Sharing Thoughts and Ideas for a Healthier Environment

Showing posts with label Eye Opener. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eye Opener. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Eye Opener: Photo Essay

Water: Quintessential for life
So far throughout this course, one of the most compelling issues that we have covered is water. Water, in my opinion, should not be such a controversial subject. Water is needed for every living thing. Water was here before mankind and surrounds us every. So the water issues that our world is experiencing very unsettling to me that I felt that I should dedicate my photo essay to-water.
Waters off the island of Jamaica

Water makes up 70% of earth's surface; 75% of the human body and 90% of human blood is made up of water. So as we can see, water is a vital and essential component of life. However, even though we are surrounded by a plethora of water, only 1% is fresh.


Of that 1% of fresh water, as we now know after watching the documentary "tapped," many companies are bottling this natural element for the purpose of profiting from consumers. In addition to the rip off of reselling water for profitable gain, some water bottles made out of plastic containers that contain chemicals which may pose adverse health affects to those who drink water from those plastic containers.


I personally find this disturbing because companies are  playing off of people ignorance on the matter and it is filtering into vulnerable populations such as infants. For example,when parents give their children infant water, it is usually the water the find in grocery stores that is confined to containers that we know are not constantly being tested, as well as the chemicals in which the containers are made from that may pose such negative health effects, such as cancer and neurological effects.


Much attention had started to center around  tap water and all the chemicals associated with it. The water industry started to promote a "healthier" standard of bottled water, by implementing reverse osmosis as a concept of  not drinking contaminated water. Still, what about the chemicals associated with this plastic water jug?

Now that the plastic usage of water bottles have been polluting the environment and there has been a lot of attention surrounding the issue,there has been strides implemented to reduce the environmental effects of plastic water bottle pollution. One way is by promoting the "Green" symbol on bottled water to encourage people to recycle.


Some water containers just simply remind consumers to recycle by refilling the water container.




Another method is by using water systems that are offered in stores and refilling your own water jug.



Other solutions is to use filters that fit on your faucet to help eliminate contaminants from the tap. This method not only avoid using a lot of  plastic, but also it saves money by not having to but bottled water.

In conclusion, because glass bottles offer more purity in there structure and do not pose any affect on the environment by their chemical composition ,I often wonder why companies that bottle water and make so much revenue from the phenomena  just don't use real glass bottles!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Eye Opener: Junk on the Brain

Part I

Antiques/ antiquing:  A decorative object, piece of furniture or other work of art created in an earlier period that is collected and valued for its beauty, workmanship and age.

Junk/Junking: Anything that is regarded as worthless.

Flea market: A type of bazaar where inexpensive or secondhand goods are sold or bartered
Thrift shop: A retail store that sells secondhand goods at reduced prices.
Upcycling: The process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value.
 Resale shop: An establishments run by charitable organization to raise money.

PART II

The terms have to do with environmental health because it encompasses recycling, or refurbishing, and sustainability  by means of saving waste that all aids in being eco- friendly toward the environment.

Farther Time Antiques
395 S. Lake Ave
Duluth MN 55802
218-625-2379
http://local.yahoo.com/info-24345561-father-time-antiques-duluth
Junk
Chesney auto salvage
6250 Beaver River Road
Duluth Mn 55803
http://www.chesneyautosalvage.com/

Flea Market
Junkologie
Alvn.mail@gmail.com (The only contact available)
http://www.junkologie.com

Thrift shop
Goodwill
700 Garfield Ave
Duluth Mn
218-722-6351
http://www.goodwill.org/

Upcycle
Bayside Recycling Corporation
220 South 39th Avenue  West Duluth , MN
218-628-3109
http://www.baysiderecycling.com/

Resale shop
Dannie Duluth
932 E. 4th Street
Duluth MN
218 724-8507
http://dannieduluth.com/

I have in the past and occasionally still will buy items from a resale or thrift store. I think it’s economical and the items, at times, are gently used. It all depends on what I’m looking for but I think  a resale shop is a great concept to help save money.  You can really find some bargains if you look hard enough!

Part III

JunkMarketstyle wedding at Marburger Farm
I like the antique wedding project because I personally liked the antique rings that were displayed. I liked that it was certified GIA so people have some gurantee. I also thought the concept in general was innovated because most traditional weddings are extremely expensive, so I thought having this one stop shop to shop for a wedding is very unique as well as time and money saving idea.

