Reflection: Weeks 15 & 16

Week 15

Advocacy Project: This was the last assignment in this series! We had to create a learning activity related to our topic for our group members to complete. Looking back, mine was pretty boring compared to some of the fun games other people found. Sorry group! Thanks for bearing with me. :) Also, I'll admit that I was slightly afraid of the advocacy project when I looked ahead at the course calendar earlier this semester, but it really wasn't so bad and I definitely gained some useful knowledge and skills.

Tuesday: Sue Whitney came and spent the whole class period with us! She even gave us each a copy of her book Junk Beautiful Outdoor Edition. THANK YOU!

This was a very fun day of class. In my opinion, junking is very cool and it's too bad that many people these days have lost the art of reusing things - we have developed an obsession with getting everything new. I guess I never really considered myself to be a "junker" , but maybe I am in my own way. I love to reuse items, but I go at it from a more practical point of view, not necessarily in an artsy creative way. If I need something, I'll try to create it out of something else that's around, or just scavenge for it. For example, when I moved into my house last summer, I owned no furniture. Within days, I found an old desk someone had set out on the curb. It was in great condition so I hauled it back to my house and it's served me well this entire school year! Also, I created a dresser from the grocery store fruit boxes that I had used to pack my things in when I moved. My mom and my grandma have definitely served as great role models because they are both very thrifty and creative! I really liked what Sue said about making functional pieces, because in my opinion it's unnecessary to just make a lot of home decor. Previously, I tended to associate junkers with houses full of clutter, but now I think I am over that stereotype!

We also had Subway this day! Like I said, it was already a fun day, but getting free food in class never hurts. :) YUM!

Thursday: Last day of class! Prizes were given out for our mini junking contest. Congratulations to the winners! There were some excellent entries.

Then we went outside and talked about what we've learned in the class. I've learned so much, I don't even know where to start! I think the main thing I will take away from this class is my increased awareness of environmental issues and how this affects all my daily decisions, no matter how big or small they might seem.

Week 16

Eye Opener: Our last eye opener assignment was to complete all the online learning activities created by our group members. Nice work, Group 5! I'll miss blogging with you guys!

Well, I guess this will be my last real post. I honestly can't believe the semester is over, it just seemed to fly by. I will miss this class - it truly was one that I looked forward to going to. And I appreciated learning things that are so obviously intertwined with my everyday life. I know I am learning useful skills in my other classes as well, but most of it seems like things I will use "some day" when I have a "real job." Much of the information from this class applies to my life right now!

I'm glad I got the hang of blogging, and it did start to get addictive. Hopefully my new tech skills will come in handy in the near future! Also, it was great to meet a lot more people in my major. Actually, it was a little overwhelming at first because everyone seemed to know each other very well. I didn't know too many people because the other health classes I was in this semester only had a handful of people in them so this was a great opportunity to get to know you guys!

Thanks for making this such a great semester, everyone! Have an awesome summer, and I hope to see many of you next year!


(Picture taken by me: sunset on Lake Superior.)

Eye Opener: Online Learning Activities

Here are my results to the online learning activities created by my group members:

The Salmon Challenge
Lauren's learning activity is called The Salmon Challenge. The first step is to do some online readings related to water quality of rivers, lakes, and estuaries. Then I played The Salmon Challenge. My salmon remained healthy, grew up, and made its journey safely all the way to Puget Sound! I thought this was a good activity, and it presented a lot of good questions. For instance, I enjoyed the ones related to landscaping near the river. One example is the question that dealt with keeping weeds from growing and using landscaping cloth was the best choice. I knew that this cloth deterred weeds from growing, but I never thought about how it also helps absorb rainwater! The other neat question that I specifically remember was the one about paving the driveway and how instead of using asphalt or concrete, other materials can be used that allow water to slowly soak into the ground instead of quickly running off the driveway and eroding the river banks, and this material also allows grass to grow between the cracks.

This activity does a great job of alerting participants of how to make easy simple choices everyday to protect our water sources and the wildlife that make their homes there.

