Eye Opener: Online Learning Activities

I really enjoyed doing my web groups activities! Here are my results:

Dining Decisions by Autumn:While doing this activity,I picked healthy foods, but lacked all parts of the food group like dairy and protein. I actually do lack protein in my everyday diet so this activity helped me to realize that I need to eat more of a variety of the food groups. Thanks Autumn for making me realize my diet needs improvement.

Tobacco Facts Puke Page by Sara
After viewing the picture on Sara's post, I stand by my belief that there should be a complete smoking/tobacco ban in public schools. I don't think it will prevent kids from not smoking/using tobacco completely, but it would definitely help. I think there is not enough knowledge about what can really happen to your body in the long run from tobacco use. Looking at those people that ruined their bodies by using tobacco makes me sick. It also makes me sick how so many people know that tobacco is bad for them and they still continue to endanger their lives and the people around them. Its selfish and careless and I think a ban in every school would be totally appropriate.

Bobbie's Foot-O-Meter by Abbey
After completing the questions on the Abbey's activity, I was given a score of 7.3 acres. yikes! This activity made me realize how I can reduce my carbon footprint by recycling more, using less water and electricity and walking more to places instead of driving. Just doing these simple little things can decrease my footprint by a long shot. This activity really opened my eyes. Thanks Abbey!

Build your own virtual "green" house by Ben
climate I picked: subtropical
construction I picked: recycled

energy I picked: solar panels/heating and

For efficiency I picked mostly all of them: energy efficient lighting, energy star appliances, water recycling,efficient heating/cooling, materials recycling, water recycling, and smart home technology!

Spending and efficiency: I spent $99,000 and have 195% efficiency!

"Water Calculator" by Ingrid.

This activity was really an eye opener for me because I ended up using 58 gallons per day. It is not even as bad as the typical 71 gallons a normal person uses and I still feel bad! I think I can improve this a ton by not letting the water run while brushing my teeth and doing the dishes, and also taking shorter showers! I think a lot of us can learn from doing this activity! Thanks Ingrid!

Eye Opener: Photo Essay

For my photo essay, I decided to take pictures around my house to show what my roommates and I are doing to go green......or at least trying to? There are many ways that we need to work on such as eating more organically, taking shorter showers, doing laundry only when we need to, and turning off our computers and TVs when not in use. Its hard to think that these small steps actually make a difference, but just think if everyone did this how much energy and resources we will be saving??? The things that we are working on to help the environment are shown in the pictures below:

Trying to only use light when we absolutely need to!

The picture above shows how like most older houses in Duluth do not have light fixtures in the rooms, this helps with electricity bills because we only use lights(such as lamps) when we absolutely need them. I think we would have the lights on a lot more if we had light switches to turn on actual ceiling lights.

Using All Natural Dog Food!

This is a picture of the dog food we use, The brand is IAMS, it is made with natural ingredients that are environmental friendly. Using natural pet products ( such as the ones in my recent Share & Voice) can be a small part in helping the environment.

Using Reusable Grocery Bags!

This Cub Foods grocery bag is a reusable bag that we use when we go grocery shopping so that we are not using the plastic or paper bags that are harmful to the environment.  Using reusable bags helps reduce the paper and plastic production for grocery stores.  This shows a way that grocery stores are putting in an effort to be eco-friendly:)

This picture I took of the Brewhouse's beer containers that shows that the Brewhouse restaurant uses natural fresh water from Lake Superior and natural ingredients when brewing their own beer.

Drinking Natural Beer!!!

Eye Opener: Environmental Working Group

When thinking of one product that I use on a daily basis, my Clinique facewash comes to my mind.  I use it at least twice a day and even going a day without this product makes my face breakout!  Without it I would be a giant walking zit!! haha j/k.  But seriously, I cannot live without this facewash!

When going to the Environmental Working Group site and putting in my facewash into the hazard radar, it received a 3.  I was content with this score because a lot of the other products that I use were a lot worse, like my Mary Kay face lotion, it received an 8!  Even though a 3 is not as good as a zero, I still feel that this rating is not as bad as the other products I use that I am considering stop using.

