It was very hard to find an article that I found interesting enough to report about. I find environmental issues in the news most of the time to be very dry, lacking luster and one sided on the issue that they are trying to report on. Also most of the articles on environmental issues were hard to understand without a lot of background knowledge However I finally found something !
The Unite Nations meet recently to take smaller steps in addressing climate issues. Last year at the year's meeting in Copenhagen they began talking about how they were going to put a stop the carbon emission problems and deal with the fact that we are living in a warming world.
In the meeting the representatives from each country were coming together to discuss deforestation and coming up with agreement on financing and monitoring measures would preserve forests.
What I really enjoyed reading about was the steps they are taking for clean energy it made me think about the trips we took in to ECHO. They are trying to find ways to inform poor countries in ways to improve their lives .
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2010-11-23-cancun23_ST_N.htm
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Invasive species and Pythons Oh my !
At the beginning of my colloquium class I knew for a fact animals are not my favorite things to be around, I mean unless it is a cute little puppy please refrain from having it around me. The more I enjoy my colloquium class the more I realize things about myself. I am beginning to appreciate different things about the natural world. However there is still a lot for me to learn.
Recently in class we talked about invasive and exotic species of animals and plants. Until this point I just classified all animals that I saw in Florida as native to the state because there is an abundance of those animals. The Melaleuca is a pest, especially in the Everglades and surrounding areas, where the trees grow into immense forests, virtually eliminating all other vegetation, takes all of the nutrients from the soil and has an extensive root system that harms the other native plants. I was told while my class went on the nature trail that the people whom are working in getting rid of this invasive species cut the tree and drip some sort of dye on the plant to insure that it is dead. All invasive plants are usually brought over to the state from travelers on boats or people let pets free in the wild. I feel that something needs to be done to inform people about the damages that they are doing by letting animals free and planting exotic trees and flowers. If people are more informed the problem may cease to exist. Educating people can help the environment immensely.
In watching the PowerPoint about the Python, I was extremely frightened about the power that this animal can have. The larger the snake the more damage it can do and the more it fit in its mouth! It’s very scary to think that this animal can be in the yard of a Floridian and could possibly devour a full size adult.
Recently in class we talked about invasive and exotic species of animals and plants. Until this point I just classified all animals that I saw in Florida as native to the state because there is an abundance of those animals. The Melaleuca is a pest, especially in the Everglades and surrounding areas, where the trees grow into immense forests, virtually eliminating all other vegetation, takes all of the nutrients from the soil and has an extensive root system that harms the other native plants. I was told while my class went on the nature trail that the people whom are working in getting rid of this invasive species cut the tree and drip some sort of dye on the plant to insure that it is dead. All invasive plants are usually brought over to the state from travelers on boats or people let pets free in the wild. I feel that something needs to be done to inform people about the damages that they are doing by letting animals free and planting exotic trees and flowers. If people are more informed the problem may cease to exist. Educating people can help the environment immensely.
In watching the PowerPoint about the Python, I was extremely frightened about the power that this animal can have. The larger the snake the more damage it can do and the more it fit in its mouth! It’s very scary to think that this animal can be in the yard of a Floridian and could possibly devour a full size adult.
Journal 8 CorkScrew Swamp
Going to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary was a very intersesting and enlightening experience. It is always a pleasure to find out about things that happened in history in my local environment; I got a lot out of it. It made me envision the around the time period of ‘A Land Remembered’, and what the MacIvey family had to walk though to get the other side of the state of Florida.
Even before walking across the boardwalk I gained more of an understanding of the history about Southwest Florida area. Women’s fashion during that early time period led to the land being protected if you think about it, the amount of plume birds that were killed led to people taking interest in the area and led to the birds being protected.
I especially enjoyed my time when we entered the Cypress swamp and began to gaze at the huge Bald Cypress Trees. To think these trees have been there more than 500 hundred years and if all goes well and we continue to improve the way we treat the environment they shall be there for many years to come.
The Anhinga bird was the most amazing thing that I have ever seen in my life! It was sitting perched up in a tree and with its wings opened slight spanned. Out of nowhere it dive under the water to catch its lunch, it was the most beautiful thing in the world. It could have come out of a movie!
Another cool thing about the Corkscrew Swamp was as we were leaving I got to witness a mother Alligator and her twenty babies gators sun bathing. It was an experience I will never forget , that I will hopefully tell my children about.
