REFLECTION: WEEKS 11 & 12

Week 11: Last week we watched the documentary, "Unnatural Causes" in class. I liked this documentary a lot, because it was very eye opening. It showed the influence money has on people's health. I wasn't surprised to learn that poverty and poor health went hand in hand. We were also introduced to the Healthy People 2010 assignment.

Week 12: The main focus of this week was solutions and improvements in the environment. We worked on our second Advocacy Project assignment called "Healthy People- Thomas." We picked a topic that we will later advocate for at the end of the semester. The topic I choose was Indoor Allergen Pollution. I recently developed allergies and I'm interested in learning more about them and it's related directly to the environment because it has to do with air quality. We also read reading 20, which talked about how the ozone is closing! On Thursday, I led a class discussion about the reading. Overall, I thought that people were pleased to hear about the ozone closing and happy to know we're doing something right in the environment.

What I learned about myself: That I could be a professor someday, lol jk! Well, for not knowing that I was even going to lead discussion, I think I did a pretty good job. (But far from prof material, I'm sure)

What I learned about the environment: That the ozone is closing!!! Yay, I would have to say after this semester it was great to learn about something positive about the environment!

What I learned about blogging: I don't think I learned anything about blogging these past two weeks. But that we really must be doing a pretty good job at blogging if Dr. V sent them to HEDIR listserv for other people to see!

Pretty sure that covers everything, hope you all have a great weekend;)

Share and Voice: Green Living for Dummies

Green Living for DUMMIES

Soooo I was at Target the other day (not referring to the trip with Heather) browsing through the dollar section and stumbled upon this little book, "Green Living for Dummies." The one I found and purchased is the pocket edition by Yvonne Jeffery, Liz Barclay, and Michael Grosvenor.
Throughout the book you'll find ways to work greener transportation into your lifestyle, the best ways to eat locally and organically, how to rid your life of clutter, and tips for conserving water and energy in your home!

After reading half of the book so far I've realized that many of the topics they cover are things we've been learning about all semester!

Here are some fun tips the book suggests:
Do laundry only when you have a full load.
Line-dry your clothes.
Skip the pre-rinse if your dishwasher gets the dishes clean without it.
Recycle the sink rinse water by using it to wash windows, floors, or the car, to flush the toilet, or to water the garden.
Choose items that have little or no packaging and that come in recyclable or refillable containers.
Reuse paper that has only been used on one side.

Hope you enjoyed my post about Green Living for DUMMIES...let me know if you wanna borrow the book;)

Advocacy: Healthy People 2010/THOMAS

Area 8-16 Objective: Reduce indoor allergen levels.

Progress Quotient Chart: No progress reported at this time

Progress Information: None

Opportunities and Challenges: According to the Healthy People Website, “No low-cost, practical methods have been available that allow homeowners to assess allergen levels in their homes. Many existing building codes were not developed with health considerations, such as allergen reduction, in mind. Newer building and ventilation practices that may significantly improve moisture control and air quality in homes, and thus impact on indoor allergen levels, have not been widely adopted. Dialog between environmental health scientists, building designers, and the building community is not generally well established. In recent years, awareness of the relationship of the built environment to the heath of occupants has increased. Greater use of building and remodeling practices to control moisture infiltration, reduce moisture buildup, and provide proper ventilation for homes may impact significantly on indoor allergen levels. For example, effective moisture control is essential for controlling both dust mites and cockroaches. Strategies to achieve this control include landscape design to provide proper drainage around the structure, proper air sealing of the building envelope combined with appropriate mechanical ventilation, use of ventilation fans in kitchens and bathrooms, installation of vapor barriers over earthen crawlspaces, and control of condensation from plumbing fixtures.

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 and public education that emphasizes ways in which communities can mitigate housing-related hazards.”

Emerging Issues: Because of the rising number of deaths from asthma and allergy has provided a need for an increased awareness in producing and worsen asthma and allergy symptom. According to the Healthy People Website, “In 2000, the Institute of Medicine released Clearing the Air: Asthma and Indoor Air Exposures. This publication reviewed the evidence relating to the causation and exacerbation of asthma by indoor air exposures, including allergens from dust mites, cockroaches, dogs, and cats, as well as fungi and combustion products from gas appliances.” Overall, the study concluded that high levels of dust mite allergen can cause asthma in susceptible populations. “In addition, dust mite allergen and cockroach allergen can produce asthma attacks in persons who already have asthma.” Lastly, the EPA and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences within NIH produce educational materials on strategies to control indoor allergens and to minimize exposure to them.

Bill Number: SF1746

Title: State air quality, hazardous waste and water quality standards analysis requirement

Sponsor: Ingebrigtsen ; Saxhaug ; Skogen ; Bakk ; Skoe

Latest Action: 3/23/09 Intro and First Reading, Referred to Environment and Natural Resources

My Political Representative:
Senator Bill G. Ingebrigtsen
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
State Office Building, Room 123
St. Paul, MN 55155-1206
651.297.8063

REFLECTIONS: Week 9 & 10

Time flys when you're having fun...

