Reflections: Week 5 and 6!

Hey Bloggers!!

So thinking about these past 2 weeks is really putting a strain to my bad memory. We have learned and discussed so much!! Let's try to recap...

Week 5:

**Some of the classmates were assigned to do a review of Reading 15: Feeding the World. After reading this article and discussing it with the class, I have learned a lot of new things. This reading talks about the growing population and the increase of supply and demand. The sections of the chapter had 4 main topics: 

Society's 4 Transitional Stages, Evidence for Negative Population Growth, Future Food Supply/Demand Balance, Protecting the Environment, and the Challenges Ahead. One thing that got me thinking was how unpredictable population growth will be in the future, the reading discussed how we cannot base our future statistics on predictions based on past and present population rates. This reading got everyone thinking about the future and what will happen if current trends keep on growing. Will we run out of food and the resources we need? Overall, as a class in discussion we had a lot of thinking and questions about the future. Valerie started off the discussion about how the reading stated that lower income people are "less-green". It got us all thinking, does lower income mean being less environmentally friendly?? What do you think?

**Also this week, we started the documentary called "Diet for a New America", this opened the doors and opened eyes for many people including me! This documentary was hosted by John Robbins and it discussed the process of the meat industry. A few points of the movie that got my attention:

• With 12 pounds of grain, we can make many loaves of bread, cereals, pastas, etc. But to make 1 pound of beef, it would take the 12 pounds of grain that support the cow eating it!
• When a patient at the hospital got his blood tested, the doctors noticed fat in his blood sample. When asked what the patient ate earlier in the day, he said "a cheeseburger and a milkshake".
• Cows produce tons and tons of manure, and that manure produced nitrates that go into some water systems and many citizens are concerned about the nitrates because it can effect their health and pregnancies.
• The the portions of meat eaten by Americans could feed 4 to 5 people in other countries.
• Tender meat is preferred by many, for that to occur, many animals are kept confined and cannot move so the meat can become more fatty and tenderized.

After watching this documentary, our class discussed some issues about this movie. A lot of us were raised eating a lot of meat and would have a hard time cutting that out of our diets. Dr. V stated that we were watching this documentary not to be persuaded by it, but to make informed decisions. So even though I won't be giving up meat anytime soon, I am making an informed decision and it will help me understand the values of people who choose to be vegan or vegetarian. 

Image from PETA

**This documentary ties directly with our Eye Opener as well..

Our Eye Opener was about CSPI, which stands for Center for Science in the Public Interest. I did a quiz that asked how many servings of each kind of meat (beef, chicken, pork, eggs) I eat in a week. The results showed that I produce about 7,700 pounds of manure, 1.3 acres, and after watching the documentary and taking this quiz, I pledged to limit my portions and reduce the amount of meat I eat a week. I still love to eat meat! But now I know what my actions are doing to the environment.

Week 6:

**This week was also a very eye opening week. We started by individually being assigned a reading out of the book. This was cool because I got to read everyone else's blogs about their environmental issue. My reading was called Trout Are Wildlife, Too! I had a hard time with this reading because there was a lot of information about trout and fishing but I later learned that this article discussed how many people do not think trout is an important part of our ecosystem and many think that "a trout is just a trout!". I learned about new issues from reading others reading reviews. One that stuck out to me and something we can all observe as the years go by is the topic of early bird migration posted by Steve@ Steve Goes Green. 

**And finally, to wrap up these 2 weeks, we started watching a very startling documentary called "The Future of Food". This documentary had a lot on it's plate. It discussed the foods that are genetically modified and the ethics of it. Do people have the "rights" to patent and own these GMO's?? A big agricultural company, Monsanto was the antagonist in this documentary. Monsanto filed lawsuits of many farmers claiming that the farmer's have crops on their fields that are owned by Monsanto, this film gave us the viewpoint and shared the stories of these farmers who lost everything and the emotional and financial stresses this problem has caused. It was really interesting to see that many politicians or people with high positions such as CEO's are somehow linked to Monsanto, which is ironic because these people are the ones that are making decisions for companies and lawsuits. Like Dr. V said, "You wouldn't turn yourself in for a speeding ticket would you?" It was really interesting to learn that GMO's do not have to be labeled but when things are labeled "natural" or "organic", it does not mean 100% of it is natural or organic. I think we all have a right to know what we are eating in our foods!

