Author Archives: farran

Extra Credit Media Assignment

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Media can truly be a tricky concept, weather or not it is true and factual or fake and made up of lies. “Media Overload” is when you watch too much social media at one time. The younger generations I believe have more of these problems but, I also think that we all catch ourselves soaking up social media in every much way. I fell as though we could limit this media overload by limiting the amount of time we are to watch tv or be on the phones.

I believe that people need to interact with the media in different ways and not just sitting in front of the television for nine hours a day.  I say this for not only children, teenagers, and adults.  I have seen more kids this day in age that whine, cry, and beg because they want the Ipad or even their parents phones. This new trend is almost ridiculous that kids 1-3 even know how to use these devices, when even I, at twenty two years old, still have issues working my phone or doing something on an Ipad. I believe that time on these devices need to be limited and the things watched on these devices also need to be controlled.

People need to be aware of the programs that they are watching and be sure to keep their eyes open to the factual parts or if it is just word vomit being thrown out to make some television network look more important with the extra information or if it is just lies being thrown out.  As the public everyone needs to be aware of that.  It also kind of ties in the trust in media.

I believe that media overload is a real thing and people often do not realize they are even binge watching hours and hours until it is already over.  People need to stop watching these pointless programs and really start paying attention to the news that is out there.

 

Environmental Audit

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As well as taking Intro to Environmental Studies and Sustainability, I am also taking Global Health.  About a week ago we had an out of class assignment that was called an Environmental Audit, where we could pick from different projects to do that would take about two hours of our time.  I choose to go to a grocery store, in particular Harris Teeter in Mount Pleasant, and look at how many varies there were of different fruits, vegetables, and other foods. I was also looking at the price point per pound of these foods given on the list.  I was actually very interested in this project, mainly because I was curious to see what the outcomes would be.

When I walked into Harris Teeter, I went straight to the produce sections because the first foods to look at were bananas, apples, oranges, etc. I found that looking for the number of varieties there were a lot more than I honestly realized before coming.

While I was looking at all the different kinds of grapes, one of the store employees came up to me asking if I needed help.  I didn’t but we continued to talk about my school project.  He told me a lot about the differences of organic and non-organic foods. He said that the way they have to treat these foods is much different.  For example, the containers they come in are placed away from the non-organic, the sinks are different as well as the knifes, gloves, refrigerators, and the way they are stocked are all different. Harris Teeter also has their own composting system that helps because of how much waste they have due to the fruits and vegetables going bad so quickly.  I found all this information so crazy. Although I know it has been talked about in class, I just feel like hearing it from the actual store employees made it all so real about what it takes for something to truly being organic and why it all costs more to eat.

There was a lot more about this Audit that I found interesting like all the difference varieties and what made them so different, so below are the pictures of the Environmental Audit I conducted.  I am really glad that this assignment was assigned because I was really able to take the classroom information we have been learning and apply it at the actual grocery store.

                                   

Huggies Diapers

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Pure and Natural?  This is a diaper that every mother who is trying to help the environment is buying out there on the market.  I hope that each mother that is buying this product knows that this is one the most greenwashing products out there.  One thing Huggies is big on is natural and renewable resources but they don’t ever really mention on the diapers what materials they are using.

Misleading fact number one is that they state on their diapers is “organic cotton.” I do not disagree that there is organic cotton on the outside of the diapers but it’s hard to believe that the part on the inside is organic cotton as well because it would not be as adsorbate as needed to be a diaper.  Next on the diapers it says “hypoallergenic” does this make Huggies pure and natural diapers any more “Green” then other diapers? I personally think that many diapers claim they are hypoallergenic especially with children this day in age. The next statement provided on the front of the package is aloe and vitamin E… but it doesn’t tell you exactly where these are located in the diaper.  Also we know that aloe and vitamin E are both certified renewable energy sources but are they organic?

As for the fact of the logos on the legitimate diapers, is that organic ink or not? Also these diapers are still disposable and not reusable.  I think that this is the main thing to make a diaper “green” in my eyes is that the diaper can be reused but to x amount of times instead of being thrown out every time a child has gone to the bathroom in it.  I think Huggies had good intentions to get there “going green” movement across to everyone, but some of there “green” ideas I believe are not very truthful. Greenwashing is in a full affect in this ad.