Friday, December 18, 2009

Reflections: Week 13 & 14 and Overall Course Reflection




Week 13
This week I wrote my advocacy letter to Representative Joe Hoppe about why school lunch subsidies should be increased. Class also met at GoodWill Industries today. We went on a tour, which was really interesting. I couldn't believe how BIG it was! It's awesome that they employ people who may have trouble finding jobs because of certain disabilities they may have.  I also thought the machine that crushed mattresses was awesome; so cool that someone from Duluth invented that! Once we were in the actualy store of the GoodWill we split into groups for an activity. My group and I put together an outfit that would be appropriate attire for a job interview for only $20.

Week 14
This week I put together an 'eye-opener' for my group to complete that I had to do with my advocacy project. I also, completed the eye-openers that my group members had created. It was really funn to see what everyone came up with! During class we had a discussion about the class, and what we had learned. We also had a fun conversation about fast/slow drivers and why it is that people may do that.


Overall Course Reflection
I have learned SO much throughout this course. The documentaries that we watched during class were my favorite part!  Everyone one that we watched I found to be so interesting, and just packed with information that I has never heard before. I also really enjoyed doing my eco-chic lifestyle change. I pretty much always use my re-usable bags now, and I don't think it would have become such a habbit if I hadn't written about it each week. I also find myself telling people stuff that I have learned in this class ALL the time. Or making little comments if someone is doing something that I know isn't environmentally friendly. It was also really beneficial for me for learn how to blog. Now matter what job I end up with, I can probably somehow incorporate it.
I really enjoyed this class, and got A LOT out of it!





Here's my Junking project! I made the hat from the sleve of an oversized sweater.
I folded up the bottom part, and applied a little fabric glue. Then I bunched the top
part together, added some fabric glue and a clear rubber band, and added
a cotton ball on the top!



Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Share 'N' Voice: Toxic Toys

Toxic toys are all over the place in the U.S. According to the Environmental News Service 1 in every 3 toys out of the 1,500 toys tested before last year's holiday season tested positive for toxins. Such as mercury and arsenic!

HealthyStuff.org was created by the Ecology Center, which is a non-profit environmental organization. They created 4 lists of toys that range from 'No levels of Concern' to 'High Levels of Concern'. Below I have links to the high and medium levels. But you can find all of the lists HERE.

List of toys in the U.S. that contain HIGH levels of toxins.



Princess Sandles
contain high levels









Medium Levels of Toxins.


<"Baby's First: Giggles"
Contain medium levels of
Chlorine.

Eye Opener: Online Learning Activities

Jordanne's Online Learning Activity: Water Quality Problem Solver
The purpose of this eye opener was to look at the possible contaminants that may be in our drinking water. Also, to find solutions if you realize there are contaminants in your water.

From the Water Quality Sypmtom Search Engine the fist contaminat I chose to look at was when my water has a reddish/orange color. I chose this because I have come across water that looked like this. The contaminent making it this color was iron. 
*Effects that iron has on my water: it may give it a rusty color, can cause reddish/orange stains, and may give the water a metallic taste.
*The source of this contaminent is from natural deposits.

*Different treatments include: Filtration, Oxidation/Precipitation/Filtration, Disinfection

The second contaminent I chose to look more into was under the catagory of the water causing spots on glassware, dishes, and flatware. I chose this becuase this is also a problem I have come across from time to time. This contaminent causing this can be caused by either hard water(measured as Calcium Carbonate,CaCO3)  or total dissolved solid s(TDS)


CaCo3

*Sources of the Contaminent in Drinking Water: Natural deposits that cause calcium and magnesium salts in raw water

*Effects: Consumes soap, making cleaning more difficult. The CaCo3 can cause whitish scale deposits.
*Treatment: Use a water softener that removes all calcium and magnesium ions in water


TDS
. *Effects: caused hard water and deposits on glasses

*Sources of this contaminent are from: Natural deposits or brackish water intrusion
*Recommended Treatment Methods: Reverse osmosis, distillation, deionization

Karly's On-Line Learning Activity: Physical Education in the Schools Lesson

The purpose of Karly's less is to how important physical education is in public school systems. Also, to learn how it has changed through out the years.

Reflecting on my own experiences with physical education in elementary and middle school:

-How many days a week did you have PE class? I THINK in both middle school and high school P.E. and music switched off days, and I believe P.E. was more often. So I'll go with 3 days a week.


-How long were the classes? An hour.

Were you required to participate? Yes, you would lose participation points if you didn't.

Did you enjoy this class? Why or why not? I normally did yes. It was always a good break in the day, and we typically did activites that everyone enjoyed. I never dreaded going. Except maybe in elementary school when we had to square dance with a boy :)
 
After reading the document, 'Physical Education in Schools-Both Quality and Quantity are Important'. I was asked to answer the following questions:





-What are the current recommendations for children and physical activity? 60 minutes a day. 30 during school.



