Entry # 10: Final Goodbye to Colloquium

I really can't believe this semester is almost over.  I know I say this every semester, but now more than ever before, the time has just disappeared.  I learned so many important things in this class that it would be near impossible for me to list them all, but what really made a huge connection to me is the link between sustainability and the need of implementing this in our health care system.  After reading about the need for Reinvention of Health care in the text, writing a paper on it, and giving a presentation on the topic, I have learned a great deal about the status of the health care system in the United States as well as in other parts of the world.  I have learned also about what changes need to be implemented in order to prevent the occurrence of disease rather than just the treatment.  I was glad to be able to learn about this as I plan to have a career in the health field one day and the connection between sustainability and health care was made very clear in the ways that the health care system needs to be greened.
       The one thing that I really loved about this class was the first-hand experiences I received that I probably never would have had if I hadn't taken it.  I loved all of the field trips we took to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, ECHO, and downtown Fort. Myers, as well as the walks around campus.  It was wonderful to be able to see all of these places.  I hadn't been on an actual class field trip since probably middle school and it was a wonderful experience to learn new knowledge in an exciting new place along with my classmates.  However, in all honesty, I really found the quizzes to be one of the more difficult aspects in this class as it was difficult to remember specific knowledge about the stories I had read, especially when they were each only a couple of questions. 
       I think the thing that affected me the most out of this class was the service learning.  If I wasn't required to do this, I would never have gone out to volunteer at the Randell Research Center and learn about the Calusa Indians there while cleaning up the center as well as meeting two other girls from FGCU while volunteering there.  I also would not have known about 350.org which has such an important message.  On 10/10/10, we planted 350 plants on campus and cleaned up litter, and afterwards, I went to the main website and saw how people from all over the world were participating in events as well on the same day.  It made me feel like I had been a small part of a global movement, something that was much bigger than myself.  If not for colloquium, I would not have experienced all of the things I have listed in this post, and these are the experiences that I will remember for the rest of my life.  I'm so glad that my colloquium class brought information about sustainability into the classroom and into my life as well.

Entry #9: Field Trip to Downtown Ft. Myers

       For our third field trip, my class took a trip to Downtown Fort. Myers.  It was very exciting to be learning the history of Ft. Myers and to see pictures of areas we were currently in from many years beforehand.  I loved walking up and down the city streets, and viewing the water in the Calusahatchee was the perfect ending to the day, even though it had started out a little wet when we started the trip.  The place in the city that made me feel most comfortable and energized was by the water.  It was very beautiful to see the buildings highlighted by the setting sun as well as the looking out into the distance over the river.  It is peaceful there, but also lively as there are many boats in the marina and people riding by on their bicycles next to the dock.  The urban landscape that we witnessed on this field trip was very exciting, and not calming at all.
          Everywhere you look, you see people moving and walking all the time, as though everyone has somewhere important to be.  It almost makes you feel as if you need to get going to places and doing different things as well.  The areas in the city that are without plants and greenery definitely feel much harsher than the areas with plants.  The green that stands out among the concrete buildings is comforting and soothing to the eye, and it adds a feeling of peace.  However, when walking around downtown, I noticed that there were not a lot of parks in the urban environment.  There was a very small park filled with palm trees that was quite lovely, but even though there may be more wildlife in this one area, overall I did not really see evidence of wildlife in the urban spaces.  I really feel a connection to the city as it has such an energizing feeling to it.  I do enjoy to be in open spaces, with only nature as far as the eye can see, but there is just a powerful and awe-inspiring feeling to city life and the hustle and bustle of it all.  It is as if it has its own persona and character.

       A large amount of city space is actually devoted to vehicles.  There are several parking garages where one can leave their vehicles, as well as lots and streets in which people will park along.  Garages cost the most to park as it is one dollar per hour to park there (with a limit of five dollars per day), and the cheapest is that in some area parking lots you can park for free, but only for a couple of hours.  The largest generator of parking need would be for the many people who commute and work in the area as there are many law offices, and large corporate buildings.  Certain businesses will arrange to share parking as there is a limited amount of space and it it easier to do this.  For example, a government building might use a certain parking lot for its employees during the week, and then on Sundays, that lot may be used by a nearby church for its members. 

