Reflections: Week 7 and 8!

So weeks 7 and 8 came and went. We covered a lot of material so let's recap what we did within these past 2 weeks:

Week 7:

We were assigned to read "Ill Winds: The Chemical Plant Next Door". This reading left some people thinking about the life of Becky Bradway and her life in Buffalo, Illinois. The small town of Buffalo had a chemical plant nearby called Borden. Borden is a plant that produces products many people use without thinking twice about where it came from, such as PVC, glue, saran wrap, etc. Borden has been accused of dumping illegal amounts of toxins into the water and Bradway gave us her insight on this issue and how it has effected her family. The reading left us wondering, did this chemical plant next door lead people to develop cancers or not? In class, we discussed why some people liked the story and some did not because if left many people wondering and not really had a direct answer, by this point, I didn't know much about the effects of chemical plants and how they contaminate water. Which is why I enjoyed the documentary "Green"...

"Green" was an amazing documentary made by a student named Laura Dunn. This was interesting because this opened our eyes to an issue along a 100 mile stretch of the Mississippi River in Louisiana nicknamed "Cancer Alley". Cancer Alley had an alarming trend of cases of cancer and sicknesses among the residents of this area. The plants and companies responsible for dumping illegal amounts of nitrates and toxins in the water were many companies we have heard of and are consumers of! The plants were responsible for reporting their own amounts of waste into the water, but in discussion it was said "It is like turning yourself in for a speeding ticket!". This documentary felt more personable because people that were effected from Cancer Alley were interviewed and clearly many of them are sick, sad, and feel helpless. This film opened our eyes to the issue of contaminated water and the effects of chemical plants near residential areas.

Lastly, another interesting thing this we did on Week 7 was our Eye Opener: Environmental Working Group. For this eye opener, we went through the Environmental Working Group's database of many cosmetic or "COSMANIC" (Steve@ SteveGoesGreen) products we use on a regular basis and found out how dangerous it is to the environment and to ourselves. What I found out was that my favorite face moisturizer rated a level 7, that is VERY dangerous to the environment had many chemicals. Many others found out that their products were harmful too! What this eye opener showed us was that the things we use everyday has an impact on the environment and some of the products we use support the chemical plants that we learned about in the reading and the documentaries we discussed this week. Everything from week 7 was tied together!

Week 8:

So the theme of this week was water privatization which is a new term and an eye-opening issue for me. I was assigned to do the reading review of Reading 31: Privatizing Water. Since this was a new term for me and some of the classmates, doing a little research on what water privatization IS helped with understanding the reading. The reading talked about the riots in Cochabamba, Bolivia where hundreds were injured and one killed due to citizens being enraged by water privatization in their area. Water privatization is opposed by many due to poor customer service, poor quality, and many people could not afford the water. This reading lead us to the documentary of "Thirst". Thirst was about water privatization as well. This film showed us what other countries are doing with their water issues. Some are preserving, some are not having issues, and some are having many problems with this issue. The mayor of Stockton, California is planning on signing for having their water run by a private sector which is enraging some citizens of this town. The protesters of this town are thinking "Water for life, not for profit!". As a class, we discussed our views on water privatization and the raising question was "is water a human right? or can someone "own" it and charge people for something that is a necessity of life?" Then the documentary had some technical difficulties but I think we all can imagine what is going on!

A view of the beautiful Lake Superior. A water source we are so lucky to live by!

(Image from hickerphoto)

Again, this class never fails to teach me something new. Have a great spring break everybody!

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