Share and Voice: Sports Leagues Going Green

Hey everybody. So people who know me know that I like sports. My dream job would be the General Manager of a National Hockey League team, meaning I would get to make all the decisions (who to draft, trade, sign, etc.). So I got to thinking again, and I decided to investigate what the four major sports leagues are doing to go green. So below, I have a section devoted to each league, with a little bit of info as to what they've done.

National Football League
At the Super Bowl a couple of years ago, the NFL made a huge effort to go green. About 60,000 lbs of food that was made was not eaten at the stadium alone. So, instead of creating 30 TONS of waste, they decided to give the food to soup kitchens, shelters, churches, and other organizations. No waste, plus good karma! Another thing most people wouldn't even think about is all the costs (in terms of carbon emissions) of having to haul it to the garbage dumps. So they saved there as well.

Then, through all the car and electricity used in and around the stadium, it amounted to 1 million pounds of Carbon Dioxide. To go Carbon Neutral, the league planted 3,000 trees in the Miami area.

Major League Baseball
MLB has joined forces with the NRDC (National Resources Defense Council) to help each team make a stronger effort to be more eco-friendly. Here is what they will help each team do.

• Adopting an official environmental policy

• Incorporating environmental language into contracts, purchasing policies and requests for proposals that specify preferences for environmentally sound products and services

• Encouraging the use of renewable energy

• Providing information about how to credibly offset the carbon emissions related to team and fan transportation

• Using post-consumer recycled content paper for all paper products

• Implementing paper reduction strategies in offices

• Offsetting the environmental impact of up to half of team and employee travel

• Establishing club eco-committees

National Basketball Association
One article from the NBA that caught my eye was about the Chicago Bulls. Instead of just having their team go green for the first ever NBA Green Week, they put an emphasis on educating the fans. Throughout their game on April 9th, they had random ways people can go green on the scoreboard. They also had displays throughout the arena further educating fans. The team also gave out 20,000 Energy Saving light bulbs to fans as they left the arena.

National Hockey League
This one's a little more complicated. The NHL teamed with the David Suzuki Foundation to create the NHLPA's Carbon Neutral Challenge. When players have to travel to cities via airplane, that puts carbon emissions into air, which aren't good for the environment. So the NHL is rewarding players who do things to go green, which 'evens' out the carbon level. Think of it this way. Air travel is bad for the environment, going green is good for it, so they equal each other out so to speak. Read more about it here.

Advocacy Project: Letter to a Public Official

(Yes I photo shopped the above photo to make it look like Oberstar is holding a letter)

Steve Anderson
1894 Legendary Lane
Awesomeville, MN 56789
----------------------------------------------------------
April 28, 2009

Congressman James L. Oberstar
Duluth Federal Building
Room 231
Duluth, Minnesota 55802

Dear Congressman Oberstar,

I am writing you today in regards to H.R. Bill 1931, 'The Juvenile Crime Reduction Act', which aims to improve the treatment of juveniles with mental health or substance abuse disorders by establishing new grant programs for increased training, technical assistance, and coordination of service providers, and for other purposes.

I feel that 'The Juvenile Crime Reduction Act' would greatly improve society. If juveniles are treated better while in a facility, meaning rehabilitating the juveniles so they are able to go back into society, everyone would benefit. The juveniles would be able to live a normal life, the families of the juveniles would get their kid's back, and the rest of society would gain more members.

Another set of people who would benefit from this Bill being passed would be the employees at the facility. With the increased training they would receive, they would acquire new skills that will help them with jobs throughout their life.

Your support of Bill HR 1931 would help ensure that the juveniles and employees at the mental health facilities would have a better life. So to support these people, I urge you to vote YES on Bill HR 1931: The Juvenile Crime Reduction Act.

Should you need any other information, feel free to contact me at 1-800-AWE-SOME (293-7663). Thank you very much for your time. Have a good day.


Sincerely,

Steven A.

