Entry #13

Sustainable consumerism is when using goods and services to minimalize the use of resources, waste and pollutants while still not jeopardizing future generations. Globalization and capitalism are negative drivers because everything has to travel farther and use more energy to get to its destination. Greenwashing is the term for when a company’s marketing team mis markets an item as green, when it really isn’t. I would be willing to pay a premium if I felt that particular item would be substantially better for me. I patronize the chain stores in Gulf Coast Town Center, downtown is 30 minutes away from my house. Not worth it. Either way it doesn’t really matter, I waste gas to drive and get it, or it can waste fuel to be flown around the world.

Entry #12

The Estero Island trip was informational, it was a nice preserve, but sad that is all that’s left. What stood about the preserve is that it was all that was left on this fairly large island. Everything else had been destroyed and rebuilt by man. My hometown hasn’t changed much since I was a kid, a few trees removed and buildings torn down and replaced but nothing major and the sense of community is there. If the county offered me 300% market value of my childhood houses value, yes I would sell out and take it. The areas are already developed and ill have the memories which are what count. Wouldn’t be the same as being able to walk around it, but I’d probably get over it. At 80% I probably wouldn’t.

Entry #11

When I calculated my footprint it came out to 4.4, which is below the average, but still horrible. Out of the scenarios I could eat half as much meat I could also make sure I recycle anything I can that is recyclable, I feel most things I throw away most likely could be recycled, that would drop my footprint down to 4 earths.

Entry #10

With the way we are burning through it, energy just might be too cheap. But what can you really do about it? If there is a cheap option people will take it just too save money, and with the way the economy is, the government can’t just step in and start raising pricing, a good chunk of the country can barely survive as it is. Any major change would have to be a slow a tedious infrastructure overhaul and that may just be what we need. With that being said, is it possible to get everyone on the same page? Big business has their own agenda, especially the petroleum/oil companies which are pretty much needed for everything. All of the renewable energy sources have an upside depending on the area you are in. Solar panels in Michigan might be a bad idea.

Too reduce my energy footprint I can do many things:
• Turn off water while brushing teeth and lathering in the shower
• Turn off lights when not in room
• Buy local food
• Drive as little as possible
• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
• Reusable water bottle
• Energy efficient appliances

Entry #9

There are 2 types of “downtown” the club area which is where we love to party, and then the ritzy or historic area. Both types of downtown are usually not too far from the ghetto. So the word “downtown” could evoke fear or happiness. I would have to say the stature of the downtown area has probably degraded over time, in a lot of areas the downtown is usually dead or only busy at a few certain times and the economy hasn’t been too hot. Ft. Myers is experiencing something of a renaissance because Lee County decided to put a lot of money into revitalizing it. Some of the prominent architectural features are Neo-Classical Revival style and Mediterranean Revival.

Entry #8

In my opinion climate change is a combination of natural and manmade factors, they planet does go through different climate cycles and we have been adding an alarming amount of pollution and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Reputable sources would be scientist who wouldn’t have a bias due to big business or politics. It depends on where you go in the media but it’s usually portrayed as something that needs to be feared or as nothing at all because the change is so minuscule. The media usually has little effect on my lifestyle, I make my changes based off what I believe is right, not what the media says is the hot new topic. I don’t know what’s in store for our children; we might have other issues besides climate change that will get a lot more attention.

Entry #7

I loved ECHO, an amazing idea, being done by the right people who actually care. Seeing all the different types of plants being grown in one area, in many different methods and for the sole purpose of finding the best and most effective ways to sustainably produce food on a small scale, but still large enough to feed a small community, was mind blowing. What I saw at echo reminded me nothing of America agriculture, echo was small scale, sustainable, efficient, didn’t require unnecessarily large amounts of water, or produce a lot of waste and pollution. This way of farming is very relevant to the developing worlds. They would have an attribute that most people in the developed world don’t, being able to sustain one’s self without any outside help. In America if shit hits the fan and for some reason we couldn’t get food across the county for an extended period of time, people would have no idea what to do, where to get food, or even have the option of growing their own. Appropriate Technology is the simple but effective technologies that are used in these farming operations, such as The Rope and Washer pump. I would enjoy doing service learning for this organization, they are truly trying to help people around the world.

