Sunday, September 19, 2010

Believer

As I take the garbage out and see a huge blue dumpster full week after week I can't ignore the problem we have with waste.  Yet we try our best to not think about it.  Maybe it's because the trash doesn't effect you on a personal level but it could very well be that you choose to ignore the problem all together.  There is obviously a larger trash problem in a city like Seattle compared to our little town of Missoula, MT but one day this wasteful, fast paced lifestyle will have greater effects on us.  The question is: how long will we choose to ignore this problem that seems to be burying us alive?


"Every single thing you see is future trash. Everything. So we are surrounded by ephemera, but we can’t acknowledge that, because it’s kind of scary, because I think ultimately it points to our own temporariness." believermag.com


Think about the environment and our future children or friends future children.  We need to be recycling as much as possible.  Maybe recycling isn't the answer but NOT recycling is very pointless.  I admittedly contribute to being a wasteful american but at least I'm aware of it and try my best to recycle and reuse whenever possible.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Research Question

Initially I thought a good research topic could be the effects of vegetarianism and non vegetarianism on agriculture but that was too broad.  As I watched this show on vegans I realized that meat eaters may have a bigger effect on agriculture than non meat eaters.  Now I think more about the effects of meat production on the environment and how that could be the best direction to go with this paper.

I'm most definitely having issues deciding which way to go with this whole thing.  Maybe I should concentrate on the health issues that go along with these vegetarian topics?

One time I read a statistic saying that meat consumption is up 40% compared to fifty years ago.  And I know that other countries eat a lot less meat than Americans do.  This is also an interesting aspect of environmental and health sustainability.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Friday, September 10, 2010

Organic

Organic foods contain an average of 50% more vitamins, nutrients and minerals than non organic foods. organicfoodinfo.net/  When you eat an apple from a farm that uses over 30 chemicals to grow that apple you are not only eating the apple but all 30 chemicals used to grow it too. This means you have to jeopardize your health by consuming more fruit with more chemicals just to get your daily nutrients. 

Produce is one thing but meat is a whole different world. Cows and chickens that are not organically raised are pumped full of anti-biotics and hormones to make them grow fast and stay "healthy" until the slaughter.     Cows are vegetarian animals but to save money the big meat producers are now feeding them ground up parts of other cows.  This can cause mad cow disease in the cows themselves which is then eaten by humans... I think you get the point. care2.com/

Most people just don't care where it came from or even how but I think that shows ignorance and a lack of care for your body and health.  So, just think twice before you eat a "chicken nugget" because chances are it's hardly chicken.

Monday, September 6, 2010

who am I?

Hey my name is Justin and I'm 22 years of age.  This is my first semester at the U of M.  Sense high school ended I found myself working at Snowbowl and turning into a full blown snow bum!  Also I focus a lot of my energy on playing guitar for a local band called The Lion The Tamer.  We can't wait for spring break, were going to be on our second tour as a band!  Other than that I really enjoy riding my bike and trying to keep healthy.

Over the last couple years finding time to read has been tough but I managed to finish a couple books that were very enjoyable.  Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk was definitely one of my favorites. My favorite writer is Charles Bukowski though! No matter my mood reading Bukowski would by my number one choice.  This class seems like my cup of tea! Gosh... I really hate cleches.