Share and Voice: Blog Award Pass Along!

Hey everyone! So I recently was awarded two Blog awards for my post on Captain Planet! I received an EnviroCool award from Jeff @ Cuddling Conifers with Jeff, and a Blog On award for expressing my inner health educator from Ben @ Ben's Virtual Ecosystem. First off, thanks to both of you.

But now I must pass the awards off to others. I'd like to give the Blog On Award for expressing your inner health educator to Kaileigh @ Kaileighs Nature Log for her post Northland Country Club. She took initiative and helped out at her work to make them go green! That is truely Legendary!

And as for the EnviroCool award, that goes to Sara J. @ A Leaf of Sara's Life, for her post Denver International Airport: Going green? I think this was a great idea for a post, and it would be awesome if every airport did things like this!

So, Kaileigh and Sara...
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...

Share and Voice: Green Pets (Not Literally)

Helloski once again everybody! So my original idea for this post was to do it on the most Eco-Friendly pet that people could have. Yeah, that idea didn't get very far. Didn't find one word on the subject.

So I moved my focus else where, and decided to look at ways you and your pet can be more Eco-Friendly. I love dogs, honestly I'll probably have 5 when I get out of college, so this is a good subject for me to look into. So, I found a great website on the subject, EcoPetLife.com. Let's look at it pet by pet. (Dogs, Cat, and Birds. They don't have any others unfortunately)

DOGS

Adjustable Hemp Collars

•Retail Price - $19.00
•100% Hemp, hypoallergenic, come in 2 different types; Kody, and Jewel.
•Hemp leashes also available

Huck

•Retail Price - $7.98
•Made of a material called Zogoflex, its durable, and made to be recycled. Whenever it gets to the point where you can no longer use it, mail it back to the company and they will turn it into new toys. Comes in three awesome colors; Aqua Blue, Tangerine, and Granny Smith

Organic Dog Cookies

•Retail Price - $5.99
•95% organic ingredients
•Two flavors - Chicken, and Peanut Butter

Eco Plush Frog

•Retail Price - $13.00
•Made out of Recycled Soda Pop Bottles. (How awesome is that??)
•Also comes in Salamander and Turtle.

CATS
Catnip

•Retail Price - $5.50
•100% natural organic catnip

Cat Kit

•Retail Price - $16.00
•Contains one Shelby the Mouse, one Shelby the Refillable Mouse, one Catnip Spray Bottle, one Cork Ball and a half ounce of potent Organic Catnip Leaf and Flower

BIRDS

Avian Herbal Tea Blend

•Retail Price - $11.85
•Apparently Birds drink tea. Either way, its all natural, and helps birds immune systems.

Bird Food

•Retail Price - $15.95 for a 2 lb bag
•All Natural whole foods. Available for Parakeets, Cockatiels, Canaries, Finches, and Parrots.

Mkay. So there are some various Eco-Friendly pet products you can buy. Hope this helps anyone who wants to look into the subject!

Advocacy Project: My Political Representatives

Hows it hanging everybody? Here are my findings for all of the politicians. (Click names for link's to websites)


El Presidente - Barack Obama - DFL
Couple of ways to contact him...
•You can email him at www.whitehouse.gov
•Or send a letter to...
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, D.C. 20500



Governor(Or as Schwarzenegger would say, Gubernator) - Tim Pawlenty - RNC
•Phone - (651) 296-3391
•Address - Office of the Governor
130 State Capitol
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd
St Paul, MN 55155


State Senator - Yvonne Prettner - DFL
•(651) 296 -4188
•75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd
St Paul, MN 55155


US Senator - Amy Klobuchar - DFL
•(202) 224-3244
•302 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510


US House Representative - Jim Oberstar - DFL
•(202) 225-6211
•2365 Rayburn HOB
Washington, D.C. 20510


St Louis County Commissioner - Dennis Fink - DFL
•(218) 726-2458
•Room 208
100 N the Ave. W
Duluth, MN 55802
Mayor of Duluth - Donnie Ness - DFL
•(218) 730-5230
•Mayor's Office, Room 402
411 W 2st St
Duluth, MN 55802

Reflection: Weeks: 7 & 8

Hey everyone. Alright so this has been a struggle. My mind went blank, and I completely forgot to do this by last Friday. So I apologize for the tardiness.

