Marine Paradise

I definitely feel like I ended the semester right with this last field trip. It was an unbelievable experience. I went on a day trip to a small beach up in Boyton, where I did some snorkeling and explored some mangroves. My surf and turf experience was great. Underwater I saw all sorts of fish from small, blue Damsels to some big Yellowtail Snapper swimming in and out of all the reefs. There were several reefs each about 10-15 ft wide and in 10-12 ft of water. Though most were man made they still made awesome homes for these little creatures. The negative to this reef location was that it was located close to an inlet so many boats came flying out of it made tons of noise. I’m not sure exactly what kind of effect it has on wild life in this area but I am pretty sure that it probably has a negative one.

On land I saw a different type environment, one flooded with green, salty, leafy mangroves. These mangroves were huge and covered the beach location like in many places in Florida. Lizards roamed the sidewalks next to these Mangroves and with the presence of any person quickly disappeared. Closer towards the sand a tiny, yellow crab crawled in and out of holes searching for who knows what.

Overall the beach is located in a somewhat secluded part of Boyton beach. Though this beach was once pretty much completely isolated, the city has tried to keep it as pristine as possible by only allowing the development of homes nearby and has left out the commercial lifestyle. The community has helped maintain the habitat surrounding this beach by strongly reinforcing the rules of what you are allowed to fish for, protecting sea turtle nesting and performing weekly test in the water to insure all is good. These minor efforts are huge in making sure this beach is ran in a sustainable way so that it can be used and experienced the same way over and over again.

Like stated above the city has performed several tasks to ensure the protection of such an ecosystem. The noisy inlet provides acute complications now, but the constant lighting of the boats and activity going in and out of the inlet can cause long-term effects to sea turtle nesting sites because it can disorient the baby turtles and inhibit their entrance into the ocean.

As far as the beach goes I would say it is different then ones seen on the west coast. The water is much clearer, deeper and provides a more tropical ecosystem in the water. However, the maintenance of both marine habitats on the west or east coast is pretty much the same. We must ultimately respect the wildlife and put in place restrictions so that we the people do not destroy the marine ecosystem. The community has restrictions in place for this location and continues to enhance the marine wildlife here by placing rocks underwater in order to make more artificial reefs for the sea creatures. The methods used are not particularly unique but still very efficient in providing homes for the marine life.

Investigate your Consumption!

Sustainable consumerism is the art of consuming materials, which were manufactured in a sustainable way. In a way globalization and capitalism are in fact two negative drivers in this phenomenon. Globalization is the ability to develop in order to influence globally in its operation and capitalism is when a country’s trade is govern by private owners for profit rather than state. So you could see that clearly both of these are methods that interest a particular group of people. If one country tries to globalize the way they produce they search for places that can minimize their cost to produce and maximize their profit i.e. third world countries where unemployment is high. On the other hand capitalism is in favor of making high profit for private investors or greedy people because they compete in order to make the most profit for their product at whatever cost and most of the time exhaust the resources needed to produce. Therefore, globalization and capitalism can be seen as obstacles for consumers to purchase items that were created in a sustainable manner.

Overcoming the impacts of capitalism and globalization is one thing, but being able to identify what “green” products to consume is another. Many companies do what is called “greenwashing” which is when they try to promote products that seem to be eco-friendly when used but in reality the production of them is more detrimental to the environment. The consumer must be very careful purchasing such “eco-friendly” products and not give in to all the green propaganda around. For example Christmas tree planting seems to be very “green” but the maintenance of these commercial plants is horrible. Hundreds of pesticides get sprayed on them in order to maintain quality for the consumer. When purchasing food products the FDA has been able to combat these greenwashing efforts by labeling foods with the title of organic. In other words the food has no pesticides. Herbicides, fungicides, or steroids and are grown in sustainable land. Therefore I would purchase organic foods. Another label around is the one that states that the food is local. This is good and bad at the same time. Good in that you reduce the use of transportation aka carbon emissions but bad because they may not be grown in a sustainable manner which of course isn’t good even if it’s local. Chances are however if you buy products from local sellers in farmers markets it is better for the environment because you reduce carbon emissions and promote local economy however you may not know if it is organic or not. Purchasing from giant chain stores you are more likely to know due to labels what you are purchasing but at the same time the products purchased from a chain store have traveled long distances to reach the shelves and therefore do not promote local economy as much.

When consuming any product it is crucial that one considers the farming techniques used, distance traveled, and who you buy it from. Making these considerations can severely minimize your environmental impacts.

