Reflection: Week 8-14

Share and Voice- I really enjoyed the Share and Voice posts on our blogs. I liked the freedom of researching and blogging about topics that I was very interested in. I also enjoyed reading other classmates posts and seeing what they come up with for topics to write about. I wrote about zebra mussels in Minnesota lakes, my deer hunting experience, and the show "American Pickers" on the History Channel.

Advocacy Project- I did not enjoy blogging for this project. My topic was not very interesting and I do not have a great knowledge of politics. However, I did learn some things while researching and I learned how to write a letter to a politician to persuade them to vote a certain direction.

Junk Project- For my Junk project, I made a picture frame out of old wood hockey sticks. I

currently do not have a picture for it yet but am working of finding one. I found a few good websites I can use to find ideas for re-using items. I really enjoyed looking for ideas for this project online.

Photo Essay- For my photo essay I took pictures of things around my house that have been re-used or re-purposed. I had pictures of christmas decorations, a refinished cabinet, a recycled glass bowl, an old fruit box, and a rubber floor we re-used from a hockey arena.

I really enjoyed taking this class and have gained an awareness for the environment that I didn't have before I took this class. Hopefully I keep learning new ways to contribute to a healthier environment and continue the habits I learned in this class in the future. As for my blog I may keep updating it once and a while if I come across anything interesting that I would like to share. I actually liked my experience blogging so I may create a new blog for fun.

Reflection: Week 1-7

Reflection:

Weeks 1-2: I didn't really know what to expect coming into this class. I had little knowledge about blogging and how to create my own blog. This class makes blogging very easy and goes slow enough for me to catch on without any problems. The first two weeks were pretty laid back, we just set up our blog and watched a 60 Minutes video on Rewriting the Sciences. This video talked about the how the government has been hiding science that has information regarding global warming.

Weeks 3-4: These two weeks we learned more about blogging and different features. We also got web groups of people's blogs we had to read and comment on. I also created my eco-chic lifestyle change activity where I created a SMART goal. My goal was to use less paper products, such as paper plates, cups, napkins, and eat fast food only once a week. I really enjoyed this change and found that making one small easy change leads to making more small changes. Like I started washing my dishes by hand instead of using the dishwasher. We also did a few fun outdoor activities with a jump rope and a meditation type of activity.

Weeks 5-7: We watched "Future of Food". This was a great video that showed how genetically modified foods affect farmers and the food we eat. We also watched "Fresh". This video showed where our food was coming from and how animals were being treated. So we need to keep in mind where the food at the supermarket is coming from and how it is processed. All the videos we watched have really got me thinking about where the food and drinks I am consuming are coming from. So far I have enjoyed and learned something from every video we have watched in class.

Overall, this class has been very enjoyable between the blogging, videos, class room discussion, and now we just got introduced to junking so I am looking forward to that the next few weeks!

Welcome to Colton's Healthy Lakes

My name is Colton Borwege. I am a student at the University of Duluth, majoring in Community Health Education. My blog is about the lakes in Minnesota and what people can do to keep them clean and healthy. I enjoy fishing, boating, and swimming in Minnesota lakes and keeping them healthy is important to me.

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

1. Advocacy Project
2. Eye Openers
3. Reflections
4. Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change
5. Share and Voice

The Members of my web group are:

1. Hannah@hikingwithhannahb
2. Judy@Judy's Cloud Contemplations
3. Sarah@Sarah's EcoEndeavors
4. Dr. V/ Kristen@Enviro-Surfing with Amy and Kristen

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

Please feel free to explore and post on my blog. Hopefully readers of this blog will come away with a few things they can do to help keep Minnesota lakes clean and healthy.