Educate Yourself

Reading Toxic Bodies fueled my paranoia of toxins! Ahh! But it also provided constructive advice on how to reduce toxin exposure in our lives.

From Nancy Langston's list of ways to reduce toxins she recommends "before choosing to take supplemental hormones, whether for menopause or for contraception, educate yourself about the potential benefits and risks. No one can make that decision for you; each woman is different, and for many women, the decision to take supplemental hormones may be the best option. For other women, other alternatives may be better."

This brought to mind those Nexium commercials where they present a medical doctor struggling with a jackhammer, or doing horribly at violin; then show a construction worker, or violinist struggling to self medicate for their heartburn. Their message is "You wouldn't want your doctor doing your job, so why are you doing hers?"
Does this message conflict with the importance of educating ourselves and being responsible for our own personal health? Are we competent enough to know if we should buy antacids or seek professional help? 

There are most definitely things that experts can help us with especially trained medical experts when it comes to medications! Self medicating can go life-threateningly wrong. BUT I don't think our personal health should be solely "left up to professionals." My view is that patients are basically responsible for their own wellbeing. We can educate ourselves, and with the help of experts, make smart health choices. BUT as Nancy points out, "As individuals, we have many choices to make that allow us to reduce our own personal exposure. For women and men of reproductive age, these choices are particularly critical. Yet it's always important to remember that personal choices alone won't protect us: political action is a necessity." 

We are not in complete control of everything we are exposed to. Nancy recommends some action steps that reach beyond our personal policies into government. Voicing concerns to political leaders is a biggie. Here are some sample questions she linked on her site. (these ones are directed at candidates and elected officials regarding children and toxins)  
Questions

What Nancy brought to my mind is basically that we need to take responsibility for our personal health, which includes our relationship to the environment and ecosystem in which we live. (Holistic medicine anyone?) And also that we should stive to be educated and work to reduce exposure to toxins through individual and political action. 

Border Security Honor System & Boating to Canada

I thought (hoped) border security was more straight forward than it is in reality. But, given the countless reasons and conditions for crossing boarders should I be surprised the honor system is employed in some cases?

Border Checkpoint Relies on Honor System? - Can you imagine this on the Southern border?

Boating Across the Border

Science Knows...

I really enjoyed Mel Visser's presentation. Some of the points that stood out to me were the distorted graphs,  his experience at "both ends of the spectrum", how he was taught wrong science (believed to be correct at the time) and the "do it right, do it here" mantra.
All very interesting and thought provoking.

As a budding Information Designer/ Technical Writer I appreciated how Mel was able to communicate from a science and environmental background to a broder audience with his book. Also with a future in technical communication near approaching I was especially drawn to the topics of wrong science promotion, and distorted graphs. One day I may be commissioned to create informational documents for a company or organization. My future might be writing instruction sets or promotional material for anti-malaria mosquito nets, working on grants for pollution clean up, or possibly designing website layouts for pesticide companies, or promotional pamphlets for the next agent orange.

But wherever I end up working, or any of us for that matter, we should take the bigger picture into consideration. Mel's book helps illustrate the big picture in a planetary context that is enlightening and persuasive. 

It can be hard to identify "wrong science" or "wrong facts". Hopefully my future doesn't include projects with the same after effects as this piece (below)

Of Native Concern

I am not considered Native American by popular definition, but I am native to America, more specifically native to the Keweenaw Peninsula of MI. I love the big lake and frequently eat the fish from it and the berries that grow around it. I never considered myself as part of the "at risk" population, especially at risk from pollution, double especially not from the Big Lake!  I was aware of the threat of  pollution to the Lake but was unaware of the current levels. 

Some of my favorite dinners have either been self-caught or purchased from Peterson's fish market! My favorite place to eat! (top on Quincy hill) It saddens me to think the Big Lake and it's inhabitants (including fish and people) are at at risk not only from local but global pollution as well (past and present). 

Less carefree than I once was when it comes to food toxicity, I now frequent this website, Seafood Watch. I find it's a great resource for safe fish consumption information.

For example:

LAKE TROUT

SEAFOOD	RATING	MARKET NAMES	WHERE CAUGHT	HOW CAUGHT
Lake Trout		Char, Laker, Mackinaw, Namaycush, Salmon Trout, Togue	Lake Superior, Lake Huron	Wild-caught
Lake Trout		Char, Laker, Mackinaw, Namaycush, Salmon Trout, Togue	Lake Michigan	Wild-caught
Rainbow Trout		Golden Trout, Steelhead, Steelhead Trout	U.S.	Farmed