Eye Opener: Junk On The Brain

Part 1: Most came from thesaurus.com or wiki results

1. Antiques: "Old object, often of great value", found on thesaurus.com
2. Junk: "Odds and ends", garbage. Found on thesaurus.com
   
3. Flea Market: "Open-aired street market", found on thesaurus.com
   
4. Thrift Market: same as resale shop.
   
5. Upcycling: "Process of turning wasted materials into new materials or products with higher environmental value". Found on wikipedia.com
   
6. Resale Shop: "Shop selling typically second hand goods donated by members of the public and staffed by volunteers." Found on wikipedia.com

Part 2:

1. If your reusing things, it means that your not buying new. Not buying new means that your nor wasting the old things and all the materials that would go into the new. It saves money and resources.
2. Antiques: Father time Antiques- 395 S. Lake Ave #1 (218)625-2379, not website or blog. Junk: Not really too sure but...Jadco Speacial Haulers, 4011 Rehbein Road (218)724-5538, no website availible. Flea Market: The closest I could find was Hinckley: Downtown Hinckley Fleamarket, 100 Old Hwy 61, (320)384-6938. Again, not site! Thrift Store: Goodwill, 700 Garfield Ave #1, (218)722-6351 goodwill.org, Upcycling: Couldnt find anything! Resale Shop: Plato's Closet, 5115 Burning Tree Rd, (218)733-9455
3. Once and a great while I will go to goodwill. I think that I got my kitchen plates and stuff there for college. I don't really buy much new stuff though, and I get a great deal of my stuff from family as far as furniture and household things. Perhaps this might seem bad but I just don't really like buying things old because I can never find anything that I like or want plus if my family will give it to me for free why would I spend money? Once in a great while ill find something that I do like and Im fine with purchasing it.

Part 3:
Freeze Frame- I like picture frames so this caught my attention. Pillows- I think that this is something that my mom would really like and I could make for her. Fruit Bowl- I thought that this looked kind of cool and new. It would actually fit in with our decor in the apartment too I think.

Share & Voice: YouTube Video on Sustainability

Hey everyone,

Last week I came across this great video on sustainability. It's a little cartoon about how to protect the earth. The video is a little bit dull but it has good substance in it. It's only about 2 minutes long so it's easy to get through. Perhaps it could be used to educate students or something since a lot of kids now a days like learning from videos.

Anyways, check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5NiTN0chj0&feature=related

Read 'n' Seed 5: Forth Quarter and Final Review!

To the left: Laird Hamilton

Since I forgot last week to post, I basically am going to talk about pages 149-312 (aka the last half of the book). A great deal of what was covered in the past part of the book was based on surfing. I've never been surfing nor have I ever even meet one so this was all new to me. According to the book, surfs have strong bonds to one another, sort of like brothers. This is due in part because they share the same passion, and it's very dangerous and not very many people can relate. In the last part of the book, one of the surfers that the researchers have surrounded themselves with risks his life on a rouge wave, and almost dies. The book also speaks a lot about a man named Laird Hamilton. Apparently Laird is one of the best surfers in the world, and become an intricate part of the book. The final chapter, the narrator follows Laird through surfing a huge wave. It was pretty cool to be able to hear about what's going on from his perspective and feel like your doing it!

I can't say that I've learned a lot about the environment in the last chunk of my book, but I can say I've learned tons about surfing, good beaches and famous surfers than I ever thought I would know! I think surfing is understated, especially where we live. Although it's incredibly dangerous and you wont catch me on a surf board, these are the people who know the ocean. Maybe they don't have a marine biology degree, but they know more than most researchers about the subject because they see it everyday.

I think that this book was fantastic, I would recommend it for a good read simply because it was not only entertaining but also had good information. I've learned 1) The ocean is really changing because of global warming. 2) Waves are now easily reaching 75 feet because of this problem and 3) Surfers are crazy for trying to surf them! I totally have a different stance on why this is important because my fiance is in the Navy and as soon as I graduate I will be living on the ocean for the rest of my life. I think that it's scary that were sending sailors and anyone else on a boat that's only made to withstand 50 foot waves yet they're reaching over 100 feet on open seas. Also, with the ocean changing you never know what's going to happen to the land that it touches. Hurricanes are quickly becoming more prevalent due to global warming, and considering a lot of our U.S. cities are located near the ocean that will cause problems.