Even before walking across the boardwalk I gained more of an understanding of the history about Southwest Florida area. Women’s fashion during that early time period led to the land being protected if you think about it, the amount of plume birds that were killed led to people taking interest in the area and led to the birds being protected.
I especially enjoyed my time when we entered the Cypress swamp and began to gaze at the huge Bald Cypress Trees. To think these trees have been there more than 500 hundred years and if all goes well and we continue to improve the way we treat the environment they shall be there for many years to come.
The Anhinga bird was the most amazing thing that I have ever seen in my life! It was sitting perched up in a tree and with its wings opened slight spanned. Out of nowhere it dive under the water to catch its lunch, it was the most beautiful thing in the world. It could have come out of a movie!
Another cool thing about the Corkscrew Swamp was as we were leaving I got to witness a mother Alligator and her twenty babies gators sun bathing. It was an experience I will never forget , that I will hopefully tell my children about.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Journal 7
You Learn Something New Every Day
Florida Gulf Coast University has been my home for three years now. I think I spend enough time on campus that there should be a bed labeled for me somewhere between the Student Union and Academic Building Three. There still seems to be so much I do not know about the campus and that deals with all the beautiful plants and animals that inhabit the campus.
Going to FGCU all these years I have always seen the different plants that are all around the campus but had never know that names. The most interesting thing that I think I learned on the walk was about how so many of these plants have extensive root systems that go deep below the surface, and I am sure there is a completely different world under there.
My favorite insect in the world is a butterfly, and I found in the Wild Coffee shrub is host the state butterfly the, Zebra Butterfly, the little berries on this plant also add great color to the wild life. Another plant the I found very interesting was the Coontie plant , this plant produce a toxic that would make people very ill , but the Seminole Indians found a way to neutralize it by boiling it and drying it and they used it to make bread. I think it would be good for us to use the land like the Indians once used and not produce so much waste.
I love the fact the FGCU is trying to be a more sustainable and eco-friendly campus. The rocks that are around the campus provide drainage for the wet times of the year and it just seems like it is there for decoration. The fact that we have to solar compactors on campus is great news as well, this means that the waste that we are producing is compact and it is almost impossible for the animals to get into. A lot of thought went into building such great campus and I hope they continue to build and grow with sustainability in mind.
Florida Gulf Coast University has been my home for three years now. I think I spend enough time on campus that there should be a bed labeled for me somewhere between the Student Union and Academic Building Three. There still seems to be so much I do not know about the campus and that deals with all the beautiful plants and animals that inhabit the campus.
Going to FGCU all these years I have always seen the different plants that are all around the campus but had never know that names. The most interesting thing that I think I learned on the walk was about how so many of these plants have extensive root systems that go deep below the surface, and I am sure there is a completely different world under there.
My favorite insect in the world is a butterfly, and I found in the Wild Coffee shrub is host the state butterfly the, Zebra Butterfly, the little berries on this plant also add great color to the wild life. Another plant the I found very interesting was the Coontie plant , this plant produce a toxic that would make people very ill , but the Seminole Indians found a way to neutralize it by boiling it and drying it and they used it to make bread. I think it would be good for us to use the land like the Indians once used and not produce so much waste.
I love the fact the FGCU is trying to be a more sustainable and eco-friendly campus. The rocks that are around the campus provide drainage for the wet times of the year and it just seems like it is there for decoration. The fact that we have to solar compactors on campus is great news as well, this means that the waste that we are producing is compact and it is almost impossible for the animals to get into. A lot of thought went into building such great campus and I hope they continue to build and grow with sustainability in mind.
Journal 6
My Wasteful Life :
Keeping a log of how many times I used electricity in the span of twenty-four hours, appeared very hard to me. But I gained a lot of insight on the amount of energy I used and some simple little things that I can do to reduce my usage.
The two largest things that I feel I used electricity for were my lights in my room and my laptop. My think I do I good job of turning off the lights in my house when I leave but I did realize that I do keep some lights on when I don’t need them to be on , for example the light in my closest was on for over an hour and it was not needed. When the people from the physical plant came to talk to us they told us that it just drains energy and electricity by just leaving the cell phone charger plugged in the wall so I tried to be aware and unplug it when it is not in use. I think my biggest use of energy came from me using my laptop, I never shut it down. Within the span of time that I was paying close attention to my electric use I realize that it was only unplugged from the wall when I was on campus, which happened to be about 5 hours in that whole day. I feel that the closer attention I pay on little things such as this I can extremely reduce the mark I am leaving on the planet. This can be done by just making it a habit of keeping everything unplugged from the wall until I am ready to use it.
