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.