Choh's Final Thoughts:

Whew, thank you for reading my novel. I tried to jam pack everything from these past 2 weeks into a reader-friendly manner, but there was so much we had learned and discussed!! I think I learned a lot about myself and how my behaviors effect the environment, such as the amount of animal product I eat. These past 2 weeks are really helping me make informed decisions. I feel so much more aware of what is going on in this world and how what I do really effects our planet! The 2 documentaries really got my head spinning as to what I am purchasing and eating..I used to be so carefree when it came to eating, but now I am a little more conscious of my habits and behaviors...in a good way! I think as a class, we always have a lot to talk about and I am really glad that we can have open discussions for everything. Keep up the good work guys!

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." ~Mahatma Gandhi

Eye Opener: Summary of Reading #6: "Trout Are Wildlife, Too!"

This reading is called "Trout Are Wildlife, Too" written by Ted Williams, a full-time writer about environmental issues with special attention to fish and wildlife conservation.

I personally had a very hard time reading and understanding this article because it had a lot of "fish lingo" and this story was just everywhere. So I read it 6+ times. So please bear with me and let me know if you have questions! I think it is important to read the terms and definitions BEFORE reading the summary so you can have a better understanding of what is being discussed!...

TERMS AND DEFINITIONS:

• PMDs-Pale Morning Dun. delicate yellow mayflies that remove their larval skins on the surface. Trout can feed ravenously on duns during peak hatches.
• Cutthroat Trout- Species of freshwater fish 
• Spawning- production or depositing large amounts of eggs into the water 
• Hatchery- facility where eggs are hatched under artificial conditions
• Fish Stocking- is the practice of raising fish in a hatchery and releasing them into a river, lake, or the ocean to supplement existing populations, or to create a population where none exists. 
• Hybridizing- interbreeding with two different species
• Stockpiling- pile or storage information for bulk materials

SUMMARY: 

This is a multi-dimensional article about trout species in the environment. Trout species such as the rainbow, brown, and cutthroat are being threatened by illegal stockpiling and other activities. There are some programs in place to protect trout species. The dangers for North American trout are greatly ignored by anglers and environmentalists. This article examines the importance of trout to the North American ecosystems and trout protection programs. While many programs want to conserve and protect our trout species, many opposing federations are saying "a trout is a trout". Ted Williams went on to say that a "grape is a grape" and that different types of grapes are used to make different types and qualities of wine. So what's the difference? Many fishermen use imitation PMDs as bait for catching trout, what Ted noticed was that the fish that were eating his PMDs were supposed to be cutthroats but he ended up catching rainbows and brown trouts. The issue here is that browns evolved in Europe and rainbows evolved in the Pacific Northwest. These 2 trout species were unleashed into Yellowstone by managers that were blind to the importance of native ecosystems. The rainbows end up hybridizing with the cutthroats and spawning all over the river tops where the genes get swamped. Of the 14 named and unnamed cutthroat species, 2 are already extinct and the rest are in trouble. Many departments such as the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks support hatcheries, but fish from hatcheries survive only survive in the real world long enough to suppress and displace wild trout. In 1970, Montana stopped stocking hatchery fish (browns and rainbows) in a section of the Madison River. Four years later large fish were up 942%. Cutthroats are fished by bears up to 100 fish a day for one bear and her cubs, Pelicans  get almost all of their nutrients from cutthroats. Cutthroats provide an important food source for at least 28 species of birds and mammals. Ted Williams ends the article by saying, "The trout are priceless works of art that need to be protected for themselves, for the species that need them, and for the people who cherish them for what they are and because they are."

SUMMARY OF DIFFERENT VIEWPOINTS: 

Some local anglers call cutthroat trout "stupid, and they fight like slugs". Also, when game and fish departments tried to phase out hatcheries, anglers screamed to their legislators who threaten budget cuts. Anglers and hatcheries believe that stocking was the key to trout abundance. Most of the public are unmoved by the danger of the trout and many see trout genes have no relevance, for which trout is not a part of a native ecosystem, but a slab of meat. Many fishermen's priority  is to preserve the Cherry Creek's alien and mongrel trout, and they thought the fishing was already good- why change species? With a magazine poll, when readers were asked to vote for or against making Cherry Creek a sanctuary for Westlope cutthroats, 98% voiced opposition. Also, water quality protectors are very opposed to the use of rotenone saying "poison has no place in wilderness stewardship." 

