Reflection: Week 8-14

To the left is a picture of my "Junk" project (and the mess that is my room displayed in it, finals have gotten the best of me).  I have had this mirror since probably 6th grade, and it was previously decorated in stickers and was broken off the frame.  I used an old bed sheet to cover the frame, then hot glued the frame back onto the mirror, and used flowers from a lei to decorate it a little.  Fixing this mirror is something that I have been meaning to do for a long time so I am really glad that it got to be part of this class, and I really enjoyed making it.

Not only did I enjoy this project, but the other assignments that we did during the second half of this semester.  I really enjoyed the Share and Voice assignments.  They gave us all a chance to share who we are and what we find to be interesting and beneficial.  I really enjoyed looking around the internet for different things that would be interesting to share with my classmates.

Another thing that we did in the second half of this semester were our Advocacy Projects.  My Advocacy Project was about reducing the heat island and smog effects around Federal Facilities.  I found it really interesting to learn about heat island effects and ways in which they can be reduced.  Through the Advocacy Project I also learned the steps that I would take if wanting to make a change, like learning who to contact and how to properly do so.

Overall, this half of the semester, and this class overall, have been very enjoyable.  I have always wanted to live a more natural and green lifestyle, I'm not sure what exactly was holding me back, but I now feel I have the base knowledge and resources to lead me to live the way of life that I really want to.

Share and Voice: The girl who silenced the world for 5 minutes

This video basically speaks for itself.  The fact that this young person has the courage to get up in front of the United Nations and tell them how she feels and what she thinks and what she wants done about it is pretty amazing.  If more people would have the courage to get up and fight for what they thought was right the world would probably be a happier and healthier place to live.  I really liked what she said about if we do not know how to fix the things that we keep destroying why do we feel it is okay to keep destroying them?  That is something that I did not really think about before, but it is a very good point that should probably be brought up more often.  This video also made me wonder, if I had the chance to speak in front of the United Nations what would I say?  I think she covered a lot of ground in a very small amount of time, touching on environment and poverty, I don't know if I could do any better.  What would you say if you got a chance to speak to some of the most powerful decision makers in the world?

Advocacy Project: Letter to Elected Official

December 11, 2011
Senator Chip Cravaack
6448 Main Street
Suite 6
North Branch, MN 55056

Vote YES on proposed bill H.R.51.

I am writing to encourage you to vote YES on the proposed bill H.R.51 Heat Island and Smog Reduction Act of 2011.  The act proposes that each federal agency be required to develop a heat island reduction plan for all federal property and facilities under its possession or control that are located in an area designated under the Clean Air Act as being in non-attainment with national ambient air quality standards for ozone.  The reduction of heat island and smog reduction is important to protect the health of people living and working in the community effected by heat islands and smog.

As a community member and health educator this issue is important to me because passing of this bill will lead to over all health of the nation because we will not be living in places where there are unhealthy amounts of green house gas emissions and illness's caused by heat.

The bill will require each plan to include measures to maximize tree cover on federal property, increase solar reflectivity through techniques such as roofs with solar reflectivity, vegetated roofs, and paving materials with higher solar reflectivity.  These things will cost money at first but will end up costing less money in the long run.  Doing these things will also lead to a happier and healthier population.

Again, I encourage you to vote YES on the proposed bill H.R.51 Heat Island and Smog Reduction Act of 2011.  For more information feel free to contact me at 555-212-3434.

Thank you for your time,
Nicole Hollstadt

Share and Voice: Boxed Water

Photo from: boxedwaterisbetter.com

Okay, Boxed Water, this is completely crazy.  I understand that the people who came up with this idea are trying to be environmentally friendly, trying to get rid of disposable plastic bottles, but are they nuts?  Since learning about the sale of bottled water and what it really means to our environment I have become pretty frustrated with the companies that are bottling up something that should be free and selling it for profit.  I think that selling water is unethical and very selfish.  With that said, I think that the creators of this product were probably informed about how bad disposable plastic bottles are for the environment and came up with the first solution they could think of to get rid of them, but are uninformed about the effect the sale of water has on the environment.  They do say that they care about the world's water supply and they donate 10% of all sales to world water relief foundations, and another 10% goes to reforestation efforts.  As you scroll a little further down their "Environment" page they note that since they are still starting up their company they haven't been able to afford to donate anything quite yet.  Like I said, I think their idea is crazy and I also think that selling water is unethical, but, take a look at their website for yourself and tell me what you think.

