Reflection of Weeks 5-8

As the semester goes on I cannot believe that we are already in week eight.  Its so crazy how time flies.  Throughout this course I have learned many things.  Much of these things build off what I learned during the first four weeks.  I am very grateful that the topics that we discuss in class open my eyes to many new things.  I think also that much of what we learn I am very passionate about, so it makes learning very easy.


To start I want to say that I am very glad that I have finished my book these last couple of weeks.  It provided so much information, that before reading it I would have never known about.  It made me convinced that I really want to cut meat out of my diet as much as I can, or at least try to.  From my book I also learned  how important it is that we do as much as we can to preserve our earth.  We only have one and it is not going to last forever.


Outside of my book we were also introduced to many other things in class.  I think on of my favorite activities that we did in class was making a graphical header.  I loved that we got to use picnik to design our headers.  It offered us so many options to use and added a creative side to our blogs.  Now they can really express our personalities.  In addition to that some of the other things that I learned about in class were

• The farm industry in our country
• Cancer Alley
• The  movies: about the water bottle industry (tapped)
• Other documentaries: "Green", "Fresh"
• how to embed a video into you blog
• the real ingredients in your cosmetics
• and how to find eco-freindly snacks in duluth

The snacks that we have in class is also a very interesting idea.  I love hearing how people came up with creative environmental food to bring to share, it makes for a lot of new ideas for snacking.

Another idea that came up and we have just started learning about is junking, or antiquing.  I cannot not wait until we get to make our own projects and show them to the class.  It will be a great new hobby that is also good for the environment.

Outside of in class discussion I have also learned a lot from my group members and the ideas that they post on their blogs.  Not only about their books, but about their share and voices.  Some of the ones that stick out are:

• Wake up to reality, by Alicia
• JD's One Hundred Months and Counting
• Molly's Personal Project
• Matt's Share and Voice Lake Walk

It has been a really fun last couple of weeks learning everything that we have.  I have truly become more aware of what I my self have to do to help sustain our earth.  I also have come to realize that what I do alone may not be enough.  If everyone could take a class that offered information like this I think that many more people would try to make changes.  However this is not the case.  Therefore it is important for us to educate what we have already learned to other people and voice our opinions.  And with that I know we can make a change

Share and Voice: John Robbins Blog

Since our class is all about blogging I thought that it would be neat for you guys to see someone else's blog that is not in our class.  Since John Robbins, the author of my book, is very passionate about the sustainability of our environment I thought that his blog would be fun to look at.  It offers a list of organizations that he is in, videos, news articles, and even links to facebook!  Anyways feel free to take a look and play around and see if you find anything that interests you.

Link to John Robbin's Blog

Share and Voice: Project Green Campus PSA

Since the topic of Recycling is so popular in our class I thought that this video would be perfect.  In methods class, which some of you may or may not have had, we had to make video PSA's.  I thought that this one was so great, and portrayed a good message. that I feel like it needs to be seen by everyone.  It was made by some students that you may know including Ashley and Haley our class TA's.  It also gives you a little idea of what you may be doing in Methods, and it shows some quality work.  Enjoy

Eye Opener: Junk on the Brain

The following terms I defined using wikipedia.  It provided short to the point definitions so I thought that it would be a good site to use.

antiques/antiquing- can simply be defined as an old collectible item.  It is desirable because of its age, beauty, condition, personal and emotional connection.  With these it also comes along with anything thing else that makes it special.  It comes from a previous era and many think that it should be at least 100 years old.  Antiquing on the other hand is a shopping activity that involves collecting antiques.  it could also be a woodworking and decorative art technique.

• Father Time Antiques, 395 South Lake Avenue #1, Duluth MN 55802  (218)625-2379

junk/junking- the remains of something that has been destroyed or broken up.  It can be very useful.  Junking is taking old discarded material and re-using it to make something new.

• One place that you could gather lots of junk could be at a junk yard.  One of the ones I found is Demo- Luscious. located at 306 South Central Ave, Duluth Mn (218)940-7560.  However they did not have a website.

flea market- type of bazaar where inexpensive or second hand goods are sold or bartered.  It can be held indoors or outdoors, and can range in size from big to small.  Many times it may be associated with a carnival or a concert.

• Because flea markets are always happening at different parts of the year I decided to include a calendar of the flea markets in MN.

thrift shop- also called a charity shop, or hospice shop.  They usually sell second hand goods donated by the public, and are often staffed by volunteers.  Prices are usually low because the items are attained for free.  After all business needs are paid the rest of the money is donated to designated to charities.

• Savers,1740 Mall Drive Duluth MN, 55811 (218)722-1894

upcycling- can be described as the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials of products of a better quality or higher environmental value.

• I could not find a resource in Duluth MN that specifically deals with upcycling. However maybe this is something that we could all try to do on our own,

resale shop- same as thrift shop.

• Plato's Closet, 5115 Burning Tree Road Duluth Mn, 55811

All of the following definitions are very important when it comes to environmental health.  When we are able to reuse things it is very Eco-friendly and helps to reduce waste in our environment.  Also when you look at the aspect of upcycling, it  is a great way to use something old and make it better not only for our use but for the environment.  As of right now many of the terms such as antiquing, and junking are new to me, but they would be something I would love to try.  All of the final products looks so cool and it would be a great new hobby.  I do however find lots of great items at the Goodwill, Plato's Closet, and Savers,


What inspires me?  I couldn't wait  to go on Junk Market style and find a few things.


the following projects were found from www.junkmarketstyle.com

1. A Simple Monday Floral Arrangement.  This inspires me mainly for the word simple.  It really describes it.  I am really drawn to things that are not to busy, and I usually feel like less is more.  Also I love flowers and floral arrangements and I think that this would be very fun to make.
2. Old Letters to make a new Entry.  This is also something I would love to have.  I love the way that different size and shapes of letters look when they are all put together.  Its very contemporary looking.  Plus you could re-use the letters to make different word when necessary.  Its very cool.
3. Old Window Picture Frame.  There are so many reasons why I LOVE this.  First of all I love pictures especially when they are in black and white, and a frame like this would give a bit of a twist and would be a great accent for it.  Also a friend of mine makes things like this out of old windows and they are very neat.  It could be used almost anywhere depending on how you decorate it.