ONLINE SOURCES FOR DIFFERENT VIEWPOINT:

• This website talks about how Fish and Wildlife are saying the Rio Grande cutthroat trout does not need federal protection: www.earthjustice.org
  
• This website is a blog that discusses the Wildlife Conservation Groups that oppose the amendment to protect water and conserve wildlife: Click Here
  

QUESTION FOR DISCUSSION:

How important do you think trout are to our ecosystem? Do you think the different trout species should be conserved and restored? or do you think that "a trout is a trout"?

"Be the change you wish to see in the world."  ~Mahatma Gandhi

Share and Voice 3: Green is Everywhere!!

Hello!

Does this ever happen to anyone...You notice a car one time and then later you see it on the roads EVERYWHERE? Or you meet someone and you bump into them all the time in the hallways?  

Well, ever since I started taking Environmental Health, I have noticed "GREEN" or environmentally friendly things are everywhere! In our schools bathrooms, commercials, T.V. shows, magazines, and even through text messaging! I have been a subscriber to SELF magazine for 4 years now. Through SELF magazine, I receive weekly text messages from them with health and fitness tips to motivate me to live healthier! I usually get tips on nutrition or working out. But today, I received a text and I couldn't believe it, it was a text that had a GREEN tip! and not only was it a green tip, but it related with the Eye-Opener for CSPI we all just did! Here is what my text said:

"Eat vegetarian today. If every American had 1 meat-free day a week, it would have the same green benefit as taking 8 million cars off the road."

SELF magazine is very environmentally aware and cautious magazine. They even have a program where you can sign up for them to e-mail you a GREEN tip-a-day and see if you tried it and if it helped you and the planet! Click here to learn more.

Or if you want to get those health text messages...Click here and get health tips through your phone! Remember guys, in Program Planning we learned about CUES TO ACTION!!

Take action, live green, it's everywhere!

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." ~Mahatma Gandhi

Eye Opener: CSPI!

Hello Everyone!

So this Eye-Opener was about doing short quizzes from CSPI. What is CSPI you ask? CSPI stands for Center for Science in the Public Interest. CSPI has been a strong advocate for nutrition and health, food safety, alcohol policy, and sound science. They also educate the public, advocate government policies that are consistent with scientific evidence on health and environmental issues. Seriously, check out the CSPI link to learn more. It's really interesting!

So I did the Eating Green Calculator. This calculator asked how many servings of beef, chicken, eggs, dairy, etc. I eat each week. They ask you this to calculate how your diet effects your health and the environment. I usually eat chicken everyday, an egg everyday, a dairy product everyday, and beef 2 or 3 times a week. Here were my results...

 

Results:

WOW, I am bad. 

1.3 acres of grain and animal grass to feed the animals I eat, 44.1 pounds of fertilizer used to grow animal feed, almost a half pound of pesticides used to grow animal feed, and the most shocking...7,700 pounds of manure created by the animals I eat. For cholesterol, I eat 147% of my daily value! I have heard many bad and good things about egg yolks. Moderation is always key.

Making a Change:

So after those shocking results, I had to click a link to improve my diet and protect the environment. You have to recalculate how much you are willing to give up each week. For each animal product, I gave up about 1 or 2 portions of each. The difference of those 1 to 2 portions is astonishing. I would have 39% less cholesterol, only 12 pounds of fertilizer, and the biggest improvement would be 2,157 pounds of manure compared to the 7,700 pounds from before!

I Pledge...:

I took the pledge to protect my health and the environment, I will eat a more plant-based diet—more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, and nuts and fewer fatty meat and dairy products. When I do eat animal products, I will emphasize ones that are lower in fat and raised in humane ways that minimize harm to the environment. I took this pledge because I am originally the Protein Queen. I love my milk and my meat!! But I really do need to eat more fruits and vegetables for my health and for the ENVIRONMENT!! (my signature below is my signature to take the pledge!)

