Blog #13

The trip taken to Corkscrew was definitely the best trip that we took all semester. The scenery made me feel like I was miles away from the florida that I know and don't really love. Walking through the cypress forest made me feel like I was somewhere up north, but definitely not in Southwest Florida. During the field trip, we saw many different ecosystems such as swamps, wetlands, and cypress forests. One of the cool "services" that aree provided by the sanctuary is the natural water purification system. When I learned about their method of cleaning water, I was shocked at how novel and eco-friendly it was compared to the other methods that I had learned about in the past. Conservation is the act of protecting the environment for the future, and stewardship is acting as a protector over something. In this example, being a steward would involve watching over the environment to make sure that it was being protected. The role of the non-profit in this area is huge. Since the government has so much else to worry about, protecting the environment falls to non-profits such as the Audubon society. I believe that a group of like-minded people can most definitely create change. This is truly how all change happens- a group of people being lobbying for a particular cause and then, as the movement grows, lawmakers are pressured into creating legislation that brings about the necessary change (think civil rights movement!). I believe that the motivation to protect the sanctuary is to keep the environment healthy. For example, since a great deal of florida's water runs through parks like this, one motivation is to make sure that our water supply remains healthy. I believe that the proper role of government is to fund organizations such as the Audubon society and charge them with the task of up keeping parks such as Corkscrew.

Blog #12

For my contribution to the (un)sustainable meal, I brought in watermelon. According to my research, watermelon is not one of the most sustainable foods. Even though it is a plant and can be organically grown, watermelon requires a TON of input. First of all, it needs a great deal of water and sunshine. Having to constantly water a plant makes it less sustainable because it needs a lot of attention. It also is a plant that needs alot of space to grown and often will kill other plants, which would make it a bad candidate for farms with many types of plants grown together. In terms of food miles, the watermelon I purchased from Publix was grown in Mexico, which means it had a very long trip from the patch to our sustainable dinner. The carbon footprint required just to transport this melon makes it very unsustainable. In addition, for all the work needed to grown them, watermelon are very nutrient poor.
 When comparing it to the classroom definition of sustainability, I would say that overall, watermelon is not a very sustainable product. The best way in my opinion to evaluate two products for their "eco-friendliness" is to determine what inputs they need, their food miles traveled, whether or not they are fairly grown and traded, and their nutrient level.

Blog #11

Overall, my opinion of the estero island field trip was positive. While I was honestly bored while we were in the cottage and listening to the woman speak about the history of Matanzas pass, it was a nice walk once we started going. Apart from all of the killer mosquitos, it was generally a great walk. As usual, it was fun to be able to taste the different plants that were around due to Dr. Durham's extensive knowledge of local vegetation. The sights that stoof out the most was the beautiful bay area at the end of the walk. I took a bunch of pictures of the beautiful water. I also enjoyed the taste of the salty leaves that we tried on the walk.
I know that personally, my childhood hometown of north fort myers has changed drastically. Just in the last 10 years, there have been many developments created on woodlands that I used to explore as a child. I personally do not feel as much of a sense of "community" as I once did in North Fort Myers just because in my old neighborhood, most of the families have moved out and been replaced with older couples who are not involved with others around them. The sense of community is definitely the thing I miss most about my childhood. As far as the selling of my childhood homes goes, I unfortunately would most likely sell my home for 300% of it's market value just because I could definitely use the money. If the county approached me and wanted to buy my home for only 80% of it's value for the 20/20 program, I would probably say no because I wouldn't want to lose money on the land.

Blog #10

Sustainable consumerism to me is being able to have a competitive marketplace like we already have in place, but making sure that we are able to keep it ecologically friendly and making sure that it can be sustained for not only this generation, but for future generations. I personally believe that globalization and capitalism are at odds against all forms of sustainability. It doesn't take a PhD to see that big business is a big part of the environmental problems we find ourselves in today. Greenwashing is a term used by big business to promote a product as "green", even if it really is not a green product. This is terrible in my opinion and totally undermines consumer confidence in a company. Despite this fact, many companies still use this today. As I said in a previous blog, I am willing to pay a little more for organic foods, however I'm not so willing to pay extra for "fair trade" because I highly doubt that they are any "fairer" than normal trade items. In all honesty, I probably would prefer  big chain stores to mom and pop places just because they are often cheaper and more accessible than smaller places. My time is valuable and if I can go to a stop that is a "one stop shop", I'd rather do that. I guess the greatest example of a social trap that I succumb to often is that of visiting walmart. I personally hate the store and know that it is terrible, both in a social justice and ecological sense, but I go often because they are cheap and nearby.

