Share & Voice: Under Armour Green

I was looking at some stuff online, mostly christmas shopping for family members, and I came across this new line of clothing that Under Armour has launched.  This clothing line is recycled and have also developed a mission statement for this line, "Under Armour is committed to building performance gear with a lighter environmental impact."

Share & Voice: Superior McDonalds

Image Courtsy of Google Images

I was listening to the radio this morning and this topic came up in conversation.  Superior City Council member Greg Mertzig proposed this ban in accordance with a previous motion made in San Francisco regarding toys given out with fast food.  This motion would ban the Superior McDonalds to give away toys with any happy meal or kids meal containing over 600 calories and 10 percent or more of fat.  Although McDonalds is in no way healthy, I thought this was a unique effort to combat our obesity problem in the United States.  It is exceptionally appealing to me because it targets children, and with our steadily rising obesity rate among youth is considered by some to be our biggest problem area regarding those with weight issues.

Share & Voice: Venison Recipes

Image Courtesy of Google Images

Since both the Wisconsin and Minnesota gun deer hunting seasons have come to a close, I decided that it would be a good time to share a pretty neat website (Broken Arrow Ranch) I found containing a lot of ideas for healthy ways to prepare venison.  This website is not only limited to venison recipes however, it also contains numerous recipes for antelope, wild boar, and even exotic wild game.  I understand that we all may not hunt nor enjoy hunting, or even consume meat for that matter; but I am an avid outdoorsman and hunting is one of my passions so I figured I would share these interesting recipes with everyone.

Share & Voice: Green Uses for Vodka

Image from thedailygreen.com

I was poking around this Daily Green website to find some interesting recipes for green cleaning products and stumbled upon a heading that read "10 Weird Uses for Vodka" so I had to check it out.  I found it really interesting and useful, although very random, and it brought to my attention a few easier ways to live a greener lifestyle.

Here are the 10 Uses (in no particular order)

Treat Poison Ivy
Freshen Laundry
Shine Your Fixtures
Preserve Flowers
Repel Insects
Soothe Jellyfish Stings
Get Great Shiny Hair
Clean Away Mold
Make a Soothing Lavender Tincture
Ease a Toothache

Share & Voice: Obey Clothing

Image from Google Images

I was looking at the tags of some clothing I purchased the other day and I came across something really neat.  I have purchased Obey Clothing for quite a while and never realized that proceeds from the clothing go directly to the Obey Awareness program.  This program supports emerging issues and all profits generated from the item sold go directly to supporting these causes.  Some of the causes supported include: Surfrider, Haiti, Adopt-a-Pet, Hope Campaign, 180 degrees South, 11th Hour, and Rock the Vote.

Share & Voice: Sunchip Bags

Image courtesy of Google Images

ABC News Article
I am sure most of you have either consumed or at least seen the Eco-friendly biodegradable bags that Frito Lay designed for their product Sunchips.  Well, in recent news consumers of Sunchips are upset because the bags are too loud.  This effort to be Eco-friendly and create a bag that, even if littered, would break down over the course of a couple weeks into nothing has been shut down by our society who disliked it because it was "too loud."  If you ask me this does not seem like such an inconvenience that we need to discontinue producing a completely biodegradable product because it makes a little noise.

Share & Voice: Wellness Walk

This past summer I was given the opportunity to complete a portion of my internship at the YMCA in Eau Claire, WI.  Through this opportunity I developed their employee wellness program and worked along side the Health & Wellness Director at the YMCA along with may other individuals from community organizations.

This flyer, sent to all area businesses, advertises a campaign that our staff at the YMCA along with the Public Affairs Director for to Eau Clair Area Chamber of Commerce to promote walking during lunch break for employees along the route.  This event was staged as a promotion to kick off a total program that the chamber is going to implement starting late next spring.

Share & Voice: Duluth Community Garden

Image Courtesy of Google Images

Today in class we briefly discussed community gardens, in regards to the movie Fresh we watched in class.  Community gardens are developed to promote healthy communities and provide food security for many low income persons. as well as strengthen community bonds, provide food, and create recreational and therapeutic opportunities for a community. In addition, they can also promote environmental awareness and provide community education. 