Choh's Final Thoughts:

This really was an Eye-Opening activity for me!! I was so clueless before about how much of an impact I was making on this planet by eating my favorite foods. But really, we need to stop and think about where our food came from and the consequences that may follow!!

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." ~Mahatma Gandhi

Share and Voice 2: If It's Yellow Keep It Mellow, If It's Brown Flush It Down!

Hey guys!

So I'm laughing at myself for even writing about this, but I am going to do it anyway...Well, I usually walk through the Life Sciences building at our school during the day and I always make a pit stop at the bathroom where all the Pharmacy students have their 

lockers and stuff. YOU ALL have to go to this bathroom sometime!! It is so environmentally friendly!

So, the other day I took a couple pictures of the bathroom to show you why this bathroom is so cool....

So I am not sure if you can read what the first sign says, but it says, "By installing this water-saving handle with dual-function flush, this facility has demonstrated its commitment to protect and preserve the environment. For the system to work, we need your help. Please take a look at the diagram above and push the handle in the direction which best suits your needs. With your assistance, we can do our part to conserve this precious resource."

GOOD JOB UMD at getting one of these toilets!!!! How come the other bathrooms in our school don't have this type of flushing system? Think of how much water we could conserve by simply flushing up for liquid waste and down for solid waste!! Go check it out guys. 

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." ~Mahatma Gandhi

Reflection: Weeks 3 and 4!

Hey!

So can you believe it? It's the end of the 4th week. Wow! Time is flying by and it seems like we have leaped  from one level of awareness to another. Here is a review of weeks 3 and 4 of class:

Week 3:

1st of all, everyone is doing great with their blogs! Looks like we are becoming blog experts! (Maybe?) lol. Anyways, there were some reading reviews done by the groups that were assigned and I feel like we learned and were impacted by the two reading assignments! Reading 1 was about "The Challenges We Face". The problems addressed in the reading were about population and health, food, water, energy and climate, and biodiversity. There were some alarming facts that I will always remember. One fact was that 2 billion people lack reliable access to safe food and 300 million children are chronically malnourished. The other reading was Reading 27: Seeing Green: Knowing and Saving the Environment on Film. This was interesting because we never know what goes on behind the scenes of our favorite animal and nature shows/documentaries! We spent class time discussing these readings. I am glad we have an environment in our class for open discussion. I love to hear what you all have to say! 

Week 4:

The majority of this week was spent watching Al Gore's documentary called "An Inconvenient Truth".

I have heard many things about this documentary and I had always wanted to watch it but when I went to Target and saw the price...I thought "maybe later". But I was very happy to see that we were going to watching this video in our Environmental Health class. Saying that this video was an eye-opener is an understatement. I think we all looked at our lives, behaviors, and attitudes about global warming in a new way! Al Gore really did a good job at getting the sensitive side of us and talking about his family and almost losing his son. He stated that when his son was in the hospital, it seemed like someone turned his world upside down and shook everything out of it. I think watching this documentary somewhat turned my world upside down and put me in a new perspective. I think that he did a great job with his presentation with presenting the facts. The graphs and charts were really eye-catching and towards the end of the graphs we had the most CO2 emissions. Our world really is being impacted by us and I think it was insane that with all of the scientific proof, people were saying global warming is a "fraud to man-kind". I never really realized that politics really had an impact on how much we didn't know about what we were doing to our planet. I cannot believe that the U.S. and Australia is the only countries in the WORLD who didn't sign the Keyoto Protocol! AND the U.S. is 30% responsible for the global warming. We are having the most effect on our world warming. That is more than South America and Africa and other places combined! I like to think of the Earth as a house and our country is the messy roommate to all the other countries. We all have a messy roommate or probably guilty of being the messy roommate ourselves. So I am wondering, what are the other countries thinking of us? I think this video really changed a lot of our views on global warming. 

Thanks for reading! Leave a comment!

**None of us can forget this moment in the documentary where Al Gore literally had to get on this lifter and be raised up to show that we are going off the charts. This photo is from globalpact.org

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." ~Mahatma Gandhi

Share and Voice: Ronnie Trash "It's Yours and Mine"

Hey everyone! 

So it is time to stand on my "soapbox" and talk about something of my choice! 