Well, the movies 'Green' and 'Thirst' were definitely two eye opening movies(The parts we got to see). Green was more of the emotional one however. It showed how bad things can be for some people in America. It was hard to watch and think about how much life would suck--pardon my french-- if I had to live in those conditions. One part that really caught my eye was when the man was saying he used to garden every year, but the ground is so polluted that it wouldn't be safe to plant and eat food from his garden anymore.

Thirst, from the little that we got to see unfortunately, talked about water privatization. While it isn't the most fascinating subject ever, it is still an important one. If water gets privately owned, it'll cost us even more. And being a college student, paying more for water isn't something I'd be happy to do.

The Eye Opener we did through the Environmental Working Group's website was kind of a fun thing to do however. We took whatever cosmetics, or if you are a guy, cosmanics, we use and we found out how hazardous that item is to the environment and to us as well. The item I decided to check out was only a 2 out of 10 in the hazard scale, so it's good, but it still could be better of course.

So that is the past couple of weeks in review! Hope everybody's spring break has gone well thus far, and continues to do so!

Share And Voice: CAPTAIN PLANET!!!

~~"By your powers combined, I am...Captain Planet!!!"~~

•Can I get an Amen to that!?!? I don't know how it took me so long to do a Share and Voice on Captain Planet! 'Captain Planet and the Planeteers' was one of my favorite TV Cartoons growing up as a kid!

ABOUT THE SHOW

•For those of you who did not watch this legendary cartoon, Captain Planet was a superhero who was out to save the world from pollution. He would basically have a 'sixth sense' that would let him know when something bad was happening to the earth, like a forest being cut down, or someone dumping toxic waste.

•When he got this sense, he would summon his 5 helpers -- known as the Planeteers -- to help him fight for the cause.

• Kwame - Hailed from Africa, and had the power of Earth
• Wheeler - Coming from North America, had the power of Fire
• Linka - From Russia, had the power of Wind
• Gi - From Asia, held the power of Water
• Ma-Ti - Hailing from South America, had the power of Love

•The Spirit of Earth was Gaia. The voice of wisdom for Captain Planet and the Planeteers, she too felt the sixth sense when the earth was in trouble.

•Ted Turner actually created the show. Attempting to create a show that was fun and awesome, as well as educational. I'd say mission accomplished Mr. Turner.

TIDBITS

•While taking a stroll down memory lane and looking at some Captain Planet websites, I came across some interesting information, to me atleast. A lot of celebrities were voices on the show. I saved the best for last

• Whoopi Goldberg - Voice of Gaia
• Ed Asner - Voice of Hoggish Greedly
• Martin Sheen - Voice of Sly Sludge
• John Ratzenberger - Voice of Rigger
• Meg Ryan - Voice of Dr. Blight
• Tim Curry - Voice of MAL
• Jeff Goldblum - Voice of Verminous Skumm
• Sting - Voice of Zarm
• Lavar Burton - Voice of Kwame

•Lavar Burton was the host of Reading Rainbow! Yet another classic! Also, John Ratzenberger was Cliff Clavin on Cheers. And Tim Curry was the clown in IT, and the Butler in Clue, and he was also in The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

•Ok so there were a few more random celebrities scattered in the show, but pretty much no one except me knows who they are, so I left them out. But if you want to know, check out IMDB's site on the show. IMDB (The Internet Movie DataBase is pretty much the greatest website ever.)

LINKS

Captain Planet - Here's is the unofficial offical site of Captain Planet.
Captain Planet's Favorite Links - Links that have to do with the environment and such
Planeteer Alert's - Basically :30 second Public Service Announcements
Eco Tips - "Captain Planet's Top Ten Eco Tips. Heck yes.

