Reflection of Weeks 1-4

Reflection

When asked to sit down and reflect on what I have learned over the last few weeks I couldn't believe how much came to mind.  Starting out in this class on day one I was very excited and ready to learn more about it.  I had heard great things about this class and also have an interest in the environment so I was very optimistic coming into it.  However after the first day I have to admit I felt a bit overwhelmed. So much information was being thrown at us and I was fairly new at blogging so I was nervous.  After a few days things did get better as I got the hang of things. The list of things that I have learned about blogging so far include: 

• how to create a blog
• blogging etiquette 
• how to create a gadget
• format of a blog

These are just some general things I had learned about blogging, I have also learned a lot about my fellow bloggers and some important environmental issues as well.  One thing that sticks out in my mind what I have learned is about Industry and how much they actually control what we think about our world,  what we eat, and how we feel about whats healthy.  It's very scary to think about it almost seems like in a way that we are being controlled by the norms of our society.  I know that its comfortable to follow those norms but I also think its very important to be educated before you make decsions.  Since reading my book The Food Revolution, many important issues regarding my diet has been brought to my attention.  I never really realized how much eating certain foods actually effect not only ourselves but our world around us.  I think that this is a great book and actually unbiased in the way its written.  It includes many scientific facts and I definitley think its a book you should check out.

Another thing that I have learned during the first four weeks of class is how great it is to interact in groups such as our blog groups. I love reading each persons posts because I feel like they give me an idea of what they personality would be like and kind of tells me their own interests. Each group is very diverse, which helps to give an array of topics to talk about.  After reading all of my group members posts I feel as if so many new issues have been brought to my attention and even sparked my interest in some.  I have learned about each of their different books with topics that include:

• Drunken Girlhood
• Children and nature
• Fast Food
• How to survive in emergency situations

each of their posts has really taught me new things that I think are very interesting and I look forward to reading them every week.

In addition to learning about my group members and there books I have also learned about the environment and my self.  One thing that I thought was interesting was the ecological footprint topic.  I couldn't believe that our class had such high numbers.  After talking about it though we all realized different ways that we could be more eco friendly and make our footprints smaller, which is great to see that we all want to make progress.  Other topics that I learned about that were of interest to me were:

• opinions of west Duluth
• more smoking bans in Duluth
• the great pacific garbage dump video
• how the white house controls what information can be released about the environment

I think that the biggest thing that i learned about my self is that I really do have a passion in certain things, whether is be environmentally related or not, its important find more out about it because you never know what you might find.

Share and Voice: We like to Hike

So for this share and voice I was kind of at a loss of what to do but then I got this great idea!   One of the people in my blog group ( Alicia) is reading about how kids are not as connected with nature as they used to be.  Kids are staying inside more and more and people fear that because that they have such a disconnect to nature that they will not care as much if nature is destroyed or ruined.  Because I was very interested in this topic it kind of made me stop and think.  When was the last time I got out and really enjoyed my self in the outdoors?  I got kind of worried and realized that it had been quite a while so I thought why not go enjoy my self for a while.  After a short drive I ended up in Pattison Park, which is just outside of Superior, and was blown away by its beauty.  Me and a few friends walked for about two hours took pictures and just plain enjoyed ourselves.  It was almost as if we were kids again.  I left there feeling less stressed and just feeling good about my self.  But anyways I guess what Im trying to say is that we should all try to get out side and just enjoy our selves more. who knows you might even end up reliving some stress as well.

Share and Voice: Ride your Bike to Work Day

GET FIT AND BE GREEN:

We all know that there has been a push in our society to get people out and get moving.  Whether it be walking, going to the gym, or even dancing the push to get physically active has been great.  Another issue that much of our society is worried about is the amount of pollution that goes on in our world, much of it being from people driving their cars.  These are tow very important topics to discuss and I was thinking how great that they could be if we could focus on both at the same time.  The good news is that the city of Moose Lake did just that with the help of Carlton County Health Department.  On October 6th 2010 the city held its first annual "Bike to Work Day" along with a "Get Fit Walk".  I thought that this was a very innovative idea and think that it would be awesome if cities around the U.S also did events like this.  Essentially you are hitting both the topics because you are getting people out and about while also being environmentally friendly.  Fortunately I was lucky enough to attend part of this event and it was really great to hear and participate in this type of events.  I hope that more events like this will be able to happen in Duluth and maybe specifically on the UMD campus.

For more info about Carlton County Health Department and Events visit their website at:

http://www.co.carlton.mn.us/departments/public_health_human_services/public_home.htm

Read "n" Seed 2: First quarter of The Food Revolution

This was my first week reading The Food Revolution by John Robbins.  Needless to say I am completely caught up in this book already and I can hardly put it down.  Its amazing how interesting and how knowledgeable the author seems.  For the first part of my readings I read chapters one through four and through page eighty-two.  The first four chapters were as follows:

1. Introduction: What is the Food Revolution?
2. Healthy Heart, Healthy Life
3. Preventing Cancer
4. The Great American Diet Roller Coaster

The array of topics in this book are seeming endless but also very intruging.  The facts that he presents in the book and the stories he has shared thus far have made me reconsider a lot about my eating patterns already and its only a little way into the book.  The main topic of the book is basically how there is proven facts and scientific records that eating a vegetarian based diet not only fulfills your daily nutritional need, but also helps to prevent heart disease, stroke, obesity, and cancer.  In addition to this it discusses the topic about how the meat industry pays a lot of money to convince us that meat should be the staple of our diet as it is right now.  It kind of goes back to the topic that we talked about in on monday at the nature class room saying how industry controls every thing.  One thing that I find very interesting in this book is the amount of facts and research studies that this book credits in supporting its examples.  For instance I always knew that eating a vegetarian diet was better for you but reading this book is starting to convince me to do it.  Reading about some of the things that go on with hearts disease and cancer makes me kind of scared and is convincing me to be proactive about while I still can.  He includes many real life instances about how meat based diets have caused chronic illnesses.  One example he includes is that his uncle Burton Baskin ( founder of Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream Co.)  died of a heart attack at only the age of 50.  This was due to his diet of diary every day in large quantities, but this however is not the only thing that stuck out.  Many eye opening facts are included in this book:

• According to  William Castelli, M.D., Director, Framingham Health Study Stated, " Vegetarians have the best diet; because they have the lowest rates of coronary heart disease  of any group in the country"

Not that this is the only determinate but it is very eye opening.  I think that this  book really should make every one think about what they put in their bodies.  There is a lot out there that we can do to change it and this book helps to give you a better idea what to do. Overall Im very excited to continue reading and learn more about the book.

Eye Opener: Ecological Footprint

After reading about what the ecological footprint was, I was very shocked to see how large that it actually is.    I cant believe that for how educated many of us are on the topic that we still have such large ecological foot prints.  When I took the ecological footprint quiz I was very shocked to see what the findings were.  It is sad to say and I'm kind of embarrassed to say what they were.  It said that if everyone were to live a life style like me it would take four planet earths to provide enough resources for all of us.  Its really sad to see that and that my lifestyle choices can effect it so much.  When it showed me how my footprint broke down it was also really eye opening to see that most of it was going toward services and not food and shelter.  Even though these findings were kind of embarrassing they were however very eye opening.  I really want to try to do some things different when it comes to my lifestyle and my ecological footprint.