Downtown Journal

             Fort Myers is a beautiful city with hidden history. Besides its booming tourism industry and beautiful beaches Fort Myers is known for many more interesting things. The downtown historic district displays the many historic facts and stories that many who visit or hear about Fort Myers would not expect. Fort Myers was the only one of the 12 southern states that was a union and was formerly a military base as well. Thomas Edison spent many summers in Fort Myers along with Edison Ford known for Ford Cars and Harvey Firestone an industrialist. Fort Myers also stole their yacht slip from the much larger city in Florida, Sarasota. This was a huge economic accomplishment for the city. The city was looking to attract more wealth and boost its economy. The city government addresses environmental issues well. Bay Street is now a developed land but it used to be all water. The small economy of Fort Myers can make it challenging to preserve historic landmarks. For example, the one building we saw that has been debated about being taken down for the past ten years.

            My favorite part about the tour was when we went down the hall the used to an outdoor mall but was recently closed off due to city building regulations. The theater really fascinated me. One of my favorite things to do is see Broadway Shows, regular theater performances or anything artsy. I’m a huge city girl so seeing that area of downtown Fort Myers gave me a whole new appreciation for the city that I’m currently living in. I’ve been here for the past 3 years from Washington DC and I haven’t really enjoyed it that much. The beaches are nice, and the weather is lovely but something was always so boring to me. Now that I know Fort Myers has a deep and rich history my opinions have changed a bit. My new favorite place in Fort Myers is downtown and I really do plan on going to see a show and walking around the shops. I love places that feel like home, and I feel like I may have found my sense of place yesterday as we walked around downtown. I really want to go back and walk around some more. It was hard for me to walk the whole time because of a recent leg pain I’ve been having. The field trip mostly helped me find a sense of place around here which I’ve honestly had trouble finding. My homesickness has really hit me these past couple of months and being in a “city like” environment really helped me cope.

Journal - Goodall

             I've been thinking about this for a while and I agree with Jane Goodall that there is hope and it is never too late but everyone needs to start having that mentality if we do want to make a difference. People are so negative about they environment when they should start being positive. I think that instead of saying how much humans have destroyed the planet we should say that humans really make the planet beautiful in their own way. In certain ways humans are to blame for destroying the planet but I don’t think that most humans were aware that they were. I think that humans thought that with technology that we were improving the planet. However, now that humans have been educated I think we realize that not all technology is beneficial now. I think that environmentalists should try to take a more positive approach to the issue rather than shame the people who are less educated about the earth and the destruction humans have caused. What I’m trying to say is that not all people have the opportunity to take a colloquium class and learn about all these things and I do think that needs to be taken into consideration. 

            Animals have killed people before, so I completely understand why humans kill them out of fear. If I were in a situation where I felt harmed by an animal I would probably kill it too. However, humans can’t use fear as an excuse to kill animals for food, or poaching or anything that kills animals for the wrong reasons. The relationship between Jane Goodall and the apes taught me that humans and animals can live in peace and humans don’t have to kill animals for food, fun or any other reason. There is hope for this planet. We can find ways to restore the earth to its natural beauty. We haven’t destroyed it yet; we still have wildlife, nature, and our health. We just need to take steps in the right direction and help reduce of ecological footprint. Coming together is the first step in a very important process. Without hope, none of it will be possible. There is still hope, and I believe its our individual responsibility to find out what gives us hope. The teaching by Goodall fits into our courses learning outcomes because our goal is to have intelligent conversations about nature, life and everything that comes with that. Jane Goodall is saving the chimpanzees and that’s something we can all talk about. Yes, a chimpanzee is just one type of animal, however, it is a foundation for the beginning of a movement. Once we find out what gives us hope, maybe we can choose our own animals to talk about. We can find reasons why that animal is beautiful and why we need to protect this earth so all animals can live a healthy and beautiful life. I don’t want to live in a world where animals don’t exist. The world is not just for humans, we need to love all types of life and we need to start by loving the earth that we all inhabit and share.

Florida and the Everglades Politics- Colloquium Journal

Over the years Florida has changed in so many ways. Due to global warming and climate change, which is now a banned word in the state of Florida, Florida and the everglades have changed drastically and it’s not for the better. David Orr said, “Whatever our feelings, however ingenious our philosophies, whatever innate gravity tugs at us, we must finally choose between life and death, between intimacy and isolation.” Personally by this I think he means that no matter what tempts us to remain selfish, we must ignore the temptations. We must find out ways to protect the planet and that starts by us taking steps to reduce our ecological footprint. Once we reduce our impact it will become a better planet. Our legacy will not be that we destroyed the planet; it will be that we fought to save it. A land remembered, by Patrick Smith, was a great book that depicts what life was like on earth. The book is a fantastic way to help us visualize what needs to be done to save the planet.