Excellent find, Lauren!


Test Your WaterSense
Erika's learning activity is called Test Your WaterSense. The first step is to look at a few websites and read about water-efficient products and how we can help the environment by reducing our water usage. I'm always shocked to hear statistics on how much water is wasted to keep lawns looking super green. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, "An American family of four can use 400 gallons of water per day, and about 30 percent of that is devoted to outdoor uses. More than half of that outdoor water is used for watering lawns and gardens. Nationwide, landscape irrigation is estimated to account for almost one-third of all residential water use, totaling more than 7 billion gallons per day. " Well, I'm all for making a home look nice, but is watering the grass REALLY worth it? Just one of those personal preferences, I guess.

The second component of the activity is to take a Test Your WaterSense quiz. I only got to answer 8 questions before I lost all of my lives (I've never been good at computer/video games, haha) BUT I got 7 of those questions correct! I thought the game did a good job of testing how well I read the info on the website.

This was a fun game - good find, Erika!


I Don't Want to Clean my Room!
Jessica's learning activity is called I Don't Want to Clean my Room! It's a great activity that's geared towards kids but is great for anyone at any age. I thought it was a great review of how to sort items into various recycling, compost, and garbage bins, and also items that can be donated for someone else to use them. I especially liked all the helpful hints that appeared when an item was correctly sorted, such as a reminder to rinse out aluminum cans before throwing them in the recycling bin. Also, it was great that compostable items were included, because I think that's the one area that most kids (and people in general) are least aware of when it comes to recycling, reusing, and reducing waste.

Great activity, Jessica! I think I might even make my younger siblings check out the EcoKids website. They LOVE computer games like this - especially my little brothers - and these games would actually teach them something. :)


Health Care Definitions
Jeff's learning activity required us to find the definitions to 10 commonly used health care terms. I think it's important for everyone to know basic terminology such as this so they can take an active part in managing their health! Also, I think all too often we assume we know the meanings of such terminology, when in reality we may not be as correct as we think.

Here are the definitions I found:

Pre-op: an abbreviation for preoperative; pertaining to before surgery

Post-op: an abbreviation for postoperative; pertaining to after surgery
Out-patient: a patient who receives treatment at a hospital or clinic without having to spend the night

In-patient: a patient who is admitted to a hospital or clinic for treatment that requires having to spend at least one night here

Receptionist: an office work who receives visitors and answers the telephone

Doctor: a licensed medical practitioner; any medical professional with an MD, a PhD, or any other doctoral degree

Nurse: a person trained, licensed, or skilled in nursing

Pharmacist: a professional who fills prescriptions and is trained to distribute medicines and give information about them

Anesthesiologist: a physician with a doctorate who is specialized in the practice of anesthesiology (the branch of medicine involving the use of drugs or other agents that cause insensibility to pain)

Radiology: the branch of medicine that uses ionizing and nonionizing radiation for the diagnosis and treatment of disease

One new thing I learned from this activity was the difference between an anesthesiologist and an anesthetist. Aparently, an anesthesiologist has a doctorate, whereas an anesthetist does not. (An anesthetist is a nurse or technician trained to administer anesthetics.) I had always assumed that these two titles meant the same thing! Like I said earlier, sometimes we really don't know as much as we think we do. :)

Good activity, Jeff!

Advocacy Project: Barriers to Bicycling

Purpose
Through this activity, I hope to show why biking should be encouraged as a form of transportation and to prove the need for adequate bicycle accommodation on our state roads.

Instructions
This is a two-part activity.

Part 1: Please read the following web pages:

• Learn about the benefits of bicycling and see for yourself what a great mode of transportation it really is.

• Check out these state- and nation-wide crash facts. The point is not to blame either motorists or bicyclists (because both are at fault), but to learn what causes accidents and think about how they can be avoided with proper bicyclist accommodation.

• Read the following Rules of the Road to learn how to keep yourself and others safe. It is important for bicyclists and motorists alike to know these rules.