More than Beach- Ft. Lauderdale

Downtown is a word that brings to mind an idea of an urban, polluted, high skyscraping building city. Overtime downtowns have evolved from just business oriented, low class to a more sophisticated family type of environment. Ft. Lauderdale has changed from a college partying escape to a more affluent family oriented community. This east coast oasis is promoting a modern twist to its architecture and location. When first inhabited Ft. Lauderdale residents were highly interested in living off of the New River, where ferries were the highlight of the evening now people have migrated towards the beach and now the shoreline is infested with hotels and apartments. Tourism has exploded and the economy thrives on it. Yet the people must find ways to control this explosion before the people exhaust the land. On my trip to Downtown I learned that in the efforts of the people to preserve this tourism and create more touristic destinations the government allowed the disposal of hundreds of tires into the ocean in order to create a man made reef. But failed to do so because the tires drifted and destroyed other real reefs.

In spite of all the tourism and modern buildings, the downtown still has old houses, which lie along the river and gives the downtown area a homey less touristic atmosphere. The preservation of these landmarks is crucial in the preservation of history and culture of Ft. Lauderdale.

The downtown also has numerous natural parks around that are available to the public for camping, hiking and biking. Though slightly located on the outskirts of downtown they still are close enough to the high sky rise buildings to balance the concrete and nature. These parks are crucial in order to minimize the detachment of people and the land and are very likely to help control what some would label as Nature deficit disorder in many urban areas.

Overall my visitation to Ft. Lauderdale was very different than what some would experience on a day trip to the beach.

What size is your Foot?

I am actually very, extremely disappointed in my carbon footprint quiz. I know I do not live extremely green but I thought I would do a lot better compared to the average American, but in reality I would need 4.2 earths to live the way I do if everyone did what I do, compared to the average 4.6 earths. The max population that the earth could sustain if everyone lived like me would be 1.75 billion compared to the 7 billion we have today. This to me is unacceptable.

Though the services portion of the quiz is what seems to be the most detrimental to my carbon footprint I think the food is an area I am more likely to fix. I consume a lot of animal products and not a lot of it is locally grown, causing a lot of long distance transportation to be needed for me to get my goods. In order to reduce this weakness I must look into more locally grown foods, organic foods and less animal products. If I adjust my food habits I can bring down my earth count to 3.7 much better then the above 4.2.

Heated Conversation!!

Energy is not cheap at all because we have not made it so. We have become fully dependent on oil and therefore dug ourselves a hole where either we keep paying rising energy prices or find alternate sources of energy. Conservation is key in the energy crisis. If Jimmy Carter were here I would tell him he is the Nostradamus of energy, because he knew we had to conserve our energy and he made it clear through his efforts to encourage the American people to do so.We must find a source of energy that can be conserved for the next generations if not for the rest of our life. A source that will not run out in just a few years and that has costs that are not constantly on a rise. I am a strong believer in having a government but one that also believes that we cannot leave things up to them in order to initiate change. We must invest in private marketeers to innovate new ideas that can be used as renewable sources of energy. Investing in such people and becoming successful will steer the government to intervene and maintain this success because ultimately it would stimulate money for any economy. We must investigate more than just one energy source. We must have alternatives so we do not just become dependent on one because then we could find ourselves in the place we are now. Therefore we must consider, other fossil fuels, wind, solar, geo, and hydro energy for us to be successful. However, to me the one with the most potential seems to be solar energy. Solar energy has been around for over 3 billion years and we must take advantage of it. Solar energy can be our key in a renewable resource so that we can become independent of oil.

To understand why solar energy is a strong candidate here are some pros and cons.

Pros:

Not much pollution is given off from solar panels except during production of them.

Solar panels are easily installed and can be installed practically anywhere (They are not location specific).

Fossil fuel cost deviate constantly due to market demands but solar energy can avoid that because a constant supply is readily available.

The electricity produced by solar energy is relatively quiet compared to other resources (wind turbines).

Cons:

Installation and production of a solar panel is very costly in the beginning.

Solar energy is only able to be produce during daylight hours and weather can affect production.

Increasing pollution affects efficiency of solar cells. Industries installing solar energy plants in highly polluted areas such as cities can have trouble in being efficient.

The above points are very important in considering solar energy as a powerful alternative.

Individually we can take minor steps today to reduce our energy footprint such as investing in energy saving light bulbs, use of public transportation, and consume locally grown foods. But for the future we can choose to invest in hybrid or electrical cars, grow food and participate in energy saving movements. There is opportunity for everyone to help you just have to look around.

