Final Impressions

My final impressions can be summed up within my fourth paper. All of the elements of the class between the readings, field trips and videos can be added up to the objectives of the course with providing students with the knowledge to understand sustainability and the foundations the school was founded on. 


Probably my favorite elements of the class were the King Corn video and the ECHO field trip. I feel that I have grown and learned the most from them. I knew about high fructose corn syrup but never realized the trickling effect that corn has all over. Never interested in gardening, I never even gave thought to farmers all around the world. The ECHO field trip really opens your eyes to some of the conditions that others have to deal with, and survive from. 


I don't really see the need for Fort Myers Beach trip, besides the wonderful host and narrator. She was completely charming and able to give her personal insight into the develop and growth of the beach. Having grown up in the area I felt like I could really appreciate what she had to say. But I don't think the Pass was a great experience. Besides just the overwhelming amount of mosquitoes, there wasn't much to really see and do that really drew me into the purpose of the trip. We saw mangroves downtown so there was a connection there, though. 

I enjoyed my service learning experience and was excited to take some portraits of the plant species and gardens in Naples Botanical Gardens. With being a marketing major I was able to make a brochure for the Gardens with information that was provided to me from the Volunteer manager and pictures I was able to take myself. It felt like a completion to the course to come out of the service learning feeling good and that I learned something. I have included some of the pictures that I took while at the Gardens in this blog.

Downtown Fort Myers

Growing up in the area, I am already very familiar with the history of Fort Myers and the downtown area. I went to Fort Myers High School, so we had many events in the downtown area. I have been around through a lot of the renovations of downtown, and I love the changes that have been made. Growing up with an appreciation for architecture (I once wanted to be an architect) and renovating buildings back to their historic look. The addition of the brick pavers have also given the streets a cleaner and more presentable look. The goal of the restoration of the downtown area has been all about bring more people back to the area, and I think with even the additions to the restaurants and shops it has helped. The night life has increased with the Florida Rep theater having full seasons, bars, nightclubs and even the art center. 

Being a professional photographer, with a love for our historic district I have had the opportunity to photograph several subjects utilizing the historic Edison Ford Winter Estates and downtown Fort Myers. There are so many different opportunities that a photographer can take advantage of because of the restorations that have been made, there is a special beauty brought out to engage in the history. 

On today's field trip most of the places that we visited I have been to before, except for Hotel Indigo where I had never been before. But the little facts that the other professor provided us with. Some of the interesting facts that I learned today included the use of the Page Field and Buckingham Air bases. I knew the both existed, I live right near the Buckingham one, but was not aware they were actually used during WWII. I had never been inside the courthouse before and appreciated the historic and original qualities to the interior of the building, along with the artifacts to show the history. The parking garage that is located South of Harborside, it was interesting to hear the colors were meant to be subdued Gator colors.. that fact really stuck because I spent my first couple of years of undergrad at the University of Florida, and am a Gator at heart. 

To improve the field trip and keep the connected with the history and people behind Uncommon Friends statue, I think there should be a trip to the Edison Ford Winter Estates. It is one of the biggest parts to Fort Myers history, and I think it would be beneficial for students who are not from the area to see another historic site. 

From the amount of time I have spent in the area, I am extremely proud to have grown up around here and tell other people some of its history. I have a great connection to the fact the Thomas Edison made this his Winter home and even developed a lab and botanical gardens here to continue to come up with new inventions. He seemed to really appreciate the area and was able to give back to the community. Which we mentioned today was another form of sustainability, when you are able to learn from the past and grow for the future by making impactful changes. Edison and friends took a step in the right direction, and now we are trying to continue growing our area based on those key ideas.

Ecological Footprint

Finding out if you live a sustainable life:

To start the game, you get to make a character that represents you to go through the game. You start with a number 1.0 to represent one earth, that will drop depending on how much energy you use. With each item that you put it in, there are "Did you know?" facts that appear at the top to give you some ideas of how everything effects the environment.

Categories include:

• Your Home: number of people in your home, and type of home
• Power Up: electricity that you use
• Talking Trash: how much you try and sustain, recycle
• Public Transportion: do you carpool, take the public bus, subway, plane
• Personal Transportation: about your own car and how many miles you drive
• Food and Drink: your eating and drinking habits
• Shopping Habits: 

Results:

Towards the end I reached 3.8 planets. Based on my numbers I scored 1 in home, 1 in power up, 1 in talking trash, 6 in transportation, 6 in food and drink, and 3 in shopping. The average number of earths is about 4.5, so I am not too far off from the average. 

