Tweet, Tweet

 So I'll just be honest by saying that the idea of Twitter seemed rather pointless to me (and it kind of still does), but it does provide more information than I thought could be found. For the purpose of using Twitter vs. Google Alerts in regards to English class, Google Alerts seems to provide more useful information and more quality, educational links that relate to the topics I searched.

            After class discussion about picking our topics for future posts, I followed many people on Twitter who posted about factory farming and set up Google Alerts for posts related to factory farming. I came across the Twitter pages for "FarmSanctuary" and "Compassion". They both work, in some way, to "protect farm animals from cruelty, inspire change in the way society views & treats farm animals, and promote compassionate vegan living". Google Alerts sent me to a Here and Now page displaying an article called "The FDA's Confusing Message on Antibiotic Use on Farms". This article discusses some confusing rules the FDA has implemented and explains what they have really been doing in terms of regulation. 

            I also began researching and adding pages and alerts regarding sustainability. The Environmental Protection Agency says that sustainability is "everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment". At many points in every human being's life, we directly depend on the environment for some aspect of life, whether it be food, clothing, etc. If we do not protect the environment, our needs could very well not be met. While sifting through Twitter posts relating to sustainability, I came across "Sustainable Brands", a page whose sole purpose is providing brands that have been known to support a sustainable lifestyle. Their website, Sustainable Brands, lists these companies, describes how one can obtain membership, and even shows the conferences that they offer to learn to better appreciate the environment. 

            Through Google Alerts, I was led to a video produced by GE that highlights what they are doing with researchers at the University of Illinois to become a more sustainable company. Their research on pig manure may be a breakthrough for other companies to learn what they can do to help. It almost makes me wonder whether they are doing this to protect their company's reputation and gain consumer support or if they actually care about what their company does to the environment. We may never know...