Share and Voice 12: Water Bottles!

So yesterday I went on a Target shopping binge (yes....I do remember "The Story of Stuff") and ran into a colorful display of aluminum water bottles!! I have always wanted one of these, I am sure you have seen Jayme with these water bottles last semester :)... So I ended up getting one because they were on sale for $10! They are usually 12-15 dollars so I thought it was a great investment for our planet. 

There are a ton of cool things about these water bottles, not only are appealing to the eye with bright colors and designs, but they keep my water cold, I can carry it around with ease, and I don't have to keep using and throwing out plastic water bottles! The company Gaiam makes these water bottles, they make green living, yoga, fitness, and organic products!

So why go aluminum? 

• 86% of plastic water bottles used in the U.S. end up in landfills, taking up 1,000 years to biodegrade.
• Transporting bottled water consumes approximately 1.5 million barrels of fossil fuels per year.
  
• When you use an aluminum bottle, your water remains free of unhealthy plastic residues.
  

So go out and get yourself one!!!

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

Share and Voice 11: Nature Walk!

Environmental Fun Fact: People who took nature walks did 20% better on memory tests than city strollers. This summer, recharge your brain and body with a walk in the park!

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

Share and Voice 10: "Repurposing"

Hey everyone!!

So I think we all did a great job with the "junk" that Dr. V had brought into class today and it was absolutely hilarious to hear everyone's unique repurposing ideas! Everyone was so creative! (I'm still laughing at some of the ideas).

So this Share and Voice is dedicated to a craft blog that I visit sometimes and I really want all of you to take some time and look at this blog! There are some really cool and crafty ideas for things you can make yourself. For these crafts, this blog encourages you to reuse things and the results are absolutely amazing!!! Please take a look at this blog, you may be inspired to make something yourself with the things you find around the house!! Click on this link to view the blog.

Also, from this blog is a list of ways to inspire yourself and to make "repurposing" or "repairing" a part of normal life!!

Have a good day! :)

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

Share and Voice 9: Super One Grocery Bags!

Hey Class!

So as you all know, Dr. V hooked all of us up with reusable "Super One" grocery bags! I was so excited, I always wanted to get one, but never did. I went grocery shopping yesterday and used it, I felt super cool and loved that I didn't have to decide between 'paper or plastic'. I went to a different grocery store in the area so I have not been able to personally say thank you to Dave for the bags! Thankfully, Heather and Shar got the whole class together to sign a paper "Super One" grocery bag as a thank you card to Dave for his generous donation! Also, Shar took a group class photo to give to him and for us to look back on to remember the good times of this class. :)

Thanks for the bags Dr. V and Dave!!

Picture courteous of Shar Drew! :)

Check out her blog to see more pictures!!

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

Share and Voice 8: On OPRAH "Secrets of the Blue Zones"

So I am watching my favorite T.V. show right now.."OPRAH"! (turn it on right now if you see this blog before 5 p.m.)

This episode caught my eye because the topic today is "Secrets of the Blue Zones". What they mean by the "Blue Zone" is that there are certain areas in the world that the population lives significantly longer than ANY other area in the world. These areas include:  

~Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica
~Okinawa, Japan
~Sardinia, Italy
~Loma Linda, California, U.S.A.  (surprising!)

People in the "Blue Zones" live past 100 years old in large amounts of the population. This episode reminds me of the "Unnatural Causes" video we were watching today in class when it talks about how stress levels correlate to longevity. Dr. Oz goes around the world to these places and talks to the people who exceed to live 100 years. Not only is the longevity of the lives of these people that is amazing, but these people are living with vitality, happiness, and meaning.

Sure, this episode could explain what the 100+ year olds eat, drink, or exercise all day. But what this episode is emphasizing is how the healthy people of the "Blue Zones" credit their long lives to eating well and exercise ALONG with living a life where family is important,STRESS LEVELS ARE LOW, having a PASSION for work, faith, volunteerism, and having life-long friends. 

If you missed this episode!!!! Please check out this link from oprah.com and click through the arrows to see the special ways people from the "Blue Zones" live their daily lives. It is really interesting!!!! It makes you wonder, "how do these people do it!!??"

