Matanzas Pass

I was unable to attend the Matanzas Pass field trip due to being put on bed rest by the doctor. I loved visiting Fort Myers and Bonita beach as a teenager and now with my husband and children.

Matanzas Pass Preserve is located on the seven-mile long barrier island on Fort Myers Beach, FL. It is a 60 acre preserve. It's one of the few undeveloped, protected areas on the island. It allows visitors a way to view the real Estero Island before it became the popular beach resort we know it as now. There are three natural plant communities in the preserve which are the mangrove swamp, maritime hammock and coastal grassland. A boardwalk and trail system connects all of these plant communities. When you walk it, it offers an opportunity to view the communities. The Matanazas Pass Preserve also offers many educational opportunities including guided walks, tours led by an ethnobotanist, volunteer training, and stress detox tours. 

Corkscrew Reflection

Our trip to Corkscrew was fun and educational, although the field trips got harder and harder for me being now 7 and 1/2 months pregnant. It definitely got harder and harder to concentrate as well. Corkscrew has a bald cypress forest. pine flatwood, wet prairie, pond cypress, marsh,  and lettuce lakes. Just before we got to see a water moccasin. It was cool because it brought back many memories. When I lived in Jacksonville, FL with my mom and dad, we had a canal and acres of woods beyond our backyard. As kids we would run through the woods and wade in the canals with the black water moccasins - very  poisonous snakes. One time, a mother's eggs hatched in our yard and we had dozens of babies everywhere. My dad frantically tried to get them out of the yard. I remember the dramatics of the situation like it was yesterday. My favorite part of Corkscrew was lettuce lakes though. We saw a mother alligator with her babies. Then just past we saw an alligator eating fish or frogs. He was catching something and he was surrounded by beautiful white birds.

Sustainable Pot Luck

Sustainable Pot Luck

For the sustainable pot luck in class, I brought organic carrots, organic salad dressing, and ranch veggie dip. The carrots and salad dressing were organic and had sustainable ingredients. These items could have been more sustainable if they were purchased at a local producer. The ranch veggie dip had canola oil which has GMO's and the organic food can not contain GMO's. 

According to my True Food app on my iPhone, certified organic products are not allowed to use GMO's in their ingredients. Otherwise, you want to look for labels tat specifically state non-GMO. The True Food app has a GMO guide with various types of food you eat discussing what to watch out for.

I am continuing to use the suggestions I learn in Colloquium as well as my True Food app when I am purchasing food for my family. It even has suggestions on which infant formulas to avoid. I want my family and our soon-to-be new addition to have the most healthy, sustainable foods.

ECHO

My overall opinion of ECHO was positive. I feel like they are truly making a difference in a variety of ways. What stood out was the different tools they have designed to save money on cleaning water and cooking. I found several of the techniques very interesting. I enjoyed seeing the water pumps, especially the one that looked like a bike - exercise and pump water at the same time. Of course, my favorite part of ECHO was the cute mommy goat pregnant like me!

I would definitely be interested in volunteering for my service learning hours at ECHO. I do not know much about farming or planting. I am not very good at it but I would love to learn. I think it would be beneficial to pass skills such as this on to my children in helping them learn about sustainability.

You Can Always Go - Downtown!

DOWNTOWN

The song, "Downtown" by Petula Clark evokes emotions of downtown being a get-away. It tells us downtown can be a refuge to let go of all your worries. Downtown has become more populated and not as well-liked in people's minds. Some think it is too busy and others think the area is not safe in many big cities.

DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS

 Fort Myers is still considered experiencing something of a renaissance because the older downtown area and  historic districts have retained much of their old charm and architectural features. Fort Myers was one of the first forts built along the Caloosahatchee River as a base of operations against the Seminole Indians. During the 1870's, two general stores, a school and a number of private homes were built. Now it is over-poulated and over-crowded. A statue called "Uncommon Friend"s in Centennial Park depicts Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Harvey Firestone on a camping trip. They are in camping suits which we would consider 9 to 5 work dress today. The statues and fun buildings with unique articheture are designed to rekindle the pedestrian spirit. Downtown Fort Myers is sustainable in the buildings they have preserved from the past. They still have sustainable plants and other aspects downtown, for example, in the courtyard behind Hotel Indigo.

  

Eco-Footprint

According to my eco-footprint calculationns, I am not as eco-friendly as I should be. If everyone lived in a similar lifestyle as me, we would need 5.1 earths to provide enough resources. If I cut the amount of meat I eat in half, it would reduce my eco-footprint to 4.6. If I used products that used less packaging, it would reduce my eco-footprint to 4.7. I could also try to car pool more, drive less miles, and use energy in my house more efficiently. There are always ways we can be more ec-friendly.

