Blog entry #13

Blog Entry #13: What was your overall opinion of Estero Island Cottage and Matanzas Pass? What sights, sounds, and/or experiences stood out? Give concrete examples of how the local quality of life is being enhanced. How has your hometown changed since you were a child? Do you still feel a sense of community? If a developer offered you 300% the market value of your childhood home to develop into condos, would you take it? What if the county approached you about purchasing the land under the 20/20 program, for 80% of its market value?

I thought Estero Island Cottage was very informative. I loved our speaker we had at the cottage. She was super informative, and you could tell she was passionate about the history of the area. It was nice that she was around for a lot of the stuff she told us about. She was very nice and really adorable like a grandma. I had a very good time there. Matanzas pass was fun too. It was a lot of walking and i almost stepped on two crabs, but it was a good field trip. I learned a lot about the plants in the area. The mangroves stood out the most, they were all over the place. I also noticed a lot of crabs, there are always crab holes by mangroves. I think its nice that the community cared so much about the conservation of this little piece of land that was left. I also think its great that they give the school everything they need. The local quality of life is being enhanced with the rebuilding of matanzas pass. They made it look much better, cleaned it up, and got all the junkies out of it. It used to be full of hobos and drug addicts, so bad that there would be needles left all over the pathways. There is now less crime in the area, and less pollution. My hometown hasnt changed much since i was a child. It is a rural village in Michigan called Mattawan. There is still not much around, a few buildings popped up here and there but for the most part it is still pretty untouched. I always feel at home when i go there. Everyone knows everybody, its very "small town america". If i could live in my childhood home again i would, forever. I loved that house. My parents bought the land and had the home built on it. My dad finished the entire basement, and did all the landscaping. My best friend since i was three years old still lives next door to it. I would not sell if for anything, i dont care how much i was offered. The community would not allow condos to be built there either. It would mess with the whole feel of the town.

Blog entry #12

Blog Entry #12: What is “sustainable consumerism”? Are globalization and capitalism positive or negative drivers in this phenomenon? What is greenwashing? Would you be willing to pay a premium for foods labeled “organic”, “local”, or “fair-trade”? Do you prefer to frequent mom and pop stores in downtown Ft. Myers or patronize chain stores at the Gulf Coast Town Center? What are the ramifications of your behaviors either way? Think holistically.

The Oslo definition of Sustainable Consumption defines it as "the use of services and related products which respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life while minimizing the use of natural resources and toxic materials as well as emissions of waste and pollutants over the life cycle of the service or product so as not to jeopardize the needs of future generations." Sustainable consumerism ties in with this referring to the consumers who are being sustainable by this consumption. Globalization can be negative because it means shipping things abroad and having multiple businesses over seas, which can mean more traveling, and more shipment going abroad, which lets out more emissions with planes, and cargo carriers. Capitalism can be negative as well referring to a money hungry society which may not try to be as sustainable as a society who is not as concerned with making money. Some sustainable practices dont make as much money for businesses, like for instance if people start growing their own gardens. Greenwashing is when marketers push all this "green" movement all over the place in the media to try to brainwash people into "going green". I would not pay more for foods that are "organic" or anything like that because i like to get the cheaper deals.. im a broke college student. I shop chains more than mom and pop just because they are convenient and i know about them and know what to expect. I think it would be better for me to buy locally and help out the mom and pop stores but i dont really know of any.

Blog entry #11

Blog Entry #11: What kinds of emotions does the word “downtown” evoke? How has their stature in communities changed over time? Why is downtown Ft. Myers experiencing something of a renaissance? What are some of the prominent architectural features? How (and why) are they designed to rekindle the “pedestrian” spirit? Discuss some other “nods to history” that we saw on our tour. How has the economy of Ft. Myers evolved from past to present? How does all of this relate to sustainability?

Dowtown to me can bring two different emotions. When i think of smaller cities, like fort myers, downtown is gross. Its usually where the poor, crackheads live. Its not maintained very well, and full of broke down, abandoned buildings. However, when i think of downtown in big cities, like Chicago, i think of art, music, skyscrapers, museums, trains, the pier. Downtown chicago is gorgeous and full of culture. Downtown fort myers, ugly and broke down. However, downtown fort myers "river district" is trying to revive the city and bring some life back into it. They have art walk, and music walk every month, and are working on fixing up some of the roads and whatnot. It is pedestrian friendly, but not like Chicago. When i walk through chicago i feel safe and like i can be myself and have a great day. When i walk through downtown fort myers, im scared, i feel like some crackhead is gonna bust out of an alley and attack me. Fort myers used to be full of great minds like Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, now.... not so much. We have been hit so bad by the recession that theyre are so many homeless, and jobless people who dont really care anymore about trying to do anything with their lives. The history of fort myers was so ambitious and insightful and now its this big dump.

