Reflections: Week 3 & 4

Week 3

• This week we had a one on one date with either Steve or Jayme. I met with Jayme on Monday 2:30pm to figure out what I was missing and to make sure I have all of my blog requirements set up for the semester. I'm actually very lucky we did this because I was not following anyone! I was just "friends" with everyone... TOTALLY WRONG!! Thanks Jayme :)

• We additionally had to figure out what book we wanted to do for the semester on our Read N Seed. I chose the book "Diet for a Small Planet" which sounds extremely interesting. It's based on healthier meal choices and a diet that consumes no meat.

Week 4

•  Ecological Footprint was an assignment we had due before class. This was one of the more interesting and revealing environmental topics we covered. We all learned how simple resources we take for granted are actually causing us to slowly destroy our planet.
  
  
• In class we had game day where we each had a review question about blogging, the syllabus, and other odds and ends. I ended up getting the question, "who has snack next week (5)". And the sweet prize I pulled out of the reusable bag........ a handy dandy box of.......  Playtex tampons! While playing this game I realized that I actually knew most of the answers which made me feel confident in my blogging!
  
  
• Very Important: I learned from the game that we not only need to write on our group members blog posts but also Dr. V's and Steve's if they post anything also!
  
  
• Additional: You can set blogs to appear at a later date which is THE sweetest thing ever!!!!!!! I love this feature especially because as my week passes I have more homework. Therefore, I can accomplish everything on Monday to appear on the due date later; GENIUS.
  
  
• Snack consisted of Rita bringing bananas!
  RITA'S TIP OF THE DAY: Monkey's actually eat bananas from the opposite end that most human beings tend to.     CRAZYYYYY
  
  
• The last thing we did in class was watch "An Inconvenient Truth" about global warming. I've seen this movie before in a previous class and it still gets me every time how vastly different the actual slide show photographs are in this presentation. People need to get the word out and realize that each of us are doing something that is harming the world. It really is now or never. 

Share & Voice 1: Food Inc Movie

Hungry for Change presents Food, Inc by Robert Kenner (producer/director) and Eric Schlosser (co-producer). "Food, Inc." reveals surprising--and often shocking truths--about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.


I think this is a movie we should watch! I think it'd be interesting to see things we never knew about the food industry. It came out on June 12th so I'm not sure if it's available yet but it'd be a good thing to look into :)
 

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 1: My SMART Goal

 

TOILET PAPER TO THE RESCUE 

I will use only 4 sheets of toilet paper every bathroom trip for the next ten weeks.

 This lifestyle is Eco-Chic because human beings are so wasteful when it comes to using toilet paper. A spin of the roll here, a spin of the roll there... Pretty soon the entire roll has vanished within one day of a new one being there! This is not only wasting your dollars but it's taking waste water treatment plants longer to break down the t.p. that we're so avidly flushing down!

Important Toilet Paper Facts: 

1. Every year 25 million trees are literally flushed down the toilet in Europe alone.

2. On average people use about 8 sheets per visit!!

This behavior change is important to me because my household (full of 5 girls) goes through t.p. like no one's business. It's not only a better change for the environment but it helps save the $$ in our own pockets! Broke college kids have more things to worry about than if the t.p. is on the rack when you sit down.

Take it from the Charmin Bears "less is more"

 MY TIPS

I would encourage everyone to start saving one roll at at time: 

1) cut your triple your roll by using only four sheets.
2) planting a few trees every year to replace the ones you flush!

Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 1 hosted by Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy. Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 1

Eye Opener: Ecological Footprint

Wikipedia defines ecological footprint as a measure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems.

In my Biology and Society class last year we also studied our ecological footprint and took the earthday quiz. Last year I must say I used roughly 4 planet earth's worth of resources for me to live.  Thankfully, I actually took the time to change this and even after six months I've cut my level down to using 3.37-4 of planet earth's resources. I still can't believe how much of the earth I've been using even with making so many lifestyle changes! It's so true though, one person can make a difference as we've been shown by doing this project and being able to change around different "if" factors. 

MY LIFE

-I've began taking the bus this school year along with carpooling. Both of these transportation changes have cut my mobility levels down to 6%. My biggest area that I've been using is services. 
-My house and I (5 people) are working on saving energy and heat better this year. Last year we learned the hard way (high bills) that we needed to start being more efficient. We are plastic wrapping our windows and we are becoming a power strip loving family.  When we leave for a period of longer than 24 hours we immediately (by habit now) unplug them to keep the energy costs down. 
-As of 4 months of working towards this better living process we have lowered our electricity bill by 13 dollars. WOHOO!!! Hopefully the cold winter months don't throw us for a loop but I know things will get harder as the temperature drops below 0.

MY CONTRIBUTION TO THE WORLD

These are some quiz sites I looked at:
1. Eco footprint quiz 1
2. Eco footprint quiz 2
Both of the previous websites are fun yet education tips showing how YOU affect the world. I would recommend this to all students learning about what they could do to better the earth.
3. Eco footprint quiz 3
This site deals with taking a trip (based on your own car's make and model) and how much gas you would use and how much it would cost you off an estimated gas price across the U.S.
4. Eco community footprint quiz 4
This site deals with your community's pollution report card. I reported from my hometown in Marshall, MN.