In the past couple of weeks, you have helped raise money and prepare food for the College's Thanksgiving in the Spring event, watched "Waging a Living," and met with the executive director of the Damiano Center. Now it's time to reflect on these activities. In a brief paper (3 pages or so) that you will turn in at next week's class, please respond to these questions:
1. What work did you do to contribute to Thanksgiving in the Spring? Describe your experience, how you felt about the work you were doing, who you shared the work with, etc.
Is the event something you support the College doing? What does the event contribute to those we feed? What does it contribute to those who feed them?
2. What did you know about people living in poverty before you saw "Waging a Living" and discussed poverty in Duluth with the executive director of the Damiano Center?
What do you know now? What are your reactions to the information presented?
3. Here are some quotes about individuals making a difference. Consider your experiences/opinions/feelings about service to others and respond to one of them.
"I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do." ~Edward Everett Hale
"It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little - do what you can." ~Sydney Smith
"Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little." ~Edmund Burke
"If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one." ~Mother Teresa
"Wherever a man turns he can find someone who needs him." ~Albert Schweitzer
THE STORY OF STUFF: http://storyofstuff.org/
As I watched this video, I am drinking water from my reusable water bottle and felt proud! I have always liked my house's tap water better than city or bottled water and usually carried my own water bottle. In fact, when I was in 8th grade we did water testing and we tested tap water and bottled water and found out that the quality of bottled water was way worse than the tap water. Since then, I guess I knew that a lot of the need for bottled water was created, but it puts a different tone on the subject when a person or company is titled as actively scaring, seducing, and misleading the general public. Just as the industrial food industry is corrupted, our bottling manufactuers are corrupted as well. It unjust that our basic human needs (food and water) are manipulated by a few corporate offices wanting to make a buck. I think, as with many other current movements, humans need to start taking a stand against these companies. In this case, the easiest thing to do is simply refill your own or same water bottle and don't buy water. If you don't have a water bottle, use a drinking fountain or order tap at a restaurant. I know it is easier to just buy a bottle of water, but sometimes choices are not meant to be easy and we need to work a little harder to make a better decision.
ReplyDeleteBuying bottled water is never something I have struggled with. My family always has multiple reusable water bottles around the house easily grabbed on the way out the door. One of my favorite ways to drink water, is a Nalgene water bottle full of freshly filtered lake water in the middle of the BWCAW. The water is so much better this way than anything you could ever buy on the shelf.
ReplyDeleteLooking around me, our country does have an issue with thinking bottled water is better. Though that thought seems to be changing as looking around, I see so many options to buy reusable bottles or getting tap water from restaurants. The options are getting much better as more of the country realizes how the corporate world is trying to scam us into buying more of our products. As we rebel against buying bottled water, we are showing the companies what we want and allowing more money to used making reusable bottles.
Before I watched this video, I thought I was aware of the issues with buying and drinking bottled water. I have to admit that I was not as aware of how deep the problems really go. The amount of energy and fuel used to make the bottles amazed and shocked me. I didn't fully realize that not all companies recycle the bottles back into new bottles. Even doing this causes more energy to be used which leads to problems as well. The video talked a lot about the advertising side of this dilemma. Every company that tries to sell things uses the same tactics that were discussed about bottled water companies. I agree that this is false advertising, but water is not the only product this is used for so it shouldn't be shocking. I normally drink out of my Camelbak water bottle and I fill it with filtered water from my Britta pitcher. Drinking filtered water makes me feel better but I do not normally drink it from bottled water. I could just work on switching to tap water and avoiding using my pitcher. One of the most surprising elements in the video was when the video showed how overpriced water really is by using the sandwich analogy. After watching this video, I will try to drink more tap water and avoid buying bottled water at all costs. This video was very informative about an issue that most people simply ignore.
ReplyDeleteThe most surprising thing I learned from this video was the "recycled" bottles ended up in a pile in India! It was also kind of amusing to learn that the big names water, such as Aquafina and Dasani, come right from the tap! We pay a lot of money just to drink the same type of water that we could have drank for free!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the video, tap water is way better than bottled water. I prefer to drink the water that comes from our well at home; it is so much better than city water. I am so happy that we have a well. I don't usually carry a water bottle with me throughout the day, but at home I do drink it from the tap.
