Eye Opener: Learning Activity Results

Hey everybody. So in last weeks reflection, I put in a video clip from Toy Story, just as a different way to say hello. So I got thinking about another way, and I thought of a song, 'Hey Jude' by the Beatles. I've never loved the Beatles, they're awesome, just not my favorite band ever. But 'Hey Jude' is an amazingly awesome song. So below is a video of the song that you can listen to when ya read the blog if you'd liked.



So this Eye Opener asked us to go to out Web Groups blogs and check out and complete their Online Learning Activity posts. So I'll go through one by one and give you my results.

-=SHAR=-
For Shar's activity we had to go to the Health Canada website and there was an Indoor Air Pollution Chase game. We had to click on things and it would let us know if it was an allergen. We had to find them all. I'll go room by room.

ROOF
Water Damage
(Birds can potentially be)

BATHROOM
Cleaning Products

BEDROOM
Mold
Paints and Varnishes
(Plants can be as well)

KITCHEN
Gas Stoves

LIVING ROOM
Wood Smoke
Cigarettes
(Indoor Water Fountains Too)

BASEMENT
Furnace
Ozone Generator
Mold Again

LAUNDRY ROOM
Dryer

GARAGE
Cars

The item I chose that is mostly likely to affect me is Cleaning Products. And the solution was to read and follow safety information on the label and manufacturers instructions.


-=HEATHER=-
So for Heather's activity we had to go to Health Partners site, and check out their Cost of Care activity. It will show us what it would cost to get treatment anything. I have chronic back pain. And here is what it said it would cost me without health insurance.



I also had Bronchitis a couple years ago. Here's what it would have cost.



-=KATHY=-
Kathy's activity was to do a crossword puzzle about lead based paint and it's potential harm. This was another fun activity and I actually learned a lot from it. Here are my answers.

DOWN
1) Fetal
3) Older
4) 1978
5) Myth

ACROSS
2) Gasoline
4) 1940
6) Paint
7) Sperm
8) 80%
9) Dust

And as I did this, I was in a room with a couple of people so I started to talk to them about our house, and I gave them some neat facts that I found from doing this activity!


-=Kaileigh=-
For Kaileigh's activity we had to go to the FCIC's page and learn about Long Term Health Care. Once we did that, we had to comment on what we learned.

I didn't even realize what long term health care was until I read this. But I know now that it is the health care you get when you are either older and need to be in a nursing home, or even an assisted living home. It is also for people who are in a serious accident and need constant care.

I also learned that about 19 percent of Americans aged 65 and older experience some degree of chronic physical impairment. I dont know how many people that actually is, but I know it is a lot of people. And they all need Health Care.

Also, one year in a nursing home can cost about $50,000. Holy schnikes that's a lot. I'm pretty sure I haven't made that much money in all of my years of working.

So what's my opinion. I don't really know. Because I can see the side's to both arguments. In the end I'm sure my vote would go for affordable LTC for everybody.


-=Christen=-
For Christen's activity we had to watch 'The Health Insurance Game', and discuss whether we felt the video showed bias or whether it was an appropriate demonstration.

I thought it was a good thing to watch. They showed heavy bias, but in this situation I don't see why they wouldn't. But overall I thought it was a good way to get their point across. Because it definitely a huge issue, one that's only going to grab our attention more and more as soon as we get off of our parents health insurance.

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!

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!

Eye Opener: Review of Reading 15: Silent Spring: A Sequel?

Summary
Hello everyone. First off, the above picture made me smile, so I decided it was worthy of being the main photo. Anyways, the chapter I read was about birds, and how global warming is making them migrate early, and the effects it is having. Here are some quick things to think about from the book.

• Most American bird species are migrating an average of 9 days earlier, and breeding 10 days earlier than they did 30 years ago.
  
• The huge down side of birds migrating early is that the breeding cycle of birds will be out of sync with it's food supply. As a result, 'Early birds may not get the worm.'
  
• State birds such as the Baltimore Oriole (Maryland), and the Black-Capped Chickadee (Massachusetts)will no longer even be in those states.
• In some ecosystems, if a bird that helps control insect population leaves, the results would be pretty bad. A bird called the Nesting Wood Warbler eat the Eastern Spruce Budworm. The Budworm defoliates millions of acres of forest each year as it is. The Warblers already eating 85% of the budworms, so you can imagine what would happen if 100% of the Budworm went uneaten. The millions of acres of forest defoliated would rise significantly.
  