-What are the percentages of schools that are currently providing physical education? What percentage of schools DO NOT have a PE program? Only 3.8% of elementary school, 7.9% of middle school, and 2.1% of high schools offer P.E. for the whole school year. 22% of schools don't offer any at all

-What are some of the benefits of PE in the school? Physical activity lowers a person's risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure. Having P.E. offered during schools will help to teach kids how to incorporate physical activities into their daily routine.
 
Putting it all together...
 
Do you feel as though PE in the schools should be a required course? why or why not? Yes! Like it said in the article, it's a great way to help teach kids to establish a healthy lifestlye.


If yes, up until which age/grade? I think it should be offered through high school. However, in high school I think they should only have to take for one half of the year. and for middle and elementary school kids should be taking it all year.



•Do you think that it should be the parents job to make sure their children are physically active and not the schools? I think it should be both. Parents should make sure their kids are doing active things, but it should also be the school's job to provide the children with physcial education.

Do you believe that having PE in the schools incorporates other beneficial qualities besides fitness? if yes, what?  Yes. It can teach teamwork, it can be a stress relief because it breaks up the kids day a little bit, it can help improve grades because being active can give an energy boost which will help them to focus better when they are in their classroom.



Hailey's On-line Learning Activity: Water Quality and Sanition Activity
The purpose of Hailey's eye-opener was to have us look at a couple different web pages, which were Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act 2009 Report to Congress, Environmental Health Perspective(which I couldn't get to open), and Institute of Medicine website. We also need to complete a crossword puzzle about water sanition.


Cross Word Puzzle Questions:

Across:


1. People are losing their self _Dignity__ because of their lack of sanitary resources.
6. The other main issue that is affecting individuals in developing countries. Sanitary Resources
7. One of the biggest barriers in reducing the amount of people affected by poor water quality and sanitation. Money
9. The percentage of people who lack access to clean drinking water in the world. Forty Percent

Down:

2. How many countries worldwide are in need of assistance when it comes to water quality and sanitation. 95 Countries
3. One of the main issues affecting individuals living in developing countries? Water Access
4. An economic impact of poor water quality and sanitation would be reduced worker _Productivity____
5. People are being infected by _Diseases____ on a regular basis due to unclean water.
8. The acronym for one of the leading agencies who is helping out with water quality and sanitation problems? EPA

I was asked to answer: What do you think it would be like to live without access to clean water and sanitary resources? It would be really difficult! I couldn't imagine being thirsty, and not having access to water that wouldn't be potentially harmful to me. Day-to-day living would be completely different, is so many aspects!

Monday, December 14, 2009

Advocacy Project: School Lunch Subsidies and Nutrition

Eye-Opener: School Lunch
Purpose: To gain a better undestanding of  political aspects of school lunch.

Background: The 2009 MN legestlator was debating bills that would increase the reimbursements to schools' lunches for low income students.

ANSWER: 
1. What was your school lunch like growing up?
2. Would you consider it as healthy?
3. Do you remember how it was paid for/ by whom?

Read
The following Legistlative Issue Paper written by the Minnesota School Nutrition Association. It summarizes the 2009 issues related to school lunches in Minnesota. This group clearly shows the gap between producing a school lunch and the revenue recieved, a problem that is causing many low-in-come students to not have access to as healthy school lunches.

Nutrition guidlines are mandated by both federal and state government, school lunches are a hot political topic. In an attempt to take some of the politics out of the issue, a group called The Healthy Schools Campaign, which is a independent non-profit organization, is here to help students, parents, and school leaders work to create change at the distric, state, and national level.
The following article in the Chicago Healthy Schools Campaign news letter explains ways to get children to eat healthier lunches, and stresses the importance of increasing funding for school lunch programs. Please read the news letter.

Watch
The following video explains the politics behind school lunch.
The Food Lobby Goes to School

Answer these questions as you watch the video: 
4. What are some obsticles that got in the way of providing American school children with healthy lunches. 

5. What health problems affect American children? Did this surprise you?

6. Consider what you have read and the video you have watched: What do you think is the #1 thing that you think can be done to improve school lunch?

Share 'N' Voice: Banned Bottled Water


I have a subscription to Vegetarian Times Magazine, and I came across a really cool article. This past July, a town in Australia called Bundanoon became the first town in Australia, and most likely the World, to ban the sale of any bottled water in their town.

The ban is called 'Bundy on Tap' or 'BOT' and it came about because a Syndey- based beverage company called Norlex was planning on building a water extraction plant in their town. This wasn't allowed, so Norlex planned on continuing to build the plant, and then ship the water out of town to be bottled. The person behind BOT realized that if the town was against having that company in their town, why would it make sense to sell the finished product in their town. So the town voted, and almost everyone voted YES on discontinuing the sale of water bottles. The town then started selling re-usable water bottles, and installed 4 filtered-water drinking fountains with spouts that made refilling water bottles easy.
AWESOME!