Fact Sheet: Heat Island and Smog Reduction act of 2011, bill H.R.51

What is the issue?

• The Heat Island Effect and smog are affecting areas around Federal facilities.

What is a Heat Island?

• Heat islands are areas that are hotter than nearby rural areas, resulting from greenhouse gas emissions.

Heat Islands cause:

• Increased summertime peak energy demand 
• Increased air conditioning costs
• air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions
• Heat-related illness and mortality
• Poor water quality 

What is being done to fix this?

• There is a bill proposed called the Heat Island and Smog Reduction act of 2011, bill H.R.51. 
• This act requires each federal agency, by April 1, 2012, to develop a heat island reduction plan for all federal property and facilities under its possession or control that are located in an area designated under the Clean Air Act as being in nonattainment with national ambient air quality standards for ozone.

The act requires each plan to include measures to:

• Maximize tree cover on federal property
• Increase solar reflectivity through techniques such as roofs with solar reflectivity
• Vegetated roofs
• Paving materials with higher solar reflectivity. Requires the Administrator of the General Services to submit annual reports to specified congressional committees assessing agency progress in developing and implementing such plans.

The bill passing will lead to:

• Reduction of energy demand
• Lower air conditioning costs 
• Less air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions 
• Fewer heat-related illness and mortality
• Better water quality

Eye Opener: Photo Essay

The first thing that came to mind when hearing about this assignment was my house.  As I am sure is true in most college houses, my house is filled with hand-me-downs, garage sale furniture, and things found off the side of the road.  As I started taking pictures I was thinking about what I would say in this post.  I realized there is a story behind each and every piece of furniture in my house, everything has character and adds a little something to the lives that are lived here, and we did it all for really cheap.

These two chairs are in the "formal sitting room" in my house.  They were found at a garage sale for $3 a piece.  These chairs are rarely used for sitting and often used for holding our junk.  If you're missing your keys at my house they're probably under the cushion of one of these chairs.  The table in between the chairs was left to us by the previous renters of our house and the lamp was given to us by the sister of one of my roommates.

This couch has had an interesting life.  It's previous home was the house next door.  I don't know how long it was there previously to my friends living there, but their landlord told them they could have it.  Three years ago when I moved into my house, my friend, who had previously lived next door, moved in and brought this couch with her.  She lived with us for a year before graduating and getting married, leaving this beautiful floral couch.  Three years ago I believe there were no tears in fabric and that the middle cushion was covered.  After being loved by everyone who has lived here, and our friends, the couch has developed a lot of character, as you can see.


My desk and holding place for a lot of junk was found on the side of the road.  With the help of a friend I loaded it in my car and the rest is history.

The chair at my desk is a set of four that were left at my house from previous renters.  Two of the chairs reside in the formal sitting room, and the other two are used by another roommate and myself for our desk chairs.

My dresser, like my desk, was found on the side of the road.  At first I wasn't sure if I would keep it, but I was in desperate need of a dresser and wasn't having much luck finding anything I liked. The day I painted this dresser started out as a really boring Sunday, and turned into a day that my roommate and I will never forget, and neither will all of the random stuff around our house that we painted blue and black that day.

This table was found at a garage sale for $5.  It sits in front of our beloved floral couch and acts as an over-sized junk drawer.  No matter how many times we clean it out, it still manages to turn into the go-to place to stash things when we're just doing quick clean-ups around the house.  Looking for cards or crayons?  Find them here.