Scandel of the Century

Climate change: the talk of the century. The question is where do we stand? Everyone wants to be placed in a category: the ones who believe in it and the ones who don’t. I like to say yes climate change is happening but it always has been however, we humans are now speeding up the process. In the past the climate changes were due to changes in the Sun’s intensity, Earths tilt, volcanic eruptions, and changes in greenhouse concentration. Today the climate changes for the same reasons but human impact has played a role. For example deforestation can change the amount of sunlight a land gets, which can change the temperature, wind and precipitation of the particular region. Deforesting an area also comes with other side effects, it can mean perhaps human development in that particular area. The once remote forested area had its natural ecological balance, but with the presence of human development (i.e. cities and industries ) an unbalance occurs perhaps the resources are exhausted and carbon emissions increase, leading to an increased rate of climate change. So the question is which philosophical group do I belong to? With the above said, I believe climate change is not man made instead it is aided by man. I do think that a lot of the information out is propaganda in order to collect money and we must be the judge of which is real or not. We need to do our own research and figure this out because we are causing change and education and global communication is great start to figuring out a solution. If we allow false information to spread sooner or later people will begin to feel as if the debate is a joke and more people will join the side of denial and will choose to not help in the further prevention of a negative human impact. Plenty of media coverage is given to this debate and therefore a lot of it gets stretched to extremes in order to get the most attention so using websites such as ones from EPA or other governmental agencies instead of personal opinionated blogs are great ways to get solid information but also do not allow yourself to be guided by just one make sure to compare many different websites and do not be scared to question them either. Following my own advice to do my own educated research and asking questions has allowed me to change small things in my life. Decisions such as which foods to buy, what materials to use and how to dispose of my materials are little steps I have taken towards my effort to reduce my and my family’s carbon footprint. If we do not take the first step in educating ourselves in this topic then our kids will have a lost cause in front of them because they too will not know what to do, which could lead to our demise. So I would say educate ourselves now so our next generations can too enjoy life have the opportunity to fix our past mistakes and prevent them.

Lets Invent Nature!

We are always trying to find quick answers to big problems but the only thing we do is dig ourselves a bigger hole. Developing genetically engineered eucalyptus trees to withstand colder environments is not a good response. Creating such a Frankenstein- tree would mean disrupting our natural environment, placing a foreign object that does not belong there and taking over the homes of other organisms that do belong there.

Eucalyptus trees are not just any trees that you can place wherever you want. Introducing such a species poses various extrinsic and intrinsic concerns. The problem with this tree is that it is invasive, sucks up tons of water and dries the land, and ironically though it requires plenty of water it is a very dry tree and very vulnerable to catching fire. Besides the ecological concerns this tree poses, one has to think of the extent of the actual project and look at what in reality we would be doing with this tree. By genetically engineering an organism we are manipulating the circle of life. We would be attempting to play the role of God and breaking the rules of nature and this ladies and gentlemen is unethical. We are giving ourselves a power we do not have and creating things that do not happen in nature. Instead of genetically engineering more problems we need to further study the organisms already available.

Yes, creating such a tree would allow us to grow them in more environments and economically provide more opportunities wherever grown however the cons out weigh these two positives. Introducing this to FGCU land would make our land more prone to fires and in this South Florida heat fires are inevitable. Besides fire it would also dry out our land and Florida’s unique environment is built on wetlands.

Before taking such drastic steps to planting a forest of genetically engineered eucalyptus trees researchers could mitigate the risks by doing further extensive studies in a lab and if creating the trees needed to be

done then we should think of ones that do not require so much water and are not prone to fires. However, we do not need to create these we can just go look in nature.

Farming Overseas

Overall I really enjoyed my visit to the farm. Since I was out of the country I was not able to visit Echo. Instead I visited a small farm in Colombia. This farm had vast amounts of green land. Acres and acres of green hills covered the farm. Small shrubs of wild berries were all around in the simple green, meadows. Further into the farm the land was divided. Some had cows, dogs, but the majority of the land had Uchuva or what we would call the Peruvian cherry. This fruit hung from wires planted over the fields, creating a vine type of blanket suspended off the ground. This farm stood out and caught my eye because it was very different to one you would see in the U.S and did not look like anything you think about when you hear the word farming in the U.S. They had very minimal electronic devices to run the farm. A few tractors but besides that it was just a ton of farmers that participated in all the work. Though the farm seemed like it followed organic farming methods in reality it did not. Some of the workers were still spraying synthetic pesticides on the plants. Its crazy that this farm so far from the Americanized farming techniques and located in such a remote area still did not follow organic farming techniques.

Besides the chemical used on the plants, the farm still seemed to be running a sustainable operation. Cow manure from the herd in the other land was used to fertilize the land. Water for their irrigation system was obtained from a nearby natural spring, and they filtered and reused as much water possible from other farming activities to use on the crops. The farmers worked on the farm 24/7 from dawn to dusk. Like stated earlier men ran the farm not machines which is very different to what we see in American farming.

