Blog 14- 4/25/11

                The Estero Island Cottage was adorable! I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was so tiny inside. And Jo was the cutest little old lady I have ever seen, and she was so knowledgeable about Estero Island and Matanzas Pass. It was so calming and relaxing out there, and the breeze was refreshing. It was pretty neat to see a woodpecker that close, too. I felt a little rushed through it all though, maybe because we were stuck in traffic getting there or the information session was a little longer than normal. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t matter; it was still a nice ending to the Colloquium semester.
                A couple of things stood out to me while we were out and about. The woodpecker was one, but the fungus on the trees was another. It was weird to see plant life with a fungus. I guess I’ve never seen anything like it or even known that plants could get a fungus! I also saw this cool looking spider web with a baby spider in it which was pretty interesting, even though I hate spiders. It was nice to be somewhere with no noise of construction or congestions of cars. All I heard was the wind and of course our class. It was also strange to me how Jo said they don’t spray for mosquitoes…I thought there were safe methods of doing this now?
                I guess you could say more jobs are created because of the tourism and that is one way the quality of life is being enhances on Estero Island. But as the island is taken over by buildings, all of the natural beauty is taken away. As for my hometown, it hasn’t changed much since I was a child. There are a few more parks and strip malls, but nothing drastic or overwhelming. I never really felt a sense of community at home to begin with because everyone in my neighborhood pretty much kept to themselves. I found my community when I was out volunteering at various places, so I still feel a sense of community when it comes to that. If a developer offered me a large amount of money for my childhood home, I honestly would take it. We have since moved and I have found that it is not the home that makes your family a family, but the people itself. I could use the money they gave me to do so much for the places I volunteer for, so I think it would be okay to let the home get turned into condos. If Lee County offered me 80% of the market value under the 20/20 program, I think I would still take it for the same reason. 

Blog 13- 4/18/11

So I must say that today’s class was probably my favorite. All the food was delicious and I even got to take home that pasta salad stuff which made my day.

                I brought in homemade peanut butter chocolate chip brownies. I found the recipe on this website that had a whole bunch of ‘sustainable’ cooking ideas and such. I’ve never made anything homemade from scratch before so it was going to be interesting either way. They turned out better than I thought and actually tasted good considering I forgot them in the oven for an extra fifteen minutes. Everything I used to make the brownies was organic with the exception of the chocolate chips which I already had at my house. However, I do not think that everything I used was completely sustainable. I forgot to look at the packaging, but I’m pretty sure most of it was not locally grown. The ingredients were flour, peanut butter, butter, salt, baking powder, chocolate chips, sugar, vanilla, and eggs. I’m not sure if I would have been able to find locally made everything, but I’m sure I could have tried. If I were to compare side by side the conventional products and an ‘eco’ product I would look at a few things: where it was made and packaged, the amount of packaging, the water input, if it was organic/free range/etc, and if it is healthy for you! I would like to suggest that all classes should have a required eco food day. :)

Blog 12- 4/11/11

            Sustainable consumerism seems a bit contradictory to me. I guess there is a way to consume in a sustainable way, but I don’t think it would make much of a difference unless everyone agreed to consume sustainably…which we all know probably will not happen, at least for a long long time. So, sustainable consumerism in a perfect world would be to only take what you need to sustain yourself or your family, only take from things and places that are local or grown organically or treated with love and kindness, and never take silly things that will hurt the environment right now or in the future. Globalization seems to be a negative driver to sustainable consumerism. Globalization leads to more degradation overall because all we want is the next best thing which leads to our planet being chopped up into pieces. It also can cause “brain drain” where people from other cultures come here for education or a better life and end up losing all or most of their cultures way of life as the assimilate to American society. Globalization strengthens the wealth inequality we have where only a small percentage of the population has the majority of the money. All of this seems to undermine the fairy tale of sustainable consumerism to me.

            As for paying a premium for organic, fair trade, or local foods…I’m not sure how far I would be willing to take it. As a college student now on limited funds, it is very hard for me to pay the higher prices for the food I know I should be buying. But in the future, when I hopefully have a career, I think this has the capacity to change and I hope it does. I would love to be able to shop at the mom and pop stores instead of the chain centers and support the people I believe in, but right now it is the opposite. As I said before, it is saving what little money I have and that is just how it has to be right now. I know I’m hurting the environment by shopping at Walmart, Target, and Publix. Most everything I buy is shipped from hundreds to thousands of miles away, packaged in an excessive amount of packaging, and not grown sustainably. It sucks to say it, but it is true.

            A social trap that I am a victim of is alcohol! Like most college kids, I enjoy frequenting the social gathering here and there and consuming some tasty concoctions for the immediate effect of a nice buzz. But I pay dearly later the next day with a lovely hangover. I usually don’t think of the consequences while I’m drinking, just like most people including myself don’t think of the consequences for the Earth when they live unsustainable lives.

