Environmental friendly tips for College students

A few weeks ago I was sitting in one our of the residences halls laundry room.  I was listening in on two girls conversation as they were starting to dry their clothes.  The one girl was filling up nearly 5 dryers with only a few items of clothes in each machine.  Her friend gave her a funny look while she was doing this and asked “Why don’t you combine your clothes into fewer dryers?”, and the other looked back and responded with “My clothes look better this way, and I don’t really care about the environment”.  All too often I notice that college students don’t really seem to care about the environment, and I believe this needs to change.  I have made a list of ways college students can easily change their bad habits, and in doing so help save the environment and save a little money in the process. 

1.     Laundry – Does anyone actually know the difference between a Hot-Hot cycle vs. warm-warm cycle vs. a cold-cold??? I know for myself I assumed there wasn’t much of a difference.  When doing your wash set the washer to either warm-cold or cold-cold.  We could save the energy comparable to 100,000 barrels of oil a day by just making that simple adjustment.  I know for myself drying my dress-shirts in a dryer helps keep the wrinkles out, but my jeans (which take longer to dry anyway) do not need to be in a dryer.  Instead hand-dry them on your bedroom door or a hanger.  Not only will you save money you’re helping the environment. 

2.     Used one less paper napkin- during an average year, an American uses approximately 2,200 napkins—around six each day. If everyone in the U.S. used one less napkin a day, more than a billion pounds of napkins could be saved from landfills each year.

3.     No more baths! - Have a no-bath week, and take showers instead. Baths require almost twice as much water. Not only will you reduce water consumption, but the energy costs associated with heating the water.

4.     Recycle old phones - The average cell phone lasts around 18 months, which means 130 million phones will be retired each year. If they go into landfills, the phones and their batteries introduce toxic substances into our environment. There are plenty of reputable programs where you can recycle your phone, many which benefit noble causes.

5.     Go to a Car Wash instead of washing the car yourself- Although we have that image of hot summer day in our swim suits washing our cars, professional car washes are often more efficient with water consumption. If everyone in the U.S. who washes their car themselves took just one visit to the car wash we could save nearly 8.7 billion gallons of water.

6.     6. Stop paper bank statements- In our day and age I would say most banking can be done online, that includes receiving bank statements via email.  Not only are you going to help the environment but also you won’t have to deal with piles of paper that you probably won’t read anyway. 

7.     Show off your Winona State University pride and invest in a WSU water bottle.  By refilling a water bottle several times a day instead of buying packs of bottled water, it is a great way to save money and helps keep plastic bottles out of landfills.                                                                                                                                              

Tips for traveling abroad (2/27/13 WAGS Assignment)

Last year I had the pleasure of studying abroad in German for the year.  I did not go with any friends or anyone from Winona State.  The idea of going abroad for the year was exciting and scary at the same time.  While I was living abroad for the year I met many different people from all over the world.  I learned very quickly that small towns in Europe were completely different then small towns like Winona, MN. I would like to share a few stories, and a few tips that could help people travel safer and more informed.

            The first tip I’d like to give for someone who is going abroad is: You’re an American and not everyone is going to like you.  On my trip to Paris, France I was having dinner in a bar-lounge restaurant with a few of my American and Irish friends.  A group of local Parisians heard us speaking English and were interested in practicing their English with us.  Our conversation centered on American politics (mistake!) and travel.  Our new French friends were probably enjoying a few too many glasses of wine, because like a light switch they began to start yelling at us for no reason.  After a few minutes of being humiliated and yelled at for being American the waiter came to throw the group of French men out.  Although there was no provoking on our end it is important to know that not all people are friendly to Americans.  After this situation I was always very skeptical of sharing where I was from.

Another tip I would like to share with regards to the Paris story: don’t consume too much alcohol in a town you are not familiar with.  The story involves my good friend Lily, who is from Ireland. Lily has a very strong personality and tends to do whatever she wants when she wants.  One of my first nights in Germany I met Lily, and we were celebrating a Birthday for a mutual friend, Peter.  We were in another city close to where we were staying and Lily was… well… needless to say – drinking too much.  Lily walked off by her self that night and was robbed.  Lily’s phone and all of her money were stolen.  The point of this story is getting out of control in any new city is something you should not do. 

            My last tip I would like to share is: Try and learn the Learning the language of the land.  Learning the language  ofthe country you will be traveling to is very important, even if it is just a few small phrases.  Locals are far friendlier if you attempt to try and speak their language then just assuming they should know English.  This was the case when I went to Italy and I needed to buy medicine at a drug store.  I saw that the medication was behind the front desk and without thinking I asked the old man behind the desk for the pills, in English.  He knew what I had asked for but gave me a dirty look and kind of threw the bottle on the counter and said nothing.  Although this was not a huge deal I should have had better manners and asked if English was okay.   

Labeling (Final)

Ross Beattie

Labeling-

Faggot, Dike, Gay, Bitch, Slut, Stupid (etc..) All senseless and horrible labels which we use freely in our society.  All humanity is taken out when someone uses hurtful labels.

 Hatred is born with ignorance and I’d like to point out that our media and pop culture is ignorant and spreading hate when using hurtful labels.  I believe one of the biggest problems is how our media and pop culture spits out these senseless labels on TV, magazines, movies (etc...) 

When labels, such as the ones already pointed out are used frequently we start to naturally begin a resistance to the hurtful phrases.

One of the earliest memories I recall that dealt with being labeled and made fun of, is when I first moved to my new school.  I was in third grade and I had been unluckily paired with the class bully in my music class.  I remember him making fun of me and calling me gay.  I was old enough to know what it meant to be gay, but growing up in a strict conservative family, I did not believe it was a real thing to be gay.  I think this was the first time I had been called gay, and at that point in my life I had perceived being gay as a negative thing.  He then told me that there was no such thing as gay people but that gay meant happy.  I remember feeling confused and uncomfortable with the conversation, as a few people from our class were listening on in.  He then asked me if I was gay, and I quickly answered “No!”  He then asked me “why aren’t you happy?”  As I was now becoming more uncomfortable, and with hopes of getting him to be quiet I answered “Yes, I am gay...”  Everyone around began to laugh and call me gay or a faggot.  I cannot remember a time when I felt so low and uncomfortable. 

  When children are the ones beginning to use these hurtful words without feelings of remorse or understanding, is when hate is created.  We must stop labeling in our society because even if the label is meant as a joke, you never know who you are going to upset.   

(Just a comment: In no way is this blog meant to portray being gay as a bad thing!  I just wanted to share a personal story of when I was labeled and how it was used in a negative way to make me feel bad.)