Share & Voice: The Daily Green

 Turn down that thermostat!

The Daily Green is a really cool blog that I came across and wanted use for this Share and Voice. I spent awhile looking over this blog and it really contains some great information on the environment as well as up to date articles on what's going on in our world. I found this article on BPA and how by March of 2012, the FDA will decide whether or not BPA will continue to be allowed to be used in plastics and certain types of cans. I know this is an issue that all of us, as health educators, are concerned about. I certainly hope that the FDA bans the use of BPA, as it is a toxic chemical that can be leached into the body through use of a water bottle, for example. This is something that I have become more and more concerned about throughout this semester, so I certainly hope that the FDA makes the right decision to ban the use of BPA. There is also a section of this blog that focuses on tips and advice.  Simple things like turning off your computer when you aren't using it and turning down the thermostat can really help make a difference. Check out this blog for more great advice and articles on being environmentally friendly!

Share & Voice: Mother Nature Network

For this Share and Voice, I decided to find a cool website that has information about the environment, going green, etc. I asked my roomate what she thought, since I knew she is always finding great ways to learn online. She suggested mother nature network...seriously, such a cool site! I could have spend hours on here. One of the links I came across was one of the top ten stories of the day. It's called Houseplants That Clean The Air.

Peace Lily

What a neat concept! The article talks about how while houseplants provide beauty and add to the quality of a room, they can also provide a very practical purpose. I never had heard that houseplants can help make the air in a house better and more clean by removing pollutants. Pretty cool huh? This website provides a TON of great information...I highly suggest checking it out. Enjoy!

Share & Voice: 6 Ways to Reuse Plastic Bottles

As I was searching a website about plastic water bottles, I came across this awesome article on ways to reuse them. In this article there are six unique ways to reuse your plastic water bottles, so it doesn't wind up in a landfill somewhere. These are certainly ideas I never would have thought of! My favorite is the geometric lamp shade, which is featured above. Seriously, what a cool idea. They also had some other great ideas like making a coin purse out of a water bottle and a plastic vase. I really liked this article for the great ideas it had and also for the fact that they linked to wherever the information was coming from. This led me to the site greenupgrader.com. It's really cool and is all about finding creative ways to be green. Check it out!

Share & Voice: Trip to Utah

Hi all! I decided to my post this week on a trip that I took to Utah this summer. My sister and her husband live there and I went out to visit when my niece was born. I had the opportunity to do some hiking, which was awesome and so gorgeous. We hiked to a waterfall that was incredible! I was also able to witness an amazing thunder storm. I thought that these pictures would tie in nicely with my blog and also help illustrate how beautiful water is in nature.

The above pictures I took when we were on our hike. It was so cool to see such a huge waterfall. You could get so close to it that the water would spray on your face.

The last two pictures here I took in the backyard of my sister's house. There was a huge storm rolling in and I was able to capture some of the clouds. It was awesome how fast it came in and was so cool to see it over the mountains.

Hope you all enjoyed my pictures!

Welcome to Ruthanne's Raindrops!

The above photo was taken by myself when I was in Utah this summer. There was a huge storm rolling in over the mountains...it was pretty awesome!


Well, I'm Ruthanne and I am senior this year! I named my blog Ruthanne's Raindrops in the beginning since I just liked the way it sounded :) After thinking about it though, it really fits me and where I'm at in my life. Since I am a senior I will be starting so many new things this year. I like the idea that rain and water is seen as sort of a cleansing, new, fresh beginning, kinda like how graduating will be. Also, for my Lifestyle Change project I will be using only glass water bottles instead of plastic...which may be a challenge since I do like my plastic water bottles! Along with that, water is such a HUGE part of our planet. It's so important to nearly everything in our environment. It all seems to tie into together for me and I am excited to start blogging!

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

1. Advocacy Project
2. Eye Openers
3. Reflections
4. Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change
5. Share and 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 web group are:

1. niki@tropicalenvironmentswithnikij
2. john@totheboundarywaterswithjohn
3. hannah@hannahsecosafari 
4. amyandkristen@enviro-surfingwithamyandkristen

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

I hope you enjoy my blog and I look forward to learning more about the environment this semester!