       The most convenient mass transit in the area would likely be the bus system.  In all likelihood, I would probably not use it as it would take more time than it would to use a car. I would definitely use a mass transit system, however, if it were in a place where it would be advantageous to take mass transit over the use of a personal vehicle.  There are different shopping malls and strip developments that have appeared along the highways that bypass the city, and these take a lot of potential business away from the cities.  With more opportunities to go to mega-chain stores, people don't need to go into the city to buy what they need from local businesses.  Therefore, a lot of money that could be put into the city and local business is being used elsewhere, and this hurts the city's economic lifeblood.  Before mega-stores, most people in cities would go down to their local grocery store, but now that huge chains have opened up nearby, there is less money being spent in local businesses.  This is a problem that doesn't occur just in Fort Myers, but everywhere, as people are attracted to the discounted prices (even though this may mean discounted value as well) and ease of access to strip developments and chain stores.

       Overall, this field trip was a wonderful experience and I had a great time during it.  I hope that I will be able to go back downtown soon for any upcoming events that are occurring in the area.  It was interesting to have learned how downtown Ft. Myers has changed so much from long ago up until now, and yet some buildings look like they haven't changed at all.

All of the pictures in this blog post are from http://www.picturesfrom.com/fort-myers/

Some of the information that was included in this post was learned from http://www.cityftmyers.com/

Entry #8: Major Pollutors

     As a society, we are consumers.  We buy things, use them up until we don't want them anymore, and then eventually dispose of them.  The question is however, where does all the waste that we have produced go??  Well, it ends up being transported to landfills.  The worst part is that toxic materials have to be disposed of as well, whether they come from factories, or health care industries disposing of hazardous materials.  These materials end up going back into the world in which we live.  We are, in essence, creating harmful, toxic wastes in order to produce the consumable items we so desire, and then putting this waste back into the Earth, creating negative impacts to the environment, and to all of those people who live in the vicinity of the waste disposal area.  I don't believe there is a true solution to disposing of toxic materials so they do not harm the environment or impact the health of the people in the nearby area, but there are several things that could be helpful.  Firstly, incineration of materials can be quite dangerous.  Even though it alleviates the build up of garbage, it can have far worse consequences.  When items are incinerated, the smoke will enter the air, and many times this smoke contains harmful chemicals.  These chemicals are being introduced into the air in which we breathe, a horrible concept to even consider.  To stop the incineration of certain toxic wastes would be a good way to lessen their negative impact.
       We have to try as hard as possible to keep toxic wastes separated from other ordinary waste.  By quarantining it and placing it in areas that are not in close proximity to human beings, we can try to decrease its destructiveness.  No matter what though, the environment will still be impacted by this.  I also believe that people who live in poorer neighborhoods are most definitely subjected to noxious industries more than those in rich neighborhoods.  People pay money so they can live in gated communities, and don't have to see the horrible side to the world in which we live.  Their garbage is placed out on the street, picked up by a garbage truck, and is never seen again.  There are no factories down the street polluting the air with smokestacks; there are community parks instead.  Unfortunately, the horrible aspects still exist; they are just hidden from the sight of those who have enough income in order to afford a blindfold, and are instead relocated to areas where people who don't have enough money to leave are exposed to the noxious industries and wastes instead.
        According to the website, http://www.scorecard.org/ , the top five polluters that are in my zip code are Munters Corp. in Ft. Myers, Precision Econowind Inc. in North Ft. Myers, KCS Intl. Shamrock Div. in Cape Coral, Action Craft in Cape Coral, and Polymer Casting (DBA Corinthian Marble) in Fort Myers.  The top polluter is Munters Corp. and what is extremely shocking is that out of the top eight polluters, they are releasing more than twice the amount of waste of the other seven combined.  Munters Corp. is releasing 159,572 pounds of waste, while the second highest, Precision Econowind Inc. is releasing  22,202 pounds of waste.  Munters Corp. is releasing methanol, formaldehyde, phenol, toluene, and methyl ethyl ketone into the air.  From their main website, http://www.munters.com/en/Munters-Corporate-Home/About-Munters/ , it was determined that Munters specializes in the creation of optimized indoor climate solutions that are energy efficient.  It surprised me to look at the website and read about them producing products that are energy efficient, and know that they are the biggest polluter of the environment, (through releases of pollutants into the air) by far in the area I live in.