BLOG #9

My overall opinion of ECHO was very positive. I enjoyed my time there a great deal. I think my favorite part was following Dr. Durham around and enjoying tasting the different plants that were being grown. It was interesting to learn from the guide as well about ways in which we can become more sustainable in growing our food. One thing in particular that stood out was the terracing that was used and how it allowed for less land to be used with a greater number of plants being grown. Another thing that stood out that was interesting but slightly gross was that urine could be and was being used on the farm as water for the plants. Being a healthcare major, I knew that urine was nitrogen rich but never imagined using it to water and fertilize plants. While it sounds a little gross and barbaric, it makes sense. I believe that this style of farming is not realistic when compared to the "American" view of farming. While this is sustainable, it is not feasible on a large scale, which is what is needed in America. I believe this type of farm could be used well in developing countries to feed small towns and villages and is much more practical for this use. I would personally love to do service learning hours at ECHO and learn more about ways in which they are helping to promote sustainable farming.

Blog #8

Coming soooo!

Blog #7

I believe that the major elements of sustainable farming are the ability to grow the food needed today without compromising the ability of the future generations the food that they need. This can be done by measures such as crop rotation so that the ground is not depleted of all it's nutrients. I personally do but organic foods because they are not much more expensive than non-organic (usually anyways) and I believe that they are overall much healthier for me and my friends and family because they lack some of the nastier pesticides. I will admit that I do feel rather disconnected from my food sources. Apart from the few items I buy that tell me where my food is coming from, I am pretty oblivious. I know that this is terrible because it is important to know where your food is coming from so you can make sure that it is safely handled and prepared, however I do not have the time to personally check all of that and rely on the government (which is bad) to do all the checking for me. The third frontier spoken of in earlier readings definitely plays a role in this. For example, the movement towards living in cities has definitely played a role in the fact that no one knows where their food comes from. If there was space on campus, I would be interested in growing my own veggies and fruits. I do enjoy gardening on occasion and it would be nice to know where my food was coming from!

Blog #6

When I hear the word "downtown", I immediately imagine a bustling cityscape full of people, restaurants, shops, and other urban settings. I imagine the loud roaring of buses, the beeping of car horns as people nearly wreck their cars driving like lunatics. I also imagine a place absolutely devoid of any kind of nature. From my relatively small amount of time spent in "downtown" settings, I would put it at the opposite end of the spectrum from nature. I believe that downtown fort myers is experiencing a sort of "renaissance" because more money is being pumped into it for renovation and advertising. I'm ashamed to admit it, but until about a year ago, I had never even been to the downtown area of fort myers, despite having lived here my entire life. Before the art walks and music festivals began, I had no reason to travel downtown. The only thing I knew that was in downtown was the prison. The most prominent architectural feature I've seen in downtown is the courthouse. It is styled with roman-style pillars and decorations. I believe all these design features are meant to rekindle the pedestrian spirit, meaning they want people to walk up to the buildings and enjoy them for their features. They are meant to be enjoyed up close, not at a distance while driving in a car. The economy of fort myers has definitely changed just in the last 20 years I've been alive and here. First of all, the thriving construction businesses have all but gone under. Also, small businesses have all but been replaced with larger businesses. This is not good from a sustainability standpoint because larger companies have terrible track records when it comes to sustainability.

Blod #5

Doing the ecofootprint assignment was eye opening. According to the website, there would need to be 4.4 earths to support everyone living like me. While the average is 4.6 (just a tad higher than mine), I still feel like this number is a little too high. After all, I do my best to make sure that I am as green as I can be. I recycle everything that can be recycled, I drive as little as is possible (which can be hard since I commute to work and school everyday, both of which are in opposite directions from each other.) One reasonable behavior that i could modify would be to take public transportation one or more day a week. Not only would this significantly decrease my monthly gas bill (definitely a plus!!), it would also help reduce my footprint. Also, I do eat a great deal of beef and chicken, so I could easily reduce the amount of meat I eat to help reduce the overall land needed to raise the food. I couldn't find where the maximum population that earth could support was on the quiz, but i'm willing to be it is far less than what the earth currently holds. Thank god not everyone lives like me (especially people in the developing counties where there are a ton of people, like china and india!)