I never knew how much went in to making bottled water. Just to make the bottles alone, it needs as much as a million cars worth of oil, plus more to package and deliver them. I never knew the costs went to such lengths just for a bottle of water, and I bet most Americans don't know the real facts either. It's too bad that not more people know about what really goes on.
This video clip was very eye opening to me. At home I usually fill up my reusable water bottle because we have a well and I really like how the water tastes. Here at school I usually buy the big cases of water bottles at Target because it is really convenient and easier then filling up a Brita water filter pitcher that barely fits in my little fridge. This movie has really made me realize how much of a waste plastic water bottles are. They aren’t only expensive but they are creating pollution on Earth and not to mention they are being piled up in India. This was the most surprising thing from the video. It was surprising to hear that bottled water isn’t natural spring water but that it is just expensive tap water that isn’t even healthier for you. I think it is kind of funny how big companies say that buying bottled water is healthier for you than drinking tap water because most water is polluted when they are the one that are polluting the water by making plastic bottles in the first place. I’m going to make an active effort to start using a reusable water bottle.
ReplyDeleteRecently, my mom and I were at the store buying bottled water. She infomed me that most of the bottled water that can be purchased is only tap water purified. This bothered me because why whould I want to waste my money on something I can get for free from the the sink. So, when I do need bottled water I buy Ice Mountain. Sometimes, bottled water is easier to grab then tap water, but I have been trying to cut back. I was greatly bothered by the fact that most of the water bottles end up in India, for two reasons. The USA is fully capable to recycle right here, and many of those bottles are not being recycled the way the recycler intended them to be. It almost makes me wonder why do the work of seperating all of my trash to be recycled when someone else is just going to be too lazy to recycle it properly. I feel that the government has a lot to do with all of the issues we have discussed in class because they have such a strong grip on manufacturing industry. Whether it be unhealthy food, Monsanto, Meat Packing industry or bottled water- the government is right their to take our money and benefit from our misfortune.
ReplyDeleteI found this video to be very informative and surprising. At home I always use water from the tap. My mom does not like to spend money on plastic bottled water. At school I usually use one of my reusable water bottles and get my water from the water fountain. Not only does it save me money, I think that it taste better then bottled water. One of the things that I found most surprising about this video was that most of the plastic bottles we recycle end up in India or " in someone else back yard." That kind of made me a little upset because my family has been recycling ever since I can remember. It makes me upset that the plastic bottle industry doesn't always take the time to recycle the bottles that we take our time to sort out from the trash.
ReplyDeleteThat was a very interesting video. And it was very good to hear at the end that water bottle demand has actually gone down recently and people are taking charge and drinking tap water. My family has always been more tap water people even though we do by water bottles sometimes also. I don't understand why because it really is just as convenient as bringing along a reusable bottle as well.
ReplyDeleteI like how she talked about how bottled water mainly uses tap water anyways, even though they make us believe it is from a mountain spring. I personally think that is just wrong and deceiving. As well as when you think you are recycling an item and find out it is being sent to India to one of their landfills to just rot for over thousands of years. I would never what my bottles going there and polluting there population, because we are too lazy to recycle. I wish that everyone could see this video and really take charge of the bottle water industry because I agree with the beginning of the video tap water really does taste better then bottled, it is also cheaper and more environmentally safe. So why not just drink tap water?
