Share and Voice: History Channel

As I was trying to think of something to write about for this share and voice assignment, I had the t.v. on the History Channel. I was watching re-runs of a show called American Pickers. Basically there are two guys who travel around the U.S. looking for old or rare items to purchase from people. They dig through old barns, garages, houses, and other places cluttered with what looks like useless junk to most people. They buy items from these people and clean them up and re-use or re-sell them. It is interesting to see some of the items they find and use. Many of the items are just laying around and serving no purpose, so it is cool to see them bring items back to life. Even though the items look old and are sometimes in rough shape, many of them are as good as new once they are cleaned up a little. If you haven't seen this show before I suggest you check out an episode or two. You can also view episodes online on the History Channel.

There is also a show on the History Channel called "American Restoration" where they restore old items. I have only watched part of an episode before but it looks very interesting.

Share and Voice: Deer Hunting 2011

I have been deer hunting every year for the past 8 years. During my time in the woods I have seen many other animals besides deer, including: squirrels, rabbits, birds like owls, eagles, wood peckers, also foxes, porcupines, beavers, woodchucks any probably even more. This year when we walked through the woods to set up our deer stands, the trees were marked for logging. When we got home, we researched to see how much they were logging off and when it was going to take place. It was an eye opening experience to see how much of these animals habitats they were going to log off, not to mention the woods that we have hunted in for 8 years. To think of all the old trees and plants that are going to be destroyed and all the animals that are going to have to find a new home is kind of disturbing. And its all to produce paper and paper products.

For my eco-chic lifestyle project I eliminated the use of paper products such as paper plates, napkins, paper towels, and fast food containers. To see first hand how logging and the production of paper affects the environment and the things that live there was shocking. Since taking this class my awareness for the environment has increased a ton and it was interesting to experience that while taking this class. So I urge everyone to try to reduce the amount of paper products they use and think about how your decisions are affecting the environment.

Here is also an article about logging in MN that I found while writing this post: Click here

Share and Voice: Zebra Mussels in MN Lakes

About two weeks ago, I went to my grandma and grandpa's house near Breezy Point, MN. The live on Lake Ossawinnamakee. About late October/ early November every year I help them take their docks, boats, and swimming raft out of the water for the winter. About 6 or 7 years ago we started noticing little sharp shell shaped objects attached to the docks, boats, and swimming raft. We did some research to find that these were actually an invasive specie know as zebra mussels.(The picture to the right is a cluster of zebra mussels on a native mussel)

Zebra mussels are native to Eastern Europe and Western Russia and were brought over to the Great Lakes in ballast water of freighters (used as weight to stabilize ships). Populations of zebra mussels were discovered in the Great Lakes about 1988. The spread of zebra mussels has reached the Mississippi River and are now slowly making their way into Minnesota's inland lakes. A single female Zebra Mussel can produce at a rate of 100,000-500,000 eggs per year. These eggs than develop into larvae and within two to three weeks they start attaching to docks, boats, swimming rafts, seaweed, rocks, and almost anything they can find. These Zebra Mussels also eat plankton from the lake which fish need for food to live healthy.

So to sum it up these are very troubling species that do not belong in Minnesota's inland lakes.

Each year when we take out the dock, swimming raft, and boats, the zebra mussels get thicker and thicker. The past two years I have even seen them attached in clusters to rocks in swimming areas on the lakes. With the sharpness of these species this causes the potential for them to cut swimmers. To help prevent the spread of zebra mussels, examine boat hulls, swimming platforms, docks, aquatic plants, wood and other objects along shorelines of lakes and rivers. Also do not transfer water from one lake to another by boat or any other type of container. There is a Volunteer Zebra Mussel Monitoring Program where you can report your efforts each year.

The Minnesota DNR has also been studies done on this lake and a video with more information can be found by clicking here.

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.