Let me know what you think!

All images from www.oprah.com:

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

Share and Voice 7: Blog-On Award!

Hey bloggers! So I recently just received a "Blog On" award from Heather @ Heather's Healthy Environment for my Share and Voice: Going Green in Mexico. I would like to pass this award on to Lauren @ Environmental Escapades of a Student for her Share and Voice: Wal-Mart Goes Green! I was really interested in this blog because Wal-Mart is such a huge corporation but it has such a bad reputation in many areas. I can tell Lauren did her research on this topic and expressed her inner health educator by telling us some fun facts. So here is your award Lauren!

Great job!!

Here are directions for you to accept the award!

1. Leave a comment below so that I know you "picked up" the award.
2. Create a Share and Voice post that says you've received the award and indicate who the award is from (be sure to hyperlink).
3. Also indicate to whom you are going to pass on the award and why. Be sure to hyperlink the blogger (use main blog URL) and the blog title (use the specific URL for that blog post).
4. Copy and paste these instructions at the bottom of your post.
5. Publish the post.
6. Visit each blogger you've awarded and leave a comment telling them they've won.
7. Continue the process.

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

Share and Voice 6: Going Green in Mexico!

Hey everyone!!

If you know Kaileigh @ Kaileigh's Nature Log and I, I am sure you are sick of hearing about our spring break stories (sorry)! But as much we wanted to forget about school during break, "green" things followed us down there and we still talked about this class and pointed out some environmentally friendly things that Cancun, Mexico does to save money AND our planet!

Here are some things Kaileigh and I found while we were down in Mexico....

*We flew through Sun Country Airlines where we found brochures in the seats telling us how Sun Country is doing their part in helping the environment. Sun Country is one of the "greenest" airlines in the nation. If you can't read the following below, you can learn more about what they are doing by going to this website.

*We stayed at the Oasis Hotel where we found this little sign in the bathroom! It says "Dear Guest, we kindly invite you to join our environmental awareness campaign." Then it list ways to help the hotel by leaving towels on the floor if you want them washed, hung up if you didn't, and to avoid leaving the sliding door open if the A/C was on. Oasis is considers themselves as an ecologically responsible hotel.

*This shirt is from the Hardrock Cafe! There were shirts like this all over the flea markets.

Hope you got a little taste of Mexico :)

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

Share and Voice 5: Pass the Torch!

WOW guys, I cannot believe how long I have had these blog awards. Sorry! 

So I received 2 awards, one from Sara@ A Leaf of Sara's Life and Samantha@ Samantha's Running with the Wild. I received the Enviro-COOL blog for my Share and Voice #3 post about the environmentally friendly toilets I found at our school here at UMD! :)

***So I am passing this award on to 2 people. The first one goes to JEFF @ Cuddling Conifers with Jeff for his recent Share and Voice about helping out a friend after a fun night (you can be a good friend AND environmentally friendly!) I think this was great because it is something most of us can relate to and probably use on most weekends! I also thought it was humorous! 

***My 2nd award goes to Derek@ DP Keepin-It-Green for his recent Share and Voice: 1% for the Planet. I LOVED the video that he posted along with it because the song is amazing, there are cool pictures, and it shows companies that will donate 1% of their sales to environmental groups! I didn't even know about this and Derek spread the word! I ate a Clif bar today AND I am a fan of Jack Johnson :)...both are part of the 1% for the Planet!

So here you go Jeff and Derek! 

Here are directions for you to "pass the torch"! 

1. Leave a comment below so that I know you "picked up" the award.

2. Create a Share and Voice post that says you've received the award and indicate who the award is from (be sure to hyperlink).

3. Also indicate to whom you are going to pass on the award and why. Be sure to hyperlink the blogger (use main blog URL) and the blog title (use the specific URL for that blog post).

4. Copy and paste these instructions at the bottom of your post.

5. Publish the post.

6. Visit each blogger you've awarded and leave a comment telling them they've won.

7. Continue the process...

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

Share and Voice 4: "The Old Man and the Storm"

Hey guys!