Entry # 7, ECHO field trip

       My colloquium class took a field trip on Tuesday to ECHO, which is located in North Fort Myers, Florida.  ECHO stands for Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization.  Their main goals are to find affordable agriculture for people in the rest of the world and to teach as well as facilitate small farmers.  The four major components that are involved with obtaining this goal include problem solving ( for example, moving plants that were grown in one area to another area), seeds (which they provide to the farmers), providing the education and training needed in order to teach these farmers how to grow their plants, and finally networking.  ECHO was set up in order to show the different problems that might be encountered by farmers in different climate zones.  Some of these areas included the hot humid lowlands, the tropical highlands, and semi-arid environments. 

      There were many interesting plants at ECHO that we learned about.  A tree called the Neem tree is used as an organic pest control and in earlier times, it had been used by people for dental health.  The Moringa tree, also known as the Miracle tree, is very nutritious.  It has a lot of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and protein in it.  Its powder can be added to the meals of malnourished children as it will help them to gain weight much more quickly and easily.  It can also be used to help small children who have diarrhea get better quicker and is highly useful for women who are breast feeding to take.

       While at ECHO, we also learned about the different methods about gathering water as well as purifying it.  Irrigation pumps are used to safely deliver the water to the crops efficiently and without the use of energy.  Drip irrigation is a technique that can be used in order to water crops and conserve water.  Water can also be collected off roofs, and then later given to crops, or purified.  It can be purified by using bio sand filters to remove the pathogens or by putting it into a clear two liter bottle in the sun for four to six hours so the UV rays will kill any pathogens in it.  The Moringa seed can also be added as it will rid the water of any impurities.

       In different environments, there are different challenges with growing plants.  In areas that are prevalent for flooding, raised beds can be used in order to protect the plant from the excessive water.  In areas such as Western Africa where there is a dry climate, sunken beds can be used in order to collect as much water as  possible, while also protecting the plants from the harsh winds that may come across the area.  In tropical highlands, slope agriculture land technology, (SALT), is used in order to grow crops while improving soil on the steep hillsides.

Ohh, a Pineaapple!

       After learning so much information during our visit to ECHO, I realized that there are many ways in which I can become a better consumer.  By growing food in my own yard as well as buying food that is produced locally, the many resources that would be used up in order to transport the food, including fossil fuels such as natural gas and oil, and water, would now have been conserved.  In my opinion, the activity at ECHO is very sustainable.  It is all about growing foods locally in order to prevent the waste of resources through transportation as well as providing local farmers with the knowledge and resources to use in order to grow crops and make a profit on them.  I think the main reason why this activity is so sustainable is due to the fact that it taught about different methods used to grow crops in different environments.They even gave information on how to use different materials in order to grow crops in an urban environment.  You can use a rug for the base of the garden and by adding water to one area of it, all of the plants will be nourished.

Rice Paddies!!!

       In my opinion, organic means to create something without processing it.  There are no extra additives or chemicals placed into it to change it into something it is not.  For example, I would not consider any type of food or drink that has food coloring in it to be organic as this has changed the appearance of the food, so that while it may be more appealing for the consumer to purchase, it no longer resembles its original form.  This is a meaning that of course is in regards to our consumption of food and some other products. If you were to look at it from other perspectives however, organic means compounds that have a basis of carbon atoms (organic chemistry), or having to do with living organisms.

       In summary, I found the trip to ECHO to be an incredible source of knowledge about the increasing technology for sustainable farming as well as a wonderfully serene and calm place filled with beautiful plants. It was a wonderful trip and really made me think about how simple methods such as drip irrigation and irrigation pumps are so important to maintain a sustainable environment in which we live.