Part 2: For your assignment, please choose ONE of the following options:

• Write a short description of a time when you were somehow involved in (or witnessed) a bicycle-motorist accident. Describe what happened and state how the problem could have been avoided.

OR

• Go out into the community and photograph a situation that is unsafe for bicyclists. (Ideas include lack of room on the road, huge potholes, etc.)
  

Even if you are not an avid bicyclist, hopefully this activity helps you bring the issue down to a personal level. As I mentioned before, both motorists and bicyclists need to take responsibility in this issue in order to keep all commuters safe: motorists can help by being respectful of bicyclists on the road, bicyclists can do their part by following traffic laws, and both can advocate for safer and more convenient bikeways. After all, many people will find themselves in both these roles through out their lives - it's important that everyone is working together!

Share and Voice: Living Green Expo

Hey everyone!
Lately I've been having some serious cabin fever and needed to get out of Duluth for a bit... so I went to the Living Green Expo on Saturday at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds. I had never heard of this event until Abbey posted a Share and Voice about it earlier this semester. I drove down for the whole day on Saturday, and I'm definitely glad I went! I was really impressed by all the exhibitors, workshops, etc. that they had.

Here's a few pictures from the expo:


Bins were available EVERYWHERE for trash, recyclables, and compostable materials. There was no excuse not to properly dispose of waste!


This was really cool - it's the Brac Grey Water Recycling System. This system recycles greywater from the shower, bath, and laundry and reuses it to flush the toilet! Their website says it can save approximately one-third of our water consumption!


An example of a green roof! Yes, those are real plants! For more information about, visit the Minnesota Green Roofs Council website and check out their RoofBloom program.


Did you know that Organic Valley has trucks that run on vegetable oil? I sure didn't!

A great example of Metro Transit's efforts to go greener! They've added new hybrid buses in recent years, among other things.






Alternative energy options such as wind and solar were displayed. There were even mini wind turbines for powering a small building such as a workshop!


As I mentioned earlier, I thought this expo was awesome! It was especially cool to see the huge variety of individuals that were there. It was very apparent that the "living green" concept is not something only select groups of people are concerned about. This is great, because it needs to be a cooperative effort among everyone! Also, there were lots of small children at the expo (there was even a whole section just for kids with fun hands-on activities), one scene that particularly struck me was these two little boys who were looking at the hybrid and electric cars with their dad and they were just so incredibly excited about them! It was adorable, to say the least.

I'll admit I spent most of my time at workshops and vendors that were related to food... it was definitely my main focus. I think the main reason I'm so interested in food is because, well, I eat every day! Making the effort to eat local, organic, and sustainably grown food is one thing I can do and feel like I'm really making a difference. All the exhibits were interesting, of course, but I didn't feel the same connection with them. For example, I don't drive every day and I'm in no financial situation to purchase a new vehicle, so although the alternative vehicles were neat, they're not a change I would make right now. Also, the products/ideas related to alternative home energy, housing/building options, and landscaping were really cool and now I'm aware of many options for the future, but again, these are things that I feel aren't feasible for me right now.

I could probably ramble on and on about this expo, but I'll try to keep it relatively short. :)

Here's a few highlights:

The one thing that most surprised me was seeing Walmart represented among the exhibitors! Apparently they are making some "green" efforts - the one they were specifically promoting was their sustainable packaging of plastics made from corn instead of oil. (I tried to find this on their website, but I was unsuccessful.)

A few fun things:
- We can help the bee population in our state by growing plants in home gardens that support
bee health!
- Some Chipotle employees were there selling tacos and chips at a pretty low price, and 100% of
the weekend's proceeds are going to Renewing the Countryside.
- Tree seedlings make great wedding guest favors!

In case you're interested, here are some other cool links!

