Read 'n' Seed 1: "Global Change: Impacts on Water and Food Security"

The book I chose to use for Read 'n' Seed is called Global Change: Impacts on Water and Food Security. It is written by Claudia Ringler and was published in 2010. This book takes and in depth look at the cause of many types of global changes, what their outcomes and impacts will be, and what possible solutions to these problems could be. This book is in the research category and the reading level might be a little high but I think that the topics covered are very interesting and overall, will be very educational.


This book has 260 pages, so I plan on breaking it down into 60-65 page segments for each Read 'n' Seed post. 


More information about this book and the author can be found at the following websites:

• Springer
• IFPRI
• IFPRI (Author)

Eye Opener: Ecological Footprint

After looking up ecological footprint on Wikipedia, I was surprised to find out that the term "ecological footprint" is a fairly new term that was first publicized by William Rees in 1992. I was also surprised to find out that the UN calculates the world's ecological footprint every single year to see just how resourceful/not resourceful we are being. The last record Wikipedia has of our ecological footprint is from 2006 at 1.4. I would be very interested to find out what our current ecological footprint would be.


I took the ecological footprint quiz and was surprised to find out that mine was 4.6!!!! I did pretty good in every category except for energy land used and services used. It was really disappointing to me to see just how much higher I was than the national average, even if that number is from 2006! 

Share and Voice 9:

Share and Voice 8: Smart Traveling

Everyone loves going on vacation, but since vacations are supposed to be relaxing and worry free, most people don't stop to think of ways that they can reduce their ecological footprint while still getting some quality R&R. Here are a few websites that can give a few tips on how to be more environmentally friendly while on vacation. From traveling advice to lodging considerations, there is tons you can do so check it out!

• Environmentally Friendly/Green Hotels
• Top 10 Green Vacation Ideas
• Don't Take Your Carbon Footprint With You
• Clean and Dirty Cruise Ships
• The 5 Most Eco Friendly Airlines

Share and Voice 7: Tips On How To Be Green

While browsing the internet, I found this great article called, "Being Green: 11 Environmentally Friendly Habits." The thing that really caught my eye about this article is the fact that they used the word "habits." Sometimes it drives me absolutely crazy when people say you have to "change" your ways to fit certain standards or lifestyles. In reality, it isn't that easy to just change something that you do with the snap of a finger. You need to make conscious effort to change something in your life by getting into a routine and making a habit of it. Another thing I really liked about this article is the fact that all 11 tips that they give are extremely easy to do. Two of my favorites are  1) buying environmentally friendly toilet paper (I had no idea how bad normal toilet paper was), and 2) using hand powered kitchen tools instead of electric ones such as electric knives and can openers. Seriously? How hard is it to use a hand held can opener? Check out the rest of the article!

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 5: Final Weekly Review and Overall Project Reflection

My SMART Goal: I will take public transportation to school three or more days of the week for the next ten weeks. 

This week I wanted to increase my goal from three days a week to four days a week. Unfortunately I only managed to meet the old goal and rode the bus 3 times this past week. I think the biggest challenge I faced this week was the snow and cold weather. It made it really hard for me to want to walk down the road when it was sooooo cold! Also I was thinking about when I was going to have to walk home when I got off of the bus. Now that that days are getting shorter and it's getting darker earlier and earlier, it was really hard for me to take the bus when I knew I was going to have to walk home in the dark. Even though I didn't meet my improved goal, I was still happy with the fact that I took the bus the three days that I did. I definitely learned that I just need to realize that it's not getting warmer anytime soon so I just need to suck it up and bundle up haha! 

Review of Entire Process

My SMART Goal: I will take public transportation to school three or more days of the week for the next ten weeks. 

My goal changed a little bit during the last weeks. I changed it from three days a week to four because I was satisfied with the progress i was making and thought I could do better. I think that the biggest reason I was so successful was due to the fact that I was blogging about my experience. The fact that other people were reading about my successes and failures made me want to achieve my goal that much more. Things that got in my way were my procrastination in getting ready (so I missed the bus), and the cold and weather. In the future I need to just hurry up and get ready 10 minutes earlier and also realize that the weather is not going to be good all the time so I need to just deal with it. 

The biggest way that I benefited from this project was saving on gas and money. I was astonished at how much gas I was using on the short trip to and from school every week. I also helped out the environment by not using as much gas, and reducing the emissions I was producing. 

I definitely will continue with this behavior. I would be really dumb to not continue taking the bus considering it is free with my U-Card. 

One thing I would recommend to others when making a lifestlyle change.... tell someone about it and ask them to hold you accountable. Check in with them and let them know how you are doing. It's a lot more motivating when someone else cares about it too! 

Advocacy Project: Letter and Fact Sheet