Reflection weeks 13-14 and Overall Course

Good Will!

Touring the Good Will here in Duluth was a great learning activity. We got to see the operations that go down behind the scenes, and I thought it was really cool to learn more about the great things this organization does for the community (like enabling and employing individuals with disabilities). This really made me feel good about shopping at Good Will. 

Lifestyle change finale!

In week 14 we all wrapped up our eco-chic lifestyle changes/SMART goals. It was great to hear that many of us plan on continuing with our lifestyle changes- that shows that this assignment was really valuable and practical. I know I learned a lot just from reading about the changes other blog group members had chosen. I think reading other people’s posts was a good way to prepare in case I someday decide to make any of the same changes my group members made. 

Advocating! 

To wrap up our advocacy projects we all created learning activities for other blog members to complete. The learning activities were all very informative but also fun and I thought this activity helped solidify a lot of the things we learned in these advocacy projects.  

Junk! 

I think we all had a lot of fun with our junking projects! This was a really cool way to drive home the idea of recycling but in a different way than I think many of us were used to. This activity let us all express our creativity in a useful way and I had a great time seeing what other people did for their projects. I thought it was fun to see all the possible ways to re-use old items and make something new! I know my hat hanger is going to come in handy this winter! 

I think overall what I learned from this class was that little changes and little things we do every day can make a difference. There are SO many issues with our environment (as we’ve learned about in class) that it can seem like it would be difficult to tackle them all, or difficult to make a difference. This class really showed me that the little changes I make DO make a difference, even if it’s just a small one. I also learned the importance of being aware of these issues, and how spreading the word to just a small group of people can actually be very influential. I learned so much from this course but I still feel like it’s just the tip of the ice berg and I plan on learning more about a lot of these issues we discussed in class in the future. I feel much more aware and educated now that I have taken this course. 

Reflection: Weeks 9-12

I can't believe there's just a few short weeks left this semester. This class really seems like it's been flying by. Here's a quick recap of the past 4 weeks and what I've taken away from it all:

Week 9: This week we all learned about how to make SMART goals. If a goal is SMART that means it is Specific,  Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. We all made some great SMART goals, and I think this was an excellent way for us to apply the things we've learned in class to our everyday lives. This week we also learned about Advocacy and took the first step in getting involved by searching for and posting our political representatives.


Week 10: In week 10 we really got started on our Advocacy Projects. We all chose an issue that we cared about from Healthy People and searched for related legislation on the topic. The issue I chose involved reducing overall cancer rates (new cases) in the United States. We also watched the video Unnatural Causes  in class and learned how to do an issue overview, which involves considering all aspects of an issue, who it affects, what the impact is, etc. We also kept up to date on our eco-chic lifestyle change/ SMART goals, and posted about our progress.


Week 11: This week in class we watched the short video The Story of Stuff. I think this has been my favorite movie we've watched yet because of the way it addressed consumerism and it really made a lot of big complex ideas seem very simple and easy to understand. We also posted our issue overviews related to our Healthy People objectives, which I found to be a great learning experience. Being able to read the organized overviews of everyone's different topics was a great way to break down the information so we could all easily see the impact, the people affected, and the importance of the issues.


Week 12: This week we all presented our photo essays on topics of our choice. I loved seeing everyone present their pictures in class and I thought a lot of people had really great stories to share. I also thought it was a really cool idea to assign a photo essay instead of a regular essay because sometimes seeing what people are talking about is much more helpful than words alone and it let us express our creativity. We also continued with our eco-chic lifestyle changes/ SMART goals and I think a lot of us are pretty proud at the progress we made in 4 weeks.

So, the past 4 weeks were a blur as usual, and I felt like I learned so much in such a short time. Still, I'm glad it's almost the end of the semester and I'm excited to apply everything I've learned...over winter break.

Reflection: Weeks 5-8

It’s hard to believe we’re all done with the second portion of this course already! I found these past few weeks to be really interesting and fun. Here’s a summary of the things I learned these past few weeks:

We all had a chance to finish the books we chose for our Read N’ Seed assignments by week 7. I think we all had the opportunity to learn a lot from this experience, not only from reading our own books but by following our group members posts as well. The book I chose, The Organic Food Guide: How to Shop Smarter and Eat Healthier, helped me learn a lot about organic foods (why they’re better for you, how to incorporate it into your diet, how to find good prices, etc). 