Share and Voice: Big Green Cookbook

Hello everyone! First off, yes I'm blogging about a cookbook. (Don't care if it isn't manly or what not, I like food, it's delicious.) So whenever I get bored, the mall seems to be the place that I always end up at. And my first stop is always Barnes and Noble (which is weird because one of my enemies on my Enemy List is 'reading'). While I was at B & N, I noticed a book that caught my eye, the Big Green Cookbook, by Jackie Newgent.

Like it's name implies, it's a cookbook that involves going green. So I checked it out, and it had some really good recipes in it. The thing I always hate about most recipe books is when the recipe has 45 ingredients. Like 8 different spices, and 3 different oils. Most of the recipes in this book had very few ingredients thankfully. Here's a little bit of a book description.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Going green" has spread to the kitchen! Big Green Cookbook is the first comprehensive, climate-conscious cookbook, ideal for both culinary novices and experienced cooks. Food and health expert Jackie Newgent reveals simple, practical, and sometimes even money-saving solutions for choosing and preparing food in planet-pleasing ways. It has never been easier to create everyday meals that maximize flavor while minimizing your environmental impact. Inside you'll find:

• A green kitchen checklist

• Over 200 delicious, easy-to-prepare, seasonal recipes that feature fresh, all-natural foods

• Guidelines for going organic and tips for buying locally

• Nutrition information and earth-friendly cooking tips with every recipe

• Clever, new techniques for low-carbon cooking

• An eco-friendly shopping guide and seasonal produce guide

----------------------------------------------------------------------

So if anyone out there is lookin' into getting a new cookbook or anything, I suggest trying this one out!

Advocacy Project: Issue Overiview

Introduction
The goal of my program is to ensure better screening for Mental Health and Mental Disorders in Juvenile Facilities. But the bill I am focusing on is set out to improve treatment of juveniles with mental health or substance abuse disorders by establishing new grant programs for increased training, technical assistance, and coordination of service providers.

Who’s Affected?
I would say the people affected most are the juveniles and the employees at the juvenile facilities. Both of these sets of people will benefit. The juveniles will be treated better, while the employees will learn a new skill in their increased training. But another set of people who are affected, who may be opposed, are taxpayers. Most of the money put into grants comes from taxpayer’s money. So people may say ‘I don’t know any juveniles in treatment centers, so why should I give them my tax money?’

Consequences?
Well the consequences for the taxpayers would be simply the fact that they lose money. But the families who have juveniles in the treatment center would have only positive consequences. Their son/daughter would be treated better, making everyone happier. Society should theoretically improve because of this too. If the juveniles are treated better, and are able to function normally sooner, they will be able to go back into society with a seamless transition.

Economic Impact?
The economic costs of the issue are simply the taxpayers are paying more for this. While the cost per taxpayer would be minimal, people would still be opposed. People who benefit economically I guess would be the juveniles themselves. If after treatment, they are able to go back into the business world, they should be able to get jobs.

Social Impact?
Kind of along the same lines, the people who benefit socially would be the juveniles and the families themselves. Once they get out of treatment, life should theoretically be better for them.

Barriers?
Taxpayers. Whenever anyone here’s they may have to pay a tax on something new, they are automatically opposed until they find out what it is going towards. People will especially be opposed because of the state of the economy right now. People don’t want to just throw around money anymore unless they directly see the effect of it. But they can be overcome by getting the word out about the bill. Put ads in newspapers, commercials on TV, anything to get people to take notice.

Resources?
Resources that will be needed to address the issue are basically just money. But resources that WILL be affected if the bill goes through would be first and foremost, the employees. The money would go directly to training the employees. But another resource affected would maybe be the devices and tools used to measure Mental Health. By this I mean money may go to a new computer, which has programs on it designed specifically for this purpose.

History of the issue?
This is a section where I searched and searched and found literally nothing on bills like this. So unfortunately, I cannot comment on this section just yet. But I will keep looking into it, and when I do find something, I will put it in this post.