The results make you think about some of the decisions you make, especially with the types of questions that are asked. Normally you wouldn't think of buying new clothes as a sustainable factor, but think about recycling those clothes by giving them to other people. I know that my transportation numbers might not be as high on someone else (not really sure) but I know that its one area that I could work on improving. In this area it is hard to rely on public transportation because of how long it takes to get to your final destination. I know I should be trying to carpool more, but everyone's schedules are so different it makes it a little hard. I know when it comes to food and recycling I do very well. I do not consume a lot of dairy or cereals, my diet is more focused on meats and vegetables/fruits. We recycle quite a few things in my house. In our regular recycle we place newspapers, glass, plastic, styrofoam, etc. But we also go the extra distance by recycling metals and aluminums by bringing them to a recycling yard so that its not trashed.

I did enjoy the little game, it was cute and makes you really think.

• http://sustainability.publicradio.org/consumerconsequences/

Estero Bay and Matanzas Preserve Pass

I thoroughly enjoyed the historic cottage down by Fort Myers Beach, instead of the "walk" through the Preserve Pass. The lady that was giving the talk was so interesting, she kept me intrigued. Growing up in this area the history of the area gave me a bigger anchor to the area. She had little interesting stories that kept me drawn into the bigger picture. The little story that she told about the kid thinking she was doing the Macarena while she was swatting at mosquitos was really cute.

The walk however, was not fun. To load ourselves down with mosquito spray was not fun in the slightest. That is one of the problems that we face while living in Florida and attempting to spend time outside during the summer/rainy season. Needless to say I was wearing sandals, so trying to move through the boardwalk at a fast pace was not easy when it was slippery in some areas. Swatting at different parts of my body while moving vastly through made it difficult to pay attention. To be honest, I don't think I really heard anything of what the professor was saying. I have visited mangroves before on another side of the Bay so I was familiar with them, but besides that I didn't learn anything else besides how vicious the mosquitoes could be that are hiding out in that area.

Solar Panels

For my environmental issues I decided to look something up that pertains to me or ways to better be sustainable in my everyday life. As a family we are always trying to find ways to cut back on our bills, to be more efficient. So we have turned off the air conditioning unit from about late October through the beginning of April. We have also unplugged appliances when they are not in use, and shut the faucet off when we are not fully using it. One thing we have not tried, because of affordability, is solar panels.

Within the article I found on Green Blog, solar panels could be affordable if know how to get rebates and tax credits. Many people are trying to go "green" without over spending money. So the government has offered tax credits of up to 30% through the year 2016 for anyone who purchases solar panels. Many utility programs have also been offering rebates to help tax payers out on their utility bills. It is has been shown that utility bills have risen 7% over the last 20 years. 

In Nevada, the NE Energy is a utility company that has given a big rebate to some of the non-profit organizations. These organizations along with their tax credits were able to get their solar panels for FREE. The utility companies had exhausted their current rebates, but when they saw the effect they have decided that they are going to start reinstating some of them. So in conclusion, with the programs that are made to help get people get solar panels, as well as the amount of money that you will save on your utility bill by having solar panels, it is very worth it to make the initial investment.

After reviewing this article, I decided to see if there were any efforts in Lee County, besides FGCU, that have begun bringing solar panels in. In October 2010, NBC 2 reported a news article where Farco Solar was installing panels for the Lee County Sheriff's Offices and EMS, with 54 watt panels. These panels could ultimately serve between 8-10 houses. This is Lee County's first step towards a more sustainable  city.

Resources:

• http://www.green-blog.org/2011/07/06/is-it-cost-effective-to-go-solar/#more-3023
• http://www.nbc-2.com/story/13320384/2010/10/13/lee-county-looking-at-solar-energy-for-the-future

Corkscrew Swamp

On our field trip through the Corkscrew Swamp our class was broken up into two groups to be able to better understand and learn what kinds of ecosystems are found in the Corkscrew Swamp. After comparing my group's part of the tour with the other half who went with the instructor, it looks like my group was able to see more animals.

Some of the types of animals that we were expected to see were at least alligators, and even through the lettuce lakes we had a hard time spotting them. Probably because the water level was still a little low for them to really come out of their "caves". As our group was walking back north towards the entrance, on the North Lakes we did see a mom swimming away from us while her babies were sitting around the border. One of them was in the water, possibly trying to catch something. It was hard to spot them at first, but since we were still long enough I was able to properly identify them.

While we were in the same area, we also spotted a black snake on a log right below the boardwalk. I can't remember what kind of snake our guide said he was, maybe a water moccasin or something. Finally as we were only a few feet away from the entrance, finishing our walk through the prairie area, we spotted a deer who was staring back at us. But as we moved forward, it scampered away.