Week 9:

Last week we learned about our advocacy projects and photo essays. We had a class discussion about advocacy on Tuesday. And on Thursday we talked about our photo essays and covered the ethics of photo taking. We also had to complete our first advocacy project assignment by Thursday, which was on our political/local representatives. For this project we had to research our political representatives and find out their contact information. This was pretty interesting to find all our representatives but some of them where pretty tricky to find. Overall, I found it very useful.

Week 10:

Dr. V was gone this week at the AAHPERD convention so our main focus was to complete our photo essays. I choose to do my photo essay on how technology can help the environment! It was pretty fun taking taking pictures throughout the week that related to my topic. Then I combined some of my photos into a collage to better represent what I was trying to show. Some of the main topics I photographed were access to online phone books and newspapers, virtual field trips, video conferencing, paying bills online and of course blogging. I was checking out other peoples photo essays and I thought they were pretty cool, overall I think everyone did a great job! I hope everyone had a good week off from classes! We'll see ya Tuesday=)

Eye Opener: Photo Essay

Hello Everyone!

For my Photo Essay I chose to show ways I think
Technology can help the Environment!

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My first set of photos shows that the phone book/yellow pages can also be found online with the help of the internet. I just feel that its such a waste of money to chop down thousands of trees and pay someone to deliver them. I think they should be printed only for the people who want them. Also, when learning about this topic I found out that since 1992, it has been illegal to dump telephone directories into the regular trash! According to the Star Tribune, "85 percent of the telephone directories are dumped into the trash. State pollution officials call it one of Minnesota's biggest solid-waste problems." Crazy to think those phone books are causing the biggest waste problem in our state and I never use mine!
Can you imagine if we didn't have to print all those phone books?

Newspapers VS Online Newspaper Viewing


Again, considering the paper and ink we go through everyday to print these newspapers when the information can be found with the click of a mouse. According to this article, most American's wouldn't care a lot if local newspapers folded.
"When it comes to local news, more people say they get that news from local television stations than any other source..."

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Paying your bills ...And paying your bills online!

According to the article Global Warming Survival Guide, "Eliminating your paper trail by banking and paying bills online does more than save trees. It also helps reduce fuel consumption by the trucks and planes that transport paper checks. If every U.S. home viewed and paid its bills online, the switch would cut solid waste by 1.6 billion tons a year and curb greenhouse-gas emissions by 2.1 million tons a year, according to Javelin Strategy & Research. Also, to avoid unnecessary carbon dioxide-emitting car trips to the bank on payday, ask your employer to directly deposit your paycheck. You'll get your money faster that way too!!!"

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Instead of meeting up with groups from your class you could virtually meet up over the internet and have a video conference!
This could save you gas, time and money. =)







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Sending letters through the mail service takes a lot longer than sending an email and can cost you postage, stationary and envelopes.
Plus when you use email, you'll

receive a message back if your email didn't go through. You are also able to save drafts and edit them later!







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Field Trip VS Virtual Field Trip

A virtual field trip is an online guided tour. It contains images, text and other media, that can relate the essence of a visit to a time or place. To learn more about them check out this website. I feel they are better for the environment because they completely eliminate the traveling aspect of the trip. And with the help of videos and images students can go through the trip right from their computer!!!

Last but not least...
Paper Assignments VS Blogging

Well, blogging saves paper but I didn't realize how much it actually helps reduce the amount of paper used for classes. The pictures of the piles of paper (on the left) are from not all but one of my classes this semester... And the semester isn't over yet! Just think, what if all your classes had blogging homework?
Yay, for 21st Century Learning!!!

I hope you enjoyed my photo essay on ways that technology helps the environment! I'm excited to hear what you think=) Have a good weekend!

Share and Voice: Recycling Research

Hey guys!

I hope you're enjoying this week off from most of our health courses! I am doing some research on recycling for another class and was hoping you could help me out! I have created a survey to determine what UMD students know about recycling and if it is important to them. If you could complete the survey AS HONEST AS POSSIBLE that would be a great help! Last, but not least your responses will remain anonymous and I thank you for your time! =)

Recycling Survey -check it out

P.S. If you remember me talking about the Food Stamp Challenge in the beginning of the semester...I am participating in that this week.... and I'M STARVING! =)

Advocacy Project: My Political Representatives

President
Barack Obama – Democratic
The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Congresspersons
State Representative
Thomas Huntley – DFL
585 State Office Building
 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
 Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155

651-296-2228

State Senator
Yvonne Prettner – DFL
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Capitol Building, Room G-9
St. Paul, MN 55155-1606
651-296-4188

U.S. Representative
James L. Oberstar – DFL
Duluth Federal Building
Room 231

Duluth, Minnesota 55802

(218) 727-7474


U.S. Senator
Amy Klobuchar – Democratic
1200 Washington Avenue South, Suite 250

Minneapolis, MN 55415

612-727-5220

State Legislators
Governor
Tim Pawlenty
130 State Capitol 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155 Phone # (651) 296-3391
E-mail: tim.pawlenty@state.mn.us


County Board:

Commissioner
Steve O'Neil
Room 208 100 N. 5th Ave. W
Duluth, MN 55802 Phone #
(218) 726-2359


City Mayor:
Don Ness – DFL
Mayor's Office, Room 402
411 W 2st St Duluth, MN 55802
(218) 730-5230