I took all of the pictures that are shown in this post at ECHO in North Fort Myers, Florida

I learned all of the information that is mentioned in this post during my field trip to ECHO

Entry # 6, A Day of Consumption

This is a list I have created of everything I used in one day as well as everything I ate in that day.  This includes the packages that everything came in, (if applicable), as well as the calories of all of the food items.

                                                         

Food Item	Package	Calories
Bowl of Rice Krispies Cereal	Cardboard box	130
Half a cup of milk	Plastic milk jug	65
Jamba Juice Smoothie	Styrofoam cup	250
Dole Fruit cup	Plastic cup with cardboard wrapping	80
Mini pack Sour Patch Kids candy	Plastic bag	60
Michellini Chicken and Rice Frozen meal	Cardboard box	410
Several glasses of water	Water jug	0

Total calories for the day = 995 calories

List of everything I handled today and what it came in:

Items I Handled	Packages (If applicable)
Alarm clock
Clothes
Hangers
Food	various
Refrigerator	Box
Sneakers	Box
Toothbrush	Plastic package
Toothpaste	Plastic tube
Door handle
Purse (keys, Phone, Sunglasses)
Laundry Detergent	Plastic jug
Washing Machine
Dryer
Notebook	Plastic wrapping
Folder
Television and remote	Box
Scrunchie
Watch
Bed Sheets	Plastic wrapping
Mattress	Box
Pillow
Desk chair
Desk
Pen	Plastic package
Paper	Wrapped in plastic
Shower
soap	Plastic bottle
Faucet
Water
Dishes	Box
Dishwasher
Dish Detergent	Cardboard box
Dish soap	Plastic bottle
stove

That is a lot of stuff, and a lot of plastic used for its packaging. I was very surprised by how many times I had to type plastic onto this list.

Entry #5: Fossil Fuels

 While looking around on http://www.discovery.com/, I found a very interesting article entitled  “How Much Fossil Fuel is in the Earth?”  It was written on September 24^th, 2010 by a person named Cristen Conger.  I was interested in reading this article because just in my most recent University Colloquium class, the subject of using fossil fuels as our dominant source of energy and the fact that they are not going to last forever came up.  The title of the article poses a very interesting question, and one that I am sure many people are unsure about.  We hear that our supply of fossil fuels will run out by the year 2050 according to the rate humans are currently using them, and yet other forms of renewable energy aren’t implemented enough yet to take the place of fossil fuels.  It gets more confusing though. 

The article stated, “According to the 2010 International Energy Outlook, ‘as of Jan. 1, 2010, proved world oil reserves as reported by the Oil and Gas Journal, were estimated at 1,354 billion barrels-12 billion barrels (about 1 percent) higher than the estimate for 2009.’”(Conger)  This increased amount of proved world reserves would seem to conflict with the notion that our resources of fossil fuels such as natural gas and oil are being depleted.  The reason this does not happen to be the case is because proven reserves are what is being estimated. “those figures refer to reservoirs of oil, coal seams, and natural gas deposits that companies are sure they can make a profit from, if they could bring them up using current extraction techniques.” (Conger)  Because we are always advancing our technology, different methods for obtaining these natural resources that are buried below the Earth’s surface are constantly changing and developing.  If new technology is developed that can reach sources of fuel that were basically off limits prior to the new technology, the amount of fossil fuels available to us increases.  Those sources of fuel would then be put under the title of proved reserves.

  “The International Energy Outlook expects a nearly 50 percent jump in global energy demand by 2035.  During that same period, renewable energy is slated to increase to 14 percent from 10 percent of global supply.” (Conger)  When I look at these numbers, it is kind of scary.  The global demand of energy resources in rising at an astounding rate.  Also, while the amount of proven reserves may increase due to the increased technology, these fossil fuels are still disappearing and proven reserves can quickly decline, sometimes a lot more quickly then people had previously thought. 

  In summary, while the amount of proven reserves may increase due to an increase in possible methods to acquire such sources, it is still a finite resource and it will therefore one day disappear from the Earth.  Hopefully by that time, we will have put enough effort into developing mass use of alternate energy sources such as wind power, solar power, and hydro power that we will not be so reliant on fossil fuels to serve our energy needs.

