Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change: Week 5 Final Weekly Review and Overall Project Reflection

 It looks like this is the last week I’ll be keeping you all updated on my SMART goal of reducing my dairy consumption to no more than 1 serving (2 oz cheese, 1 cup milk, 1 yogurt, etc.) of dairy twice weekly. This last week went fairly smooth in terms of maintaining my efforts not to eat dairy (especially cheese!). The biggest challenges I’ve faced lately is simply being mindful of which foods have dairy in them. Lately I’ve been so busy that I’ve actually forgotten that I’m limiting my dairy consumption and I’ve had to remind myself just in the nick of time (especially when I go out to eat- dairy is in SO many of the best foods). 

Also, I’m still feeling a bit sad about cutting out such a large chunk of my normal diet, but I’ve been feeling a lot better and more confident about this lifestyle change now that I know I can stick with it for a while. Also, since I’ve been mostly dairy-less for a while now, I’ve noticed I feel a lot better and more healthy. It’s a great motivation to keep going, and I plan on continuing with this lifestyle change. 

Overall I think I would definitely recommend this lifestyle change to others. I won’t lie, I found this change to be pretty difficult simply because eating dairy was such a big part of my diet and I had a lot of eating habits to break in the process of cutting out dairy. As with any change though, I found it just took a bit of time and consistent effort, and with the support of a few friends I learned it was much easier to make progress towards my goal. I feel pretty good about the changes I’ve made, not only because I feel healthier now, but because I feel like I’m making less of an environmental impact by cutting down on my consumption of mass-produced dairy products. 

For those of you out there who might be interested in incorporating this lifestyle change into your own daily lives, here’s some tips and some info on what to expect/what I went through:

• Try to get someone to make the change with you- this helps you stay strong in the face of peer pressure (not eating dairy can be difficult when everyone around you makes dairyfull foods and eats them in front of you). 
• Pack a lunch/snacks before going to school/work- this ensures that you will be prepared with dairy-free food so you will be less tempted to buy or share foods that contain dairy (it can be difficult to make rational food choices when you’re STARVING at school, I’ve noticed). 
• Try to keep a steady supply of snacks (veggies, fruit, etc) and other dairy-free food at home- especially condiments. I found that using or trying out different condiments helped keep me from adding cheese to sandwiches, crackers, pasta, and other foods. 

Advocacy project: Letter and Fact Sheet

Letter:

December 6, 2010

Senator Amy Klobuchar

U.S. Senate

302 Hart Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Klobuchar,

I am writing to encourage you to vote YES to bill H.R 1927: Assuring and Improving Cancer Treatment Education and Cancer Symptom Management Act 2009. Over 1,529, 560 new cancer cases are projected to be diagnosed in 2010 alone according to the American Cancer Society. As the second leading cause of death in the United States, cancer has become a threat to our national health and we need to make every effort to prevent cancer related deaths for future generations. 

This year alone, 1,500 people are expected to die each day because of cancer according to the American Cancer Society. Many of us believe this number doesn’t affect us, but in reality,  cancer can affect anybody, whether it be physically, emotionally or financially. According to the National Institute of Health, the overall cost of cancer in the United States in 2010 is 263.8 billion, including medical expenses and loss of productivity due to illness or death. 

Fortunately, cancer can largely be prevented by behavior change and education to encourage healthy behavior. According to the American Cancer Society, those particularly at risk of developing cancer include: smokers, heavy drinkers, people who are obese, those with poor diet or nutrition, and those who receive excessive sun exposure. The proposed bill H.R. 1927: Assuring and Improving Cancer Treatment Education and Cancer Symptom Management Act 2009, will provide education not only for those already suffering from the disease, but for those who have not yet acquired it but wish to learn how to prevent it. By showing your support for this bill, you will help our communities learn how to protect themselves against this devastating disease. 

My sincerest thanks to you for taking the time to listen to my concerns regarding this issue. I truly believe this bill will give our community the education it needs to start making healthy behavior changes to prevent this disease. I hope you will vote YES to help those in our community protect themselves against the unnecessary threat of cancer. 

Fact Sheet:

Cancer- We are all at risk

What is Cancer? 

Cancer is a group of diseases marked by excessive growth and spread of abnormal cells in the human body. If the spread of these abnormal cells is not controlled, it can result in death. In fact, according to the American Cancer Society cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States after heart disease. In the year 2010 alone over 569,490 Americans are expected to die of cancer.  

What are the known causes of cancer?

