Eye Opener: Online Learning Activities

Air Quality Crossword Puzzle

I think this was a really fun activity. 

Answers:

Down:

1. Air Quality Index

2. Air Toxics

3. Mobile

Across:

4. Asthma 

5. Carbon Monoxide

6. EPA

Childhood Obesity Quiz:

I Read all the articles and I recived 100% on this quiz

Uncovering the Facts about Cancer

1. First visit the WebMD webpage related to cancer and find 3 facts about cancer that interest you or that you never knew. 

2. Next, visit the American Cancer Society Cancer causes webpage and read about the different known causes of cancer. Be able to list 3. 

-Sun, Tobacco, and diet.

3. Once you feel you know what the causes/ risk factors are for cancer, go to this webpage from Preventcancer.org and read about things you can do to reduce your risk for cancer. 

4. Report 3 common causes of cancer and describe 3 of the ways you think you could best protect YOURSELF against cancer. If you already meet all the criteria, discuss changes you think are the most helpful in general. 

I can stop smoking, wear sun screen and eat a healthy diet. 

I learned a lot about cancer and what to do to fight it. 

Health Insurance for All

I watched a cartoon explaining how insurance works. I was really interesting and I learned in simple terms how the insurance company can come out on top. 

Emergency Contraception 101

After reading 10 Common Myths, Misunderstandings, and big Ol’ Lies About Emergency Contraception, please list 3 myths and why they are false.

1. Myth: The morning after pill is the same as abortion.

EC can prevent pregnancy. Abortions terminate pregnancy.  

2. MYTH: It's difficult to get. fact: Usually you can get EC over the counter. 

3. It's hazardous to my health.

Less so than regular combination pill use, which is safe for users following the instructions and who do not have health conditions of lifestyle habits which make BCPs risky to use.

Next, do some research and find & list 3 places you could go to obtain emergency contraception in Duluth, MN.

1. Planned Parenthood

2. Women’s Health Center

3. Esentia

Smoking Fact Find

Instructions:
1) Review the links below.
2) Find 5 things that you didn't know before watching the video or things that really effected you.
3) Post the 5 things you learned. Can you think of any personal reasons why you have chosen not to smoke too? For example, parents would be disappointed, dont want to smell bad, ect. Please provide one reason why you have chosen not to smoke or have quit because of (if you feel comfortable sharing).

1. Annually, smoking costs Minnesota nearly $3 billion in health care costs.

2. Tobacco use leads to over 5,500 deaths in Minnesota a year.

3. Children of smokers are almost twice as likely to smoke as children of nonsmokers.

4. Smoking causes coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in the U.S.

5. China has more than 350 million smokers — 50 million more cigarette buyers than the entire population of the United States.

at this time i don't feel like sharing additional information

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 5: Weekly Review and Final Reflection

Review how the previous week went with your behavior change. Address the following:
1. What was your SMART goal? How did you do in achieving your SMART goal? My Smart goal was to stop my tobacco usage completely. This week I wen back to being a smoker.
2. Address successes & challenges. What strategies helped you to be successful? What challenges did you face? How did you deal with them? The reason that I started smoking again was that I was told my mom had cancer. It was a huge shock and I had not yet developed long-term coping strategies. I am struggling to regain motivation to start quitting again.
3. What feelings did you experience? When did you feel them? I am mad at my self. I don’t want to smoke anymore and with my mom having cancer one would think I would be motivated to quit but it’s more complex than that.
4. What did you learn this week? I learned that quitting smoking is a roller-coaster and I’m not sure when I get off.
5. What are your plans for next week? Will you continue with the change as is? Will you modify to make it more achievable or more challenging? I plan to continue to try and quit. I really don’t want to smoke and this is something I need to do for myself.

Review the entire process:
1. What was your SMART goal? Did it change at all during the project? I broke up my goal to quit smoking into small manageable steps so each week was a different goal were I continued to work towards my overall goal.
2. What helped you be successful? What things got in your way? How can you address these in the future? The support I felt from peers, and accountability really helped my success. But stress is one of my triggers to smoke and I had a lot of stress this semester. I will have to learn to be more resilient.
3. How did you benefit from this project? What did you learn about yourself? What did you learn about behavior change? I learned that behavior change is an ongoing process, I learned that a behavior change now can impact your life years down the road.
4. How did others and/or the environment benefit from you changing this behavior? I have always known that smoking is bad but I didn’t know how big of an impact it had on the environment. From the butts, to the smoke to the packaging, none of it is good.
5. Will you continue this behavior? Why or why not? I want to change because I know it is good for me I just have to over come the barriers
6. What recommendations do you have for others about making a lifestyle change? It may be hard but don’t give up, go at it with an open mind!

