Reflections: week 7 and 8

The past two weeks have been really informative! 
I did a lot of personal research for this class for my share and voices, as well as for maintaining my lifestyle change.

 

Week 7 started with a discussion and a movie called "Green" which was about chemical plants near residential neighborhoods causing dangerous health problems to citizens who do not have the resources to just up and move. It was sad because it is a huge problem that seems to be far overlooked.
The activity (researching products at Skindeep) for this week actually got me started on browsing new, safer make-ups to try, which is really awesome because I learned that my make-up is actually terrible for my health, as well as many other skin products of mine. 
Week 8 started with the movie "Thirst" which actually inspired my last Share and Voice blog about the company Coca-Cola. The eye opener about "junking" for this week was also cool because I have always been into recycling and reusing materials, especially for art projects at school and home. Learning about different thrift shops and "green" shops was really helpful because I love browsing through second hand stores and seeing what I can find! I actually found different parts of my halloween costume at Savers and Goodwill, so it was nice to research and see other places around town I can go. I actually visited the "Green Mercantile" which had a lot of really neat, safe to the environment products! Everyone should go check it out!

Share and Voice: how do you feel about Coca-Cola?

In class, we watched a video called "Thirst," which I will put in as short of terms as possible: a film about the mistreatment of water and those who deserve to use it. This video brought up an issue involving the Coca-Cola company and how they have plants in developing countries that are using up public water supplies and leaving behind toxic waste, as well as trying to sell coke products back to the community whom would rather just have their water back.

This issue really caught me off guard, I can honestly say I had no idea this was happening.

For this Share and Voice, I decided I wanted to show some claims against the Coca-Cola company, as well as their side and let you be the judge. 

When we see fun loving commercials for coca-cola, who doesn't get a positive feeling?

This is not the case in India.
This next video shows the extreme problems Coca-Cola has created in developing countries such as India. 

I did not know that the sale of Coca-Cola has actually been banned in many cafterias in India because high levels of pesticides containing DDT were found in it. Additionally, piles of toxic waste left behind were found to contain extremely high levels of arsenic as well as lead, causing dangerous health affects to many civilians. 

My final video contains arguments from citizens of India, as well as Coke's defense against many of the accusations. This video is slightly longer, but the epic music makes up for it. ;)

All in all, I am very surprised and disappointed that a powerhouse company like Coca-Cola tries to send off really happy, upbeat messages to their customers, yet at the same time ruin thousands of lives.

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 5: Weekly Update

The past week of my Lifestyle Change has probably been my best, decision-wise. 

My smart goal is to cut down on my meat consumption, specifically cut red meat from my diet, and eat less than 2 servings of other meats per week. Achieving my goal this week was much easier than I thought it would be thanks to certain situations. (one of which was not eating at home so I could avoid my barbaric roots as my halloween costume shows below) My meat choice of last week is the sushi pictured to the right. 

My challenges were that there were 3 situations in which meat was very hard to turn down, but my successes were that I chose no meat in each situation. My friend's birthday on Friday was at Mexican Village, and I LOVE their sizzling chicken fajitas... but I knew that I would feel much better choosing the all veggie fajitas. 2nd was at our Halloween party, we ordered pizzas, but I am trying to cut down on meat and dairy, so I  chose to get Chipotle (awesome burrito place!) before the party. That brings up the 3rd hard decision which was turning down my favorite chicken burrito at Chiptotle for a veggie burrito, but it was still really good! 

One main reason I have been successful, is that after I eat, I don't feel terrible or tired but rather energized! Another reason is having support from my boyfriend who has chosen to also not eat as much meat as long as I don't, so its nice to just not have that temptation around most of the time. For the most part, I haven't had any problems this week, it has been a good experience. I learned that once again, just making that initial decision is the hardest part; I never thought I could turn down meat as much as I have. At home, our meals were based around meat, that's just the way its always been, so this is definitely a good step for my health, and one that I never thought I could do. 

My plans for the coming week are to keep at it. My diet has been going really well and there is nothing else I am willing to alter, besides cutting down on the amount of dairy I eat.

Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 5 hosted by Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy.

 Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 5

Eye Opener: Junk on the Brain

This weeks eye opener started with defining a few terms including the following...

antiques/ antiquing:of or belonging to the past; not modern; shopping for antiques

junk/ junking: Junking is the retrieval of ordinarily discarded things and materials

flea market: a market, often outdoors, consisting of a number of individual stalls selling old or used articles, curios and antiques, cut-rate merchandise, etc

thrift shop:  A shop that sells used articles, especially clothing, as to benefit a charitable organization.

upcycling: involves processing used materials into new products, or the re-use of a product with crippled functionality for alternative purposes

resale shop: like a thrift shop, used items can be re-sold

These terms all relate to environmental health in many ways. First of all, they all involve the idea of "reducing, reusing and recycling" which we all know are key concepts involved in environmental health. Reusing products can benefit our wallets as well as mother nature. Antique shops, thrift stores, and resale shops take your items (sometimes giving you money, coupons, or the feeling of giving to a good cause) and re sell them for someone else to use, which prevents these items from filling up landfills for hundreds of years and causing multiple other problems that go along with that. One interesting article I found on this subject is called Seven Reasons to Shop at a Thrift Store which also gives environmental reasons as well as personal reasons. 

Here are some local resources I found for each of the above terms:

Old Town Antiques: Duluth MN, (218) 722-5426

Chesney Salvage: Duluth, MN (218)721-4874

Cambridge Flea Market:  Main Street, Cambridge, MN 763.689.4888

Savers (Thift shop):  Duluth, MN (218) 722-1894

Green Mercantile (many upcycled and green products): Duluth, MN (218) 722-1771

Plato's Closet (re-sale shop): Duluth, MN 218-733-9455

I have gone to several of these places, its always interesting to see what you can find, and normally it's very affordable!

Last but not least, a visit to Junkmarketstyle.com! check it out! You can find some very interesting project ideas.

I really enjoyed the vintage jewelry project, I personally love vintage styles and this jewelry looked so authentic! My artistic background definitely contributes to my attraction to this kind of stuff. The creator, Gretchen, really had an eye for designing these awesome pieces! Another project I enjoyed had a very similar appeal, which was the Paris themed necklace collection, also by the same creator. These had a slightly different style but still very cool! It definitely makes me want to start designing my own stuff rather than spending money on it! Last but not least, was another project that caught the attention of my artistic eye. This project made chandeliers out of junk! They are gorgeous and also have that same vintage look; I have always been attracted to chandeliers for some reason.