I really liked how this video was easy to understand and follow. Bottled water is something that we all deal with; it’s everywhere and so hard to avoid! I do have a re-usable water bottle that is in my fridge at all times. I usually keep this one in my room just for a quick drink now and then. And whenever I am at home I always drink from the tap. But at school if I am going to class or if I am at Storms I grab a plastic water bottle. I realize this is not a good choice for the environment, but it is just so convenient. Yes, water is free coming out of the sink but buying a bottle is only about a dollar. In the past that has been my reasoning: it’s cheap and it’s convenient. Something I did not realize was how bad this actually was for the environment. I thought if I recycled it would all be okay. However, this is not the case. I think many people are just like me; they don’t realize how big of an expense processing plastic water bottles is. If more people were educated, it may make a difference.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this video and think that it gave a really good explanation of drinking tap water instead of bottled water. I have started using reusable water bottles over the past couple years when I heard a statistic of how many times plastic bottles could wrap around the earth. It surprised me to hear how these companies have manipulated people by saying tap water is bad yet the bottled water loses during a taste test. I was extremely shocked when I heard how much oil was used just to make plastic bottles it actually sickened me. I think if more people could see a video like this that it might make them realize how harmful it can be to overuse plastic bottles and that tap water has been made to seem bad but usually isn't. I even feel guilty when I buy a bottle of water now, however, I try to reuse that bottle a few times before I throw it away so that I don't just keep buying more bottles. Water can be found in clean conditions in places around the world, so it doesn't make sense to me why people spend usually around $2 for something that is found naturally in nature. Humans are a main factor for natural water being polluted so if we could help to keep the environment more clean than the water would be cleaner in more places and tap water could be drank more often. I think that more people should see this video and maybe it would cause a shift in the population to find out how healthy their tap water is and start to just drink tap water. People can buy filters to filter tap water instead of investing in something that ruins our environment.
ReplyDeleteWow, well that video was a big eye opener! I ahve to admit I do but bottled water, but I reuse the bottle until it is dysfunctional. The only reason because I don't ave a reusable one, but I resuse the plastic one.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't make sense that big coorporation want to make something free and pure into a huge profit. It's ridiculous. They already have enough of our money, but yet again, as consumers we are the ones who buy the water.
Living in the country, I've been so lucky to have fresh well water that we can basiclly drink straight out of the hose when watering the garden while other countries don't have water to begin with. We are very lucky where we live to be so close to one of the best fresh water lakes available. I feel very lucky, almost spoiled in a sense, to have such clean water and take it for granted.
It was a real eye opener and I'll always think twice before buying bottled water or even wasting water.
This video was very eye opening for me. I drink from my Camelback water bottle daily, filled with tap water, and I would like to think that I have made a slight impact on the use of plastic water bottles. It was very surprising to know that "recycled" plastic bottles are actually dumped in India, and I feel so guilty for ever drinking out of one! The video talked about the manufactured demand scaring us, seducing us and misleading us. I fully agree with these three points, because many times I have reached for a plastic water bottle was because I was scared the tap water was polluted with dead fish, chemicals and toxins. The picture on the bottles was very misleading for it showed a crisp open field with a clean flowing water, which assumed ended up in the bottle I was about to drink. Manufacturing companies are very good at seducing consumers such as me into thinking that water bottles were better, and could make me better. Their job is to seduce, and I would have to say they are very good at it. This video has taught me to stick with my reusable water bottle, and to continue to use tap water. Every bit helps save the planet.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up my family did not buy bottle water in access, but in recent years we been in a contestant routine of buying bottled water. Sense I have been in college I have not bought many bottled water I normally just fill up my Nalgene water bottle in my bathroom sink. When comparing water from the tap and bottled water is sometimes much different, but other times one can be significantly better. In my home town the water is great, but places such as the Iron Range the water does not taste like normal water. In those situations I think it is essential to buy bottled water.
ReplyDeleteBottled water has become a new tread in the U.S. and the thought that water from bottles are better. Although people are truly trying to change from buying bottled water it is most of the time more convenient to buy bottled water. If the companies continue using unusable bottles I believe they will lose not only customers, but money. By people standing up against non-recyclable bottled water it will not only change the bottled water companies, but also the world.
Wow! After watching this video that's all I can say! I personally enjoy tap water and always have but I know many people that prefer bottled water over tap water. However, I never knew sometimes tap water is better for you then bottled water... that is crazy! I was also extremely shocked to hear what happens to the water bottles after being used. I guess I never really thought what happened to them. But now that I learned they just got shipped to different countries like India and are jumped dumped on mountains. That really upsets me, only if people really knew what bottled water is doing to our world. Something so small as bottled water can really damage our world. I know this made an impact on my decision about drinking bottled water!