The methods on this farm are very simple, and with that said I think this is very useful in such a developing world because it shows that though we are complicating our selves in everything we do we can still keep farming simple and just let nature take its course in producing the product. This would be a perfect place to volunteer; I feel that it is locations like this one where you learn to grow with nature and at the same time all the work YOU (not machines) put into it is rewarded by growing an amazing, sweet fruit such as this one, Uchuva. But sadly I cannot volunteer there because I am now 1509 miles away.

Sustainable Farming

Sustainable farming must meet several requirements. It must focus on the effects it will have on the environment, society, and the economy. Sustainability is the ability to maintain a certain level of living and therefore when farming in a sustainable manner one must be able to balance all of the above issues and not concern over depleting one or the other. When focusing on environmental issues facing sustainable farming we must look at several general principles. For instance we should take the most obvious step in protecting the natural resources the environment has to offer and minimize all types of pollution towards it. To fulfill the above principle and other similar ones we must properly irrigate the land, eliminate the use of harmful pesticides as well as participate in other positive practices. If you do not follow general ecological principles such as the one stated above then you couldn’t farm in a sustainable manner because in some way you would be disrupting the flow of nature by creating an imbalance.

Organic Vs. Natural

Many people do not know that there is a difference between natural and organic products, but in reality there is a huge difference. The labeling of “natural” on products can be seen as a scam. Natural products are allowed to be grown with toxic synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. Antibiotics, and hormones may also be used and in the sense of dairy products, animals can be grown in confined spaces. On the other hand in order to be organic you cannot be introduced to any toxic synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, antibiotic, or hormone. Neither could you be grown in a small, confined area. Therefore there is a big difference in the two terms and they do determine what I buy when I go grocery shopping. I can’t say it always dictates what I buy because organic products due tend to be more expensive at least in some cases and being in college I cannot always afford to only buy organic products and though guilty I instead settle for the ones that say “natural.” Being able to identify the difference between the two makes me feel pretty connected with my food system. Not only do I focus on whether it is organic or not I also focus on other issues such as if it is grown locally or not. These are all important factors that I think one must consider when buying food and like stated earlier being able to identify them makes me feel like I am pretty connected to our food system.

Recently our student government senate with the help of other groups on campus was able to pass the bill for us to have a garden on campus, which is great. I’ve always thought that since FGCU is a green campus it would be 100% appropriate that we have one. Regardless if veggies or fruit are grown it does not matter either one would be great. Now the next great idea would be if FGCU was able to take the food grown on campus and distribute it every Wednesday lets say to the student body. This would be a perfect way to maintain a sustainable farm on campus because we would be taking in consideration the environmental concerns, economic concerns (supplying students with free fruit/veggies) and social concerns (including society in maintaining a sustainable farm).

A Much Broader Issue

The world at this very moment is enduring many environmental problems that we as a species have the ability to stop but choose not too because of a lack of education and in some cases just plain laziness. Some of the largest problems now affecting the world are air pollution, global warming, overpopulation, acid rain, forest deforestation and many others but to me the key to resolving all of these issues and other similar one’s is sustainability. To me sustainability is the most important environmental issue that Earth faces, seeing that it encompasses all of the above issues. Sustainability is the ability to maintain, support, or in some cases endure a certain level of living and I believe that living in a sustainable Earth would mean being able to support rich, diverse ecosystems such as in the case of a rainforest, maintain clean, usable water sources, and endure all other impacts we humans have on Earth without switching the healthy course Earth should be on.

Since sustainability is such a broad issue allocating funds would not be easy. You would not be able to allocate all the funds to just one problem, you would first need to outline all the issues concerning the environment and divide the amount necessary for each area. For example think about the state of Florida. We face many water issues such as pollution, droughts and flooding. We also face overpopulation, which has lead to the destruction of the Florida Everglades. These are just two of the many problems we face in regard to the environment, therefore clearly if given $100 billion we could not just say here you go Florida water system and all our problems would be fixed. We would have to give a portion to each section and also include education as part of the program because this is a huge factor in the success of sustainability. Like stated earlier many people are not educated enough in order to take the first step towards living in a sustainable environment. Take something as small as the usage of plastic. Looking back a couple of years the act of recycling was not as popular, but through education we have been able to inform the people that Earth cannot biodegrade many materials such as plastic instead we must take the extra step to ensure we dispose of it properly in order for us to break it down and reuse it and not abuse it.

Therefore we can say that through education we are able to address many environmental issues that Earth is facing and in order to resolve all of them we must focus on the term of sustainability. We must not focus on just one particular issue and say that solving one will cure the rest instead we must see all of them as a whole and understand that all are as important as the other. Once we are able to give all the issues equal importance, we are able to say we are taking the first step towards sustainability.