Overall, great book. Loved it.

Eye Opener: Environmental Working Group

Hi everyone,

After looking at what my make-up really does to me, I was shocked. I always kind of thought that what I was putting on wasn't good but I really never thought that it would be that bad. I use make-up from Victoria's Secret mostly, however I the website didn't have anything from there. I basically just looked at products I've used in the past and figured that it was either just as bad or probably worse. Most of what I've used was a 5. Although it sounded like it was just a mediocre score, what it meant to me was simply cancer. Since this, Im definitely looking into safer products!

Share & Voice: Flooding in WI and MN

I realize that this happened over a month ago, but I think people are starting to forget all the damage this caused to both MN and WI. I think that it's important to remember all the people affected by this disaster because you never know who it might affect. My family is from a southern Wisconsin town called Arcadia. It was greatly effected by the flood and most of the town needed to be evacuated. The picture above is just a snap that my cousin took.

If you want to know more about the flood or read about the damage done just follow the link below!
Flood surge in Wisconsin and Minnesota

New Header

This is my new header for my blog. It's just a photo I found on my computer and retouched on picnik. Pretty basic. Enjoy.

Share & Voice: 10 Ways You Can Improve Earth's Health

Hello again!

I've come across this quick little article about 10 things we can do to help the environment. I think that it serves more as a reminder of all the small things we can be doing to help out. Most of them are free or very inexpensive which is always a plus for us college kids. Some of them I think can end up saving you money in the long run so it's something you guys should check out! Just follow the link below and tell me what you think!

http://www.livescience.com/environment/060421_earth_day_tips.html

Share and Voice: 11 Ways To Go Green on a College Budget

Hey Ladies!

So recently I came across this website. It's about pretty much anything green. I looked through a lot of it, but there's just so much content on here, its awesome. Anyways, I found this little article about all the things college kids can do to go green while in school. I feel that it's completely relevant considering that we are all still in college and looking for new ways to be proactive about protecting the earth. And theres an obvious plus... nothing costs any money.

So, with that being said....CHECK IT OUT! :D

http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/community-news/college-green-55100102

Read 'n' Seed: S Quarter of The Wave

The globe began with sea so to speak; and who knows if it will not end with it?
~Jules Verne 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

So far I feel like I've covered a ton of pages. I read from page 85 to page 148. This time around I covered 4 chapters.

There's been so many things happening, it's hard to say just one thing. They've been doing research on Tsunamis and how global warming has effected that, they've been traveling around Hawaii and many other islands to try to gather support. The people that they want the most support are from surfers, they know the most about waves and how to find them. Along with all this they've been just generally investigating how these huge waves have developed. Most of the book so far I feel like has just been personal accounts on these trips. The book talks a lot about how these researchers are feeling about all of it and just the everyday adventures that they find.

In one part of the book they are sitting down with a scientist from NOAA- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He basically verifies all of their findings. I think that it was a very pivotal point, because they've kind of been on their own in all of this and now they're finally getting support. What the guy says in a nutshell is that he's been monitoring the ocean after Katrina and he feels that that's just the tip of the iceberg as far as the devastation that we will start to see in the next few year because of the effects of global warming.

I think that this has a lot of implications for us as Americans, especially considering that we are tri-coastal. In the book they say that we should expect to see a great increase in tsunamis and hurricanes which will do millions of dollars worth of damage, not to mention all of the lives that will be put in danger. Global warming is the issue, but I'm not sure what to do about it, besides all of the little solutions we've already discussed.

Eye Opener: CSPI

This week I did the eating green calculator. I needed .2 acres of grain/grass, 12.6 lbs of fertilizer, .1 lbs of pesticides, and 1123 lbs of manure. Next I saw what I could be doing to help out more. With these results I would eliminate all of the acres I needed, reduce by fertilizer by 10.1 lbs, take away all of the pesticides I use and reduce my manure by 934 lbs.

