Reflections: Weeks 13-14 & Overall Course

(Junk Project- A scarf that I sewed together using two of my girlfriend's old T-shirts)

Reflection of Weeks 13 & 14:

Well as I figured the past couple of week flew by without hesitation. During these past couple of weeks we got to go to Goodwill to check out their operations of business and learned a lot about their company in general. I had no idea just how big the store actually was and how detailed their production line is. It was cool to check everything out and I thought it was awesome that they give special needs populations the opportunity to work within their company. I could tell by just walking through the company that they were really happy to be working there and had the opportunity to be a part of something. I used to work at Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) here in Duluth and it was the same way; the special needs individuals would light up when they had the opportunity to work on something or be a part of something. It's very cool to see things like that. Goodwill is such a great company in that not only are they environmentally friendly and cost efficient but they offer jobs for those who really need it and appreciate it. Another thing that we accomplished over the past couple of weeks is that we got to show off our junk projects and create an online learning activity/game. I thought the junk projects show and tell was really cool because we got the chance to see what everyone made using odds and ends that they found or took (lol), along with their creativity. I made a scarf using two old T-shirts that my girlfriend was donating to Goodwill. The picture is seen above. The last assignment that we did was to create an online learning activity that our blog members were to complete. I came up with a game called Kiss My Glass that came from The Truth's website which shows people just how manipulative and dangerous cigarettes and Big Tobacco are. My fellow blog members also came up with some very interesting activities as well. I thought Kristen's videos were very eye-opening and shows just how bad smoking really is!!! JD's activity was a refresher Eco-Chic crossword puzzle that covered a lot of what we learned over the semester in this course. Dane's activity was also very opening and showed us what it would be like if Duluth suffered a major oil spill. Sam's activity covered Asthma and it's affects on people who have it and don't have it. Lastly, Carly's activity taught us a lot about food safety and what we should do to keep ourselves safe from food borne illnesses. Once again I learned a ton of stuff in just a couple of short weeks.

(Tettegouche State Park)

Reflection of Entire Course:

Like I stated above, where has the time gone really??? I was actually just talking to my buddy the other day on how when you're a kid time just seems to drag on and a year seems like an eternity, but the older you get the faster time goes by. I only brought this up because as Christmas approaches think back to when you were a kid you just couldn't wait for Santa to come and bring you your presents; time just stood still it seemed, but as an adult time flies right by the older you get and the more responsibilities you inherit. Anyways back to the reflection shall we. As I said in class this past week, what haven't I learned from this class. I've learned so much about not only the environment but about myself as well from taking this course. I learned how to blog which I've never done before and now find to be very fun. Other things I've learned: The carbon footprint assignment was very eye-opening to me and found out that I consumed about 4.4 planet earths which made me feel very ashamed and embarrassed. Since then, however I've changed some aspects of my life including recycling much more than I previously did, cutting back on plastic materials, using different products, and other things that would take to long to mention. The documentaries that we watched were also very interesting and I took a lot of information from them (Tapped, Fresh, and Consumerism). For example, I tailored my SMART goal after the video Tapped. My SMART goal was I will drink five or fewer plastic bottled beverages per week and will recycle all of them when finished drinking them. I now only drink like one or two bottles a week now (Yay!) and recycle all of them. Another thing I learned was the hazards of cosmetics from the Cosmetic Database. I had no idea just how hazardous some of our everyday things can be. I recently changed my toothpaste and mouthwash because of what I learned from this assignment. I now use Tom's of Maine toothpaste and alcohol-free mouthwash. The advocacy projects were also very beneficial and helpful because it had us find out who are representatives are along with picking a topic that was important to us. By knowing who are reps are gives a resource tool in the future if we need or want to advocate something of importance. Lastly, I really enjoyed the photo essays because it gave us the chance to show who we are as individuals along with things that we are passionate about. I could go on forever about other things that I have learned from this class but I would be here for hours. Again I cannot tell you guys just how much I've taken from this course and how much it has impacted my life for the better and how I see the environment. Thank you Dr. V for what you've shown us this semester regarding being environmentally friendly.