How to make a swinging bed
This project caught my interest because I wanted to know how one can make a swinging bed. At first I thought of a Hammock, but this was a little different. I thought it was such an innovated idea. I think it’s a nice touch if you have a lot of outdoor space it seems like it can be very serene and relaxing.

Candleholder project
I thought that this was very creative way to display candles. I liked that it looks vintage buy yet has style to it. It very unique and adds a lot of décor to the home.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Eye Opener: Enviornmental Working Group


The cosmetic item I chose that I use quite frequently is fingernail polish remover.
The remover that I normally buy is Cutex. This product rates a 3 overall (moderate concerns as far as the safety of the product). According to the safety database there are some high hazardous concerns regarding the ingredients of the product. The fragrance that is used in the product rated an 8 because it poses high concerns causing neurotoxicity, allergies and immunotoxicity.   Acetone was another ingredient that rated somewhat high at a 4.  Acetone poses concerns on toxicity of the developmental and reproductive organs as well as irritation to eyes, skin or lungs. It is unknown if animals are being tested with this product (I hope not).
What this means to me is that we are walled by so many poisonous chemicals.  These toxic chemicals are not just in what we eat, but also by what we absorb through the products we use on our bodies.   I believe are lifestyles, for the most part, inhibits us from really paying attention to what we are doing to ourselves.  Most people lives are so fast pace  that  it impedes them from noticing just how much their actions negatively impact oneself.  After reading the health report on this product, it just made me realize that the minutest item can carry such a negative effect on a person as well as the environment. Furthermore, we are so trusting with things that we don’t think to take the time to research and seek out the side effects that certain items may have.  It really makes me think about all the products I use and what other kind of affects they may possibly impose.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Eye Opener: CSPI

The CSPI activity I chose to do was the "Eating green calculator." What I found out after particpating in the activity was disappointing :(


 The environmental burdens of the animal products I eat each year are:

·         0.8 acres of grain and grass for animal feed.

·         0.2 pounds of pesticides used to grow the animal feed

·         23.8 pounds of fertilizer used to grow animal feed

·         4742 pounds of manure created by the animals I eat. (Gross!)

To improve my daily diet, I decided to omit beef period. I chose to cut down my serving size of intake of chicken to from four to 2.  My milk and yogurt intake I reduced to 2 servings instead of 4, and for cheese, which is really hard for me to do because I absolutely love cheese, I decided to reduce my serving size from 6 per week to 4 per week.

Yes, I took the pledge because after understanding how much I contribute to the environment just by what eating, I felt that I could do better by changing a minmal behavior and doing  two positive things at once which is to eliminate all the toxins and pesticides I’m consuming and also by not putting so much strain on the environmental resources that are needed to accommodate my eating behaviors. 

What this means to me is that if I, as an individual, add that much strain on environmental resources that means, as a whole population, we are destroying are environment in every way. This activity focused on one aspect of daily life.  Just imagine if the activity factored in other aspects that we engage in as humans, wow, what kind of outcome would have been reported? We are the culprits by our demands to satisfy our behavior, traditions and culture.


Sunday, October 2, 2011

Eye Opener- Ecological Footprint

My ecological footprint suggested that if everyone lived like me, we would need 4.6 Earth’s to provide resources. To support my lifestyle, it would take 20.3 global acres of the earth’s productive area and 21.1 tons of carbon dioxide.  Wow! I was very surprised to learn how my way of living requires so many demands from the Earth’s resources. I never realized how my lifestyle in particular made such an impact on the planets eco system.
I did not take into consideration that basically everything a person’s does have an effect on the earth’s ecological system and the majority of the population is not realizing it. So many everyday behaviors we engage in as a people have such a huge impact on our environment. Primarily I think the majority of people do not think about how
we are damaging the environment because we don’t think outside the box.We mainly think our individual actions and not look at it as a whole, therefore believing that our actions are meaningless and do not have that much bearing on the environment.

The impact of my behaviors regarding the environment is that I am personally contributing to more material being used to package items and that I contribute to a fair amount of pollution. I might reconsider by buying less animal based products so that I would not be a big contributor to the acres needed to raise those animals. Also, I may start carpooling or taking public transportation in efforts to reduce pollution. Another thing I may start doing to help reduce pollution, that I thought was a good idea after reading an article about ways to reduce pollution "Bionomic Fuel.com ", is combining errands and appointments into one trip because this would help reduce exhaust fumes and emission.

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