Eye Opener: Junk on the Brain

PART 1. I used dictionary.com or Wikipedia to define the following terms:

• antiques: according to dictionary.com, antiques are "in the tradition, fashion, or style of an earlier period."
  
• junk: according to dictionary.com, junk is "any old or discarded material"
  
• flea market: An outdoor market with multitudes of vendors selling old or used items
  
• thrift shop: a store that sells old or secondhand items at reduced prices
  
• upcycling: Wikipedia describes upcycling is taking an old useless item and converting it into a something completely different for added value.
  
• resale shop: a shop that sells old or secondhand items.
  

PART 2:

1. These terms relate to environmental health because they are all forms of recycling. They all take old discarded items and reuse them again. Also, when people do not buy brand new items, then they are creating less junk in the world. The less junk in the world, the more healthier the environment is going to be. I think it is good practice for people to secondhand shop; you can really find some good treasures and help out the environment at the same time.
2. 
   

Thrift Store: Vintage Duluth
205 E Superior Street, Duluth, MN 55802
(218)722-1917
Open Mon thru Sat 11am-6pm

Flea Market: Hinckley Flea Market
701 Fire Monument RD, Hinckley, MN 55037
Open Thurs-Sun May thru Sept

Resale Shop: Dannie Duluth
932 E 4th Street, Duluth, MN 55805
(218)724-8507

Antique Shop: Father Time Antiques
395 S Lake Avenue, Duluth, MN 55802
(218)625-2379
No website available

1. I have never really done any of things, I would like to but sometimes I feel I just do not have the time to go to all of these shops. I usually treat shopping like I am on a mission; I have to get "x" so I go to "y". I have never been the type of person to just browse. Yet, I feel like it would be really fun, relaxing and exciting to take the time and bounce around to the different thrift stores and flea markets to see what unique things I could find.
   

PART 3: Getting my junk on!

Projects from Junk Market

• One project I found really cool was where someone took an old car window from a model T and made it into a picture frame! It is awesome! I could not even tell that this was an old car window and when I read that it was I was blown away! The creator called the project Freeze Frame.
  
• Another project I found really cool is called A Window of Organization. She took out the glass of an old window and filled the 4 panes with a chalkboard, magnetic board, cork board, and her child's artwork. I thought this was a cool alternative to a new dry erase board.
• I love the holidays and I especially love to decorate. I loved how this person made an ornament out of old jar lids. I'm for sure going to give this a try and decorate my tree this year!
  

Share and Voice: Poisioned for Profit

I thought this book looked very interesting:

Poisoned for Profit is a book about how environmental toxins are making children seriously ill. For example, there are higher rates of cancer and birth defects. I was reading the synopsis of this book and it reminded me of the film, Green, we just watched in class. I was outraged and could not believe what type of environment the people we living in; and they are simply trapped helpless there. No one is helping them relocate and they are just being ignored; it makes me sick to think about it. This book includes what type of toxins are in our environment, such as the one s found in our yard, home, and other unsuspecting places. It also talks about how the evidence of environmental toxins are being covered up; this how the companies that make these toxins continue to stay in business. Finally, the book offers solutions of how to avoid these deadly toxins and what can be down to stop the companies that pollute our environment.

This book looks extremely interesting and I plan on reading it in the near future, and suggest you give a try also :)

Read n' Seed 5: Fourth Quater and Final of Citizen Powered Energy Handbook

I read the final chapter of the book, pages 259-295, which is titled Community Solution. Throughout this book Pahl has addressed the energy crisis, our horrible habits which make us addicted to non-renewable energy sources such as oil. Throughout this book he has presented six different types of renewable energy sources, water, wind, solar,geothermal, biomass and liquid biofuels. He has presented the pros and cons of each energy source, and has presented examples of small communities and even small countries that these energy sources have worked in. He now call for action to implement some of these renewable energy sources in the United States.

In this last chapter he sums up each renewable energy source and describes ways the energy can be harvested. For example, solar power can be harvested by constructing buildings in which have windows to allow sun to heat the building. After Pahl recapped each energy source he reminds us, that even though these sources are great, there is no way to implement them without strong community support as a base. He introduces Community Supported Energy, CSE, which is where local residents invest in different energy solutions for their community for their specific needs. Also, another way the community can help save energy is conservation. Conservation is just using less resources and creating so much waste. Pahl believes that CSE is the key to reforming our country and our energy supplies. He feels if and when the idea catches on, it will be unstoppable. He sums up his book stating that the best investment a community could make would be in renewable energy sources, because the benefits are endless.

The three most important things that I have learned would be:

1. What I can do to conserve the energy I use.
2. The different types of renewable energy sources; I have never even heard of biomass before.
3. Finally, I became more aware of the current energy crisis we are in. I became aware of some of the main culprits of the energy crisis.

What I have learned is important because, as Pahl is describing, the people of local communities, are those who are goignt o be able to cause a shift in the type of energy sources we use. If the people of communities demand renewable energy sources, we will eventually get it. If people of the community invest in renewable sources, they will be able to change their home. This book has made me realize the current energy crisis is not someone else's problem, it is my problem and I have to be the one to change.

I would definitely recommend this book to others. It has a lot of information on the different types of renewable energy sources, and inspiring examples of places in which partnered with dedicated community members renewable energy sources have been implemented.