Blog Entry #13 - Estero Island Cottage and Matanzas Pass

  Historic Cottage & Matanzas Pass Preserve Estero Island Cottage and Matanzas Pass is a beautiful look back into what Fort Myers Beach "used to be". The cottages, built in 1921, are still standing, and well maintained. The boardwalk leading to Matanzas Pass was also very well maintained. The only part I found strange was the unnaturally yellowed water and the severe mosquitoes.  Local quality...

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Blog Entry #12 - Sustainable Consumerism

see greenwash below “Sustainable consumerism” is consuming while being aware of the impact that your consumption has on the sustainability of the environment around you. Globalization and capitalism are positive drivers in this phenomenon.Osgood Sustainability Consulting says: Fundamentally, sustainable consumerism needs to be about creating opportunities: to create and enjoy wealth for more people in more places to enable more people...

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Blog Entry #11 - Downtown Ft. Myers

The word "Downtown" evokes feelings of a big city with lots of cars, lights, and traffic. In the past, downtown was a place that people went to hang out, go shopping, and have dinner. Many downtown areas are being run-down and turned into a crime-ridden, uninviting part of the city. Fort Myers luckily is experiencing what many might call a renaissance. The architecture is clean, yet maintains the spirit of historic downtown Fort...

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Blog Entry #10 - Ecofootprint

Ecofootprint Calculator According to the EcoFootprint calculator, my footprint is 5.0 earths, which is above average. If everyone lived like me, we would need 5 planet earths to provide enough resources. My footprint is mostly made up by Services (@ 40%) and Food (@ 30%). It takes 22.2 global acres of the Earth's productive area to support my lifestyle. Some things that would change my ecofootprint are: 1. Reduce animal-products I eat by half...

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Blog Post #9 - Is Energy Too Cheap?

Energy is too cheap. There is an obvious need for the way that we consume energy (ie... gas, fossil fuels, coal, etc...) The unfortunate thing is that as energy prices drop (which, right now they are the lowest that they have been in a while), the incentive to find an alternative energy source is lessened.  Conservation isn't a dirty word. Some ignorant people who believe that there isn't anything wrong with what we are doing to the environment...

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Blog Post # 8 - Climate Change

I think that global climate change is both antropogenic AND natural. History shows a cyclic trend of heating and cooling. However, since the onset of the industrial revolution, there has been a MUCH steeper increase in the rate of warming. (See below, it has risen to levels MUCH higher than in the past.) A few good sources of climate information are NASA Earth Observatory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and...

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Blog Post #7 - ArborGen

Eucalyptus trees are native to Australia, beside inland bodies of water. The tree is subject to regular flooding in its natural habitat. These trees live hundreds of years. They are not native to Southwest Florida. If genetically modified eucalyptus was to be planted at FGCU, it would encroach on the natural species that currently inhabit the environment. According to The Heartland Institute however, scientists have "inserted a gene that prevents...

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