- Tree Trust: Transforming Lives and Landscapes
- Eat Local America
- Homegrown Minneapolis
- By the Yard, Inc.
- Solar Oven Society
- EarthVitality
- Mississippi Market: Recipes for 3 Days, 3 Ways
- Mr. Ellie Pooh
- Play it Forward


Okay, that's probably enough links! Sorry I just bombarded you guys with a lot of info, but I hope you found some of it to be interesting!


(All photos taken by me on May 2, 2009. Permission was gained from vendors.)

Reflection: Weeks 13 & 14

Week 13
Advocacy Project:
The next portion of our advocacy project, Issue Overview, was due this week. I was sort of dreading this assignment because it involved research, but then it ended up being very informational and interesting! It can definitely take a lot of time and effort to really gain a thorough understanding of an issue, especially to the point where one is adequately prepared to stand up/debate for it. Because of this, I still find the whole concept of advocacy to be slightly intimidating, but I know it is an important skill to develop!

Tuesday: During the class period, we discussed writing letters to elected officials as preparation for the next portion of our advocacy project. I thought it was interesting that it is recommended to include one's personal concerns and experience with the issue. For some reason I had thought that representatives wouldn't want to bother with personal issues and were more concerned with facts and data, but it was reassuring to be reminded that they are human, too. Unfortunately I think we forget about that the majority of the time!

We also watched "Story of Stuff" with Annie Leonard. It was definitely biased, but since I agreed with what she was saying, I didn't really mind. Overall, I thought it was quite depressing and could hardly believe it when she said that only 1% of stuff bought is still used 6 months later! Ugh, we are so wasteful. I was also really shocked by the concepts of "planned" and "perceived" obsolescence. I do agree that materialism has gotten out of hand in recent years, and it is hard to break out of the cycle. That said, I liked the chart with the correlation of decline of national happiness and increase in production/consumption of goods. Last year was a good reality check for me when I had to pack everything I needed for 8 months into one suitcase and a hiking backpack. I'll admit, however, that once I got back to the U.S. I somehow collected a whole bunch of stuff that I don't really need.

Thursday: We went to Bagley for an orienteering activity! I thought it was pretty fun, and it was great to be outside for the class period, especially since the weather happened to be GORGEOUS that day!

Week 14
Advocacy Project: The next assignment, Letter to Public Official was due this week. I'm glad we didn't have to actually send the letter - I think I would have been rather intimidated!

Tuesday: We had a guest speaker from the UMD Office of Civic Engagement who is also in AmeriCorps. One thing that stuck in my mind was how he talked about remaining neutral when talking to people and avoiding "offensive" words such as "global warming", "sustainability", and even "green" in order to avoid offending anyone. I thought was this very interesting because I think of these words as being intriguing - a bonus! - and it was a good reminder to me that not everyone shares my opinions. It's important to educate people about how to help the environment, not force ideas onto them and make them attempt a change they are not yet ready for.

Thursday: We did a fun activity in class that dealt with re-purposing! Each web group got a random "junk" object and then three minutes to write down as many uses as we could think of. There were a total of 5 objects, and everyone came up with lots of ideas! We definitely had some silly ideas, but there were just as many great practical uses that were thought of as well. I really enjoyed this activity and it was nice to have a break as my other classes seem to be upping the intensity as we approach the end of the semester.

Well, we technically only have one week of class left... wow. I honestly think I'm going to miss this class. I'll admit it definitely wasn't one of my favorites at the beginning of the semester, but I think that was mostly due to the blogging and just adjusting to the format of the class. Now it's one of the most interesting classes I've ever taken!

Thanks for reading! Have a great weekend everyone!

(Picture taken by me: Lake Superior.)

Advocacy Project: Letter to Public Official

April 27, 2009

Representative Thomas Huntley
585 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155-1606

Dear Representative Huntley,

I am writing in order to voice my opinion on bill HF 1705: Bicycle and pedestrian accommodation inclusion required as part of trunk highway bridge improvement program. I am pleased that this bill is currently under consideration in the House because I believe the inclusion would be a wonderful and much needed improvement to the infrastructure of our state.