ReplyDeleteWe talked about the plastic water bottle problem in my health class in high school so I already knew a lot about it and I have been trying to cut back on buying bottled water for years. I personally don't mind drinking tap water at all, the only inconvenience is having to carry a water bottle around with you all the time wherever you go in case you get thirsty. So if I ever do buy a bottled water, I keep it and reuse it over and over until I basically wear it out. When I do throw them away, I recycle them. It bugged me that the video said a lot of the recycled bottles don't actually get recycled, because there's nothing we can do to directly change that. I knew that plastic water bottles are one of the worst pollutants in the world because they're so numerous and take thousands of years to degrade, so I thought that if everyone started recycling it would help, but apparently it wouldn't even help that much. This video just confirmed my beliefs that bottled water is bad for the planet and that there's nothing wrong with drinking tap water. I enjoyed the video too, I thought it was put together in an entertaining yet meaningful way.
ReplyDeleteWOW. The amount and locations that these used bottles of water end up was shocking to me. I'm sitting in my dorm room desk looking at my roommate's and I's pile of recycling that contains a large amount of used water bottles. This trend that I and the rest of America has fallen into is not good for the health of our planet. Sometimes I can tell a difference in bottled water and tap water but it is definitely worth the sacrifice if it means helping our planet. I had no idea the lengths companies went through to dispose of their used bottles. This video definitely made an impact on my future decisions when choosing bottled water over tap. If it is just me making a change at least it is something to help the cause to reduce this detrimental statistic. Even if I prefer the taste of the bottled water, the cleanliness of our earth is far more important to me.
ReplyDeleteThis raises a lot of interesting points. Personally I am a refillable SIGG water bottle user. I choose this route not because of the issues this video talks about (of which i was completely ignorant of until now) but simply because I think water tastes better out of a metal bottle. I am a supporter of tap water because I am all too aware of the processed, filtered, and inferior taste of bottled water. If you are buying water because it is a healthy alternative to what you would normally purchase I say go for it, but trust me, wow it tastes good from those SIGG bottles. Honestly, when it is this simple to cut out such a wasteful unnecessary product like bottled water, we have no excuse to continue to feed the waste that we dump off on others.
ReplyDeleteI think it is crazy that we export our waste to a different country! Its like we should clean our mess up first, instead we are putting our waste in another country, just so we don't have to deal with it here. I cant believe that i bought into what the water companies where telling me. I thought that drinking my tap water was so bad! I really didn't know that the commercials for water was subliminally making want their product, which is the same as tap water!!! Wow crazy. To think for all these years i thought bottle water came from a nice little mountain stream, i'm sad to be woken up from that fantasy. Other ways i'm happy i was woken up because now i am saving money instead of buying water, who knew i could just drink it out of my tap and it would be just roughly about the same quality. I think that every one should make an effort to not buy water bottles, and instead get bottles you can fill up over and over again with TAP water!
ReplyDeleteI have seen that movie several times before but each time it is still kind of eye opening. Luckily I have lived in Duluth my whole life where the tap water is excellent and I've never had a problem drinking tap water. The only time I use bottled water is when I go to the gym or something, but even then I mainly use refillable water bottles because, bottled water costs money, and it's not worth it. Period.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a simple yet powerful short film. I really enjoyed the animation when dealing with a topic as such...it makes you feel less like you're being lectured at. Though it may take that to convict some of their ways and evoke change in them.
ReplyDeleteI personally don't drink as much water as I probably should, however when I do I use a Camelback reusable bottle, or simply grab a sip from a fountain as I pass by. I really like the fountains here at school with the sensor to fill the bottle..that is really neat!
At home we generally drink from the tap...however after moving from the country into town we realized how spoiled we were with the tap water we had in the country. As a matter of fact when we brought it in to be tested, they requested we bring in another sample...they told us the results were simply to good to be true! We brought in the second sample and left them baffled...I guess our water was just that GREAT! At home in town we do use 2 refillable Culligan gallon water jugs to have on hand for when coffee is made (not very often...when visitors come and on the weekends as my dad is the only one who drinks it.) But the Kuerig Coffee maker specifically calls for bottled or distilled water for the safety and protection of the machine and mechanisms within. Other than that bottled water is not seen too frequently in our home.
Prior to the film I had been aware of much of the controversy behind bottled water, however what stood out the most was the recycling aspect. Here for those who purposely recycle for the health of ourselves and our planet, our efforts are a waste...I had no idea that our empty RECYCLED bottles are often shipped to another country to sit in their landfills....THAT IS SO WRONG!. It truly frustrates me. Pretty sad that income is created for companies to ship our trash to another country, how selfish!