Florida Gulf Coast University

Since I’ve been at Florida Gulf Coast University, I’ve lived in three different communities. This fall, I moved into West Lake Village, previously known as College Club. I began to question if West Lake Village is environmentally friendly. Since Florida Gulf Coast University just bought College Club, I’ve noticed some small changes. For example, the lights on the buildings and out door hallways seem to be turned off most of the time. I believe that they are trying to conserve money and energy. Another improvement that Florida Gulf Coast University has made is the shuttle service. A shuttle service is offered on every weekday, shuttling students from West Lake Village to campus. Although it is a short drive to campus, every little bit helps. Another thing that I really enjoy about West Lake Village is its recycling service. I’ve heard many complaints about the recycling service on campus. I even heard that someone saw a Florida Gulf Coast University employee throwing the recycling in with the garbage. In West Lake Village there are recycling bins for every type of material. 

I’m very impressed with the changes that Florida Gulf Coast University has done to make this neighborhood a more eco-friendly place to live. The fact that Florida Gulf Coast University is so environmentally savvy is one of the main reasons I loved it so much. You don’t find the type of care and appreciation for the environment at bigger schools. Florida Gulf Coast University has done a great job of being eco-friendly and educating students about our environment. Us, our children, and our grandchildren are the people that must face the consequences of what has happened globally to our environment. We are also the people who need to change our way of life in order for us to keep our natural, beautiful world. 

My Life In Nature

In this blog, I will be discussing my relationship with the environment throughout my life. I was born in New Mexico and lived there for the first ten years of my life. Since we had very warm summers, I spent a lot of my childhood outdoors. Our house backed directly up to an arroyo. My sister and I would build forts and search for gords in the sand. My family also owned a ranch in northern New Mexico, which we would visit on a regular basis. We owned cattle and horses and there were many kinds of other wildlife living on the ranch like coyotes, bears, snakes, and bobcats. We moved to Northern Alabama when I was ten years old and it was a culture and environment shock. I went from one of the most dry states to a city in which it rained everyday. We lived in a neighborhood that was right in the middle of the city so there were not as many opportunities to see wild life and do activities outside. Spending so much time outdoors in New Mexico was a wonderful experience that I’m glad I took advantage of. I babysit a little girl whose world does not revolve around nature. Other than P.E. at school, she doesn’t go outside other than to take the dog out. As soon as she finishes her homework she either watches television, plays the Wii, or plays computer games. She is only thirteen years younger than I am. It truly amazes me to see how much one generation has changed from the previous one. These days, children’s worlds revolve around electronics and entertainment. With the developing technology, it is something that is inevitable. As a future teacher, I know that it is in my hands to balance children’s use of technology and their relationship to the natural world. It is important that kids have some sort of relationship even if it is a small one. Part of me is scared of the future because as technology gets more advanced, I fear that people’s relationships with nature will parish. I’m glad that I was able to have a relationship with nature especially because I got to experience nature in its different forms. From hot to cold, to rainy to dry, my childhood was full of fresh air, wild animals, and fun adventures. 

24 Hours

For this particular blog, I recorded everything I did for twenty-four hours. By recording a typical day, I can see how I'm using the resources around me and how I can use them to an even better ability. 

8:30 AM- Wake up

8:45 AM-Showered, brushed teeth, got ready

9:30 AM-Drove to campus

12:00 PM-Drove to Publix and bought groceries

2:00 PM-Cleaned the apartment

4:00 PM-Worked on homework

7:00 PM-Cooked and ate dinner

9:30 PM-Bed

By looking back at a typical day, I see how I can make simple changes to help our environment. I usually take a twenty minute shower, but if I cut that down to ten or fifteen minutes, I would be saving a lot of water. Even when it comes to brushing my teeth, I can turn the water on and off as opposed to leaving it on. Instead of driving to campus everyday, I could save money and gasoline by riding my bicycle or rollerblading. Instead of using the plastic bags at Publix, I can buy reusable bags or bring my own from home. I noticed that one of my friends requests no bags at all when she goes to the grocery store. She puts as much as she can fit in her purse and carries the rest in her hands because she believes it is a waste. 

When I returned to my apartment, I noticed that one of my roommates had left her bathroom and closet light on even though she wasn't home. I turned the lights off for her and left a friendly reminder that if lights aren't being used, that they should be turned off. I've become more conscious of electronics and leaving things plugged in to electrical sockets. I didn't realize that even if something is off, it still uses electricity even if it is turned off. I used to have the habit of leaving my phone charger plugged into the wall at all times but if something isn't being used, I leave it unplugged. 