So today I watched the documentary titled "The Old Man and the Storm" which was held in Bohannon 90 with discussions led by Dr. V and others from the civic engagement department! I went to watch this documentary for a few reasons, but the main reason I decided to go was because I am embarrassed to say this, but Hurricane Katrina occurred during the summer before my senior year and by being involved in sports, living in a bubble, and it being my senior year, issues in the news did not really interest me. Being in college now, it made it sad to think that the only time I saw issues of Hurricane Katrina was on magazine covers or watching the t.v. show "Keeping Up with the Kardashians"...I needed to open my eyes and understand what happened down there!!!

The focus of this documentary was about class and race and how the environment effects it. This film reminded me a lot about the film we watched in class called "Green". I think "Green" reminded me of "The Old Man and the Storm" because in this film, it was about the Hurricane Katrina victims, but New Orleans is still a mess, nothing has really been done about it, and people are wondering, is this a socioeconomic issue? The citizens are furious and feel that the government doesn't care about poor people or black people. I think it is a socioeconomic issue because many of the Hurricane Katrina victims were from low-income, uninsured, or underinsured families, and even today in 2009, many families are still homeless, job-less, and are trying to put the pieces back together. 

All images from pbs.org

This interview style documentary followed the Gettridge family. One member of the family is an 82 year old man named Herbert Gettridge, who stayed down in Louisiana because he is trying to restore his damaged house to try to bring back his wife of 65 years home. Herbert and his family of 300 members were effected by this hurricane in a major way. Everyone in that family is scattered around the country. This hurricane tore apart the Gettridge family, and this family is just a small reflection of the 500,000 families effected!! 

Here are some alarming facts that I learned from the film about the effects of Hurricane Katrina:

• 500,000 families are displaced
• Charity is the solution for people who didn't have insurance during the storm
• This hurricane caused the largest federal funded restoration project ever! 7.5 BILLION dollars
• Many families are depressed and teenagers admitted that they feel like they needed counseling. Drinking  and violence rates went up and suicide rates tripled!
• 18 months after the hurricane, 100,000 people applied for the RoadHome Program, but only 500 people got some money.
• 25,000 powerlines of Entergy were torn down, leaving that company bankrupt and no electricity
• There are no schools, no police stations, no firestations
• Political figures in that area of that time either resigned or did not run for their position again because they feel like they did all that they could do.

So, what do you think?? Do you think this is an example of environmental racism? Do you think if the people that were effected by Hurricane Katrina were from higher income families and maybe a different race that they would be treated differently and something would be done sooner? Let me know what you think!!!

Thanks for reading!

"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

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

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

Welcome to Choh's Changing Environment!!

Hi and welcome to Choh's Changing Environment! My name is Kathy and I am a Community Health Education major at UMD. This blog is going to be a space where students from our Environment Health class can communicate with each other and learn about environmental health without using paper assignments! :)

Remember guys, according to W.H.O, environmental health can be defined as: "all the physical, chemical, and biological factors external to a person, and all the related factors impacting behaviours. It encompasses the assessment and control of those environmental factors that can potentially affect health. It is targeted towards preventing disease and creating health-supportive environments. This definition excludes behaviour not related to environment, as well as behaviour related to the social and cultural environment, and genetics." (just in case Dr. V asks us again!) 

There are 5 possible types of posts on my blog. They include:

1. Advocacy Project
2. Eye Openers
3. Reflections
4. Reviews
5. Share and Voice

If you notice at the bottom of this post, the categories will be listed as labels. This post has been labeled with all five kinds of posts. You will also see the number of each kind of post in my Labels Gadget at the top of the page. All post titles from now on will begin with one of the categories above.

The members of my web group are: 

1. Steve @ Steve Goes Green
2. Heather @ Heather's Healthy Environment
3. Christen@ Christen's Environmental Health
4. Kaileigh @ Kaileigh's Nature Log
5. Shar @ Shar's Virtual Environment

You can subscribe to my blog by clicking the subscribe gadget in the gadget column. You can also follow my blog by clicking "Follow this Blog" in the gadget column. I am subscribed to all the blogs in my blog list gadget. You can see my complete profile and all the blogs I am following by clicking on "See Complete Profile." 

Thank you for stopping by, I hope we can all learn something new together this semester! 

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