Share and Voice: Eco-friendly Cell Phones

I don't know about you guys, but I have a bad habit of wanting to keep up with the technology. This means I go through my cell phones pretty quickly. I know this is the case for a lot of people our age. So, I decided to find out a way to "go green" with it. I Googled it of course and this is what I found.

• GreenYour talks about different manufacturers of cell phones and how they are attempting to go green. The link talks about what you should look for in a phone to be the most eco-friendly.
• CNET talks about some of the new products from major companies such as Samsung and Motorola that are coming out soon, if not already out.

These are just some links that I thought would be helpful. These phones may not be the smartphone that everyone loves but it might be something to look into, especially if any of you have a new phone on your Christmas lists!

Share and Voice: The Lived In Room

I have recently been trying to revamp my room by painting and getting some new furniture. Of course, I've been looking online for used furniture and I came across this place in Stillwater, MN. It is called The Lived In Room. They have a bunch of furniture that is brought in by various people to be sold again. It is basically like the Goodwill of furniture which I think is kind of nice. They have a lot of pictures on the internet so if any of you are looking for a new junking project, I suggest checking this place out!

Share and Voice: Great Lakes Science Center Wind Turbine

I was in Ohio this week for Thanksgiving break and spent one of the days in Cleveland. This is the wind turbine that is set in front of the Great Lakes Science Center. It is also by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and the Brown's Stadium. According to the website, the wind turbine provides about 7% of the science centers annual energy usage. Although it doesn't provide a substantial amount of energy for the facility, it does help. It is also useful in promoting renewable energy in the city and even acts as a sun dial. As well as using the wind turbine, the facility also has several solar panels. I thought this was really interesting and neat to see a facility so proactive on the topic. It definitely stands out and is easily noticed!

Share and Voice: How to Go Green



I was searching the Internet looking for ways to "go green" and I came across this website. Treehugger gives examples for several situations in which you can go green such as: funerals, spring break, wedding, and even drinking beer! I thought this was a very informational and humorous site because I never thought of these situations as ones you can make more green. I think you should all check the website out and let me know what you think! Hopefully you'll get some good ideas from it.

Share and Voice: Reusable Cups

I found these reusable cups at Target yesterday and I thought they were really neat. I've seen ones that you can use for coffee but never ones that you can use for other drinks such as soda. I thought it would be a good idea for students to get since I always see people walking around with the disposable cups from the food court. This would be a great way to cut down on waste on campus! They aren't too expensive either!

Share and Voice: The Green Mercantile

Since I am currently on an organic eating kick, I wanted to see what other organic products I could buy in Duluth. So, like anyone else would do, I googled it and this is what I found.

The Green Mercantile offers a bunch of different products such as toys for kids, organic undergarments, cleaners, body care, and baby care products. I thought this was a great place to check out and you can even buy some of the stuff online if you can't make it to the store. If you can get to the store, it is located at the following address:

209 E Superior Street
Duluth, MN 55802

You can also contact them by email or phone at info@greenmercantile.com or 218-722-1771

Share and Voice: Murphy Oil USA Company

I was sent an update email from the director, Brian Finder, of the Risk Control graduate program at UW-Stout since I will likely be attending the program in the Spring. In the email, he sent an update about an oil company that is local to our area in Superior, WI that will be paying a penalty fine for violating the Clean Air Act. This was also a problem at their petroleum plant in Meraux, LA like we saw in one of our videos. According to the EPA website, the company will be paying the violation penalty as well as paying millions more to update their equipment to better suit the environment.

I was pleased to see this even though I know it will not end all of the problems that these plants cause. It is still good see that the EPA is taking some action. I encourage you all to check out the website and read up on it a little bit. It relates to a lot of issues we are talking about in class.

Share and Voice: Norwex

I'm not sure if any of you have heard of Norwex before but I thought I'd tell you all a little bit about it since my mom sells it and I use the products. Norwex is a company that sells eco-friendly and organic cleaning products. They are chemical free and use the microfiber concept. The company originated in Norway and is now in several other countries including the U.S. I encourage everyone to check out the products on the website. From personal experience,  I can tell you they clean very well. Sometimes they clean even better than typical chemical products. I use one of the microfiber clothes to wash my face and clean off my eye make-up. And let me tell you girls, it works wonders. I don't use any soap; I just use water on the cloth. If any of you are interested in buying any of the products, let me know! I can order through my mom or my cousin.