When I was cleaning around the house, I turned off the air conditioner and opened the windows so that the fresh air could come in. The first month we lived in our apartment, our electric bill was extremely high due to the fact that we kept it on such low temperatures. Luckily, its been cooling off outside so we will be able to turn the air conditioner off all together. I also got in the bad habit of falling asleep with the television on. Although it is a hard habit to break, I've taught myself to set the television on sleep mode so that it turns off automatically. By doing this experiment, I saw the many small changes that I can make in my daily life to help our planet and the environment we live in. 

Calusa Nature Center

During the summer, I worked as a camp counselor for the Calusa Nature Center. I've also done my community service hours at Calusa that are required for Colloquium. Calusa is a non-profit education center that is located in Fort Myers. Calusa is located on 105 acres of wilderness and swamplands. It includes a museum, a Planetarium, nature trails, a butterfly aviary and a bird aviary. I'd never really known that much about the environment or about nature before I began working at Calusa. We learned about all the different mammals like the bobcat, raccoons, opossums, pigs and the foxes. The bird aviary was filled with owls, eagles, hawks and vultures. 

In the actual museum, there are reptiles and amphibians. There are three different nature trails at Calusa. One of the trails is a raised boardwalk that takes you along some of the wetlands. My favorite part was learning each animal's individual story. For almost all of the birds and mammals, Calusa only takes in injured animals. There was a one eyed owl, a raccoon that had been raised as a domestic animal, and a bobcat that was malnutritioned. We learned a lot about the environment, recycling, and the animals. 

Estero Bay Field Trip

On October 11, our Colloquium class took a trip to the Estero Bay Historic Cottage and Matanzas Pass Preserve. As soon as we got off the bus, we were taken into the cottage and were seated. An older woman began talking to us about the history of the Estero Bay and discussed the many changes that have taken place in the last fifty or so years. She had lived on the island her entire life so she was a first hand witness to the changes that had taken place. She passed around pictures of bridges that have been built and hurricane damage that has occurred. There was something about hearing it from someone who has actually experienced the changes that Estero Bay had to undertake. It made it more realistic than simply reading about it in a book. The cottage had been used as a school house for the children of the community. After the presentation, she offered us lemonade, cookies, crackers, and sea grape jelly. I think the snacks were everyone's favorite part. 

After the refreshments, we walked along the boardwalk until we reached the bay. The waters were calm but Neil pointed out the cloudiness of the water. The water was a brown murky color and it was difficult to see the bottom, even in shallow waters. 

Food Inc.

This was the second time that I'd seen Food Inc. and I believe that I got more out of it this time than last. I saw it when it was in theaters but just in the short time I've been in Colloquium, I feel like I can understand much more of the information in the movie. Watching Food Inc. really made me think about where my food comes from. Honestly, most of the time I have no idea where my food comes from. From eating out, buying groceries, or picking up a cheeseburger, I'm pretty oblivious when it comes to my food's background. Seeing the reality of where food comes from really puts things in perspective for me. This movie definitely affected me as I'm sure it did to many people. I think that is why some people have no interest in seeing a film like Food Inc. They don't want to know where there food comes from. It is better to just be ignorant and oblivious than face reality of where our food comes from. If I knew where my food came from, how animals were treated, or the sanitary conditions of the entire process, I probably wouldn't eat it. I'm sure it is the same for many Americans. I am an animal lover, I get upset to even see an animal on the side of the road. If I saw what these animals go through, the conditions, and the abuse, I'm sure I would stop eating meat. I'm sure that this is the same for most people. It is no surprise that the big corporations don't want to show "behind-the-scenes" footage or even comment about the conditions that the animals are put through. If people were aware of everything that goes on, they would make a change. The film stated that we have discovered how to engineer our food these days. Chickens could be raised out in the open with plenty of room and sunlight and grow at a normal pace but we've engineered the chicken so that it can grow at almost double the speed, not to mention we can keep them enclosed without sunlight to make the process even more efficient.

 It surprises me that large corporations are able to get away with all of this. I would think that the more that people knew about this, the more they would do to stop it or change it. I think that the problem is that people don't know. This isn't something that large meat corporations advertise or talk about. The less that the public knows, the better for them. 

Food is something that is essential to human life and always will be. It is sad to see what has happened to our eating habits. Unhealthy, processed foods has become cheaper, faster, and easier for the general public. With obesity and diabetes on the rise, eating habits are going to have to change. The only way that things are going to change is when the general public takes a stand. 

ECHO

On Monday, September 20, our class took a trip to ECHO. I’d passed signs for Echo before but I was never clear on what it was. ECHO stands for Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization. We began with a short introduction from our tour guide Vic and proceeded to watch a movie on the history of ECHO. A quote from the movie that really stood out to me was, “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime.” This is the basic purpose of ECHO. “ECHO's primary functions are providing agricultural information to overseas workers, distributing seeds for promising food plants, and offering training opportunities at the Florida farm.” Instead of just shipping off bulk amount of foods to other countries, ECHO educates the people in need on just how to make their own food. ECHO helps over 180 different countries. They send out educators to teach people how to farm for themselves so that they will always have a source of food for their families. 