Its always fun to spot animals because a lot of their activities make the trips more fun. It would have been nice to see more of them to better see what types of environments the normally habitat. But most of the walk was nice and quite, and I can see why others might want to come out and sit in the observation areas. We identified the ecosystems that we have already identified on our campus walk, but it seemed more like a natural environment.

Sense of Place: Interview

My grandparents do not have a full understanding of sustainability, besides the practice of recycle cardboard, plastic, glass, etc. Compared to my grandparents generation, I feel that ours has more knowledge about how to be sustainable and the new practices towards achieve this goal. Though we do not exercise it, we have been educated on how to become sustainable and better clean up our environment for a better place to live.

When it comes to environmental perspective, my grandparents do have an understanding of enjoying nature and preserving what is out there; however it is not on their agenda to really do anything about it. They know where the belong within the environment and food chain, as well as their "sense of place" in this world. Their upbringing was different because they grew up with fresh fruits and vegetables from the street markets in New York City, and the home grown spices their Italian mothers grew for cooking. They were not brought up with processed foods, or the notion of fast food. Whereas my sister and I were brought up that McDonald's was a treat and fruits/vegetables were bought in the supermarket, and you never knew where they came from. However, we did grow up with an understanding of going green by saving on electricity with a limitation to how much water is used, recycling on a weekly basis, use of solar energy, etc. I feel like my sister and I have come full circle with my grandparents, with us going back to eating more organic products not to eat processed materials.

After I shared with them what I am learning in this class, they appreciated the class but it is not going to change their actions besides what is in their normal routine. My grandmother is 90 and my grandfather is 87, its hard to change their ways. And though I have explained to them what I am learning now and they seem to understand it, they are going to forget it shortly. So I have tried explaining the class to my mom, whom I live with, and I think its hard for her to grasp because she does not see everything first hand like I do. But I know that after taking this class, I understand how society has disrupted what is natural and now we are trying to rebuild and fix what we have broken. Its one small step on our part, and will take many years to continue to fix.

Interview one of your grandparents or someone of their generation. What is their philosophy on sustainability, ecological perspective and sense of place? How did their upbringing differ from yours? Share with them what you are learning about in University Colloquium. What is their perspective on what you have been learning about this semester?

Future of Food

If I had to pick one particular snack, I would pick the Nabisco Oreos, they have been a favorite since I was a little girl. They were introduced to me by my father, and as kids my sister and I would look like the little kids in the commercials dipping the cookies in milk as a nighttime snack.

The original sandwich cookie was produced by Nabisco and was first introduced in 1912 in New York City. Originally the cookie was developed in two basic flavors, lemon meringue and cream. Due to the popularity of the cream flavor, this became the main production for the cookie.

Some ingredients found in the cookie include sugar, enriched flour, canola oil, cocoa, high fructose corn syrup, cornstarch and artificial flavors. These ingredients are produced in several different areas, but I am not sure exactly where Nabisco gets their ingredients from. Nabisco is a brand of the Kraft Foods Company, so I looked through their corporate information page to find out who some of their producer and suppliers are. Again I came up against a wall, there are so many products that their corporate website is more about investing and the principles of the company. Nothing about this cookie is naturally healthy, its more of a processed product.

Though I could not really load the movie to watch it, I can only imagine that it pointed out some the ingredients that are used in most of the products we consume on an every day basis. Most times it can be a little disturbing, like the King of Corn video we watched. We do not realize what we are feeding our bodies, and many of the processed ingredients that we eat have lead most Americans to obesity. In my opinion, we should be more aware of exactly what we are consuming. Whether it be how a product is produced, the insecticides or inorganic fertilizers used to grow crops, or the chemicals used to produce the packaging; we are harming our body. Some people do not want to know all the hidden secrets to what makes food good, but if we do not know we do not know how to fix it.

Sources:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oreo
• http://www.nabiscoworld.com/oreo/
• http://www.nabiscoworld.com/Brands/ProductInformation.aspx?BrandKey=oreo&Site=1&Product=4400000820
• http://www.kraftfoodscompany.com/About/index.aspx

Exploration of ECHO

Starting out on our trip for ECHO I really had no idea what to expect. My younger sister works with one of the interns from ECHO, so she had mentioned something about farming but it was no where near what I pictured. When the word "farm" is mentioned, all I normally think about is farms in the midwest with barns and acres of corn or other crops.

ECHO was a pleasant surprise, acres of land developed into different types of farms found all over the world. A miniature simulation of farms found in the rain forest, out in the country, or gardens developed in urban culture. There were several different types of animals from ducks, to chickens, rooster, goats and others that we did not even get to see.

