Initial Thoughts

Summer is a time where everyone wishes to relax and soak up the sun as much as they can, and during the past few summers I have not been able to, due to work or taking a ton of summer classes. However, this summer is a little different. It is made up of family time and colloquium class. Now you may be thinking I just complained because every summer I work or take classes and all I want to do is soak up the sun, but this summer I have limited my class taking to only Colloquium and I expect to get a combination of knowledge and fun. I feel that taking colloquium over the summer will provide me with plenty of opportunities to go outdoors and explore. Focus on things that usually I would not focus on such as sustainability, eco friendly locations, and green alternatives to everyday habits. While doing all of this since it is outdoors, I’ll still be receiving much of that summer sun that Florida has to offer and not just be in a classroom studying all day.

One of the issues concerning today’s day and age is the topic of sustainability. To me sustainability is the ability to repeat a process and maintain it without creating an imbalance in resources used. To be sustainable in other words you should be able to repeat the process for an unlimited time period because there should always be a balanced amount of resources available for the producer. Sustainability is a very important issue that can be related to everyone. Focusing on my field of study, which is biology, one can say sustainability is very important. Biology is the study of life, and how to maintain life is very critical. If people continue participating in non-sustainable methods to obtain everyday needs such as food we create an imbalance in our environment limiting our resources available and eventually driving our resources into extinction. Human impact on the environment is a very critical. We are leaving marks on the environment through our actions from the participation in non-sustainable methods and eventually this could be the downfall of a healthy human civilization. On a much smaller scale one can see that we are all responsible for participating in non-sustainable actions. For example, not recycling our paper or cardboard, driving our giant gas machines (cars) and not seeking alternative modes of transportation etc. These are simple actions that most of us tend to over look but clearly they are actions that are not part of a sustainable way of life and I am first to say I am guilty of doing such things.

Now I know taking this colloquium class will not change my life completely one day to the next but I think it will offer me the opportunity to appreciate my surrounding environment more and open my eyes to other sustainable alternatives to my everyday actions.