Friday, October 16, 2009

Read 'n' Seed 2: First quarter of "Trash Talk"

Chapters and pages
            I read part one of my book, pages 1-85.


 Main topics
            Bags, brushes, brooms, carpets, cereal, cloth, conta, dryer sheets, for the birds, furniture, glass, hangers, metals, nylons, oven racks, plastic rings, rods and handles, soap, styrofoam, the garden, tires, and trashy bits. My book is about reusing the things listed above after their main purpose of use. An example is for dryer sheets to be more eco-friendly you can use only half a dryer sheet at a time, and reuse it more then once. This saves on buying dryer sheets by a significant amount.






 Things learned & Terminology 
                  I learned that for all the items listed above there is more then one way to reuse it again, or indefinitely. For example benefits tires have are reusing to prevent erosion along waterways, construct dams, homes, and roofing using tires, create activity areas, swings, and sport training tools, save money by building your own miniature gardens and compost piles. I didn’t really learn any new terminology yet, but maybe in the next part of the book I will.







 Implications
    This would affect our society because we would be saving are scarce resources which means to reuse are resources until we can’t. Also items listed above are things that people use once and throw away, and waste money on. If they would take the ideas in this book reuse them, they would save on purchasing things like garbage bags, or dryer sheets. We should care because these things we are throwing away are just sitting in landfills, and we don’t have very much room left. People should be more informed on how to save and reuse these items, from maybe putting it on the labels of the items or just print more knowledge. This book and the reusing of these items reminds me of my grandma, she reuses everything until it falls apart, she learned this from the Great Depression and not having anything, and making things last as long as they could. Reusing these items will benefit our society and our environment. 





Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 2: Weekly Update





My smart goal was to use re-usable a bags every time I went grocery shopping, and to Target. I have been very successful! I keep a bag in my car at all times, I just have to keep remembering to grab it! 



I went to Target this week as well as the grocery store and both times I used my re-usable Target bag! Keeping a bag in my car at all times helps me be successful and remember to use it. Other challenges that might come later will be trying to remember to put it in my car as well as use it.






It felt really rewarding to use my own bag for my things! I felt super eco-friendly when I pulled out my bag and said here I have a usable bag for my things! It made me think why doesn’t everyone do this? I think they should get rid of plastic and paper and make everyone use re-usable bags, Target a big corporation could do this, because I feel like it wouldn’t stop people from shopping there. It would also be very eco-friendly!

I learned if you buy a re-usable bag at Target you get .50 cents off of your entire purchase!! I know its not a lot but if was awesome! Not only can you help your environment if can save you money in the long run! It cost a dollar to purchase a re-usable bag and using it two times at Target you already made that money back! Very cool!






My plan for next week and weeks ahead is the same strategy that I have been using. Make sure to keep it in my car and every time use the re-usable bag when I go to the grocery store or Target. I really like my lifestyle change and think it’s achievable as it is.


"Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 2 hosted by Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy." Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 2" Amy's blog URL  "Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy


Sunday, October 11, 2009

Eye Opener: CSPI


  1. Score Your Diet
    ...http://www.cspinet.org/EatingGreen/score.html
    1.  Health Score 12, Environmental Score -25, and Animal Welfare -21 My overall was -34 which on the website was uh-oh, i need help! 
    2. I scored the highest on fruit and vegetables. These are higher because fruits and vegetables are grown naturally and not from an animal. They did have a negative number in the environmental area because of air and water pollution, and overuse of fertilizer also others. 
    3. I scored the lowest on milk/yogurt and cheese. This is very accurate because I eat a lot of these! This is bad that I scored on these because they were negative in all areas of health, environmental and animal welfare. 
    4. I need to improve in all areas. I can try to eat more things that are natural or organic. Underneath a couple of ares you could pick different things like lean beef/pork or free range poultry. Also fat free dairy, or low fat cheese you could pick from as well. I am going to try to work in those areas of eating that kind of beef, poultry, dairy and cheese. It might take time but I think I can do it. 
  2. Summary
    1. I think eating green is important, but I never thought about. I never thought the way I ate was hurting the environment, or animals. I could change some things, but I don't know if i will change every thing that I eat. I think that it would be hard to do that. I do have a friend who is vegan, but I don't really believe in only eating organic and non-animal products. If I looked more into it and found evidence that eating better like organic is better for our environment I would look more into it.