Blog Entry #10

Blog Entry #10: Calculate your ecofootprint at http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators/. How did you fare? Print out your final report and bring to class. Click the explore scenarios button. What behaviors could you modify (be reasonable now!) to reduce your footprint? What is the resulting value? Assume the average American ecofootprint is 4.6 (earths). If everyone lived like you do, what is the maximum population that earth could sustain (according to this calculator)?

My ecological footprint is 4.9 planet earths. It takes 21.8 global acres to support my lifestyle. If i reduced the amount of animal products i ate by half ( i currently eat meat a few times a week) it would reduce to 4.5 earths. If i used products with less packaging, or 100% recycled material, it would reduce to 4.2, with both of these new decisions it would also reduce my global acres to 18.8. Doesnt seem like much of a difference with just one person, but if everyone tries to reduce their ecological footprints in similar ways, it would make a big difference. If the average american is 4.6, with everyone living like i do at 4.9, we would only need to reduce the population by a few, however if we all changed to the 4.2, we would be able to provide leftover resources to those in other countries that need them.

Blog Entry #9

Blog Entry #9: Is energy too cheap? Is conservation a dirty word? What would you say to “Jimmy Cardigan”? With regards to alternative energy sources (renewables) are you a "free-marketeer" or proponent of government intervention to steer us away from fossil fuels? In your opinion, what type of renewable energy has the most upside potential? What steps can you take 1) tomorrow and 2) within the next five years to reduce your energy footprint?

Energy can be cheap in certain situations. For instance, on campus, electric is included in your housing cost. Which means whether you use 50 dollars a month or 400 dollars a month in electric, it is all costing the student nothing. In this situation, it is too cheap. How are we to determine how much energy is going to be used and put it in a base cost? I believe students should have to pay their own electric bills, for two reasons. One, so that FGCU doesnt get screwed when some people use way too much energy and can use the money for other more important things. Two, so that students understand just how much they are using, and try to change their lifestyles to use less. Is conservation a dirty word? Umm, no.. I dont think so? I think that some people dont use it correctly and can make it seem less important, but i dont think its "dirty". When it come to alternative energy, i believe the government should have some regulation, so we dont choose something more harmful than what we already use. But in retrospect, the company or scientists or whoever is coming up with the new "source", it should mainly be all on their hands. Im no scientist so i dont know what is the best way to go, but in my opinion, i think biofuel is a good way to go. I dont think solar power, wind power are good ideas because they rely on the weather, and are super expensive to put up. In regards to what i can do to reduce my own energy consumption, tomorrow, would be the usual, recycle, reduce, reuse. In the coming years, i may be able to do more with more knowledge.

Blog entry #8

Blog Entry #8: In your view, is climate change anthropogenic (manmade), "natural", or some combination of the two? What (or who) would you consider reputable sources for climate change information? How is climate change portrayed in the media? Does this portrayal make you more or less likely to alter your lifestyle? What do you think the effects of climate change will be on your children and grandchildren?

In my opinion, climate change is both natural and man-made. There have always been greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, they are what keeps the heat and makes it liveable on earth. Without them, the earth would be one giant ice age. However, since industry kicked off, man has been putting more and more gases into the air, which has made an impact on the natural order of things. Man has made it a bit hotter, but not much. However, if we dont start to pay attention and control what we are doing, we may push ourselves into a situation that we cant get out of. Perhaps another ice age, or a catastrophic series of natural disasters, or an intensely hot burnout. Climate change is portrayed in the media as a very bad thing, its all mans fault. Im not going to change my lifestyle because of it. I have been raised to live at certain standards of living and i sure as hell am not going to go back to prehistoric lifestyles. However, i do believe we should try to find alternate ways of doing things so we can perhaps lower the amount of gases being spewed into the atmosphere. I believe for my children and grandchildren it wont be much different then it is now, i think the overall effects of what is going on now, wont take place for a few hundred years. Then again, im no scientist so who really knows.