We were able to taste different crops that are found and produced for food and medicinal values. Everything found on the farm is clean and natural, so while we were tasting crops we were also informed of the several different ways that to use the crop.


What I found most intriguing about ECHO was how resourceful all the interns are. The interns spend a year in their particular section trying different ways to be sustainable and resourceful in growing crops, and using what each climate has to be able to develop a good and healthy garden. These interns will go out into all areas of the world after their one year at ECHO is up. They will go out and teach farmers in undeveloped countries how to be successful at growing a garden while using the resources that are around them. Its an educational procedure that will also bring back growth and development to such areas.



I think if I had the urge to grow a garden I would be able to, but would want to do some research like the ECHO interns to learn the best possible way to achieve such a goal with using what is around me. In the past I have not really grown much plants, some flowers and the occasional spices but that is about it. I have a friend that lives in Gainesville and she is growing tomato and lettuce plants in her apartment, so it is definitely possible to grow anything you want as long you put your mind to it.

Sense of Place

Considering my neighborhood, I do not feel like its my neighborhood. The area around where I live was plowed down of original trees and bushes years ago, and then developers came in and randomly started building houses all over. So when considering the wildlife that is around we have borrowing owls that live in the empty lot next to me, some vultures that circle the area, there are plenty of loose dogs and cats, of course insects and other rodents.

If I take a stroll around the neighborhood I do not really consider it a neighborhood, nothing like the suburbs. In Lehigh there are a lot of streets broken up by "canals", which are just ditches without water unless it rains. So to walk around you are walking in a zig zag formation, like a maze.

I think it is important to associate with your environment whether it is where you live, work or play. That becomes part of life and where you reside. But for years I have not felt much of a connection to this area. I know that it is where I live, but beyond that I could not say that I could find a "sense of place" besides my home.

I think of my backyard as a playground, for my dogs. That is the closest feeling of place that I imagine my neighborhood. They treat the front yard as a potty area, and the backyard is the playground. They know some of their toys are out there, and when we go outside to hang up laundry or work in the yard they know they get to go and play.

Nature Walk

On our nature walk through the Eastern part of campus we walked through several different ecosystems including wet marsh, cypress domes, and prairie. Through our hour and a half we learned several little historical tidbits, facts about plant species found in Southwest Florida and how several species adapt to one another. 

We saw areas that like to be generally a little dryer and welcome fires, like the slash pine uplands. This area likes to be burned every 3-5 years to be able to clean out any "unwelcome" brush. As we were observing the area, it has been 6 years since its last fire and you can definitely see several different bushes growing. These could prove a problem in the future because with the bushes growing higher than the saw palmetto means that the fire will shoot up towards the taller pine trees; as well as burn slower and is harder to contain.

As we approached the cypress dome we found that it was rather dry. Normally a cypress dome could have water that reaches up to a person's knees and even as high as your thighs. Our guide encouraged us to come back one the rainy season is a little more upon us so that we can see how high the water is. In a cypress dome you could alligators, and that makes me not want to tread into those waters. 

I enjoyed the walk through Campus, it is kind of like our own little swamp. We don't have to travel all the way down to the Everglades to experience the swamp, we have a miniature version here on campus. Before taking the Colloquium class I did not know as much about the tree or plant species that we have, now I am able to identify some items that I see outside my house. The walk through Campus provides you with a better appreciation for nature and what Florida has to offer. 

Incoming Reflection

To start out, no one really knows exactly what to expect out of a University required class.. it does not always sound like a ball of fun if everyone has to take it. By going over the syllabus, the requirements for the class is not going to bad. To me it seems like a combination of the writing portion of a Composition class mixed with one one of FGCU science classes, Biology of SW Florida. Field trips are always fun because of the different aspects of Florida's nature that you observe, and journals help you keep everything logged from drawings to photographs and just easily bulleted notes.

I think Colloquium could be quite an interesting class providing us more insight into the area we reside. With previously taking a similar class, I have learned about different bugs, flowers, trees and other small creatures that reside in Southwest Florida. In my past biology class we were also shown which of these natural elements are native to the area and which have been brought down here. Though I have taken similar field trips, I am not a very big nature person. I do not mind being out in the forest, but I think I am more terrified on what kind of bugs we are going to find. Especially during the rainy summer season Florida is known for, I am constantly getting attacked by mosquitoes.. plus there could be some other poisonous bugs or snakes.

Within this class I am most looking forward to the service learning part of the class. I have always enjoyed volunteering and helping out different agencies. I am anxious to see how I will be able to connect my enjoyment for service learning with an environmental project.