The article that was summarized in this blog post can be found at

http://news.discovery.com/earth/how-much-fossil-fuel-is-in-the-earth.html

 Conger, Cristen. "How Much Fossil Fuel Is in the Earth? : Discovery News." Discovery News: Earth, Space, Tech, Animals, Dinosaurs, History. Web. 27 Sept. 2010. http://news.discovery.com/earth/how-much-fossil-fuel-is-in-the-earth.html.

Entry # 4, This New House

           I am kind of torn on how the layout of this blog should be as I want to give factual information about my home, but also want to give my opinion about its environment and resource use. So I believe I will start out with a summary of the homes facts and then reflect upon what it all means. I also have included a picture of myself in front of my home in this post.

  



Mango Tree in Backyard

I live in a home in Southwest Florida that is approximately eight years old.  It is constructed of mainly concrete using the concrete block system. It also contains wood, sheet rock, and fiberglass shingles on the roof. Those are the main components; there are also Formica counters, tile floors, etc. but I think the items I have  already listed account for most of the houses' materials.  I would say the house is somewhat energy efficient, but it could be much more so. We try not to leave lights on or water running so as not to waste energy and resources. We hardly ever use the heat (not really needed in Florida except for maybe a few particularly cold days) and the air conditioning never goes below 80 degrees. The house is 2150 square feet (under air) and we have four people and four pets living in the house (most of the time).  When I used to go to high school, the house was about five miles away and we road on the bus most every day.  College is now twenty eight miles away from my home, but I only use the car to commute back and forth every other weekend or so. 

           I think the yard is very nice as we have a lot of thick foliage, several fruit trees, and lots of flowering plants.  Of course to maintain the yard ( which is a quarter acre), we use powered equipment like the lawnmower and occasionally use chemicals in order to kill pests.  We also have a pool that we have to maintain by adding chlorine to it.  House hold chemicals are kept in the cabinet under the sink and in some bathroom cabinets; we use certain chemicals like Windex, Fantastic, and Pledge, in order to keep the house clean. While we have one dog and three cats in the home, we have a bunch of different creatures such as rabbits, lizards, frogs, birds, many different bugs, and also a black snake which live around the house. 

Brown Anole on screen cage

         Because of the fact that we live in an area that is more developed, I know that the animals and plants surrounding us don't fare well since many people will cut down trees and mow down bushes just due to the simple fact that they may not seem aesthetically pleasing and will kill animals that get in their home like a lizard or frog just because they are "gross".  It astounds me that people can give the excuse that since the animal is in their house, its okay to kill it since it shouldn't be inside. In my opinion, since that species has been where their house is now situated for many many years prior, they were sort of living there first.

  

Hi there!



       Our home fits well with the surroundings, since it is surrounded by similar homes.  But if it were magically dropped down in the middle of a densely forested area, it would stick out like a sore thumb with its tan stucco walls and glass double doors.  Even though my family isn't  especially wasteful with our consumption of natural resources, the idea that we rely on gas and oil so much for travel is horrifying to me and I would like to learn more about how alternate forms of energy like wind power are being used.  I think as a nation, one of the most important issues at hand is making more of an effort at employing these methods.

       In my opinion, our home is not a natural environment.  There is a lot of gray area  there I think since one could say all things are natural because even though they are man made, the resources used to make them at one point had to come from the natural world.  In my opinion however, the best way to think of something as natural is when it is made of materials at hand, and not manufactured in a distant place and then shipped to you.  I don't think most of the houses that people equate as their homes are natural. If you build a fort in the woods out of sticks and leaves, it is a natural environment. If you go camping with a waterproof tent and giant coolers, it is not a natural environment.  I believe that I am not really of nature because of the fact that I was born in a hospital with medical care.  It isn't a bad thing at all, but I feel that from that moment on, most people aren't of nature.  By receiving treatment that you wouldn't likely get with no modern supplies, one has a much better chance of survival, but the treatment and care you are receiving aren't of nature.