Here is a link to Calculate your Eco-Footprint!

Climate Change - Anthropogenic or Natural?

     I feel like climate change is a little anthropogenic and a little natural. I took the information I will discuss according to a study scientists did at Stockholm University as well the IPCC, Fourth report. According to a study scientists performed at Stockholm University, changes in the sun's output and volcanic erruption on earth may be the partial cause of climate change. They used data from the ocean and lake bottoms, ince sheets, caves, and annual tree rings. 

 

      According to the IPCC, Fourth Report, human activity has increase the proportion of greenhouse gases. Carbon emissions seem to have increased with population increase.
     In the media, climate change is portrayed as a startling issue to the human race that will eliminate us if we do not make certain changes. Personally, I have never researched what I can do to help climate change until taking Colloquium at FGCU. I am not sure my children or grandchildren will see many effects of climate change as it seems to be a rather slow process. However, I do believe over the course of time, we will regret not paying more attention to helping the environment.

Most Pressing Environmental Issue

I am torn between poverty and natural disasters being the most pressing global environmental issue facing us today.

Disaster

Poverty

If I was given $100 billion to address a global problem, I would allocate the funds to several different issues. I would allocated 40% to eliminating poverty with programs providing food and clean water as well as education and job opportunities. It would take a great deal of research to ensure the people who truly want help and are willing to better themselves (make changes) are the ones helped. I would also allocate 40% to providing protection against natural disasters such as protection for homes and education on what to do in the event of a disaster. For example, it is important your home has hurricane shutters in a hurricane zone. I would also allocate 20% to research and medical care for incurable diseases such as HIV. I would like people who can not afford medicine and care for these types of diseases to be able to get the best care possible. Obviously, it is also important to research and try to find solid cures for diseases such as HIV as well.

Nature-Deficit and the Third Frontier

Louv's arguments in the readings, "Gifts of Nature", "The Third Frontier", and "Nature-Deficit Disorder and the Restorative Environment definitely seem plausible. Even from when I grew up, things have changed. I ensure my kids spend time outdoors everyday. Normally, they enjoy the time but there are days when my seven year old daughter argues she would rather play computer games or on her hand held Nintendo DSi. Even my three year old cannot contain himself from asking to play a game on my iPhone while we are outdoors. Even I have become subjected to this nature-deficit. I went from being seven years old playing in the woods behind my house, stomping through the creek in my backyard, and jumping in the neighborhood lake to forcing myself to take my own children outside everyday. I agree with Louv in that today my children and I don't even know our neighbors name much less have neighborhood kids knocking on my door asking them to play. There are too many dangers nowadays to allow children to explore on their own. When I was younger, we always had a group of three to ten neighbor kids running around together.

In this third frontier (as Louv states) that my children are growing up in, the schools put more emphasis on learning computers and math then their connection to nature and the outdoors. I like the example Louv uses in "Gifts of Nature" of the little boy stating computers are where the jobs are, not nature. Society tells us don't waste your time in nature if you want to be successful.


Unfortunately, it is hard not to succumb to the new ideas of technology and such. I am majoring in Computer Information Systems because as the young boy in Louv's reading said, that's where the money is. We can remedy the problem in simple ways like enjoy nature and the outdoors with your kids for at least an hour per day. On the weekends, encourage outdoor activities such as nature walks and the beach. Whenever I find myself absorbed in my school or work so much, the kids are not spending enough time outside, I take a step back and remind myself of what is really important. Teach your children the importance of nature and technology so they can continue to pass the knowledge to generations to come.

Colloquium Expectations and Sustainability in IT

I expect the Colloquium class to teach me what sustainability means to me and my family and how I can help. I don't know much about being "green" and I am excited to expand my knowledge on the subject matter. I believe my personal behavior before entering this class was unsustainable because I did not even know what sustainability was. Now I am beginning to realize that if everyone thought like me and did not care about sustainability and being "green", it could affect the future of my children and generations to come.

There are many ways sustainability can relate to my chosen field of study which is information technology. The most common way I have found is to ensure more sustainable computer use by implementingpower management and energy efficient habits. In reading an article about how Stanford intertwined IT with sustainability, I accumulated a variety and great ideas. Their mission is to create a healthier environment now and richer possibilities for generations to come. Saving desktop energy is one way to create sustainability when  using technology. One way is by using centrally-funded desktop power management software when you are powering a large amount of computers. Another idea is using outside air almost exclusively for cooling.

Read more at:  Sustainable Stanford