Allies and Opponents?
People who would support this issue would be the various Juvenile Mental Health Facilities. Also, such organizations such as the Minnesota State Advisory Council on Mental Health, as well as Minnesota Mental Health Clinics. Opponents would simply be taxpayers. I don’t see any other people who would oppose, (Any ideas???) mainly because it seems like a good cause. If juveniles are treated and cured or mental disorders, it really benefits everyone.

My Recommendation?
Please vote YES on HR 1931 – The Juvenile Crime Reduction Act!

Reflection: Weeks 11 & 12

Hey again everybody.

So as the weeks fly by, the end of the semester is in sight. But thankfully, the classes are still interesting (Except for Human Physiology). Week 11 started with a movie titled Unnatural Causes. Due to me being sick, I only got to see the first half, but from what I saw, it was an eye opening movie. It showed how people with more money have better health than people who don't have as much money. But thinking about it, yah, it makes sense. If you have money, you have more resources at the palm of your hand, i.e. the ability to go to the doctor, or go to the drug store and get medicine.

Week 12 began with an eye opener on Healthy People 2010. We did some research and looked into some important topics. Mine had to do with Mental Health and Mental Disorders. Once we found which topic we wanted to research, we looked at the Goals of the program, objectives, what kind of progress they are making, and what challenges may lie ahead. Then we had to look into what type of Bills are attempting to get passed in our subject. I unfortunately didn't find any that we closely related to my subject in Mental Health. And then good ol' Shar ran the class on Thursday, and she did a wonderful job!

Advocacy Project: HealthyPeople and THOMAS

Hello everyone. It feels like a really long time since my last post. Been kind of busy with Methods stuff I guess. Anywho. The goal I chose to look into was Focus Area 18: Mental Health and Mental Disorders. I've always taken an interest in Mental Disorders, so I figured this would be a good topic to look at.

GOAL
The goal of this topic is to improve mental health and ensure access to appropriate, quality mental health services.

OBJECTIVE 18-8
Juvenile justice residential facilities that provide mental health screening

BASELINE: 50% in the year 2000

TARGET: 55%

PQC - The Progress Quotient Chart has shown that now 60% of Juvenile Facilities provide mental health screening.

PROGRESS: The Baseline was at 50% in the year 2000. It then moved to 53% in the year 2002. And it is now at 60%, still trending up.

DISPARITIES: According to the disparities charts, the data for this particular section are unavailable. Mainly because the topic is about Juvenile facilities, not race or gender or anything.

CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES:
Cost is a big one here. They can't screen if they don't have any money. Lack of availability of services is another problem. Odds are, they would have to hire more people to be able to do the screening.

EMERGING ISSUES:
The main issue coming up is co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders and the outcomes resulting from this combination. About 50% of adults who have a mental disorder, will also at some point have a substance abuse problem.

H.R.1931 - Juvenile Crime Reduction Act
•TITLE - To improve the treatment of juveniles with mental health or substance abuse disorders by establishing new grant programs for increased training, technical assistance, and coordination of service providers, and for other purposes.
•SPONSOR - Rep Kennedy, Patrick J.
•LATEST MAJOR ACTION: 4/2/2009 Referred to House committee.
Status: Referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.


Alright so there was a little bit of information I couldn't find because every time I clicked, it would say 'Temporary File Open Error'

Reflection: Weeks 9 & 10

•Hey again everybody. So it seems like we haven't actually had to be in class for a long long time! I know it's only been a week, but the time is flying by. Week 9 started off with us checking out some things about advocacy. This is a pretty important issue for us health educators, considering advocacy is pretty much what we do.

•The week then moved on to us doing a blog post on our political representatives. Not the coolest thing ever, but it's still important for obvious reasons. I know we are going to have to use this information later on in the class, and I'm kind of intrigued as to how though.

•Then week 10 comes along. I feel that this week was the busiest I've been so far this semester. Due largely in part to the Photo Essay. I chose to do mine on different was to go green, but did so with my cartoon(check the blog post below for that). It took me around 15-20 hours to complete. Of course I usually had the TV on when working on it, and it was usually Minnesota Wild games on. So I'm sure that slowed me down a bit. And honestly, I'm attempting to try all of the different ways I suggest, with the exception of a garden.