Blog 11- 4/4/11

            The trip to downtown Ft. Myers was pretty relaxing. And I got a really tasty smoothie, so that made my day. I had never been in that area before so it was interesting to see everything for the first time. To me, when I hear ‘downtown’ I think of downtown St. Petersburg, FL where my mom works and where I used to intern over the summers. It’s just skyscraper after skyscraper with tiny little shops or businesses in between. See downtown Ft. Myers was a little bit different from what I was expecting because there weren’t as many skyscrapers or rather tall buildings. It was very cute and quaint the way the streets were lined with trees and adorable little shops. I think more and more we are going to see downtown areas take back that cute little community feel instead of the tall skyscrapers on every corner, at least I hope.

            Downtown Ft. Myers has more of the community look to it, and that is creating more of a ‘pedestrian’ spirit everywhere. People are encouraged to walk the streets and enjoy the atmosphere and culture instead of just driving from place to place. The buildings promote that, I think, based on how they look from the outside: still keeping that historic look (which for the most part is adorable). They also allow for housing on top of the businesses which adds to the pedestrian lifestyle there. Some of the streets are paved with brick which slows down the traffic and encourages walking more. I think Ft. Myers will benefit from this look and feel in the long run.

            Along our walk today we saw several statues and historical monuments dedicated to different people and events. One was the three statues of Edison, Ford, and Firestone. Another was a tribute to the African American soldiers of the Civil War. Even the Florida panther was recognized in bronze (or whatever they make them out of). I think the way downtown Ft. Myers is presenting itself is keeping sustainability in mind. They are encouraging walking, which will help the environment.

           

Blog 10- 3/28/11

                So my ecological footprint did not turn out so well. If everyone lived like me we would need four planets to sustain us. This is not good news. I didn’t think that I was so wasteful or eco unconscious. There has to be a change here, not only in my own habits but in others’ as well because I’m sure they ended up with discouraging results as well.

                After I explored different scenarios, I ended up with an eco foot print of 3.5. Not bad for just a few changes I guess, but I want it to be lower. The things I could do to reduce my foot print are eating less animal products, buying products that use less packaging or are 100% recycled, making sure all my appliances are energy star rated, and pledging to take a local vacation instead of flying somewhere this year. I believe all of these things are pretty doable in my life so I think I may actually try to take these steps. I mean…it can’t possibly hurt anything to try!

                I’m not sure how many people the Earth could sustain if everyone lived like me (assuming they need 4 planets too) because I could not find it anywhere on the calculator website. I’m sure it would be a relatively low number because four planets is outrageous for everyone to “use” in their lives. I hope that through this activity our class decides to make a change in the way they live. If we all do some things to better the Earth it will add up!

 

Blog 9- 3/21/11

Energy will always be needed so it should make sense that we try to conserve it or find a way to use other methods that won’t deplete what the Earth has left.  We rely so much on fossil fuels these days that it is hard to imagine using some other form of energy. For what it is worth, I think energy it too expensive! But that is probably the view of every American out there. In reality the energy that is left is probably priced too low. If something is rare and in high demand…the price usually goes up. That is what is happening to fossil fuels. But in all honesty I hope it does not go up too much, then I won’t be able to afford it!

Conservation is not a dirty word to me. I think it is a word of beauty and intelligence. I learned today that Jimmy Carter basically said if you are cold put on a sweater instead of turning the heat up. I think this is a great idea! I do this all the time when it is cold, and when it is hot I just wear shorts and tank tops. It’s worth it to me to dress accordingly instead of messing with the temperature of my house. I’m one person; I do not need an entire house cooled to the point of me being comfortable, I can just dress more for the occasion. I would say to Jimmy “Cardigan” good job trying to get this point across. Too bad that Americans are not as receptive as the two of us!

I believe we should be looking more into alternative energy sources because fossil fuels are going to run out eventually. Maybe not in my lifetime, but probably in my kids or grandkids lifetimes. I do not want them to suffer because of what we did in this generation. If I had to pick one alternative energy source to put on a pedestal, I would have a very difficult time. They all have their benefits as well as pitfalls. I think I would have to say harnessing the tide would be one of the top sources of renewable energy. The mechanisms can be placed anywhere where there is a good tide. There would be the loss of the aesthetic component for beach dwellers, but I think that is something that can be sacrificed.

As for myself, I can reduce my energy intake immediately. I can take shorter showers, only wash full loads of clothes, use the dishwasher less, dress more “appropriately” in my house so I don’t have to change the temperature, and I can unplug everything I am not using. In the next five years I can try to switch my truck to a more eco-friendly ride that gets higher gas mileage. I can even ride my bicycle more to places that are close by instead of driving.