Reflection: Weeks 5-8

I want to start out by saying that this class is very beneficial and interesting to me and I've learned things thus far by taking this class that I had no idea about or was completely naive and oblivious to. For instance I had no idea just how hazardous and potentially dangerous our food processing industry is. You can pick your poison literally whether it's the cruelty to animals, pesticides in our plants, chemicals running off into our rivers and streams, or the harsh working environment in the factories. I was completely blown away by all of it and now have a greater vision and understanding of what all goes into making our foods and will make more conscious decisions when purchasing certain foods and what is going into my body.

Another huge topic/aspect that I wasn't aware of and how potentially dangerous it can be was the cosmetics database eye opener that we did. Call it naive again or just non-understanding but I learned a lot of what is good for you and what is not according to Skin Deep's database. I had no clue just how potentially dangerous some of our everyday cosmetic items are. I looked into some sunscreens and mouthwash that I use and found some staggering and eye opening information on both of them that I wasn't really prepared to find. For example both products were very high on the risks of potentially getting cancer along with other developmental issues and toxins. Thanks to the website's vital statistics and information I will definitely be purchasing alternatives to what I currently use.

I've also learned a lot of other interesting things the past few weeks which includes the videos that we've watched about farming and our food industry and our water supply along with picknik, junking, and some share and voices by my blog members. I found the farming video interesting in that there is indeed healthier alternatives out there for us to choose from other than heavily processed foods and big chain supermarkets. It's sad that more people don't support local markets and in turn causes them to go out of business which then hurts the farmers, it's a vicious cycle. I also found it humane and nice that the local/non-big industry places treated their animals good and fair and didn't kill them in in-humane ways. I was very surprised to watch and hear some of the facts that came out of the water video. For example, leeching from plastic bottles can get into the water that we drink. Another staggering piece of info from the water video was the chemicals that go into making the plastic bottles that we drink from; including Bisphenol-A and Toluene: which is a derivative of benzene that goes in paint thinners and gasoline. I know crazy isn't it! A couple last few things that I've learned is how to use picknik which is a graphics website that one can use to spruce up a blog or use on pictures and other miscellaneous stuff. I touched up a picture I took of Lake Vermillion using Picknik and thought it was an awesome site. Finally, we dove into the topic of junking and thrift stores and came to realize that I do a little more junking than I originally thought. I check out local places such as Saver, Salvations Army, and Goodwill all the time. I actually got part of my Halloween costume at Savers. I'm looking forward to diving into our upcoming junking projects and can't wait to see what some people come up with.

In closing, I have learned a ton of vital and useful information from this class so far and can't wait to see what is in store for the weeks ahead. I will take a lot of the information that I've learned to this point to change some of the habits that I have currently and try to do more on my part to conserve the environment in which we live in. The acronym that Dr. V used Not In My Back Yard really rang home to me and thus I hope to think globally and act locally.