•So that is the past couple of weeks in review, and I will see everyone in class!

Eye Opener: Photo Essay

Hey everyone. Alrighty then. About 15 hours of work later, I finally finished my Photo Essay. As many of you know, I kind of have aspirations to get this cartoon I am working on on TV someday. So I got to thinking, and I thought of ways to combine the cartoon along with the photo essay.

Well, I decided to have the 3 main characters of my cartoon showing different ways to go green. Now let me start off by saying I, by no means, draw very well. If I somehow get my cartoon on TV, the first thing I'm doing is hiring people to draw for me. So if the drawing and such is ugly, I apologize. Another thing of note is you will notice quickly that the words are a little hard to read. (The scanner kind of isn't the best thing ever) So below each page, is the dialogue.

The title of the cartoon is 'El Zoo De Mexico,' and it's about three janitors who work at a Zoo in Mexico. They are called the Zooperheroes because they stop a mad scientist from doing something bad in each episode, making them superheroes so to speak.

The characters all have back stories, but that's for a different time (Two of the characters are people we see every day walking around campus). Also, if the quality of the pages on the blog still isn't that great, I'll be carrying around the comic with me, so if you wanna see it, just ask.

Hope you enjoy it people!



Box 1 - Howdy everyone! My name is Tom!
- I'm Ramon.
- And I'm Calvin!
Box 2 - And we're here to tell you 21 ways you can go green! They're all easy, and every little bit counts!
Box 3 - Let's get started shall we?
Box 4 - Ride a bike whenever possible! This way, you won't be emitting and emissions like when driving.
Box 5 - And if you need to drive, carpool!
- One car on the road is better than three!
Box 6 - Waiting in the car for more than 30 seconds? Turn it off instead of idling.
Box 7 - Buy a reuseable water bottle. One time bottles use plastic and energy to make. Not exactly good for mother nature!
Box 8 - Plant a tree! Every tree you plant will provide enough oxygen for two people for the rest of their lives!



Box 1 - Tree's take in stuff we dont like, Carbon Dioxide, and give out Oxygen, which we do!
Box 2 - Grow your own food! It will cost less, and could be a nice little hobby!
Box 3 - Also, support your local farmers! Typical grocery store produce travels nearly 1500 miles before it ends up on your plate. All this traveling burns fuel and results in carbon emissions.
Box 4 - And when you do go, use "Eco-Friendly bags." Reusable, cheap, and you won't waste paper or plastic everytime.
Box 5 - Say "No thanks" to ATM receipts. If everyone in the U.S. did this, it would save a roll od paper so long that it could circle the equator 15 times.
Box 6 - Download music instead of buying CD's. Each month, more than 45 tons of CD's become obsolete and end up in landfills.
Box 7 - When you go on a walk, bring a bag to pick up trash along the way. What good is it doing lying next to the sidewalk?
Box 8 - Buy rechargeable batteries. You save money, and throw away less batteries, which can contain hazardous materials.



Box 1 - Shower smarter! When lathering or shampooing, turn the water off until you need to rinse off.
Box 2 - Fix that leak! A leaky faucet can waste up to 74 gallons of water a day.
Box 3 - Turn the water off when brushing! It could conserve as much as 5 gallons of water a day!
Box 4 - Do full loads of laundry and dishes. Wash two fewer loads of clothes and one fewer load of dishes a week, and save up to 4,500 gallons of water a year!
Box 5 - Ditch paper napkins, and switch to cloth! Cloth napkins will save you both types of green: money and paper.
Box 6 - Unplug things when you aren't using them. Better yet, get a power strip. As much as 75% of electricity used by home electronics is used while they are turned off.
Box 7 - Change lightbulbs from incandescent to compact fluorescent. CF bulbs use 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs and last 10 times longer.
Box 8 - And occasionally, use candles to light parts of your house instead of electric lights. Do you really need them all on?
Box 9 - And finally, let kids know the benefits of going green! Remember, kids are like sponges. Things you teach them early on in life are more likely to stay with them throughout their life!