Reflections: Week 8-14

Reflection

Reflecting is probably one of the best soul foods that I can give my spirit, and for this class in particular, it was especially satisfying. This class has given me the knowledge and motivation to make a change not only at the individual level, but also inspiring environmental health change at the societal level through advocacy. From “Tapped” to junking, it’s been a fund ride.

Week 8 involved a follow up on my read ‘n’ seed to learn more about one of the most crucial elements of life, water. As a member of MPIRG, I decided to take part in their environmental task force by showing this same documentary as an event for the Health Fair. Through watching this documentary, I learned the severity of BPA, and how to make health related decisions in relation to this dangerous chemicals. I take strides towards using glass jars and BPA free plastic products.

Week 9 opened the second side of health education responsibility 7, which was advocating for health. Before this, advocating for health to senators and house representatives probably would’ve scared the life out of me. With the help of all the advocacy education, I was able to realize that I am meant to change health at more than the interpersonal level. I want to make policy changes that will create changes for health at the macro level.  Week 11’s overview issue helped me to take the research steps to creating change at the macro level. My issue topic was the Fair Farm Bill, in which I was engaged to do advocacy action on the UMD campus through MPIRG and Food and Water Watch in the Duluth area.  Never in a million years would I have seen myself trying to contact our Senator to change our food policies, but I’m glad I did!

From the movie “Fight Club,” a character said, “we work jobs we hate to by sh** that we don’t need!” I’ve always pondered on that until “the story of stuff” was shown in class. This YouTube video extended the movie quote to inspire change on what and how much I purchase. That video showed me so many specific reasons why I should think before I purchase. I now find myself in Target asking myself, “do I really need this, and is this really worth causing more damage onto someone else’s health?”

My favorite project in this class was junking. I have a new love for searching through Linky Parties and seeing how many people are finding ways to salvage old things that would normally end up a landfill and turn them into new objects for use.  I was amazed at the projects people completed for the junking “show and tell” day, and I also learned some tips and tricks for my future projects.

Last but not least, learning how to blog was has turned into a new skill for me. I love learning from others and blogging does it in a way that can be entertaining for me! Now that I’ve learned how to blog, Knowing how to use this tool better, will allow me to spread the knowledge and experience I have the with new HERO project for my internship!

Over all, this class has been one of the most beneficial and entertaining classes that I have ever taken. Whether, I’m shutting off lights, blogging about ways to improve health, or changing policy, all of these actions were caused by this course. Thank you!

Reflections: Week 1-7

I'm not trying to be a brown-nose, but besides frustrations with blogger, this has been my favorite class in my schedule. Here's why for the first two weeks:

Ice breaker activities such as trying to fit people onto the squares or use our brains to think outside the box. This was the fun part, but the frustrating thing was being patient with blogger. To be honest, I still don't know how to monkey around with HTML codes, but I do know how to use some gadgets, mess around with the layout, and join other people's blogs! That's a big start.

Week 3-4 allowed me to realize how much I use according to the earth in our first eye opener project. To sustain people like me it would take around 5.9 Earths. I'm glad that we discussed the eye opener tests in class to address our "guilt" for living the way we do. When Dr. V talked about how to get motivated to change was better than getting down on ourselves, I felt a lot more motivated to change.

Week 3 was also the day I started to read

The book started out really dense, but I got the point right away. The point is that America, specifically is starting to suffer from abuse on water resources. The other big point of the book is who gets to own water. Since I have been reading this book, I've started to notice the news and what it's reporting on the water issue.

I also learned terms such as aquifer, water cycle, commodity, infrastructure, ground, and surface water. 

Week 5 and 6 were probably my favorite weeks, because I take a great interest in healthy food. I've seen the documentary Food Inc. but I had never really learned about GMO pattenting, and why someone like Monsanto would do such a thing. The documentary "Fresh"gave me hope that we can return to a sustainable way of farming. I learned so much about the cycle of of farming and why a diverse farm is so much healthier than a homogenous corporate farm. I've been able to start eating a fliexitarian diet, which is a lower animal product style of eating. 

Blogging wasn't all bad and difficult to learn. Once I was able to start reading about what my other group members were up to, I became so much more interested. I loved Cole's tips on how to read product labels just like food labels. I'm working on using natural cleaners such as vinegar rather than petroleum based products. 

I was also proud of Alyssa for her changes in lifestyle. It sounded as if she learned how to address things when they were out of her control, and learn how to change for the future. After watching the documentary "Tapped," I now realize even more how valuable her SMART goal was.

 As for Cayla, I loved her book about eating Vegetarian. She mentioned that Jane Goodall d that meat was to hard on our digestive system because our intestines were too long. I definitely agree with that, because I noticed healthier digestion going on in my body. When she mentioned the honey bees transferring pattented seeds, and this was the first experience I had about GMO products before we watched a documentary on it in class.

To those I've been blogging with, thanks for informing me on what you've read or changed. I'm going to try and have faith that my new group members will be as awesome as you!

Welcome to GreenMachine by Shannon F

Hey eco Guys and Gals! I'm Shannon Flaherty and I'm so glad you could make it to my blog!

This blog is going to be about the things we chose to put in our bodies as fuel. This includes food and water. My Read 'n' Seed is on Aqua Shock: The Water Crisis in America so there will be ample information on water: what are the current issues with it, how that affects agriculture, and how we can change to conserve and provide clean water. I'll also be reading "The Food Revolution" to give information on the food that water grows for us to keep living. One specific quote by Hippocrates motivated me to study the relationship between man and food in terms of health. He said, "let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food." I know this hasn't been America's strongest point: being the fast food nation, but we are already making efforts to go back to our grass roots. Our mothers said urged us to drink water instead of pop and eat our greens, but this blog is taking it further than that. I'm on a mission to motivate people to turn into GreenMachines. 

There are 5 possible types of posts on my blog. They include:

1. Advocacy Project
2. Eye Openers
3. Reflections
4. Read 'n' Seed
5. Share and Voice

If you notice at the bottom of this post, the categories will be listed as labels. This post has been labeled with all five kinds of posts. You will also see the number of each kind of post in my Labels Gadget at the top of the page. All post titles from now on will begin with one of the categories above.

The members of my web group are: 

1. http://colefisher.blogspot.com/
2. http://enviro-surfingwithamyandkristen.blogspot.com/
3. http://creativewithcayla.blogspot.com/
4. http://www.blogger.com/profile/05507051340565114957a

You can also follow my blog by clicking "Follow this Blog" in the gadget column. You can see my complete profile and all the blogs I am following by clicking on "See Complete Profile." (Make sure all these gadgets are in place).

I'm really excited to share all that I know on this topic. I'm hoping to do the read'n'seed and I'll definitely be sharing on this. If you have an interest in this similar topic, you can blog and talk to me. Go Green while being a GreenMachine!