Share and Voice: Plant a Tree with Avon

I was browsing the Avon website since someone sells it where I intern and came across this fundraiser. It is called hello green tomorrow and for just $1, Avon will plant 1 tree of the 1 million they plan to plant in the Atlantic Rainforest of South America. According to the site, 93% of the rainforest is now gone which is a major contributor to the global warming we are facing. I decided to skip my lunch and buy 3 trees instead to help restore the rainforest. It is such an easy way to contribute and make a difference!

Share and Voice: EMF Detectors

While I was browsing the internet for new and different types of green products, I found the Electromagnetic Field detector. Curious as to what the purpose of it was, I read the description. According to the website Green Home, the EPA believes that EMF's around places of high-voltage (such as power lines and cell phone towers) have the potential to have damaging effects including cancer. Although they are unsure as of now since it isn't easy to prove and it hasn't been until recent years that these high-voltage areas were around, they suggest that we all take precautions.

This is why the EMF detector may be a beneficial tool to have in your home to protect yourself and your family. It is able to detect the strength and range of these emissions so you are better able to limit your exposure to them.

I thought this was an interesting topic. It somewhat reminds me of my read 'n' seed book in that it discusses the effects of chemicals later on in life without immediate damage. I think it is another thing we need to be aware of in our environment. It is common to look at a skyline these days and see multiple towers and power lines.

Share And Voice: Eco-friendly Wedding Favors

This week I was walking around Michael's looking for items for my portfolio and for a wedding I am in this weekend. I happened to have stumbled upon these I Do! Green Recycled Favor Boxes and I thought they were really neat! I think most of us are at the age where a lot of friends, or maybe even us, are getting married. I know I'm always looking for new ideas for the future and creative ways to decorate (ok, so maybe I didn't just happen to stumble into the wedding section) .

When my friend got married this summer and we went back the next day to clean up, we found that there were several of her favor boxes filled with candy left behind only to be thrown out and put to waste. I think this is pretty common for most weddings so why not try to be as eco-friendly as possible if you insist on having favor boxes. They are pretty cute too! There are a lot of other styles as well. Hopefully, this will set a good example for all of our guests to follow in the future.

Share and Voice: Environment-Friendly Plates

For my first Share and Voice, I chose to discuss a product that I brought to Health 4000 this week and what I will be bringing to our class on Monday for snack. The product is environment-friendly paper plates.

These Sweet Table plates come in packs of 20 and were bought at a local grocery store in Duluth (Super One Foods) for just over $3.00 each. This company also makes other picnic products such as bowls and cups. Although you can likely get a value pack of regular paper plates for cheaper, these are much better for the environment for the following reasons.

1. They are 100% biodegradable.
2. They are created with a natural substance, sugar cane pulp, which is typically considered a waste product from sugar cane harvesting.
3. They can be composted in 90 days and recycled like other paper products.
4. In terms of use, they are freezer and microwave safe as well as water and oil resistant. Therefore, you won't have to worry about doubling up on plates since nothing will leak through them! This cuts down on the use of materials.

Overall, I think these are a great alternative to the plastic and styrofoam dinnerware we use for occasions like this. Although they are made in China and consume a lot energy to get to the United States, I feel that continuing to use products like this will benefit our society by cutting down on the use of products that harm our planet such as the aforementioned plastic and styrofoam.

Welcome to Samantha: Green with Envi

Hi everyone! My name is Samantha and I am currently a senior at the University of Minnesota-Duluth with a major in Health Education (Community). In my limited free time, I enjoy reading, shopping, and enjoying the outdoors.

My blog will be about a variety of topics concerning the environment. I will attempt to provide the latest and greatest ideas and inventions for going green!

There are 6 possible types of posts on my blog. They include:

1. Advocacy Project
2. Eye Openers
3. Reflections
4. Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change
5. Read 'n' Seed
6. Share and Voice

If you notice at the bottom of this post, the categories will be listed as labels. This post is has been labeled with all five kinds of posts. You will also see the number of each kind of post in my Labels Gadget at the top of the page.  All post titles from now on will begin with one of the categories above.

The members of my web group are:
You can subscribe to my blog by clicking the subscribe gadget in the gadget column. 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."

Thanks for checking out my blog. I look forward to helping you take small steps that can lead to a big change for a healthy environment!