Ingrediants in this product are linked to:

• Cancer
  
• Developmental/reproductive toxicity
  
• Violations, restrictions and warnings
• Other concerns for ingrediants used in this product:
• Neurotoxicity, Organ system toxicity (non- reproductive), Multiple, additive exposure sources, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Enhanced skin absorption. Contamination concerns

Ingredients from packaging: WATER PURIFIED (AQUA PURIFICATA), POTASSIUM MYRISTATE, GLYCERIN, POTASSIUM BEHENATE, SODIUM METHYL COCOYL TAURATE, POTASSIUM PALMITATE, POTASSIUM LAURATE, POTASSIUM STEARATE, MYRISTIC ACID, BEHENIC ACID, PEG-3 DISTEARATE, PALMITIC ACID, CHOLESTERYL HYDROXYSTEARATE, LAURIC ACID, SODIUM HYALURONATE, STEARIC ACID, ROSEMARY (ROSMARINUS OFFICINALIS), DIMETHYL OCTENOL, LEMON (CITRUS LIMONUM), EUCALYPTUS (EUCALYPTUS GLOBULUS), LAVENDER (LAVANDULA ANGUSTIFOLIA), BUTYLENE GLYCOL, PINE, CARDAMOM (ELETTARIA CARDAMONUM), TRISODIUM EDTA, D&C VIOLET 2 (CI 60730), FD&C RED 4 (CI 614700)

What I learned from this:

I learned that the products that I use may harm the environment and myself by using them.  I have realized that I need to be more earth friendly when it comes to the things that I use on a daily basis.  I have also realized that I can live without certain things, and that my life would not change any by not using these things every day.  Its all about sacrafice and what you can do to make the earth a little bit better every day;)

Eye Opener 3: Summary of Reading 8:Wilding America

Summary of Article

Wilding America is about how our world today is becoming overpopulated and it is making our wetlands and wildlife scarce.  A great deal of our environment is beginning to disapear.  Southern California is the region in the United States with the most species who are being threatened with being endangered species.  Many habitats are being wiped out by grocery stores, office buildings, and shopping malls.  Coastal sage scrub (habitat near the water) is being replaced by the building of houses and condos near the ocean.  Coastal sage scrub alone consists of more than 35 plant species, two insects, seven reptiles, four birds, and seven mammals that are nearly endangered.

Mountain Lions

The mountain lion is another animal that is becoming endangered.  Because they need large areas for habitat, and large populations of animals to eat.  Scientists are worried that if they do not get more space soon, they will become extinct.  This problem would lead to more problems.  Animals lions prey on such as deer, would become overpopulated, taking up too much land and larger animals will hunt on too many smaller plants and animals.  The mountain lion simply creates a equilibrium in the jungle.  If the mountain lion goes extinct, that equilibrium would be really effected and many of our plants and wildlife would be effected in a dangerous way.  The only place that sees a large amount of mountain lions are those places that have worked hard to conserve their national habitat.  If we do not work to help out these places in need, we will be hurting in the long run, which will then make it harder to find mountain lions in their natural habitats. The Wildlands Project is a group that has worked for many years to conserve natural areas for animals and wildlife.   Even though they work with the California area, they plan to expand their project throughout the United States. There mission is to focus on protecting and preserving natural habitat.  Their dedication to connect, restore and expand wildlife areas has really helped with areas in need.  They adapt new buildings and developments so that habitats around those areas are not largely effected by the construction.

Corridors

Wildlife corridors are one way that can help protect national wildlife.  Many biologists believe it makes sense to connect smaller, established parks with wildlife corridors (Mckinnery 33).  Each little piece of land can be connected into larger pieces of land. Thinking about how we can link these corridors is the problem. Trying to link these pieces of land without taking wildlife out of the habitat. The department of Transportation has been working on redesigning highways with underpasses is one way this problem can be fixed.  This will allow animals to travel underground and now right onto the highway.  This will also allow the animals a safer alternative to the highway.  I think this is a good thing to do but it also takes away from the animals naturally way of habitat. Biologist Dan Simberloff says " In most cases, there is no direct evidence that corridors are used for movement or that movement is important to the persistance of population."  I think this statement is interesting because many people think that corridors are an easy fix for this problem when really this idea could not help the problem one bit.

Terms to know:

• Corridors: a path or guided way

• Wetlands: area of land whose soil is saturated with moisture either permanently or seasonally.

• Persistance- the characteristic of data that outlives the execution of the program that created it
  
• Coastal sage scrub- a low scrubland plant community found in coastal California. 

 Online Sources-

The Wildlands Project- Klamath- Siskyou Wildlands Center (KS Wild) is an advocate for the forests, wildlife and waters of Northwest California.  They use environment to defend healthy ecosystems and help build sustaibable communities.

