole are doing to cut down on water waste, so I did a little research. I found a really good website on water recycling and reuse and the benefits that it has on the environment. This website talks about how the United States Enivronmental Protection Agency regulates many aspects of wastewater treatment and drinking water quality. I never knew that water recycling could have so many benefits! Here is a list of benefits that water recycling has on the environment:

• Water Recycling Can Decrease Diversion of Freshwater from Sensitive Ecosystems.
  
• Water Recycling Decreases Discharge to Sensitive Water Bodies.


• Recycled Water May Be Used to Create or Enhance Wetlands and Riparian (Stream) Habitats.


• Water Recycling Can Reduce and PreventPollution

Recycled water is most commonly used for nonpotable (not for drinking) purposes, such as agriculture, landscape, public parks, and golf course irrigation. Other nonpotable applications include cooling water for power plants and oil refineries, industrial process water for such facilities as paper mills and carpet dyers, toilet flushing, dust control, construction activities, concrete mixing, and artificial lakes (EPA website). I think that its a great idea to recycle water. If we can recycle bottles, cans, glass, plastic why not water!

Share and Voice: Chocolate Lovers

Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate!


One of my favorite things to eat is chocolate. Although chocolate isnt all that good for you, I never considered its effects on the environment. So as I was researching I ended up on about my planet.com here I found just how much of a toll making and producing chocolate has on our earth. Here are some interesting facts that I found:

• Chocolate creates a large water footprint, often several thousand gallons of water per 100 grams of chocolate do to the need to grow the cocoa plants quickly and effectively.


• Some candy bars contain dual wrapping which is not always recyclable.


• Growing the cocoa plants often takes up a considerable amount of land.


• Farmers might also use possible herbicides that keep weeds from competing with the plants.


• Lastly you have to consider the human toll chocolate creates. Thousands of people work in slave-like conditions to harvest the cocoa beans, making nearly no money and suffering in terrible conditions.

To prevent some of these things there is always organic chocolate. Although this chocolate may cost a bit more its better for the environment and for you. So the next time you are craving chocolate.....think about trying an organic chocolate.

Heres a link to Hershey chocolate one of my favorites:) Here you can click on your favorite treats and see the nutritional information, the history of Hersheys and a timeline its pretty cool check it out!!!!

Hersheys.com

Eye Opener: Environmental Working Group

My Necessity:
Since it is winter my skin tends to get really dry. I think some of you may agree with me. So lately I have been using a lot of lotion mainly Johnson and Johnson Softlotion 24 hour Mosturizer. I thought that this was a good product considering the brand, and that its safe to use on babies with little to no harmful scents or ingredients. Well apparently I thought wrong. Here is what i found out on the cosmetic database:

Ingredients in this product are linked to:
YES-Cancer
YES-Developmental/reproductive toxicity
YES-Violations, restrictions & warnings
YES-Allergies/immunotoxicity
YES-Other concerns for ingredients used in this product: Neurotoxicity,Endocrine disruption, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Miscellaneous, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Enhanced skin absorption, Contamination concerns, Occupational hazards, Biochemical or cellular level changes

Not only did I find out these things I also found that:
~56% of moisturizers have lower concerns
~64% of baby lotions have lower concerns


My thoughts:
I was really really surprised on the data I found on this lotion. Johnson & Johnson is a very well known name and is used not only by adults but also babies. I thought that a product of this company would be a lot safer to use. I also found that the manufacturer (Johnson & Johnson) is not a Compact for Safe Cosmetics signer and it does test on animals. I buy this product because I thought it was safe to use and it was better then scented lotions. After reviewing this lotion I am going to start rethinking my decision about buying Johnson and Johnson products.

Reflections: Weeks 5 & 6

Week 5:

This week I was one of the people who was assigned the review of Reading 15: Feeding the World. I found this article very interesting it rasied a lot of questions in my mind. The article had four main topics; Society's 4 Transitional Stages, Evidence for Negative Population Growth, Future Food Supply/Demand Balance, Protecting the Environment, and the Challenges Ahead. The main thing that got me thinking was the difference between supply and demand. It really made me ask myself what are we going to do if the demand of food surpasses the supply. From 1995-2000 both the population and income grew rapidly. If that streak continues to grow at the same rate, the future food supply will fall beneath the overall demand for food. There are already countries who face hunger, so in some places the demand of food has already passed the supply. What if this was a problem for the whole world? What would we do? Who could help us? There are a lot of questions that seem to have come up when reading this article. This is why its so important for us to protect the environment and our earth while we still can. If we dont take care of it now who is going to take care of it later?

This week we also began to watch the documentary "A Diet For a New America". This documentary was hosted by John Robbins, and it really opened my eyes to what we eat. There were a lot of interesting facts stated some of the ones that caught my eye were:

~ With the amount of meat we Americans eat (individually) in one meal, other countries can feed 4 or 5 people with the same amount!

~There was a part in the documentary were a patient goes in to the hospital to get his blood tested and the doctor noticed fat in his blood sample. The doctor then asked the patient if he ate anything before he came to the hospital and the patient said yes, he had a cheeseburger and a milkshake. The fat that was found in his blood sample was the fat from the foods that he had been eating.

~Finally, the way that we raise some of the meat really made me think. Some people prefer tender, leaner meat. The way that farmers get that is by keeping the cow confined in a small area so that the meat can become more tenderized.

The documentary was very interesting and made me think a lot about how much meat I consume and what kind. For a lot of Americans it is common to have meat as the main course. Through meat we recieve proteins, vitamins, etc. Other countries find other ways to get the same nutrients whether it be through rice or pastas. It got me thinking what I could substitute meat for.

We also had an Eye Opener due this week on CSPI, which stands for Center for Science in the Public Interest. For this assignment I took a tour of the food supply. Here you could see what goes on in areas of the farm and in the public and learn more about them. The places I toured included: The Fertilizer Factory, Factory Farm, Supermarket, Hospital, Animal Feed, Irrigation, Pesticides, Feed Lot, Restaurant, Manure Lagoon, and Slaughter House. This tour tied in well with the documentary we were watching also.

Week 6:

This week we were all individually assigned a chapter from the book and we were to write a review on the chapter. The chapter I read was Chapter 14: Buzz Cut. This article focused mainly on the Great Bear Agreement and how many of the forests in British Columbia are being cut down at an alarming rate. The Great Bear Agreement helps protect the forests, trees, wildlife, etc in British Columbia and also in Canada. This article was pretty interesting and I enjoyed reading it. It was also interesting to read about everyone elses chapters.

My final thoughts.....I really enjoyed these last couple of weeks, the things we have been doing in class have really helped open my eyes up to a lot of things. I have started to think more about what I eat and what I do to help/hurt the environment. Thanks for reading my post:)