The issue at hand is one that affects several groups of people: bicyclists, walkers, motorists, and any other commuters who use the trunk highway bridges. If this bill is passed, bicyclists and walkers will gain safer and more convenient transportation. Benefits for motorists and other commuters exist as well, such as increased ease while driving from knowing that bicyclists have a designated spot on the road.

In uncertain economic times such as these, when families are trying to cut back on expenses, the option of biking to work, school, or even the grocery store will not go unappreciated. Improving bikeways and walkways will allow people to use these forms of transportation to get where they need to go in a safe and timely fashion. Families will be benefited if these accommodations enable a family member to get to work, and the option of alternate transportation may also free up a vehicle for a family member who needs it more.

A lack of adequate and safe bikeways and walkways can discourage people from utilizing such alternative forms of transportation. This can be reversed, however, by the addition of bicycle and pedestrian accommodation proposed in bill HF 1705. As a bicyclist myself, I have often felt unsafe while biking due to the lack of space allotted for bicyclists. Also, it is frustrating when bridges that do not have adequate accommodation interrupt bike paths.

I realize that including accommodation structures in bridge repairs may require a significant about of additional funds, but I believe these costs will be offset in the long run by other societal benefits. For example, a higher number of bicyclists and pedestrians can mean a decrease in the number of vehicles on the road, which in turn leads to a reduction in carbon emissions and other air pollutants. Also, biking and walking are good forms of exercise and recreation, and when a population increases its overall heath, a decrease in health care costs may be observed. Other benefits that may help our nation’s economy include increased jobs for construction companies, and less money spent on emergency medical care response to bicycle-vehicle and pedestrian-vehicle accidents.

I appreciate your past support for bills on related issues. Based on your vote for HF 1351: Transportation Policy Reform, which looks to improve our nation’s transportation, I have concluded that HF 1705 supports your interests as well.

In order to better accommodate the many bicyclists and pedestrians in the state of Minnesota, I encourage you to vote “YES” to HF 1705 to include this accommodation to bridges repaired under the trunk highway bridge improvement program.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and contemplate the issue at hand. Your service to our state is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Hannah Schoof

Share and Voice: Volunteer!

Hey guys!

I came across a good article in the Duluth News Tribune this morning and thought it was worth sharing! The first part of the article talked about the 14th annual "Clean and Green Duluth" city wide cleanup day this coming Saturday, April 25th.

The second part of the article, however, is the part I really wanted to share. For those of us who will be staying in Duluth this summer, here's an easy way to help keep our city looking good while enjoying the summer sunshine:

(The following paragraphs were copied directly from the April 23, 2009 edition of the Duluth News Tribune.)

Want to Help this Summer?

Details aren't finalized yet, but the city of Duluth has a plan for the public to help maintain city parks and gardens this summer after funding cuts.

People can help once, a few times or on a regular basis, said Amy Norris, the city's public information coordinator, who came up with the idea with Tom Kasper of parks maintenance.

From Memorial Day through Labor Day, the city will seek volunteers at specified sites Mondays through Saturdays to help with cleanup and other projects. Certain days will be dedicated for certain sites, such as the Lakewalk on Mondays.

"It's an exceptional way to get the community involved in a consistent program of volunteering and helping with keeping our parks beautiful," Norris said.

The tentative lineup is:
Mondays: Lakewalk. People will meet at Leif Erikson Park and head out from there.

Tuesdays: Rose Garden at Leif Erikson Park. Meet at the gazebo to help maintain hundreds of roses.

Wednesdays: Trail cleanup and repair. A different trail will be cleaned each week.

Thursdays: Enger park. Assist in maintaining the gardens and park area.

Friday: Park Point beach cleanup.

Saturdays: Special projects.

City staff will be on hand to assist volunteers. Work probably will begin at 10 a.m. Volunteers can call a "Volunteer Hotline" at 730-4301 to receive more details.




Just something to keep in mind - keep an eye out for more details if you're interested! Thanks for reading!

(Photo taken by me.)