So I was thinking...education and spreading the word is probably the best way to make a difference! And I was thinking we mostly remember things we were told or learned when we were little kids. Can you agree with me? We can barely remember what we ate for breakfast today or what one of our professors talked about 2 days ago! But for some reason we can remember the little things we were taught in elementary school and younger. So with that thought, why don't they start educating young kids about "environmentally friendly" things in our school system? 

I think that information will stick to them for the rest of their lives. I remember back in the days of watching Barney, there was a song called "Never Let the Water Run". Anyone remember that song? I still know the words to that song and it is telling us to shut off the water while brushing our teeth. Crazy how I can still remember that song. Also, I think Sesame Street did a great job at having characters like Ronnie Trash and Richie Recycler. I wish more childrens' T.V. shows raised awareness of environmentally safe behaviors! Here is a YouTube video from Sesame Street! 

Leave a comment if you'd like! 

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." ~Mahatma Gandhi

Eye Opener 1: Ecological Footprint!

Hi everyone, although I was really curious to see what my impact on this planet was, I was also cringing at the thought of how NON environmentally friendly I really was living my life! It felt like getting on the scale and seeing your weight after a Thanksgiving dinner (a little guilty). lol.

By doing a few quizzes, I really had some eye-opening moments.....

**The first quiz I took was for calculating my ecological footprint. What exactly is an "ecological footprint"? An ecological footprint is a measure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystem. I calculated my footprint through the Earth Day Network Footprint Calendar which is a quick little quiz that shows you how many planets it would take to support your lifestyle if everyone in the world lived like you.  

Wow, I cannot believe how much of the world's ecosystem I demand! The results of my quiz are shown in the image above^^. The results show that it would take 5 planet Earths to support my lifestyle to provide enough resources. I always think that I don't have "that much" stuff or don't demand that much, but this quiz proved me wrong. Compared to all of the billions of people in the world, we sometimes don't realize how other people in the world are living compared to us. This really opened my eyes to be really grateful for what I have and really start making smarter choices to make my ecological footprint a little more impressive! It also said that 43% of my ecologic footprint comes from FOOD. Seriously, a little embarrassing, but I guess I never really thought about it. I do eat meat everyday and a lot of my food comes from Korea. Buying food locally really would make a little difference and I can change that! I think it is all about the little things you can do to make a big difference. 

**Another quiz I did was called the AAA Fuel Cost Calendar.

This one was an interesting one since many people are always talking/thinking/complaining about gas prices. This assessment estimates the amount and cost of gasoline needed to complete a vacation trip. I thought...how perfect! I went on a spring break trip last year to Panama City Beach, Florida with a bunch of my girlfriends in a CAR. (I never recommend driving 24 hours in a car with 5 girls).

So for this quiz, you put in your starting point, ending destination, your car model and year. Then they calculate the miles and gallons of your trip according to national gas price averages. Here were my results:

Pretty interesting huh? We used about 145 gallons of gasoline for that trip, that is about 30 gallons a person. We never even stopped to think about how much gas we were using! I wonder how many gallons of fuel is used to operate a plane? How much of a difference do you think there is in gallons per person for a trip on a plane to a car? Something to think about....

**Lastly, Kaileigh @ Kaileigh's Nature Blog recommended that I try this one out: Pollution Report Card.

This "report card" was cool because you type in a zip code, for this case I used mine from my home town of Apple Valley. And then they compare your town to other towns in the U.S. For Apple Valley, In 2002, this county ranked among the dirtiest/worst 10% of all counties in the U.S. in terms of water releases. Ohh ouch. Not so proud to be a Valley girl :( this quiz just shows you a glimpse of how the environment you live in can really effect your health! 

**Choh's Final Thoughts:

Well, doing these 3 quizzes really showed me that each person does have an impact in our environment and doing these Eye-Openers really shows you the "truth" whether it's pretty or not. In my case, doing these quizzes has taught me a lot about myself. I discovered that you have to look at the big-picture to realize you can do little things to make a difference. I for one, will be buying more locally and I don't always have to be getting my food from over-seas! Also, doing the gasoline quiz, I realize you just have to be a little more aware of how many gallons of gas you are using when driving. I cannot wait to ride my bike and rollerblade this summer! I hope you all had an eye-opening experience as well and remember, you all can make change! 

Holla Group #1!

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." ~Mahatma Gandhi