According to the American Cancer Society, causes of cancer include: Cigarette smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, poor nutrition, obesity, physical inactivity, and excessive sun exposure. It can also be caused by Hepatitis B virus (HBV), Human papillomavirus (HPV), or Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). 

How can cancer be treated and prevented?

Cancer can be prevented through behavioral change, early screening by health professionals the use of vaccines, and the use of antibiotics. Behavior changes that are effective in preventing cancer include improved diet and exercise, quitting smoking, drinking alcohol only in moderation, and limiting sun exposure. 

Where can I learn more about cancer and how to help prevent it?

More information can be found at this American Cancer Society webpage, or their website

Share and Voice: Holiday Lights

The holiday season is upon us! Winter break is just around the corner and with all the free time we'll soon have, what better way to celebrate the season than by checking out some of the way awesome holiday lights around town.

I'm sure most of us have seen the sprawling Bentleyville light display in Bayfront. I went last year and I highly recommend going with friends or family to enjoy this display. There's free hot chocolate, cookies, popcorn, and other treats and it's a fun and inexpensive activity for just about everyone. It's also an official collection site for the Salvation Army and you can bring non-perishable food items or new un-wrapped toys to make a donation that will be distributed locally to those in need.

Still, there's another awesome site for holiday lights that's been overshadowed by Bentleyville in recent years. Located on Park Point (3739 S. Lake Avenue), a local Duluthian Marcia Hales has decorated her house with thousands of lights for years now, and it is definitely worth checking out. This light display is truly spectacular and I highly recommend going for a quick walk around.

Just thought I'd let you all know about these awesome light displays!

But on a more environmentally friendly note: If you have old holiday lights that don't work anymore, or if you're upgrading to LED lights instead, the Recycling Association of Minnesota has provided a place for everyone to recycle their old lights.

You can take your holiday lights to be recycled at:
Denny's Ace hardware: 7 Calvary Road
Materials Recovery Center: 4857 Ridgeview Road
DRCC: 728 Garfield Ave

Happy holidays and happy recycling!

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.

Share and voice: Peace Coffee

For this share and voice, I thought share a bit about Peace Coffee which I mentioned in class during the presentation of my photo essay.

Like I mentioned in class, peace coffee is pretty cool AND environmentally friendly. They have a variety of coffee and all of it is certified fair trade and organic. They are also a local company based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I think it's pretty cool that we serve this coffee here at the UMD coffee shop. It's an easy way to reduce your environmental impact, just by buying Peace Coffee!

Eco-chic Lifestyle Change: Week 4 Weekly update

I try to keep a supply of soymilk in my fridge so
my roommate and I don't drink or cook with milk.

This past week, I was surprisingly on track with my attempts at eco-chic lifestyle change. Despite all the mouth-watering dairy-laden Thanksgiving food, I was able to stick to my SMART guidelines.

Just a reminder of my SMART Goal: I will eat/drink no more than 1 serving of dairy (2 oz cheese, 1 cup milk, 1 yogurt, etc) twice a week. 

Considering that I was surrounded by dairy all weekend long, I'm feeling pretty proud of myself. I did have some difficulty resisting the urge to eat cheese (as usual) but I solved this by asking my friends and family to help me out. I learned that it's really helpful to have a few people looking out for me and supporting my efforts. 

I really want to keep up with the progress I've made this week, so I searched for some tips on eating dairy free. eHow.com had some pretty good info which I I think will be helpful these next couple of weeks.

Wish me luck!

Eye Opener: Photo Essay

For this eye-opener, I decided to document my coffee drinking habits and my shift from one behavior to another. All photos were taken by Yours Truly.

This is the coffee shop here at UMD. Although I occasionally make my own, this is where I tend to buy most of my coffee, especially if I'm in a hurry or really tired.

I like buying coffee from school because they sell Peace Coffee! For those of you who don't know, Peace Coffee sells only organic/fair trade coffee and operates out of Minneapolis MN. They even have people deliver coffee on bikes! Needless to say I feel good about supporting this brand. But I could still be a bit more eco-friendly with my coffee-drinking habits.

This is an example of a disposable cup I buy and then throw away (or recycle) each time I buy coffee at school. Although you'll notice the cup says it's eco-friendly, it would still be better not to use these at all.

I noticed the school has a great selection of reusable coffee mugs in the school store. This seemed like it could help me on my quest to be a more eco-friendly coffee drinker.

Here's my nice new (sort of dirty) reusable coffee mug! This way, I'm not generating all the waste I was before each time I drank coffee from a disposable cup. This was a very environmentally conscious choice, if I do say so myself.

Thanks for checking out my photo essay! I hope it was eye-opening and informative.