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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Blog Post #6 - ECHO Nursery

ECHO was an eye opening experience. It's hard to think that there are that many people in the world that have as much trouble finding clean water or enough food to eat. It's great that there is an organization like ECHO to be able to teach people in developing nations how to grow their own food and care for their own goats and rabbits and ducks. They were able to raise ducks over the top of the lake, and their waste creates an algae which the Tillapia can...

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Blog Entry #5 - Sustainable Farming

What are the major elements of "sustainable" farming? How are ecological principles woven into this framework? Do you buy organic or "naturally" labeled foods? Why or why not?  I buy organic foods from Fresh Market because they seem fresher, better, for some reason… I don’t like the look of target’s pre-packaged 1lb meat containers, because they look too perfect to be made in the store. I don’t...

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Blog Entry #4 - Environmental Issues

The most pressing global environmental issue facing us today is global energy consumption. We are simply consuming too much, while producing too little (or having the inability to produce more altogether, as is the situation of fossil fuels). There are numerous different methods of power generation, from coal to natural gas, wind power to solar energy. All of these things have effects on the environment, some worse than others. I feel...

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Blog Entry #3 - Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary was awesome. The two mile trail took us through the pine flatwoods, the wet prarie (which was not very wet at the moment), the ponds and the grass ponds, cypress forests, and a marsh ecosystem. I saw several different animals, from birds to spiders to lizards to alligators. The "ecosystem services" that they provide are sheltering and providing food for the animals who inhabit the area. Birds nest high in...

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Blog Entry #2 - Campus Walk

Your musings on the campus walk... Here's the sign upon entering the Nature Trail at FGCU. Here is a picture of the canopies of a few palm trees. I took Biology of Southwest Florida, which was very similar as far as topics and field-trip locations as this one. We learned about the "Air Plant" in that class, and I knew I had stumbled upon one here. Here is some of the wildlife we saw that day! You can see...

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Blog Entry #1 - Introduction

What are your expectations for this class? My expectations for this class are that I will learn new things about the environment around Southwest Florida through field trips and interactive assignments.  In your own words, what is sustainability? Sustainability to me is "being able to be maintained for a long period of time". How does sustainability (or ecological sense of place) relate to your chosen field of study? My chosen field of study...

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