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. 

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change: Weekly Update

This week marks the third week of my attempts to meet my SMART goal. I've decided to make a slight change to this goal based on my recent progress or lack thereof.

The goal: that I will eat/drink no more than 1 serving (2 oz cheese, 1 cup milk, 1 yogurt, etc) of dairy once a week.

The new and improved goal: I will eat/drink no more than 1 serving (2 oz cheese, 1 cup milk, 1 yogurt, etc) of dairy TWICE a week.

I think this will be much more manageable for me in my efforts to cut dairy out of my diet. Despite my no dairy jar (which accumulated about seven dollars ) I still had trouble cutting cheese out of my diet. I think this was so difficult for me, partly because I felt bad turning down foods offered to me by other people. Also, it requires a bit of advanced planning to avoid diary completely, and last week was a very busy week so when I grabbed food on the go, I didn't give much thought to whether or not dairy was an ingredient.

I think these next weeks will be much better now that I've allowed myself to include 2 servings of dairy each week instead of just one. I feel much more relaxed and capable already. I still plan on using the no-dairy jar (it's helping me save money !).

Advcocacy Project: Issue Overview

Introduction

Although our country faces a number of health issues, many consider Cancer to be the most wide-spread and devastating. According to the American Cancer Society, 569,490 Americans are expected to die of cancer in 2010 alone. That’s over 1,500 people a day! Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States next to heart disease. It is also very difficult to treat if allowed to progress into later stages. Promotion of healthy lifestyle changes (quitting smoking for example) could help reduce annual cancer cases in the United States by one third. Early detection and treatment is also essential in the fight against cancer in the United States, as over half of new cancer cases can be prevented by early detection. Legislation is proposed to address this issue- H.R. 1927- Assuring and Improving Cancer Treatment Education and Cancer Symptom Management Act 2009. This act is aimed at providing more comprehensive education about cancer prevention and providing better information to cancer patients as to how they can improve or cope with their condition. 

Who is affected by the issue?

This issue affects a variety of individuals, depending on what type of cancer is being discussed. Overall however, cancer rates are highest for those of lower socioeconomic [SES] status. People of lower SES are much more likely to engage in activities associated with increased cancer risk such as tobacco use, physical inactivity and poor diet. Environmental conditions may provide fewer opportunities to lead healthy lifestyles and many marketing strategies also target those of lower SES.  If cancer prevention efforts go into effect, the people of lower SES would benefit from receiving information that would help them enact healthy lifestyle changes and enjoy better quality of life. On the other hand, tobacco industries would likely lose a lot of customers and money, as would other companies known to market or promote unhealthy products and behavior.  

What are the consequences of the issue?

The greatest consequences of this issue are related to the health problems and impaired quality of life for those who have cancer. Cancer can result in a variety of health problems and the treatment can be expensive, painful, and debilitating. This process is also difficult for families of those who are diagnosed with cancer. Struggling to pay for cancer treatment can impair the function of entire families, not to mention the devastation in the event of the loss of a loved one. The death rates from cancer in the United States in 2010 alone are staggering, and without proper prevention and education related to this health issue, the death rate and prevalence of cancer in our society will only continue to rise. 

What is the economic impact of the issue?

In 2010 the estimated cost of cancer  was approximately 263.8 billion.  This estimate includes total cost of health expenditures (treatment, detection, etc.), loss of productivity due to illness, and loss of productivity due to early death. This is a lot of money being spent in relation to an illness that is largely preventable. Those who could possibly benefit from this issue include insurance companies, who earn large sums of money from premiums paid by those who have health insurance. 

What is the social impact of the issue?

This issue affects all of us, directly or indirectly. As a society we are all touched in some way by the deaths associated with cancer- whether it’s a family member or a friend, an employer, teacher or classmate, chances are we all know someone who has been affected by this issue. This issue can be extremely taxing both emotionally and financially, particularly for Cancer victims and their families. Cancer rates have also taken a toll on our country’s overall health status. We could all benefit from better health and well being if  this issue is addressed. Increasing education related to cancer can help us all lead healthier lifestyles and spend more time with our loved ones. 

What are the barriers to addressing this issue? 

 Since those affected most by cancer are individuals of lower socioeconomic status, money presents a large issue that affects the capacity for change in a variety of areas. With adequate funds, it would be possible to restructure the environment to promote healthier lifestyles, educate a greater number of people about the risks of cancer and how to prevent it, and provide  necessary resources for diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. Unfortunately, our nation as a whole is seriously in debt and it’s difficult to find money for almost any cause. If we start small, however, by increasing the educational efforts in more impoverished communities to promote healthier lifestyle changes, it would be much easier to get the ball rolling. 

What are the resources?

The resources needed to address this issue include: educational resources to inform people of the risks of cancer and how to prevent it, marketing resources to help promote healthy lifestyle change, corporate resources who could help provide funding for cancer prevention or modify their own practices to be healthier, and non-profit resources to assist and organize efforts in poor communities and provide healthier foods, a safer environment, medical assistance, and support for those who have cancer. It is necessary to bring these forces together, through cooperation to assist in lowering the cancer rates in the United States.

What is the history of this issue?

Cancer has a fairly long history, but thanks numerous advances in science and medical technology we have a greater understanding of this disease and how best to prevent and treat it. The American Cancer Society has extensive information about the history of cancer dating back to the renaissance period. Most importantly, however, is the fact that our knowledge regarding cancer, it’s causes, treatment, and prevention, has grown more in the past 20 years than it ever has. In contemporary society, these advances are important but we also need to recognize the social constructs that promote cancer causing behavior and limit positive changes. Through education, we can increase the success of our efforts to reduce the cancer rate in the United States. 

Allies & Opponents

Supporters or allies of this issue would include those who have been or know someone who has been directly affected by cancer. Nonprofit organizations such as the American Cancer Society, Cancer Care, American Breast Cancer Foundation, and the National Children’s Cancer Society would also likely be supporters of this issue. Opponents would include the tobacco industry, insurance companies, and manufacturers of high-fat foods who may receive criticism and lose customers as a result of increased education and promotion efforts related to this issue. Resolving this issue could be beneficial for both those who oppose and those who support this issue because it could increase our overall longevity and decrease cancer rates. Regardless of which side of this debate you are on, chances are you will know someone who has been a victim of some form of cancer. By helping this cause, everyone could work to protect their family members, friends, coworkers, and classmates from many forms of Cancer and it’s devastating effects.

My Recommendation

Vote YES to assuring and improving cancer treatment education and cancer symptom management.