SONG

Anybody remember the song that they always sang? If not, here are the lyrics for it. Enjoy.

"EARTH!"
"FIRE!"
"WIND!"
"WATER!"
"HEART!"

"Go Planet!"

"By your powers combined, I am Captain Planet!"

Captain Planet, he's our hero
Gonna take pollution down to zero

He's our powers magnified
And he's fighting on the planet's side

Captain Planet, he's our hero
Gonna take pollution down to zero

Gonna help him put asunder
Bad guys who like to loot and plunder

"You'll pay for this Captain Planet!"

We're the Planeteers
You can be one too
'Cause saving our planet is the thing to do!

Looting and polluting is not the way
Hear what Captain Planet has to say!

"The Power is Yours!"

FIGHTING FOR THE CAUSE
•So I leave you all with this. As you see above, Captain Planet's big catchphrase was 'The Power Is Yours!' If ya think about it, that really is a great catchphrase for the class. If we want things in this world to change, it is up to us. People may think that if one person does something, it won't matter. But every little bit counts, people. Every little bit counts...

~~~~~
•I don't think anyone has done a Share and Voice on this yet, if so I apologize for repeating. But I couldn't help but take a stroll down memory lane!

Share and Voice: Fresh Picked Water

--Hello everyone! So one of my favorite websites is the Star Tribunes, one of the two main newspapers from down in the Twin Cities. One of the articles they had on the main page was done by a student intern, Nicole Tommerdahl. It was about how St Cloud State is heading a new trend among drinking water. I'll summarize but here is the article.

--This new type of drinking water intrigues me greatly. What they do is, they take a drink dispenser, 1/2 gallon thing, and fill it with water, ice, and then freshly cut fruit or vegetables. And it basically makes water that tastes like the fruit or veggie, comparable to things like Vitamin Water. They put fruit like apples and oranges, and veggies like cucumbers in the water, and combine things like lemon lime water among other things(hopefully they can get water that tastes like Mountain Dew, if they do, sign me up!)

--The cool part is they have it in Garvey Commons, which is comparable to UMD's DC and food court. The 'Hydration Station' has pretty much replaced Soda machines. Which helps the environment (Think about it, less soda consumed means less resources needed to make the soda). The other cool part is it's healthy for ya obviously. Not only are ya getting your daily dose of water, but you're also getting small amount of fruit and veggies in every drink, which of course is always healthy.

--There are unlimited refills for students, so even if they are just walking by, they can stop and fill up their water bottle! I really think it would be awesome if UMD caught onto the trend and got some Hydration Stations here on campus. One in the Food Court, and one in the DC. Personally, I know this would help me drink more water, and I think the change would be well received among a majority of the student population as well.

Eye Opener: Environmental Working Group

Hey everyone! The weeks keep on flyin' by, and so do all the blogposts! So for this current post, we have to go to the Environmental Working Group's website. They have a neat little Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database. Ya put some type of cosmetic item you use (I was really confused at first because men don't use cosmetics, women do. So, I decided to call the stuff that guys use (i.e. body wash, shaving gel) cosmanics. I like it.) Anywho, ya put your Cosmetics/Cosmanics into the database, and it'll tell you how harmful your particuar items are to you and the environment. Here are my findings.


I use Nivea For Men Body Wash. Just recently started using it. It smells nice. And honestly, my findings were alright. It gave me a 2 out of 10 on the Hazard Scoring System(1 good, 10 bad). Only 22% of similar products on the market are considered better. I think thats pretty good. It also found that I had a slight chance of getting cancer from the Nivea Body Wash. but, the ingredients found that can cause cancer have only limited evidence relating cancer to the body wash. Some other ingredients were found to cause organ system toxicity. But all of the Hazard Scores were 4 or below, so I am quite happy with all of my results!