Don't forget to exercise!!

Being in a Geography class and learning how to help the environment has inspired me to start exercising and making my life a little better. Exercising doesn’t need to be hard unless you make it that way. I have thought of a few simple ways to make exercising fun and enjoyable for everyone!!!!

When you start working out you should also try to set realistic goals for yourself. This meaning, if you know you can’t run a marathon, don’t try and stress yourself out about it!!! Just try running 15 minutes a day and each week add on a couple minutes to your workout. In no time you won’t even realize your running 45 minutes a day!!!

BE HAPPY when your working out! Don’t make working out something you hate or else you wont get the best workout you can get! Also, pick an activity you will enjoy doing. If you hate running on a treadmill, try walking outside and enjoy the beautiful weather!! It will make the time go fast and you wont even where the time went!!

Another thing that always helps me out when I am working work, is listening to inspiring music. When your working out you don’t want to be stuck listening to sappy music, because you wont get the best workout!!! Listen to something that has a beat to it! Something with beat will allow you to exercise to the beat and something with a fast beat means you will workout a little faster and in the long run burn more calories!!

Exercising will make you feel better about yourself!! It also relieves stress and you get a better night sleep! Just because we are in a Geography class doesn’t mean we can’t make ourselves a little better!! Take 15 minutes out of your day and exercise to make a better you!!

Posted by Cheyanne Clure

10 Simple Ways to be GREEN

Going green isn’t as hard as it seems. By following these 10 simple rules, you will be helping the environment tremendously and you will feel good about yourself knowing you have made a tiny difference in the world.

1.     REDUCE: You can do this by, turning off the water while you brushing your teeth or washing your face. On average you can save more than 200 gallons of water a month.  Also, turning off lights in a room you are not using is a way to reduce energy. Using both sides of computer paper when you are printing something off saves trees:) Drink tap water instead of wasting plastic bottles.

2.     UNPLUG UNUSED ELECTRONICS: By unplugging your cell phone charger when it is not in use can make a big difference when it comes to your electricity bill. If you think you might forget to plug your cell phone charger back in when you need to use it again, try using a power strip, which can be turned off.

3.     RECYCLE: Recycle items such as aluminum cans, glass jars, and milk cartons to save energy and landfill space. By recycling, you can prevent pollution from occurring. Paper is also recyclable, and knowing college kids they do not really care about recycling, but it can make a big impact when you start saving trees!!

4.     ENERGY STAR: Look for ENERGY STAR labels on things such as light bulbs, washing machines, and other appliances. By switching over to ENERGY STAR appliances you will see a change in your energy bill. These kinds of appliances do not use as much energy therefore, they save you money in the long run.

5.     USE FLUORESCENTS: Using fluorescent light bulbs last up to at least three times as long as incandescent light bulbs, which are the light bulbs most people are familiar with.  Using incandescent bulbs convert to heat and not light, that is why fluorescent bulbs are much more efficient.

6.     FIX LEAKS: Did you know that a faucet that leaks one drip a second can waste up to 3,000 gallons of water each year!!! That is a lot of water and money down the drain!!! Fix leaks in your window pains. In the winter, if you have a draft coming from the window, you probably have leaky window. To solve this problem, you can buy a window sealing kit that allows you to put plastic around the windows. This stuff actually does work, we use it every winter in my household, and it saves a good amount of money each year.

7.     BUY RECYCLED PRODUCTS: Look for words like RECYCLED on your items when you are shopping. By purchasing these types of products, you are using material that has already been recycled and is being reused. You can find recycled products such as, paper, plastic bottles, and paper towel. Try to buy products that have the highest percentage.

8.     COMPUTER POWER MANAGEMENT: Instead of having your computer on all the time put your computer settings as low-power sleep mode. Doing this will save you money on your electricity bill. Most people today have computers, so if you all set out computers at low-power sleep mode, we will all save money in the end.

9.     PROPERLY DISPOSE OF HAZARDOUS WASTE: Certain things such as, batteries, light bulbs and styrofoam, because they certain materials that do not allow them to decompose. Another benefit by disposing hazardous waste properly is sometimes you can get paid to recycle these items!

10. FRESH OR ORGANIC: You can buy fresh foods at a local farmers market, this it allow people to save money on shipping the food to its destination. Fresh foods allow you to save energy on producing frozen foods. Organic foods are good for the environment and good for your health :)

These 10 simple ways of going green do not take much time to do. If we all can remember to turn off the water when we are brushing our teeth, recycle, and fix leaks, we will all save a little bit of extra cash and we will even feel good about ourselves in the long run knowing we helped the environment.

Posted by Cheyanne Clure

Prescribed Burning at the UEC

So one of the many little tasks I helped with when I volunteered last Tuesday at the UEC was watering a new plot of trees which are, as of now, mere sprouts.  All these trees are native species to Wisconsin, as is common to most of what the UEC plants.  To facilitate the growth of all these little plants and trees, Joel (the UEC overseer for the morning), described the usefulness of prescribed burnings.  Basically, there are a ton of invasive/non-native species surrounding this plot of greenery trying to thrive.  And those other species are not helping these native species grow.  So in efforts to eradicate some of the unwanted species, and create more fertile soil land for future planting, these controlled burnings are called for. 


Joel explained that prescribed burnings have been used by farmers and landowners for centuries.  In fact, Native Americans used this practice to convert a lot of the original forested areas of our continent to prairies for their settlements and herds.  They would set large areas of land on fire, reducing it to soil, ready to planted upon.  In the same way, the UEC is hoping to burn away sections of their wooded areas to not only open up more soil for planting, but also to burn away much of the weeds and the weeds' root systems.  Obviously "controlled" is the operative term in "controlled burns."  They have the potential to be quite dangerous if they are not handled with care.  Not only do the burners need their burning license (which requires some schooling), but they must apply for permits and schedule it in advance so the fire dept. can be present.  Above all else, the weather conditions of that day must be perfect for the burn to commence.  Not too hot, not too windy, not too humid. 