From the Carbon Foot Print quiz that I took a few weeks ago I realized that my life is run by the amount goods that use and buy. This is even more evident when I jotted down everything that I used covered in packing. All my food that I ate was covered in some kind of package; most of it was covered in plastic, but a lot was in paper such as my box Mac and cheese before it was prepared. I have come to the conclusion that packaging makes up about 65 percent of the waste that I produce, I am sure that it like that around everywhere in Florida. I think they are ways to reduce such things, we as a society should focus on covering our food products in packaging that is biodegradable, and will break down quickly.
Keeping a log of how many times I used electricity in the span of twenty-four hours, appeared very hard to me. But I gained a lot of insight on the amount of energy I used and some simple little things that I can do to reduce my usage.
The two largest things that I feel I used electricity for were my lights in my room and my laptop. My think I do I good job of turning off the lights in my house when I leave but I did realize that I do keep some lights on when I don’t need them to be on , for example the light in my closest was on for over an hour and it was not needed. When the people from the physical plant came to talk to us they told us that it just drains energy and electricity by just leaving the cell phone charger plugged in the wall so I tried to be aware and unplug it when it is not in use. I think my biggest use of energy came from me using my laptop, I never shut it down. Within the span of time that I was paying close attention to my electric use I realize that it was only unplugged from the wall when I was on campus, which happened to be about 5 hours in that whole day. I feel that the closer attention I pay on little things such as this I can extremely reduce the mark I am leaving on the planet. This can be done by just making it a habit of keeping everything unplugged from the wall until I am ready to use it.
From the Carbon Foot Print quiz that I took a few weeks ago I realized that my life is run by the amount goods that use and buy. This is even more evident when I jotted down everything that I used covered in packing. All my food that I ate was covered in some kind of package; most of it was covered in plastic, but a lot was in paper such as my box Mac and cheese before it was prepared. I have come to the conclusion that packaging makes up about 65 percent of the waste that I produce, I am sure that it like that around everywhere in Florida. I think they are ways to reduce such things, we as a society should focus on covering our food products in packaging that is biodegradable, and will break down quickly.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Journal 5
The wonderful Trip to Downtown Fort Myers
The trip to Downtown Fort Myers was amazing. I have been in Fort Myers for almost three years and have never experienced such things. Waking up before nine in the morning is never my favorite thing to do but I can say waking up before seven in the morning on this day was well worth it. There were many aspects of the Downtown area and the Edison and Ford Estates that cultivated learning and made me take a glimpse into the past.
Until that day I had never seen the Edison and Ford Estates, to me the only thing I knew of them was that I passed the sign for the exit when travel north on the Interstate 75. The amount of history and culture that is there is immeasurable. The gorgeous plants took my breath away , as cheesy as that sounds , I could just picture Thomas Edison sitting on the long dock, as the sun set in while the flowers were in bloom and how lucky he was to have that view all to himself. I will be taking the trip down there again when I have the chance to be able to have a more in depth tour of the homes to really appreciate the nature over there especially the second largest Banyon Tree in Florida.
I never knew the Fort Myers was such a historical town, with so many places to go and experience. I learned of the Caloosa Indians that lived in this area, but were killed and moved out by the Spanish in the sixteenth century, which is horrible.
There are so many land marks and art pieces in Down Town and Centennial Park. There are two pieces of art that stuck out in my mind which are the fountain with Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone relaxing leisurely around a fire and the Mural right in front of the Hotel Indigo. The mural, which is actually a mosaic, struck me the most amazing because of all the different factors that are incorporated into it. To me the mosaic tells a story of the things that people wanted to forget about Fort Myers, but seems to be in their honor at the same time, the Buffalo soldiers, cattle and Indians will always be commemorated right in the heart of Fort Myers.
The trip to Downtown Fort Myers was amazing. I have been in Fort Myers for almost three years and have never experienced such things. Waking up before nine in the morning is never my favorite thing to do but I can say waking up before seven in the morning on this day was well worth it. There were many aspects of the Downtown area and the Edison and Ford Estates that cultivated learning and made me take a glimpse into the past.
