Share and Voice: Mother Nature Needs Us

~Hey Everyone~

I decided to share another environmental video for my last share and voice. I've really gotten into these videos, there are plenty of them on Youtube. This particular video it's a short song about the environment titled "Mother Nature Needs Us". It's fun and educative. I really liked it and I hope you guys enjoy it as well.

Thanks for watching!

Share and Voice: Becoming American

Hey Everyone!

I decided to watch another video from"Unnatural Causes...Is Inequality Is Inequality Making Us Sick?" titled "Becoming American". I chose this particular video because I can relate to it, since I am an immigrant.
Like the previous video we watched, this video discusses the correlation of race and health. This video focuses on Mexican Immigrants, unlike the other "In sickness and in Wealth", which focuses on African Americans.

The video was shot in in Kenneth Square, Pennsylvania, a very diverse area. It focuses on a specific family, I can't remember what their name is, and also did some research on their health and other Mexican population. It turns out that most immigrants are healthier than American, considering that they have few cases of psychotic disorders and other diseases such as cancer, and also less chronic illnesses. The main reason for this is the "family ties" , and also support from family friends. The video states that 1/4 Americans have ties with "social isolation", and this causes really bad health effects. I am going to keep this brief since it's share and voice. I have too much to say. :) I am actually planning on watching all these videos when I get a chance, this whole documentary seems very interesting.

Words:
Social Isolation: When people work harder than they ought to be working and are increasingly isolated, putting themselves at higher risk for diseases.

Thanks for reading!

Share and Voice 6: World Water Day

Hey Everyone!

I was just checking out youtube today and stumbled across this video. Apperently today(March 22nd) is World Water Day. I didn't know that! I really liked this video and I wanted to share with the class because it is related to the last videos we've watched, Water Privatization and Thirst. Here is the website that's promoting this video: http://www.charitywater.org/donate/.


Thanks for watching!

Share and Voice 5: Environmental Injustice in Chester

Hey Everyone! Hope Spring Break is going well for you all.

I’ve been reading a lot about environmental injustice since is a topic I just learned about. This topic interests me because it opened my eyes to something I never thought was happening anywhere. I stumbled across this video about environmental justice in Chester, Indiana. It's a similar to “Green”; it is a little bit long but interesting. I wanted to share it because I didn’t realize there was environmental injustice happening around so many places in the US. It was another eye-opener for me.



Thanks for watching! See you all next week!

Share and Voice: The Old Man and the Storm

Hey Everyone!

I know this is kind of late, sorry. So I watched "The Old Man and the Storm" two weeks ago. This documentary was an interview of a old guy named Herbert Gettridge who survived Hurricane Katrina. Because of Hurricane Katrina Herbert's family separated and scattered across the country. Herbert decided to go back to Louisiana to rebuild regardless of the disaster to bring his wife back home. For weeks he lived without electricity or clean water, but finally managed to get his house fix for the return of his wife.

This story really touched my heart; it was so sad seeing the poor old guy having to work so hard with no help. I couldn't imagine how much disaster was done by this hurricane and how little effort the government was putting into helping those affected.The situation of Hurricane Katrina makes think of environmental racism. The people in this discriminated against because of their social class, also because they were minority.



This is an example of a video of what New Orleans is like years after the Hurricane; this video was made about 2 years ago. I am shocked to see that it is still looks like this. I thought that this city could be rebuilt in at least 3 years with the help of the government. I guess I was wrong.

Thanks for reading!

Share and Voice: Second "Eyes Open Award for Critical Thinking" Goes to Kaileigh!

Hey Everyone!

Kaileigh's Nature Log earned an award on her share and voice "Northland Country Club". I really like how she challenged her boss' point of view and actually convinced him to do something good for the environment. Good job Kaileigh!

Award Instructions

-Leave a comment below so that I know you "picked up" the award.

-Create a Share and Voice post that says you've received the award and indicate who the award is from (be sure to hyperlink).

-Also indicate to whom you are going to pass on the award and why. Be sure to hyperlink the blogger (use main blog URL) and the blog title (use the specific URL for that blog post).