The politics surrounding the Everglades affect me drastically. I’m in the hospitality industry and tourism rates completely effect my industry in ever way possible. People from around the country visit southwest Florida to see the everglades, go on airboat tours and see the beautiful wildlife that the state has to offer. If global warming and the greenhouse effect that humans have accelerated through selfishness damage the everglades then my industry will be hit hard. Less people would want to visit Southwest Florida if the Everglades were suddenly gone. The government has even considered banning people from the Everglades completely because they’ve been destroying it. The group that presented about the Everglades showed how people leave behind waste, such as bottles and plastic. They also have been leaving behind nails that fall out of the wood they use in their bonfires. The nails are extremely harmful to the wildlife in the Everglades. The nails could potentially get stuck in the bottom of the foot of the animals leading to infection and maybe even death. Gators and Florida panthers are some of the few animals’ lives that are in that path of destruction. Florida panthers are endangered. Humans have been putting them in a deadly path by leaving garbage, nails and other things in the Everglades instead of picking them up and recycling them or taking them home.

Silent Spring and the Obligation to Endure - Colloquium Journal

               

                    Silent Spring and the Obligation to Endure by Rachel Carson is the topic my group had for our group presentation. Carson shares beautiful ideas about the world, how we’re destroying it and how we can save it. She said, “No witchcraft, no enemy action had silenced the rebirth of new life in this stricken world. The people had done is themselves.” Carson means that we constantly are looking for other things to blame beside ourselves for the terrible conditions we have created here on earth. We are destroying the environment. Humans are taking advantage of the earth’s limited resources and selfishly using them for our benefit. Think about how many times a week you fill your tank with gas, or how many water bottles you drink on a daily basis. Things that we take for granted everyday are the things that are destroying this planet. We will be leaving behind a disastrous life for future generations.

            Carson believes that ‘time is the essential ingredient’ and that now in the modern world we don’t have enough time. We need to use whatever time we have let to try and start making changes in our lifestyles to help protect the earth and help it flourish as the beautiful place it once was. It’s not fair for us to waste time and resources selfishly while we inhabit the earth. We need to make time to find ways to reduce our impact and ecological footprint.

            Carson talks a lot about pesticides. In our presentation we told the class about many different types of pesticides, like DDT and some other deadly ones. Too many farmers are using pesticides in their crops, which is not only damaging the earth and infecting our soil; it is putting those farmers at extreme risk of sickness and death. Inhaling and being around pesticides like DDT can lead to serious health issues and death. Farmers have been willing to use these pesticides because money is the motive. They believe that if they don’t use these pesticides they wont have a successful harvest because of all the invasive bugs and other species eating away at their crops. The chemical war can never be won and all forms of life will be caught in its crossfire. There are many alternatives to pesticides, which is what I talked about in my group presentation. One alternative that I truly believe in is getting up and ending the laziness. Get up and fight to save your groups with your own two hands instead of spraying pesticides. It takes more time but it is more effective because eventually the animals and insects will build immunities to your pesticides and be unstoppable.

ECHO farm journal

My experience of the ECHO farm was probably the best so for during my time in this course. Being in that kind of environment made me feel relaxed, peaceful, and stress free. I learned A LOT about sustainability. I learned that we are not sustainable enough. One thing I learned is the many different ways we could all be living life differently and making big changes to help influence the world in positive ways. I was shocked to see that people actually lived the way they do in the ECHO farm, and don’t complain, and pull it off. That’s their sense of place; it makes me want to find my sense of place that much more. The plants we saw were the bananas, the orange tree, and the walnut tree. My favorite was the banana plant. Bananas are my favorites and I’ve never seen them actually being grown like that so that was awesome. The one thing that would apply to my own life is that I actually really enjoy gardening and growing foods such as tomatoes, and carrots at home. It’s something I’ve enjoyed doing since I was a child and being there made me want to start doing that again. Below is my favorite part of the trip! (The place they grew the herbs):

               Organizations like this are important to the world because they are there to make a difference and to stimulate the beginning of people joining in to help fight for the same cause and protect this planet. One example of adaptive technology that I saw at the ECHO farm was the water pump they used to pump fresh water. That was so interesting. It made me wonder why people go to the gym when they could just pump water as a workout WHILE saving the earth at the same time. When I was younger, my mom would set aside a day a week to hang out with my sister and me. My parents were not really around because they worked a lot. On the days I spent with my mom we would go shopping, cook, bake etc. However, my favorite memories were when we would garden in the backyard. She taught me so much about gardening. It’s weird for me to talk about things like that because they kind of made me who I am today.

 

I think if I had to start finding my own food, like many people do around the world, (I’m very fortunate and grateful); I would definitely struggle. I would probably loose weight and become dependent on others. I admire people who can find their own food without going to a restaurant or a grocery store. I wish I had the ability. I want to start reducing my footprint on this planet and find ways, with my friends, to start growing food at home, and eating smaller portions. Americans eat way too much and I’m guilty of that as well.

Earth Charter Journal

One of the course goals is to “provide a "sense of place" and an understanding of the unique ecological features of the environment of which you are a part”. This relates to the earth charter because the earth is the foundation of everyone’s sense of place in this world. Without the earth there would be no place to find your sense of place. The earth charters goal is to get all humans to come together to start treating this earth with the respect it needs to survive the years ahead. The earth charter aims to help future generations find their sense of place just like we were or are able to find ours. Throughout my time in this course certain experience have definitely helped me find a better sense of place in this world. The field trips we have taken, especially our most recent one to the ECHO farm, have really made me look at life differently and actually made me redefine what “sense of place” means. I’ve never been so out of my element in my life than I was when I was at the ECHO farm. Everything there fascinated me. The different ways to pump fresh water, make food, and survive on the land. The air there was so fresh. They really utilize the land in a positive way instead of tearing it apart to build more tall buildings and make more fake food.