Another thing the video pointed out was that ECHO doesn’t send out bulk amount of seeds either. They send free, trial packets to the countries in need. After the introduction and video, we began our tour of the facility. ECHO is set up so that they can practice farming in different types of environments, whether it be the rainforest or dry land. I was able to see many different plants and produce that I’d never seen up close before. We saw sugar cane, avocados, plantains, and even miracle fruit. I’ve never had much experience around farming so seeing all the plants was pretty interesting. Something that really caught my eye was a shelter for goats. Two small goats lived in what looked like a little wooden house. It was raised off the ground, which I thought was very unusual, since most animals live on the ground in the dirt. After I read the sign next to the pin, I realized they had meant for their pin to be a two or three feet off the ground. This made is much easier to collect the manure that the goats were producing daily. 

I’d never realized how much working farming took. I was naïve to think that all it took was some seeds and water but it amazes me that there are programs like ECHO around. Although shipping out food to other countries would help with the hunger, ECHO actually offers a solution to the problem that these people can use for the rest of their lives. 

Corkscrew Sanctuary

On Monday, August 30, our Colloquium class took a field trip to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. We took about a half an hour bus ride over to the sanctuary. The Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is maintained by the National Audubon Society and was established in 1954. It is 11,000 acres and its main goal is wilderness preserve. After a quick introduction at the entrance of the sanctuary, we broke off into two smaller groups going opposite directions on the boardwalk. The boardwalk at the sanctuary is 2.25 miles long and goes through different and distinct environments. Although there have been wildlife sightings including mammals, reptiles, and birds, I was only able to see insects except for one alligator sighting while we were pulling up to the sanctuary. 

The boardwalk goes from open pinelands to the largest forest of bald cypress in North America. While we were in the pine forest area of the boardwalk we came across some scat that was left by a wildcat. We were told that not only people, but animals use the boardwalk as an easy way to get around. Moving from the pine forest to the cypress forest was a big change. Even the temperature dropped a couple degrees. There were a lot more insects in the swamp area especially mosquitos since they obviously love the standing water. I got to see many new plants and flowers that I’d never been introduced to before. I saw many spider webs and hornets nests. Working at Calusa Nature Center, like I mentioned before gave me the opportunity to experience similar boardwalks and habitat but it was fun and interesting getting to explore somewhere I’d never been before! I loved taking photographs of the trees and insects.

The Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary also has a very interesting water restoration process called the living machine. Instead of using an artificial water treatment plant, it restores waste-water to almost drinkable water. This system costs a lot less than conventional technology. Construction and completion occurred in 1994. 

My Environmental Philosophy

I only became environmental aware in the past few years. Of course, growing up, I was taught to reduce and recycle, but I never really knew how it affect our planet. Even throughout my teenage years, I wouldn't go out of my way to through a plastic bottle into the recycling bin, I would just throw it in the first garbage bin I came across. In my naive mind, it was only one bottle, so how much harm could it do?

This past summer, I began working at Calusa Nature Center as a camp counselor. Although my job was to teach and inform the children, I ended up learning just as much as they did. Each week was based on a different theme and my favorite week of the summer was based on "Eco-Art.” We did several projects that week that included making bowls out of old magazines, making binoculars out of toilet tissue rolls, and creating sculptures out of trash. Not only did we make eco-friendly crafts, we also learned about the effects of humans on the planet. We learned about recycling, reducing, and reusing and discussed everyday ways on how to be a little more eco-friendly. Not only did I learn about how to protect our planet, but I got to see first-hand the effects. The oil-spill occurred during my time at Calusa and the staff at Calusa immediately began planning and considering the animals that may be brought to the Nature Center that were affected from the oil-spill. We already had a number of brown pelicans living at Calusa and the staff knew there was going to be a large number of pelicans that were harmed during the oil-spill. Unfortunetly, Calusa did not have the housing or funding for the new animals that may need help. I have always been an animal lover but working at the Calusa only made me more passionate. It broke my heart to think about all the animals that were harmed because of our mistake. Not only did this huge accident affect the ocean and the animals, it affected people and businesses too. Working at Calusa opened my eyes to our precious environment around us and it made me realize how important it is that we take care of it before it is too late. Doing simple things like turning off the water while brushing our teeth or riding our bike to school might seem minute but if everyone puts in a little bit of effort, we will earn a big reward in the end.

Calusa Nature Center: http://www.calusanature.com/