But, climate change might not be a horrible thing for a few species. A bird called the Prothonotary Warbler of Virginia have been arriving from the Caribbean an average of one day earlier since 1987. It is predicted that they sson could become a year round resident of the U.S.A.

New Terms
Avifaunal - the birds of a given region, considered as a whole
Neotropical - belonging or pertaining to a geographical division comprising that part of the New World extending from the tropic of Cancer southward.

New Concepts
Well, this whole chapter was a new concept to me. When I think of global warming, birds and the effect is has on them is not the first thing that comes to mind.

The part that really stuck out to me though was where it talked about what would happen if some birds left, and the insect population got out of control. I had bugs. So I pray this doesn't happen.

Links
American Bird Conservancy - A website dedicated to preserving birds in every aspect

Eye Opener: CSPI

~Hey everyone! So I chose to do my eye opener on the Eating Green Calculator.

INITIAL RESULTS
~So after the initial results were calculated, it told me that my burden on the environment was 1.5 acres of grain and grass needed to feed the animals, .4 lbs of pesticide used to grow the animal feed, 53.1 lbs of fertilizer used to grow the animal feed, and finally, the one that made me giggle, 10525 lbs of manure created by the animals I eat and use.

~It then went on to give me my average daily intake from the animal products I use. 725 calories, which I think is alright, no Fiber which isn't good, 43 grams of fat which I would like to lower, 20 grams of saturated fat (AKA bad fat), and 237 mg of cholesterol, which is 79 % of my Daily Limit. The fat and cholesterol parts scare me.

IMPROVED RESULTS
~So then it gave me the option to see how I could improve my burden on the environment by making better food choices. After I did this, it told me that if I changed, I would use a total of 1.1 acres, 38 lbs of fertilizer, .3 lbs of pesticide, and 8000 lbs of manure. While a lot of it may not seem like a lot, an ongoing theme of this class is 'every little bit counts,' and it's just as true right now.

~It also went on to tell me how it would improve my health numbers. I dont understand how, but it told me it would give me 8 more grams of Fiber. Considering I had none to begin with, and I am eating less, this confuses me. But it would also take away 8 grams of Saturated fat, which would help a lot, and it would decrease my cholesterol intake by 30%. Considering my dad has had cholesterol problems, this is something that hit's close to home so to speak.

PLEDGE
The next question asks 'Did you take the pledge?' I did so. For those of you who did not complete this, the pledge goes as follows...

~~~~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.~~~~~

~The part of this that I will really attempt to follow is eating less fatty meat. I like Cheddarwurst. It's delicious. But I know it isn't good for me, so that is something I need to stop buying at my neighborhood grocery store.

SUMMARY
~So after looking at all of this, I plan to eat less fatty mean, which will of course lower my saturated fat intake, but also lower my cholesterol intake, which is something I should really stick to. Hope everyone's Eye Openers went well!

Eye Opener: Ecological Footprint

~~~Hello all! Where to start, where to start? First off, thanks for everyone who participated in my photo contest!

~~~Now onto the Ecological Footprint. Now I already had done one of these before, and I believe it was for Foundations of Health, but I could be wrong. I has some problems with a couple of the websites, but I found one to be very helpful


~~The Earth Day Network's website I found to be the most helpful. This is actually the only one that could give me an answer! It said that by the way I live my life, if everybody lived it as I do we would need 4 Earth's to survive. At first, I thought that was really bad. But looking at my answers, and realizing I could do a lot worse, I feel OK with my lifestyle, but still know I can do better of course.

~~~Carbon Footprint Offsetter's calculation stuff confused me. I started it out, and didn't finish it because it was very confusing. I'll probably take another look at it later on in the semester.




~~~Sustain Our Planet's footprint calculator was a little bit easier to navigate through and complete, but when I finished, it wouldn't let me sign up and see my results. I don't know why it was doing that, but either way, I did not get my results.

~~~Overall, This activity did help me realize I could live a greener lifestyle, even with the problems I had completing some of the calculators. What can I do? I don't know yet. But it is definitely something I will look in to! Have a good one everybody!

First post

Hello everybody! My name is Steve Anderson, and I am a super senior here at UMD! After switching majors a couple of times, I have finally settled on Community Health, and am liking it alot. I am writing this blog for Hlth 3305, Environmental Health.
There are 5 different types of posts for this blog...

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. Shar
2. Christen
3. Heather
4. Kathy
5. Kaileigh

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