Another one of the course goals in this class is “to assist in developing an ecological perspective and a commitment to community awareness and involvement in order for students to know the issues related to economic, social, and ecological sustainability, analyze and evaluate ecological issues locally and globally, participate in projects requiring awareness and/or analysis of ecological and environmental issues.” I really believe this class does achieve that goal. It’s easy for people to tell me how badly humans are affecting the planet, but it’s another to be able to take all these field trips to places I wouldn’t go to on my own and be exposed to so many different sides of life and see places through different perspectives while hearing so many different views and opinions. I’ve changed my mind about this class. I was dreading taking it, but now I’m actually enjoying going to class! Especially when there are field trips. I can honestly say that seeing the passion my professor, and my many field trip tour guides have had has made me find my only little passion for protecting the planet we all live on and love.

The Earth charter relates to my interests in some ways. My major and passion is resort and hospitality management and event management. This class has related to my interests by showing me how important it is to be environmentally conscious in every area of life. When I plan events I will make sure to have “green events” and reduce my waste as much as possible. I really believe this is even more important now that I’ve been expose to many different eye-opening experiences through this class. I chose the Gulf coast humane society because I’m passionate about animals. I love dogs, and cats, and I want to make my service learning hours meaningful not only to myself, but the local community. I really believe that volunteering here gives you perspective on what is important. These dogs deserve love just as much as dogs who have homes. 

This is a photo of me at The Gulf Coast Humane Society with one of the rescued puppies, I hung out with him for a couple hours and it made us both feel a little happier.

Colloquium 4 - Sabrina Bracken

It’s very disheartening that we would need 7.7-planet earth to provide enough resources if everyone lived like I do. However, I’ve never really thought that my ecological footprint was that large. Aldo Lepalto said, “Land use ethics are still governed wholly by economic self interest” and this couldn’t be truer. The only reason I drive over 300 miles a week is so I can go to work and make money, or go to class to get a degree so I can eventually use that degree to make money. We’re destroying our planet for monetary gain when you look at the big picture.

The tale of two farms is comparison between the past and the present. Huls farm family enterprise composed of 5 siblings and spouses. Gardar farm is a manor farm of Norse Bishop in Greenland, abandoned for 500 years and was once prosperous. Both located in beautiful cold locations and were state of the art barns and the owners were important in their district. Weaknesses were caused by location because weather limited farming (cold winters, short summers) Susceptible to climate change and had to travel far to sell their products. The Gardar farm collapsed but the Huls farm is still operating. Our past can tell us a lot about our future. With our knowledge and technology we can be better by anticipating mistakes.

I should, along with everyone else, start to anticipate the impact of our daily mistakes that are hurting the environment and using all our resources too quickly and too selfishly. “Managing environmental resources sustainably has always been difficult ever since Homo sapiens developed modern inventiveness, efficient, and hunting skills by around 50,000 years ago.” (page 25 Colloquium Reader) This is very true, it’s not an easy task to manage environmental resources and it will never be easy. We’re used to a certain way of life and making big changes will take time and dedication.

My footprint showed me that it would take 34.3 global acres of the earths productive area to support my lifestyle. That statistic makes me feel selfish and greedy. I feel like I’m using the earth’s resources like they’re going out of style. It’s not okay to use the earth the way I have been using it. There are two areas in my life that I could make a change. I eat meat every single day, no matter what, and I could definitely cut down my meat in take from 7 days a week to 4 or 5 days a week. I have an iron deficiency so craving meat is a regular thing for me. I could find other ways to supply my body with the iron it needs. Like any drastic change this will be hard for me. Another way I could make a lifestyle change is to decrease my driving. I drive 42 miles to work every day and 42 miles home from work everyday. That’s a guaranteed 84 miles. I could find a co-worker that would want to carpool so that we can save money on gas and save the environment by driving one less car. Although I don’t have the choice to stop driving completely I could start walking to places that are close to my house, like the grocery store or the gas station if I need something instead of driving.

            Like the second group said, “Biodiversity is the web of life”. I’m a part of that biodiversity and it’s important for me to start realizing that. If I’m harmful to the biodiversity on this planet then I’m part of the problem. I want my children and my children’s future children to be able to experience the planet the way I have, but even better. I want them to be able to see all the animals I’ve seen and smell all the flowers I’ve smelled. My selfishness during my time here on this beautiful planet could potentially steal that opportunity from them.

            The presentations today we’re a good wake up call. However, the quiz I just took about my ecological footprint was an even bigger eye opener. Trust me, I’m going to try to reduce my ecological footprint. I don’t want to be the reason that the earth is dying. I want to be the reason why earth thrives. Future generations deserve to know what a beautiful planet this IS, not what is WAS.