Entry #6

The eucalyptus tree should not be genetically modified and planted at test spots near FGCU. This verity of tree can be invasive as we have seen in Australia when we exported it from California. The tree requires a good amount of water which would have a negative effect on the local wetland ecosystem if it used a larger amount of water, especially in the dry season. They might also become an invasive species and spread, which would have a devastating impact on the local ecosystem. Not only will they use a large amount of water but they are fire prone due to the oil within, some of our local ecosystems require controlled burns to stay healthy and put nutrients back into the soil. These trees would be a fuel for the fire which would lead to bigger and wider spread fires. Also the trees will be home to many species which there predators might not be accustomed too, which could lead to an alarming increase in small species who are now protected and a decrease in those who know are looking for new food sources. Not to mention the pollution that would be spread into the local ecosystems.

At FGCU, I don’t believe reasonable cost effective steps can be taken to mitigate these risks. They trees like water and will use the water and will be in areas which water, which the run off from the pesticides used in these test sites would be impossible to stop. And some of the negative effects might not show up for many years. In my opinion the benefits do not outweigh the risk.

Entry #5

A few major elements of sustainable farming are biodiversity, conservation, Welfare, and Economics. Within these there are many ecological principles interwoven. For example, diversity within an ecosystem assures and strengthens resilience. Animal welfare, for healthy strong animals. We must keep in mind that life as we know it goes though cycles and we need to conserve and preserve our natural world for future generation and life cycles. We can not destroy and pollute or resources or else it will surely destroy life as we know it.

I myself do choose to eat organic and natural food, Not always, but when the price is right and i can afford it. It may just be the way it is marketed, but it has been engraved into my mind that it is at least somewhat more healthy then the processed shit we eat everyday and find in our traditional supermarkets.

I do feel disconnect from out current food system, more and more everyday, i find it hard to find foods i want to eat, doesn't mean i refuse to eat them, ive grown to enjoy the taste of most of them. Everything feels so fake and processed. Which is probably because it is. If there was space on campus i would definably grow my own vegetables. The reward of eating food, that i know how it was made, where it came from and what was put in it would be priceless.

Entry #4

In my eyes there isn't just one big environmental issue that is causing the world to fall apart but a combination of a few. Overpopulation of world mixed with the desire for developing and third world countries to become developed. And of course when you add greed into the mix, which i wouldn't say is an environmental issue in itself but when a very small percentage of people in the world own and/or control a majority of the worlds resources, it only makes things worse.

The combinations of these have a big part of most, if not all, environmental issues. To break it down, if there were less people who weren't greedy or striving for more and more, we would have less pollution, we would wouldn't be over fishing and over hunting and destroying our worlds diversity.

If i was given a 100 billion dollars to address a global issue, i would probably put it towards ways informing the world of these issues and lobbying. No matter what issue you try and fix, it wont really help. Try and feed the world? then there is just more people who now want a higher quality of life. Pollution? its just going to keep coming, could try and invent new technologies, but those would have to be profited off of, so it may help, but probably not. Unless the mind set of our species takes a dramatic turn, i don't think there is any right way to allocate the money.

Entry #3

There are few things left that make you feel like you are part of nature, and i must say, walking through Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is one one of them. On this journey we traveled though many different ecosystems, such as, Pine Flatwood, Wet Prairie and a Pond Cypress. Each of these ecosystems play many roles in the environment. For Example, the Pine Flatwood ties many other ecosystems together because a slight change in elevation can have a drastic effect on the vegetation that grows.

To be Continued / Finished ....

Entry #2

Normally I love nature walks, trails, and being in nature, but it's summer in Florida and it's hot and I was wearing jean pants, so it sucked. Besides my own issues the trail is quite nice, and I enjoyed going through all the different ecosystems that our campus has to offer.

In my eyes FGCU is still on its “eco-empowerment” mission, of course its not perfect, but it is still a business, and it's a hell of a lot more eco-friendly then most business' would have been. They did turn an area that was completely undeveloped into an area with constant growth, but at least the growth is being monitored by people who at least have the environment in mind and most of the time will hopefully make the right choice when it comes to Us vs The Environment.

I don't know if my background gives me a bias , but if the Money/Power drivin Business men and the tree hugging environmentalist can start finding compromise it is a step in the right direction for sustainability.

Entry #1

I've been in many of FGCU's environmental classes, from Environmental Humanities to Marine Systems and my expectations for colloquium are the same, usually daily discussions about class readings/lecture or out in nature on a trip.

This class focuses on one of my favorite environmental issues, sustainability, which in my own words is, a perpetual system that can live indefinitely. As a Computer Information System major I hope to take the knowledge from this class and apply it to business planning and decisions as IT becomes more and more dominant in our everyday life. If I would like to take it to a business level I must first start on a personal level and fix some of my own unsustainable habits, such as, Shorter showers, shutting off water when not needed, drive less and bike more, turning lights off, buying products produced locally, and many more.