Blog #4

As of recent, I definitely do not think that energy is too cheap-- in fact, it's destroying my budget. While some forms of energy (electricity) may be cheaper than others (or maybe I'm just more used to their prices), some like oil are way too high and are draining my budget. I do not think that conservation is a "dirty" word- maybe just misunderstood. When a lot of people think of conservation, they think of a bunch of hippies yelling about saving the rainforest, which can sometimes be true, but it is much more than that. It is making sure that this generation gets what it needs from the environment without compromising the next generation. Without conservation efforts, we would be in serious trouble and the earth would already be destroyed. When it comes to fossil fuels, I am definitely a proponent of government intervention. I agree that something needs to be done ASAP to help break our dependence on foreign fuels. The government should focus research money on finding additional fuel sources. I believe that one of the most promising sources of fuel in the future is hydrogen. I have done some research on hydrogen and found that it is one of the safest, cheapest, and most clean burning fuel possibilities and would love to see more research done on it. I can take steps to reduce my energy footprint today such as driving less (making less of a carbon footprint with my car) and in the future by just consuming less.

Environmental Issues

I believe that the most pressing environmental issue is easy worldwide pollution of both water and air. Since both clean water and fresh air are necessary for life, protecting these resources should be of the utmost importance. I am especially concerned with pollution of freshwater since there is such a limited supply of it on the planet, and since it can be very costly to filter water to make it potable.


If I was given 100 billion dollars to allocate for global environmental issues, I wouldn't put all of it towards just one effort such as the water and air cleanup I mentioned above. I would also invest in finding cleaner, more efficient, and renewable energy sources. Oil is a finite resource and I believe that if an alternative source isn't found before the oil runs out, political turmoil is likely to be created. I would also allocate money to save the planet from deforestation and also donate money to skeptics of the "global warming" theory to do research to see if it actually holds any weight or if Al Gore was just trying to get his "15 minutes of fame."

Louv writings...

I am happy to say that I have actually enjoyed the assigned Louv readings. While the first one wasn't so interesting, I have to say that I really enjoyed "The Third Frontier." It is upsetting, how far we have removed ourselves as a society from our roots in nature. Accoridng to Louv, the third frontier is a "not fully formed or explored frontier" with 5 characteristics: a severance of knowledge about food sources, a rapidly disappearing line between animal/humans and machines, an increasingly intellectual understanding of our relationship with animals, the invasion of cities by wild animals, and the rise of a new kind of suburban form. After reading "Nature-Deficit Disorder", I was surpised that Louv took the time to write something that to me was so blatantly obvious. I know first hand that when I am stressed or feel overloaded with work, I escape to the beach or some other form of nature to calm down and regain focus on the task at hand. I feel that even though our quality of life has improved exponentially, it will NEVER trump our need for nature. Nature is part of the human experience; we can attempt to escape it through cities and towns, but I believe that we always will feel drawn to some form of nature because it is our "roots". As I said above, I feel myself succumbing to this disorder occasionally, but it's then that I escape to nature to "recharge." In order to remedy this problem, one needs only to go into nature and enjoy! Even if you don't consider yourself an "outdoorsman", you're sure to find SOMETHING in nature to soothe the nature-deprived soul :)

Week 1!

So this is my first blog post for University colloquium. To be honest, I don't really know what to expect from this class. I have heard from some friends that it is a very interesting and "eye-opening" class, whereas others have said that it is dreadfully long, boring, and totally pointless. I guess I expect to learn more about sustainability (something I do care about) and I expect to get my 3 credit hours and 10 of my 80 required service learning hours. I know that I do have some unsustainable behaviors such as using a lot of paper and plastic products (plates, paper towels, plastic utensils) just because they're easier to clean up after than using a cloth towel, ceremic plates, or normal metal utensils. Since my major is Community Health, it's pretty apparent how sustainability is related to my field of study. In order for a community to be healthy, the environment in which they live needs to be healthy. If a community produces a massive amount of waste and runs out of places to put it, the health of the community will soon begin to decline. Even though they might not like to hear it, the health a community is most definitely tied to their environment and without a clean environment, good health is not possible.