Advocacy Project: My Political Representatives

My Political Representatives:

President: Barack Obama (Democrat)

Contact Info:
White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Contact Page





U.S. Senator: Al Franken (Democrat)
Contact Info:
320 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone:
(DC): 202-224-5641
(Duluth) 218-722-2390
Contact Page

U.S. Senator: Amy Klobuchar (Democrat)
Contact Info:
302 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3244
Contact

Governor: Mark Dayton (DFL)
Contact Info:
800 Minnehaha Avenue East, Suite 201
St. Paul, MN 55106
(651) 797-3600 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Contact

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U.S. Representative: Chip Cravaack
Contact Info:
Cravaack for Congress Campaign Committee P.O. Box 951
North Branch, MN 55056-0951
651.317.9245
Will be starting the new term
Contact

State (House): Tim Faust (DFL)
Contact Info:
567 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155
651-296-0518
Contact

State (Senate): Tony Lourey (DFL)
Contact Info:
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Capitol Building, Room 303
St. Paul, MN 55155-1606
651.296.0293
Contact

City mayor of Mora, MN: Greg Ardner
Contact Info:
611 Watkins Street
Mora, MN 55051
Phone: +13206794890
Email
Contact Page

City Council Members:

Dave Chmiel
Contact Info:
City Hall: 101 Lake Street South
Mora, MN 55051-1588
City Hall #: 320.679.1511

Mark Gravich
Contact Info:
Home: 573 Walnut Street South
Mora, MN 55051
Home #: 320.679.4235

Beth Hallin
Contact Info:
Home: 185 Riverside Street
Mora, MN 55051
Cell #: 612.390.1386

Mike Johnson
Contact Info:
Home: 747 Sunset Lane
Mora, MN 55051
Home #: 320.225.0072

Contact Page for all Council Members

Reflection: Weeks 5-8

Weeks five through eight in Environmental Health have shown me many things in the world that I have been oblivious to. Some of the things we have discussed are:

• The Future of Food
• CSPI-Scoring Your Diet
• Read'N'Seeds-Last Child in the Woods
• Graphical Headers
• Movies-"Fresh", "Green", "Tapped"
• Environmental Working Group-Cosmetic Products
• Junking

The future of our food is at stake. Many farmers are having to make the choice of whether to raise their animals and crops naturally or use pesticides or hormones. Even though hormones can help your animals produce more they are not good for them. Animals should produce what they were born to make, not what we want them to produce. Pesticides are also not good. Many times they can damage crops or crops can become resistant to them after so long.

After doing our CSPI activity, Scoring Your Diet, I learned a lot about the choices of food I make. When buying food you should always check the labels. If possible you should always try to get organic or natural foods. For example, when looking at meats look for hormone free or grass-fed. These will be the best meats for you because they were raised the right way. I was actually really surprised by my results because my meat intake was low but my diary products were high. Many people are under the impression that eating animal products does not really affect the environment when it is the exact opposite.

For this class we had to choose a book to read. I read "Last Child in the Woods" by Richard Louv. This book was great. Its main point was to address the lost connection between children and nature. Before reading this book I never even thought about this because it never affected me. This is not true. It turns out my generation along with several others are part of the children that never really experienced nature. This saddens me because I see now how much nature has to offer and I missed out. To this day I am guilty of taking nature for granted. As the saying goes, "You never know what you have until it is gone". I want to change this by starting to play an active role in the environment.

A couple of other interesting activities we did were made a graphical header and searched a cosmetic product we used often. Making the graphical header was a lot of fun. We were able to choose a photo then upload it onto a site called Picnik. This site has many ways to edit pictures from adding borders and text to changing the color to reducing red eye or exposure. The other activity we did was eye opening. We got the chance to search a cosmetic product we use often. I chose hairspray. My results showed my hairspray was moderately hazardous and could cause cancer, allergies, reproductive toxicity, or etc. This was scary because you never seem to question the products you use daily because they "seem" safe.

The movies we have watched so far have also been very eye opening. From chemical plants on the Mississippi River to clean drinking water to fresh foods. I have learned a lot from these movies but the one that stuck out the most was "Tapped". When Dr. V asked the question, "Who owns the water?", I had no idea. The first thought that came to my head was the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). When it comes down to it though, big corporations end up owning a lot of our water. What blows my mind is if we are able to drink water out of a facet for free why buy a bottle of water? Yes, I am guilty of buying plastic water bottles but that is going to change. By reducing the use of plastic water bottles we could dramatically lower the amount of garbage produced.