Until that day I had never seen the Edison and Ford Estates, to me the only thing I knew of them was that I passed the sign for the exit when travel north on the Interstate 75. The amount of history and culture that is there is immeasurable. The gorgeous plants took my breath away , as cheesy as that sounds , I could just picture Thomas Edison sitting on the long dock, as the sun set in while the flowers were in bloom and how lucky he was to have that view all to himself. I will be taking the trip down there again when I have the chance to be able to have a more in depth tour of the homes to really appreciate the nature over there especially the second largest Banyon Tree in Florida.
I never knew the Fort Myers was such a historical town, with so many places to go and experience. I learned of the Caloosa Indians that lived in this area, but were killed and moved out by the Spanish in the sixteenth century, which is horrible.
There are so many land marks and art pieces in Down Town and Centennial Park. There are two pieces of art that stuck out in my mind which are the fountain with Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone relaxing leisurely around a fire and the Mural right in front of the Hotel Indigo. The mural, which is actually a mosaic, struck me the most amazing because of all the different factors that are incorporated into it. To me the mosaic tells a story of the things that people wanted to forget about Fort Myers, but seems to be in their honor at the same time, the Buffalo soldiers, cattle and Indians will always be commemorated right in the heart of Fort Myers.
Journal 4
Carbon Footprint
Each and every day I realize more and more that I may quite possibly live in the most wasteful country in the entire world. I don’t think it happened overnight but I believe that the waves of technology and how developed we are as a country have increased our wastefulness. Clearly steps have to be taken to change this.
When I took the carbon footprint quiz, it told me how many worlds it would take if everyone lived like me; I was told that it would take 4.6 Earths to sustain my living habits. From the averages it seemed that the more money people made the more earths they needed , except in my case. The issues were not with my housing, amount of electricity I use or the amount of waste I produce, which was on the fairly on the low side. The biggest contribution from me is the type of transportation I use, the food I eat and my shopping habits.
After taking this quiz I tried to think of ways for me to live a more sustainable life when it came to my transportation habits, it was hard coming up with ideas other then carpooling with my friends. Not to make excuses but the public transportation in the area where I live is not reliable enough for me to ensure that I get to every place I need to go. Then I thought I could ride my bike but the weather in Florida is about as predictable as who is going to win the lottery tomorrow, with the random scattered thunderstorms and, sun showers.
My shopping habits made the next big difference; I spend too much time in the mall buying useless stuff, which apparently just is polluting the world. I have been trying since I took the test to buy less things that I probably would not get any use out of.
My biggest use was the food that I consume. I have tried to limit the amount of fast food I eat just because it is bad for me but I feel for me to completely change up my habits I would have to eat organically grown food from local markets , which is hard to afford as a college student .
Overall I think finding out about my use of resources makes me a little more aware of what I can do to leave less of a mark on the world.
Each and every day I realize more and more that I may quite possibly live in the most wasteful country in the entire world. I don’t think it happened overnight but I believe that the waves of technology and how developed we are as a country have increased our wastefulness. Clearly steps have to be taken to change this.
When I took the carbon footprint quiz, it told me how many worlds it would take if everyone lived like me; I was told that it would take 4.6 Earths to sustain my living habits. From the averages it seemed that the more money people made the more earths they needed , except in my case. The issues were not with my housing, amount of electricity I use or the amount of waste I produce, which was on the fairly on the low side. The biggest contribution from me is the type of transportation I use, the food I eat and my shopping habits.
After taking this quiz I tried to think of ways for me to live a more sustainable life when it came to my transportation habits, it was hard coming up with ideas other then carpooling with my friends. Not to make excuses but the public transportation in the area where I live is not reliable enough for me to ensure that I get to every place I need to go. Then I thought I could ride my bike but the weather in Florida is about as predictable as who is going to win the lottery tomorrow, with the random scattered thunderstorms and, sun showers.
My shopping habits made the next big difference; I spend too much time in the mall buying useless stuff, which apparently just is polluting the world. I have been trying since I took the test to buy less things that I probably would not get any use out of.
My biggest use was the food that I consume. I have tried to limit the amount of fast food I eat just because it is bad for me but I feel for me to completely change up my habits I would have to eat organically grown food from local markets , which is hard to afford as a college student .
Overall I think finding out about my use of resources makes me a little more aware of what I can do to leave less of a mark on the world.
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