We also had the opportunity to learn from several eye-opener activities. First, we all looked up one or more cosmetic products we use frequently and entered it in the environmental working group’s cosmetic safety data base. The website then calculates the relative safety of any of the products you enter (in my case, Aveeno moisturizing lotion) by telling you the toxic ingredients, and what possible health risks may be associated with the contents of the cosmetics. Overall I learned a lot from this activity and I think it encouraged many of us to change the products we use on our body every day. 

The other eye opening activity was related to junking/reusing old products for new purposes. For this assignment, we began by looking up local resources where we could find used clothing, goods and services. I found this aspect of the assignment particularly interesting and practical because many of these resources we can all put to practical use (I plan on checking out a few new thrift stores and shops in the near future). For this assignment we also had the opportunity to access the junkmarketstyle webpage peruse the variety of projects posted there. We then got to choose at least 3 projects that interested or inspired us which I’m sure gave many of us a lot of excellent ideas regarding how we can reuse things we would normally throw away (and it probably helped us get ideas for our junking projects). 

The videos we watched in class were also very interesting and I felt like I learned a great deal from them. We watched the documentary Fresh in week 6, which discussed industrial farming and agricultural practices in the United States. I learned a lot from this film about the harmful aspects of this type of farming and mass industry, and also had the opportunity to learn about the benefits of local, more sustainable farming practices. We also watched the documentary Tapped which discussed the detrimental aspects of the bottled water industry in the United States. This movie basically opened my eyes to the fact that the bottled water idea is actually really way too expensive, toxic, harmful to small communities, unregulated (for the most part, by the FDA), and CRAZY. 

Overall I learned a great deal the past few weeks, from the course material, eye opening activities, and my fellow blogmates. I think these environmental health topics are really exciting and inspiring and I look forward to learning more throughout the rest of the course. 

Reflection: Weeks 1-4

These first four weeks of class seem to have just flown by! I've already learned a great deal this semester, about a wide variety of topics and I'm excited to  see how my reflection today compares to my next reflection in 4 weeks.
Before taking this course I was completely in the dark about blogging but after 4 short weeks I feel i'm a fairly capable blogger. I can create and design my own blog, edit posts, include gadgets and pictures and stay updated on other peoples blogs as well. I've really come to appreciate blogging, especially as an environmentally conscious approach to an environmental health class. I feel like I'm making a difference every day just by posting online instead of handing in papers.
This course has really drawn my attention to the impact I have on the environment. After taking the ecological footprint quiz I realized that the little things I don't usually think about (like taking shorter showers, carpooling, or carrying a re-usable coffee mug, for instance) can really minimize the impact I have on the  environment. The book i chose for my Read 'N' Seed assignments has also been eye-opening and educational for me. I never truly appreciated how arduous the lives of organic farmers can be what with all the testing and potential spread of  pesticides and other chemicals.
Most importantly, this class is teaching me to examine my life more closely. I've begun to look at things differently, in terms of the potential impact of my every day decisions. I feel much more environmentally conscious already and I'm sure there's much more to come.

Welcome to Eco-Quest with Emily

Hey there! Welcome to my blog. My name is Emily and  I'm a senior at The University of Minnesota-Duluth pursuing a degree in Health Education (Community) with a minor in Spanish. I've created this blog for my Environmental Health course and I will be updating it periodically as I explore and learn more about the environment.

There will be 6 possible types of  posts in my blog:

1. Advocacy Project
2. Eye Openers
3. Reflections
4. Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change
5. Read 'n' Seed
6. Share and Voice

If you notice at the bottom of this post, the catergories will be listed as labels. This post has been labeled with all five kinds of posts. You will also see the number of each kind of post in my Labels Gadget at the top of the page. All post titles from now on will begin with one of the catergories above.

The members of my group are: 

1. Samantha B.http://samanthagreenwithenvi.blogspot.com/
2. Adam http://adamsoutdoorconnection.blogspot.com/
3. Alyssa http://treeifictimewithalyssa@blogspot.com/
4. Kristen G. http://kristenscoralreef.blogspot.com/
5. Katie http://throughgreeneyeswithkatie.blogspot.com/
6. Carly http://gobluetoowithcarly.blogspot.com/

You can subscribe to my blog by clicking the subscribe gadget in the gadget column. You can also follow my blog by clicking "Follow this Blog" in the gadget column. I am subscribed to all the blogs in my blog list gadget. You can see my complete profile and all the blogs I am following by clicking on "See Complete Profile."

I'll be blogging here throughout the semester about a variety of environmental issues and topics, I hope you'll join me on my quest!