LOCATIONS OF DULUTH COMMUNITY GARDENS

Apple Tree Circle
Bertha's
Chester Creek
Cook Home
Emerson
Hannah House
Hillside
Liliput
Riverside
Rooftop
Sixth Street
St. Scholastica
Stony Ground
Strawberry Hill

Share & Voice: Western Wisconsin in the Fall

Here a few photos I had taken last weekend on a trip home.  The first three are from Grandad's Bluff in LaCrosse, Wisconsin and the remainder of were taken on my grandparents farm in Pigeon Falls, Wisconsin.  I absolutely love being back home during fall and these pictures help me bridge that couple hundred mile gap just a little bit.  I hope you enjoy them!!

Share and Voice: Green Resort - One of Wisconsin's Most Environmentally Friendly Facilities

While doing my internship this past summer I attended the Western Wisconsin Worksite Wellness Conference at the Florian Gardens Convention Center in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.  While talking with some people at the conference, this topic came up in conversation because the resort just happened to be right next to where the conference was being held.  I thought it was extremely interesting and would like to share it with everyone else.

Green Friendly Resort

The Chaos Waterpark, which is attached to the Acton City amusement park, was awarded in 2009 as one of "Wisconsins Top 30 Projects" and the "Best of Aquatics" award from Aquatics International.  The water park uses approximately 10% of the average million and a half gallons to backwash its pool.  This water from the pool also circulates throughout the Metropolis Hotel to control the temperature of the hotels rooms.  The water in the pool also does not carry any sort of smell and the waterpark uses an air infused cleaning system which is still Wisconsin's only such system to date.  Overall the water park purifies 950 gallons of water per minute, seven times above the industry standard, which makes this Wisconsin cleanest water parka and reduces the amount of water wasted in the process.

Share & Voice: Minn. Town Gets Healthy Makeover, Adds Longevity, Together

Today during my Program Promotions class we were discussing social marketing and this community wide program in Albert Lea, MN came up in conversation.  Although it is about a year old, almost all of the class had no idea about it; most of this class containing students who are natives of MN.  I thought it was very interesting and motivating for an entire community to back something this positive and I wanted to share it with everyone.

Minn. Town Gets Healthy Makeover, Adds Longevity, Together
Summary:
At the beginning of 2009 the city of Albert Lea, MN embarked on a 10 month program that was established to improve the quality of life for the residents of its entire city.  This idea was hatched by a man named Dan Beuttner and backed by The AARP and The United Health Foundation, these two organizations raised and donated a majority of the funding that was required for this cause.  The city completed approximately 5 years worth of walking path and sidewalk building in about a year, encouraged restaurants to provide healthy alternatives and healthy food on their menus, and made wholesome foods more available to the cities 18,000 residents.  Following the completion of this experiment, individuals who completed a survey referred to as the "vitality compass" at both the beginning and the end of this process were said to have added approximately 3.1 years to their lives.

Welcome to Adam's Outdoor Connection

I am a 21 year old senior at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, and I was born and raised in a town of about 1,500 people in West Central Wisconsin (Whitehall). At a very young age I developed an extreme passion for the outdoors and everything that encompasses it. I grew up hunting and fishing all of my life, and I since coming to college I have really started to enjoy just being in nature in general and discovering all that it has to offer. My blog will be a broad view of my journey through the outdoors along with anyone that chooses to join me.

There are 6 possible types of posts on my blog. They include:

1. Advocacy Project
2. Eye Openers
3. Reflections
4. Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change
5. Reed 'n' Seed
6. Share & Voice

If you notice at the bottom of this post, the categories will be listed as labels. This post is has been labeled with all five kinds of posts. You will also see the number of each kind of post in my Labels Gadget at the top of the page. All post titles from now on will begin with one of the categories above.

The members of my group are:

1. http://samanthagreenwithenvi.blogspot.com/
2. http://treeifictimewithalyssa.blogspot.com/
3. http://eco-questwithemily.blogspot.com/
4. http://kristenscoralreef.blogspot.com/
5. http://throughgreeneyeswithkatie.blogspot.com/
6. http://gobluetoowithcarly.blogspot.com/

You can subscribe to my blog by clicking the subscribe gadget in the gadget column. You can also follow my blog by clicking "Follow this Blog" in the gadget column. I am subscribed to all the blogs in my blog list gadget. You can see my complete profile and all the blogs I am following by clicking on "See Complete Profile."

I would just like to end by saying how much I look forward to seeing what exciting information and experiences other people will share throughout this blog. I am excited to see the different activities and different endeavors that we are all either involved in or participate in within our everyday lives. Enjoy!!