-Copy and paste these instructions at the bottom of your post.

-Publish the post.

-Visit each blogger you've awarded and leave a comment telling them they've won.

-Continue the process...

Share and Voice 3: Environmental Pictures

Hey everyone!

I'm running out of ideas of share and voices, since I'm not very creative. So I came up with a weird idea; I think. I was going through pics of me and my twin on facebook and I realized we had some environmental related pics. So I thought it would be interesting to put them some together.

So here they are!

-The first one is my twin and I at Minnehaha Falls in in South Minneapolis. Taken during our senior in HS.

-The second pic is a water fall, near that lake. Taken on the same day, May 2007.

-The third pic sort of reminds me of what has become food in this country, consedering the fact fertizer is currently being used on organisms.

-The last picture is just a pic of me promoting the "going green" movement without even realizing it, since I've been wearing a lot of green lately.

I hope this is interesting enough. I wonder how I am going to come up with 7 other ideas since I'm already blanking out. Thanks for checking them out!

Share and Voice: Organic Foods

Hey Everyone!

Dr. V mentioned in class on Tuesday that info on organic foods would be a good idea for a share and voice, so I figured since I’m behind with the share and voice I might as well do it. Thanks for the idea Dr. V!

Here’s a definition of Organic Foods
from Wikipedia:

Organic foods are made according to certain production standards, meaning they are grown without the use of conventional pesticides and artificial fertilizers, free from contamination by human or industrial waste, and processed without irradiation or food additives.[1] If livestock are involved, they must be reared without the routine use of antibiotics and without the use of growth hormones, and generally fed a healthy diet. In most countries, organic produce may not be genetically modified.

Here are websites with more info on organic food.
http://www.organicfoodinfo.net/
http://www.grinningplanet.com/2005/12-27/health-benefits-of-organic-food-article.htm

Thanks for reading!

Share and Voice: Going Green By Switching to Wireless!

Hey Everyone!

I have been living on campus at UMD for two years now. We don't have wireless in the apartments or dorms; we have to buy ethernet cables to connect to the internet. In the past two years I've bought 3 ethernet cables just because the tip keeps breaking. Fortunately this year I got room that somehow receives wireless, and it got me thinking going wireless would definetely save all that plastic wasted for ethernet cables.

It would probably be costly for UMD but I think it would be a great idea.

Thanks for reading!!

Share and Voice: Eyes Open Award for Critical Thinking

Hey Everyone!

I received an "Eyes Open Award for Critical Thinking" from Dr. V.
I don't know who I'm going to pass this award to, but I am sure I am going to figure it soon.

Award Instructions

Leave a comment below so that I know you "picked up" the award.
Create a Share and Voice post that says you've received the award and indicate who the award is from (be sure to hyperlink).
Also indicate to whom you are going to pass on the award and why. Be sure to hyperlink the blogger (use main blog URL) and the blog title (use the specific URL for that blog post).
Copy and paste these instructions at the bottom of your post.
Publish the post.
Visit each blogger you've awarded and leave a comment telling them they've won.
Continue the process...

Welcome to Valerie the Spring Girl

Hi my name is Valerie, I am not really sure what my blog is going to be about but im hoping to learn as much as i can about the Environmental Health and blogging. I am also that my blog will provide more knowledge to those who want ot learn more about our environment.

There are 5 possible types of posts on my blog. They include:

• Advocacy Project



• Eye Openers



• Reflections



• Reviews



• Share and Voice

If you notice at the bottom of this post, the categories will be listed as labels. This post is 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. Noah's Greenlicoius Blog



2. Keepin' it Green with Shannon



3. Sarah H's Safe Environment



4. Brenda's Environmental Health



5. Samantha is Running with the Wild

You can subscribe to my blog by clicking the subscribe gadget in the gadget column. You can also follow my blog by clicking "Follow this Blog" in the gadget column. I am subscribed to all the blogs in my blog list gadget. You can see my complete profile and all the blogs I am following by clicking on "See Complete Profile."

Thank you for following my blog, good luck in this class!