The last three pictures are the TV stand, TV, and speakers in the living room at my house.  The TV stand was found at a garage sale for $5.  The TV was found while an old roommates boyfriend was volunteering at some store like Good Will in his home town.  They test all the electronics and don't sell them if they don't work.  The TV's sound didn't work so they weren't going to try to sell it, he asked if he could buy it for cheap and ended up getting it for free, thinking maybe another one of our roommates could fix it.  This leads me to the speakers, which are another thing that were left by previous renters.  My handy-man roommate hooked them up to the TV and tada, working TV!

It is funny to look around at the things that I see every day and think of where they come from.  I have lived in this house for three years, we started out having very little furniture; a couch and an end table in our living room, and a few random table chairs in our dining room.  Slowly but surely we have furnished our house into a home, probably all for under $30.  Through this Eye Opener I have realized that all the Ikea online-shopping (okay, dreaming) I do won't really be necessary when I get my own place after graduation.  As long as I stay as thrifty and resourceful as I have been in college, I will be able to furnish any place I live for cheap. 

Advocacy Project: Issue Overview

http://www.epa.gov/heatisld/mitigation/statelocal_activities.htm

The problem is that there are heat island effects and large amounts of smog in the areas around Federal facilities. Heat islands are areas that are hotter than nearby rural areas. There is a bill proposed called the Heat Island and Smog Reduction act of 2011, bill H.R.51. This act requires each federal agency, by April 1, 2012, to develop a heat island reduction plan for all federal property and facilities under its possession or control that are located in an area designated under the Clean Air Act as being in nonattainment with national ambient air quality standards for ozone. Requires each plan to include measures to maximize tree cover on federal property, increase solar reflectivity through techniques such as roofs with solar reflectivity, vegetated roofs, and paving materials with higher solar reflectivity. Requires the Administrator of the General Services to submit annual reports to specified congressional committees assessing agency progress in developing and implementing such plans.

This bill is focusing on the heat island effect that is surrounding Federal facilities. The people living in the surrounding areas are the people that are mainly affected by the heat islands in this area, but the heat island effect is happening in many cities. Since the heat island effect means that the temperature is going up, there is an increasing summertime peak energy demand, air conditioning costs, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, heat-related illness and mortality, and water quality. The people affected the most are those living in the communities. Older people will be affected the most because they usually do not have very much money. People that don’t have money probably don’t have air conditioners, and older adult bodies do not adapt to heat well, resulting in heat related deaths. The people losing are those living in the communities. They are losing money because they have to pay more for air conditioning. The people that live in these areas are also getting sick, so they are losing their health. When there are more emissions of toxic chemicals in the air people are breathing them in, getting sick. No one really gains anything by not doing anything about the heat islands. They just do not have to spend the initial money of getting green roofs, cool pavement, urban forests, and other things that will help reduce the urban heat. Right now doing these things is a voluntary act but this is the first of probably many bills that will require areas to become greener.

The consequences of this issue will be good for all. Yes, there will be money that needs to be spent to become greener, but every one that works or lives or visits the effected areas will be breathing and living more comfortably. The people that are most effected will become healthier and be saving money. The costs of this issue are going to be getting the green roofs and cool pavement, and stuff that is going to lower the heat of the area. The people who own the properties are going to have to bear these costs, but they will pay off in the long run. Right now the costs of this issue are lying in the hands of the people living and owning businesses in the communities. They are spending a lot of money on air conditioning and refrigeration. Once the initial costs of making the buildings green are paid the whole community will be able to recognize their bills going down. This will probably help boost the whole economy of the community. The democrats are probably going to be the ones to vote yes for this bill. For this specific bill it will be the ones in the D.C. community, but in every community that decides that they want to implement similar bills that is who would vote yes.  People that vote against the bill are those that do not get directly impacted by the heat islands.  They are the ones that aren't sitting in their houses with no air conditioning and developing asthma based on the amount of chemicals being released into the air.

I think that this bill should be passed.  Reducing heat islands and smog will be good for the health and overall wellbeing of the people in the communities effected.

Resources:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/?&Db=d112&querybd=@FIELD(FLD001+@4(Air+quality))
http://www.epa.gov/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_heat_island