Elizabeth Royte-this site explains the author of this reading Elizabeth Royte.

Eye Opener: CSPI

CSPI
For this eye opener, we had to visit the CSPI website and take a quiz on the weekly amounts of food that we consume. CSPI stands for " Center for Science in the Public Interest." This website is suggesting that everyone has a " greener diet," meaning more fruits and vegetables. They also promote health by reducing sodium in restaurants and putting healthier food into school lunches.

Eating Green Calculator

For this activity: The Eating Green Calculator, you had to put in how many servings of beef, chicken, eggs, milk and cheese that you ate throughout the week. After entering how much I ate each week, it calculates how much effect your diet has on the environment and the animals that you are eating. My results shocked me because I don't even eat that much meat and dairy and just the little amount that I eat per week came up with 4,051 pounds of manure are created by the animals I eat, 0.6 acres of grass are used, 18.7 pounds of fertilizer are used to grow animal feed, and 0.1 pounds of pesticides are used. This is amazing to me because this is just one person and just thinking about all the people in our world that eat. This is an outstanding amount of resources that are used each day! Think about all the restaurants we have around the world that go through so much food products each day. I barely ever eat eggs or pork, so that helps my standings a little bit but I still use up a lot of resources. After taking this calculator, you can then think of how you can replace those animal products with nuts, and fruits or vegetables. I think I could definately eat more fruits and vegetables in my diet. I always thought I was a pretty healthy eater, but I think being more earth friendly about what I eat can really help to improve my diet even more. This second calculator reduced all my scores at least in half. This made me really think about what I can do to improve my diet and be " green" about what I eat.

My Pledge

I took the pledge at the end of the quiz to improve my eating habits. The pledge states: " To protect my health and environment, I will eat a more plant based diet, more fruits, nuts, vegetables, whole grains, beans and fewer fatty meats and dairy products. When I eat animal products, I will empahsize ones that are lower in fat and raised in humane ways that minimize harm to the environment."

Eye Opener 1: Ecological Footprint

Ecological Footprint Quiz:

So after taking the ecological footprint quiz, I am kind of ashamed.  If everyone lived the way I did, it would take 3.5 planets for everyone to live!  This blew me away because in a naive way I thought I lived pretty good compared to some people. I was wrong! I guess I should do more recycling, use less water and shut off lights and the TV when I am not watching it.  Something my roomates and I could really work on is not leaving our curling and flat irons on because we tend to let them sit on for quite a while before we use them.  I could really work on  driving less and walking more (even though I never drive to school and Duluth weather is very difficult sometimes, but enough excuses already!)  more conscious about what I throw away when pertaining to food and plastics.  Also, when it comes to the food I eat I could work more on buying locally grown foods and not as much packaged items.  

Travel Calculator:

I chose to take the travel calculator quiz because I travel quite a bit(especially this year!). Whether its going on vacation( which I went to Mexico in January and I will be going to Arizona in March,) or driving back and forth from home which is 3 hours there and back which is six hours of driving! YUCK! I thought this quiz would be appropriate to see how my traveling this year affects our earth.  It amazed me to think of how much pollutants such as carbon dioxide, particulates and nitrogen oxide that I am putting in the air each time I drive long distances or fly.  I think from now on I will rethink going home so much and on the flying subject...how can I help this?  It is so convenient to just hop on a plane and go wherever you need to go in a few hours?  At the end of the quiz the computer generates some helpful hints on how you can help this situation.  I found these really helpful.  You can take this quiz and get helpful hints by going to http://www.travelcalculator.org. 

Check it out!

General Electrical Energy Cost Calculator:

I liked talking this quiz because it made me really open my eyes about how much electricity I am using in my house. I live with three other girls, and we really do use a lot of electricity( according to our electric bills.)  It asked you put in how much you use for TV, radio, computer, lighting, etc.  My calculated total was $30.77 for how much it would cost in a month for just me.  This would definitely make a huge difference on our electric bill each month if each girl used this much also.  I will be trying to change my electricity habits...even starting with one thing at a time will make a huge difference.  

After taking these 3 quizzes, I realize that our world is not going to last forever. Either we take action now, or watch it continue to slowly fade away.  Where will we be then?  If we just take tiny steps towards bigger ones, and work together...WE CAN DO IT!