The last topic I am going to discuss is junking. Junking to me is when you take something you or someone else no longer wants and make into something new. I think junking is a great way to save money, make a homemade decoration, and be creative. By making something yourself it shows your original and talented while also helping out the environment because it is one less item you have to buy. I am very excited to start junking my own projects for when I get my own place!

Share & Voice: Wake Up to Reality

I was looking on youtube and came across this video, Wake Up to Reality. I thought this video did a great job summing up some of the issues we are facing today. We need to realize what we do today not only affects us but everyone around us. I know in Dr. V's class this week she brought up the acronym, NIMBY, Not In Our Back Yard. I know of a lot of people that live by this. If they do not have to see it or deal with it right now they do not care. That is not the case. Lets do something now to prevent future problems! Hope you enjoy the video below!

Eye Opener: Junk on the Brain

Part 1 Terms defined:

• antiques/antiquing: "an old collectible item. It is collected or desirable because of its age, beauty, rarity, condition, utility, personal emotional connection, and/or other unique features. Antiquing is the act of shopping, identifying, negotiating, or bargaining for antiques." (Source: Wikipedia, 2010)
  

• junk/junking: taking something you own or something someone else owns that they no longer want and change in into something useful; ex: a house decoration
  

• flea market: a place someone sells things they do not want at lower prices; you can also buy things from vendors that they no longer want (Source: Wikipedia, 2010)

• thrift shop: a place that sells used items to others for lower prices than normal (Source: Wiktionary, 2010)

• upcycling: "the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value" (Source: Wikipedia, 2010)

• resale shop: taking an item that someone no longer wants and sell it again (Source: Collins English Dictionary found at Free Dictionary, 2010)

PART 2: Answer the following questions:

1. The above terms have to do with environmental health because they help reuse old products so new ones do not have to be made. As the old saying goes "Ones junk could be anothers treasure." By selling or donating your old, used items you could be benefiting someone else. Instead of throwing older things away give them to a new person to be reused. Buying new things only uses more materials. By reusing other items you are being environmentally friendly and saving money because it is one less product that has to be made and purchased.

Antiques/Antiquing:
Father Time Antiques
Location: 395 S. Lake Ave Duluth, MN 55802
Phone: (218)-625-2379 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (218)-625-2379 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Junk/Junking:
Blog: Junk Camp, A Junker's Diary
Seaman's Yesterday's Treasures
Location: 5617 Grand Ave Duluth, MN 55807-2539
Phone: (218)-628-1969

Flea Market:
Studebaker Drivers Club Swap Meet Flea Market and Classic Car Show
Location: Lake Superior College, 2101 Trinity Road Duluth, Minnesota, 55811

Thrift Shop:
Goodwill
Location: 700 Garfield Avenue Duluth,MN 55802
Phone: (218)-722-6351

Upcycling:
I had some trouble finding a local upcycling place but I feel like this is something you could do on your own. You could possibly change something you have or look at a friend or family members things they no longer want.

Resale Shop:
Plato's Closet
Location: 5115 Burning Tree Road Suite 315 C Duluth, MN 55811
Phone: (218)-733-9455


When talking about junking or antiquing I really did not think I did until looking at the definitions of the terms. I actually do more of this than I thought. I sell and buy clothes at Plato's Closet all the time. If there is something I do not wear anymore I bring it somewhere to get some money or donate it to benefit someone else. Usually if my clothes do not get bought from Plato's Closet I will donate them to Goodwill or Savers. I also go to Savers a lot to look for things for around the house. If I can go to Savers and get a dresser or coffee pot for half of the price than at a department store why not do it. You are saving money and helping out the environment. I really want to start getting creative by making things for when I get my own apartment or house.

PART 3: Get your junk on!

Project 1: The Fish or Cut Bait

I thought this project was very cute. I am addicted to candles and always want new ideas on how to decorate with them. This project would be able to be outside or inside of a house. I think if I ever did something like this I would make it have a more indoors look.

Project 2: Must be L-O-V-E

This project is my favorite. It looks like it would be so fun and easy to make. You would need to find some old wood blocks and get script paper to make it look like it is actual dictionary paper. What I also like about this is you could do a lot of different words besides love like passion, laugh, live, life, or even peoples last names. These blocks could be set outside, in the living room, bathroom, bedroom, or etc.

Project 3: Simple Mondays-Take Two

The last project I looked at got my attention because I like flowers. I think flowers add so much more to a room along with a nice smell. I am interested in finding ways to make the flowers I buy stand out more because just putting them into a vase is boring. You need different ways to make them look pretty and have detail.

Source: Project Ideas from Junk Market