Advocacy Project: BPA is a "No- Way" In Baby Formula

BPA is a "No- Way" In Baby Formula

• The purpose of this experiment is to let my peers discover their own opinion as to how closely regulated baby formula should be. Over the past few weeks I have been saddened by the fact that babies, one of the most helpless groups in our society, are being exposed to harmful chemicals in their formula. However, there are higher costs and political positioning associated with an increase in regulation, so here-in lies the problem. 
• Instructions: 
• After looking into the websites listed below, I want you to decided if you think chemicals should be more or less regulated specifically relating to baby formula . Post a short reflection on it.
• Environmental Working Group 
• Truth-Out
• Consumer Reports

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 4: Weekly Update

1. Last week my goal was: to be completely smoke free by Dec. 1st and... drum role please....... I DID IT!! Today is my second day of being completely smoke free! I did it with the help of the patch and focusing on my reasons for wanting to quit.
2. My biggest challenge so far came on thursday when i bought a pack of smoke and smoked half of it that night. However, I was back on track the next day and hated the way I fet after I smoked. For the past two days, even though I thought about smoking, I was able to push the thoughts out of my mind. I went out with my friend yesterday and was able to talk with her while she smoked without asking for a cigarett or feeling like I had to leave. It's good for me to know that I can still be around my friends who smoke without smoking.  
3. I felt really bad when I had that major setback on thursday, and a friend called me on it. He told me his was disappointed that I had started smoking and that if I smoke when I'm sad or frustrated I'll never quit. I felt horrible, like I had failed and I hated myself (just for a second). But i knew he said those things out of love, so i was able to get back on the horse on friday. 
4. I learned that even if you fall you don't have to stay on the ground. It's hard to get back up but if and when you do you are that much stronger. 
5. Most of all I want to continue to be a non-smoker so I will keep that goal and as a secondary goal I will add: I will drink 73 oz of water everyday for the next week. Wish me luck!

Share and Voice: Composting

Carly and I were talking about composting the other day. I was curious about starting my own compost because I live in an apartment building, so I took to the net for some tips.

Here's What I Found:

• When beginning to compost, its best to start in the spring so that the pile can heat up.
• A good Carbon to Nitrogen ration is important or the compost could get stinky.
• A good size compost is about 3x3x3 because it is manageable to turn and mix.
• There are about a bazillion types of composts a person can buy, build or assemble depending on your needs.
• Don't put animal products in there though! Carly taught me that one ;)
• One UMD professor gives his compost as gifts! What a great idea!

So after looking through all this good stuff about composts I have decided to order a kitchen compost. There are many different places to order from. I'm in the process of deciding between a "high tech" one from Williams Sonoma or a more "interactive" version from target. Ill have to talk to some people and see what they suggest! 

Eye Opener: Photo Essay

(Almost) Smoke Free Me

A place to rest your butts. 

What you dont see is that my bedroom window is about three feet to the left and three feet above that receptacle so even with the windows closed I get the pleasure of stinky (ciggarett) butt smell. 

What I hope my lungs don't look like

It was hard to look at this lidless smoker post without thinking "God I hope my lunges don't look like this"

You kill 'em we chill 'em

not only is smoking smelly, unhealthy and unattractive, it's not environmentally friendly.  

Move over Rosie

The red spot on my arm is an itchy deterrent. If I smoke while I'm wearing this it makes my heart race. Thus far the patch has worked better than the gum (just as an FYI).

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 3: Weekly Update

1. My SMART goal was to decrease my tobacco usage to three smokes per day. And yesterday I smoked zero ciggarets and today I only had one smoke. That may seem like a setback but I think it’s a huge improvement! I can can can do this!
2. I continued to use the patch and kept myself busy when I had the urge to smoke. I also wrote out the reasons I wanted to quit and looked at them everyday (even on the days I decided to smoke). The biggest challenge was when my mom who smokes came to visit and we had drinks on my birthday. I totally botched that day but got right back on the horse after she left. I also had to distance myself from my friends who smoke because that is a trigger for me.
3. When my friends went out to smoke I felt excluded so instead of moping I did something productive, like dishes or laundry while they were out.
4. I learned that if I set my mind to something I can do it! Everyone has been really supportive and even my smoker friends have been really cool about it. One says she wants to quit too now!
5. My goal for this week: I will finish with Step 2 of the Patch in order to be completely smoke free by Dec. 1st

Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 3 hosted by Amy@Amy in the Rain