Activity 6 Information Literacy: Putting it all together.

I am an escapist. As I read through Heather's multiple findings I must admit to entertaining the idea (more than once) to clap my hands over my ears and make noises to avoid "hearing" any more information on the health risks of my cell phone. I realize this kind of behavior can be dangerous, but I prefer living in a world with a silver lining. As I have recuperated from this information overdose, I realize that I can take this information and use it to my advantage. I can easily store my phone in a place away from my body and I can limit the time I spend using it.
In my findings on recycling and packaging I have made some decisions. However, I also ran into the problem of information overload. Within the overwhelming amounts of information I found; alternate ideas were expressed often. There is a landfill crisis, there isn't a landfill crisis. Recycling is expensive, benefits of recycling outweigh the cost. Each article was backed with information and statistics, so at first I was left feeling a little bewildered. In my continuing search for information about being a more informed consumer, I know that there are things I can do to make less of an impact on the environment. I think everyone agrees that garbage isn't pretty, it looks and smells bad. So whatever I can do to lesson the amount of garbage that my home produces, the better. I do support my local recycling program, however they do not accept glass, so I have been throwing my glass away. Glass takes, approximately, one million years to break down. I will now save my glass containers and take them to a receptacle. I have already purchased my own reusable bags ($1.99 at Kohl's and less if you a percentage off coupon, which my mom usually does). I am also looking into creating my own compost.
When Shopping, I will look for recyclable packaging, larger packages v. individual packages, bulk foods and organic foods.
Bibliography:
1. "Curbside Recycling - Earth911.com." Earth911.com - Find Recycling Centers and Learn How To Recycle. 30 Mar. 2009

2. McConnell, Rita. "What’s in Your Garbage? | Neutral Existence LLC." Stop Global Warming | Neutral Existence LLC. 19 Apr. 2009

3. "Recycling Facts - A Recycling Revolution." Ask.com Search Engine - Better Web Search. 30 Mar. 2009

4. "Shipping and packaging articles." Home Page: California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB). 19 Apr. 2009

5. "Tammy the Turkey's shoppers' check list." Tiki the Penguin's home page - for kids and for the planet. 19 Apr. 2009

Activity 5 Information Literacy: Renewed Search Strategies

As with the person searching for more information about wireless usage and health concerns. I found a lot more information, but in my search, the information I found through the library was much more intensive. Many of the terms were scientific,and not as easy to relate to or understand as the articles I found just searching the web.
I also got several hits for lesson plans rather than real life scenarios. As I continue to find and investigate the matter of curbside recycling, I have decided to change my focus a bit. I chose this scenario because I am interested in doing what I can to help the environment, however, the area where I live is already involved in a recycling program and I have recycled for a long time. The research that I have done so far, however, got me thinking about what I could do in addition to the environmental practices I am already involved with. So at this juncture I am going to focus on consumer environmentalism. I want to know what choices I can make to help reduce what I am already recycling or reusing.

One Last Thing

My first thought is, I hope it's not the last thing. I hope that even though I have completed "the list" I will continue to discover new things that are available online. I have been pleasantly surprised by this discovery tool. I cannot believe how many different things we were able to learn about. I really enjoyed flickr, wordle, great reads, and actually using a blog! The only thing that I came away feeling frustrated with is that there just isn't enough time in the day. I often found myself getting caught up in "playing" and not quite focusing in on the assignment. Unfortunately, many of these tools, in order to be widely used need to be "played" with in order to figure them out. I did find several dead links, but there were always alternative links to try.