I really didn't say that I would reduce my diet by a lot but I guess a little goes a long way. I didn't take the pledge for a few reasons. 1) Most of the animal products I get are for free. My fiances family raises beef cattle and give it to me for free. I know what they do with their cattle and I can vouch that they are being humane. 2) I'm anemic and once and a while I need to eat something rich in iron. Being a poor college kid, I'm going to choose what's cheapest(or free) for me.

Reflection: Weeks 1-4

What have I learned in the past few weeks? That's a hard question to answer. I feel like I've gotten a lot of bits and pieces of knowledge from many different sources.

This Monday I learned a bunch about how to build a green building. I think that this will effect me later in life because I would love to build my own home someday.

I feel that most of what I learned came from fellow students. I think that with the blogs, you get to see a lot of information that you yourself might not have had to opportunity to find on your own. I know what I'm interested in and I never really venture out of my little box, but reading others blogs I'm being forced to see other things that I might not have seen on my own.

I also have found that since this class started I've become much more aware of saving the environment. I used to not think twice about driving all over the city of Duluth everyday but now I feel that I'm being wasteful. I think that this is the most significant change. I now realize the effects of my lifestyle and I've been trying to fix it. Overall it's been a pretty enlightening experiences.

Read 'n' Seed: First Quarter of The Wave

Hey Everyone!

As you know I choose to read the Wave by Susan Casey. So far I've read 5 chapters (85 pages) which turns about to be a little more than what I said I was going to read, but I can't put it down!

This story is told through a young female re searcher's eyes. She first talks a great deal about the history of what we thought of the ocean. Up until very recently it was believed that waves couldn't reach over about 50-60 feet high. This caused problems for ships being engineered to only withstand waves that tall. Ships have always just disappeared and it was credited to simply bad weather. Now they're finding that waves can easily reach over 100 feet tall in certain circumstances and have progressively become more and more common. So this young researcher is trying to find out why these waves are more and more common. What she and the scientists in her field are finding is that it may be due to the change in the global climate. This book is basically a story book. You get to hear about all of her adventures out at sea and the people that she has meet that play important roles to the over all findings that she's collecting, as well as history of the ocean and the boats it's collected at the bottom.

I've learned a lot so far. The book quotes a lot of published research. For example, the book quoted IPCC -Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on a study done in 2007. The study concluded that "the ocean has been absorbing 80% of the heat added to the climate system". What that means for us is that the ocean heats up, wind velocity increases, storms become more devastating, ice caps melt and sea volume rises. In 2009 researcher found that this change in climate would cause the sea levels to rise 39 inches by 2100 displacing over 600 million people...completely submerging Florida. So I've just been learning a lot about ocean history and global warming effects on ocean.

I think that this effects society greatly. In less than 100 years were going to be facing serious issues do to this change. We need to think that that's going to be our children and grandchildren facing what we've done to the earth. I think that we should definitely be concerned seeing as though the US has a great deal of coastal regions. I think that it's scary to think that FL,HI, and CA might be completely swallowed up by the ocean if we don't find a way to fix this. I think that we need to make major changes to take care of our ozone layer but I don't know the full solution to global warming yet.

Eye Opener: Ecological Footprint

After taking the quiz on how many planets I was surprised. I used to think that I did well ecologically speaking but I guess not. According to the site I would need 3.7 earths to cover all of the resources I need. 54% of my needs were service things. I think that right now mine is very high because I'm in school and I eat a lot of packaged foods during the school day. I used to not see anything wrong with that becuase everything I eat was fairly healthy, but not for the earth I guess. I think that I need to find a way to stop this behavior. Maybe preparing more of my own food and taking it in reusable Tupperware containers. Also, I drive EVERYWHERE. I'm trying very hard to not drive so much and looking into taking the bus more places. I think these would all help me reduce my eco-footprint.

Share & Voice: The Green Guide For Everyday Living

Hello everyone! I just wanted to share with you all a great website I found! I think that it's awesome. I was looking for a site that could offer a bunch of different services not just information. It's created by Natural Geographic, which I feel like is a trustworthy site, and a great reference tool. Basically it's a site about EVERYTHING GREEN! It has everything: Buying guides, green parenting tips, food, transportation, and facts, ect. Its got it all, it's like a one stop shop for going green. I really encourage you to check it out. I hope you love it as much as I do.

So here it is:

http://www.thegreenguide.com/