It was quite interesting to me to hear Joel talk about how they are taking this ancient agricultural practice and applying it to a need the UEC has!


---Posted by Eric Anderson---

Interview with Joel Friday 1 pm

My interview with Joel was great. He had everything set, he had an outline that stated his history of being vegan. But, to

summarize, Joel stated that any new choice of foods a person wishes to integrate into their diet must be researched. He has done an ample amount of research and it has taken him several years to get to being a Vegan. For him it seems, that this transition was a slow process, but taught him a lot along the way. His biggest advice to people wanting to become vegan: Slowly cut out dairy while going out with friends etc. 

Research before jumping to becoming vegan.

Read.

Listen.

Talk to other vegans.

Find what diet type/food works best for you!!

Posted and Written by:Callie Beth Angsetn

Save the Earth: Be a Vegan?

I woke up this morning, eager to do research about this word that we all have heard: veganism.  Today is my big day where I will interview Joel a somewhat novice to veganism, but he has been going it for a whole year. As I have spoken with several other "vegans" they often tell me that it is a slow process, many of them were meat eaters at some point in their life, and the transition is slow and a steady process.  Thus, I began my journey into veganism.  I googled the word, veganism, to see what pops up in the search engine.


It was quite fascinating the grandiose stats I found that were related to our class lectures in Dr. Hanes Monday and Wednesday Geography 125.  I am a meat eater and love meat, but after reading all these astounding statistics I was taken aback and of course am cutting down on my meat intake..


Take a look at these FACTS:


The world is growing, people are in dyer need of food and the Earth's resources are running out. This equation is perhaps on the down slope. But, there is HOPE!


Fact 1: The meat industry is a very complex industry that has many facets.  First, there is the factory that takes up a lot of space in order to house the animals.


Relates to GEO 125: this takes away deforestation where the forested land was now taken over by a large farm factory.  Farm owners have cleared the land for production of meat, but the forested land is ruined now due to the large farm factory sitting on the old forested land.  There is a large loss of biodiversity and an increased risk of endangering species due to the destruction of habitats and of certain animals homes (forest).  Lastly, because the forest was cut down and a new factory was built on it, wild animals that came to that area before for grazing would now create crazy breeding patterns and confuse the poor animals!


This is a great website for anyone who is intrigued/fascinated about the Vegan World or anyone who wants to read up on it! Do check this out!


http://www.vegan2050.org/Article-14-Frequently%2Basked%2Bquestions%2Babout%2Bveganism.html#heading1question3




* I decided to write this because while working our group started talking about food while at the Urban Ecology Center one evening near 5 pm.. Hmm perhaps we were all hungry, but at any rate while picking reeds out in early October, we had a good discussion about food and about health etc. Thus, Joe our advisor for the volunteers at the Urban Ecology Center talked about his experience as a vegan. Thus, I wrote a blog page about it to inform others! *




-Posted and Written by: Callie Beth Angsten-

Top 4 Reasons One Must Plant Only Native Plants of Your State.. In Our Case: WISCONSIN!

http://www.johnsonsnursery.com/Native_Plants_of_Wisconsin.aspx


This was a website that Joel, our main volunteer service project director emailed me a link. Check out this website, it goes through the reasons of why native plannting is a MUST in every way..




Reasons to Plant only Native plants:


1.) The use of native landscapes is on the rise and is becoming a popular trend.


First and foremost native plants are beautiful. enough said. The color and beauty of native plants is beyond describable.




2.) Praticality. Native Plants are very pratical and are functional and can cover any landscape area because they have been evolving in Wisconsin over a long period of time.


3.) Using native plants connects us to our state's natural heritage. We are not using plants that are foreign to our state, instead we are connecting to our native roots.  We are using Wisconsin native plants which is unique only to Wisconsin, we are not a carbon copying other states, we are following the natural plant language that is being spoken only in Wisconsin! :)


4.) We are giving back to the natural land without destroying/desturbing our natural habitat. We are giving back to the land, freely and in a creative and healthy manner.  this follows a very basic equation: following and using only plants that are native to Wisconsin.  This is a sustainable form of landscaping, not only for the soil and vegetation but also for the countless other types of life, which include insects, birds and other animls that feed on native Wisconsin plant life etc.




Posted and Written by: Callie Beth Angsten

Benefits of Natural Landscaping... In Milwaukee, WI

Number	Species	Common Name
2	Acer saccharinum	Silver Maple
3	Alnus rugosa	Speckled Alder
3	Amelanchier laevis	Allegheny Serviceberry
3	Betula papyrrifera	Paper Birch
3	Corylus americana	American Hazelnut
3	Corylus cornuta	Beaked Filbert/ Hazelnut
3	Juglans cinerea	Butternut/White Walnut
3	Malus ioensis	Prairie Crab Apple
1	Ptelea trifoliata	Wafer Ash
2	Quercus bicolor	Swamp White Oak
2	Quercus meuhlenburgii	Chinquapin Oak
3	Staphylea trifolia	Bladdernut

This list above lists the NATIVE WISCONSIN Types one should use. How unique only these types above are only for the state of Wisconsin!




The main director of the program, told us that all the plants we were planting were native to the Midwest, Wisconsin climate. 


Source Retrieved from:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Wisconsin%E2%80%93Madison_Arboretum  


Posted and Written by:Callie Beth Angsten