Downtown Fort Myers

The concept of the a "downtown" refers mostly to the heart of a city consisting of large buildings surrounding the area and usually where the central financial district is found in most large cities. Downtown evokes lights, music, and culture of the surrounding area full of people. Downtown Ft. Myers has grown very quickly these past couple years and it does seem to have created a cultural revival. The events I have heard of, along with the art-walk every other week has created this renaissance feel. Most of the architectural features I witnessed in my field-trip consisted of statues, villa styled buildings, and an overall ocean-side feel. I especially liked all the different colors splayed out across the streets. Downtowns are mostly very pedestrian friendly by featuring many walkways and sidewalks across the city. The various parks also are a great opportunity for people to walk around the city and enjoy the scenery. The city of Fort Myers is fast becoming a city of diversity. The Southwest Florida Museum is presently featuring it's "Mambo Man" Exhibit which is a tribute to a Cuban Mambo dancer originating here in Fort Myers. The museum was a great portal to view the past Fort Myers to the present day city we see today. I learned a lot about the history of Ft Myers and it's culture through the museum visit that helped my appreciate this city more than I did when I moved here 3 years back. It is great to have an understanding of what built this city. The economy of Fort Myers seems to have been built from agriculture and fisheries leading up to this day. The abundance of seafood restaurants around the area is a great "past-time" for this area. The city of Fort Myers is sustainable in the way the city is built with its parks and natural preservation sites. I found it very interesting to learn so much about this city's culture and how it became what it is today.

Satirical Picture on "Mother Gaia"

My Personal Ecological Footprint

According to the footprint calculator, if everyone lived like me, we would need 4.2 Earths and 18.6 global acres to sustain my lifestyle and provide enough resources for everyone. As I completed the quiz, I figured some simple behaviors that I could modify that would help decrease my footprint on the world. I learned that I should recycle more of my paper waste and bottles instead of using the trash. FGCU has a recycling trash for bottles and cans next to nearly every trash can. I would also like to decrease the amount of animal products I eat, maybe by half if I am adamant about it. If every American did decrease their consumption of animal products by half, we'd use 645 million fewer global acres. The max population that the earth could sustain if everyone lived like do is 1,750,000,000.

Blog Entry #9: Alternative Energy

Energy in the near past has been very cheap, especially here in the United States compared to other nations.  It just started to become more costly, and maybe it will drive industry towards alternative methods.  Conservation may be a dirty word to people of progress and biophobia, but to people aware of global environmental issues, I would believe it is something the world needs.  No one really knows the ramifications of using up all the land for construction and progress, and it would be better off if we kept some of the earth's natural forests for future generations to witness and feel.  Jimmy Carter was one of the most environmentally focused president that the US has seen, and his views on energy policy should have been implemented and continued after his presidency.  I feel like alternative energies should be discovered and marketed by scientists and implemented by the government.  We need the most technologically advanced alternative sciences to be started, and if business takes part in the industry, then profit will become involved.  If profit is involved, then the "Steve Jobs Syndrome" will also take part in it and the best product won't be released until the next edition comes along.  Using solar, wind, and current simultaneously would be the most beneficial uses towards alternative energies, but geothermal energy would reap the most benefit.  Geothermal (earth-heat) energy is using the heat from the inner core of the earth to power electricity and generate heat.  This type of energy may be the most powerful and efficient source of energy according to some scientists.

To reduce my ecological footprint on the planet, there are many ways I could start.  Using economical light bulbs, riding my bike to school and/or work, and taking shorter showers are some easy ways I could start right now.  Reduce the usage of resources, reusing resources, and recycling are also great ways to take part in the "Green Movement."  

Blog Entry #8: Climate Change

The earth goes through cyclical shifts of cooling and warming in different periods of time.  Various factors contribute to the climate changing during these shifts.  The speeding of technologies that allow the extraction of resources and burning of fossil fuels may one day become an apparent cause to climate change, but present day obviously are in debate if this is a man-made issue.  It could be possible that the usage of earth's resources are causing this warming of the stratosphere, and it is up to environmental specialists and scientists of all concentrations to acquire scientific facts and numbers on climate change.  A reputable source cannot be the main media outlets as there have been many biased opinions.  Climate change is just another fad that society will eat up that could boost ratings.  Al Gore is a perfect example of how the media and politics converge.  I have read Al Gore's "Our Choice" book, and the way it is written is very convincing.  The statistics and numbers seem accurate in that it is based off of scientific data (claims the book).  The problem is that I feel it has to be a total collective effort in the global participation in order to make a difference to what we may have done to the climate.  One person, city, or state can't make a huge difference in the global climate change, everyone in the world has to be aware of the ramifications our human footprint holds.  In my opinion, I feel that governments should create the polices that completely change society's views on how we use fossil fuels and natural resources instead of creating more waste.  Knowing that the media and the government both have hidden agendas would make someone less likely to alter their lifestyle for environmental sustainability, but self-education should be important in taking action and being pre-active.  Climate change has possible repercussions to generations to come if it is anthropogenic, and before we take action for future generations, I believe we have too many to deal with present day to fix before we focus tomorrow.

ArborGen plans to plant GMO eucalyptus at FGCU. (Hypothetical Scenario)

ArborGen (a biotech company) has expressed a desire to plant test plots of genetically modified eucalyptus here at FGCU! This GM eucalyptus has been engineered with enhanced cold tolerance. This allows it to grow not only in Southwest Florida, but potentially as far north as South Carolina. As an eco-aware citizen, the USDA has subpoenaed you to testify on the merits and pitfalls of this plan.

There are about 700 species of eucalyptus trees that are found throughout North and South America, Africa, some parts of Asia and Europe.  Some species are used for their potential of fast-growing wood, producing oils used for cleaning and functions as a natural insecticide, and their ability to drain swamps through invasive water-sucking.  The eucalyptus trees are also well-known to have a beneficial economic impact on poor populations.

There are many benefits towards GM produced eucalyptus trees that are beneficial in agriculture, environmental issues, and human health.  GM eucalyptus that are "Freeze-tolerant" will spur growth in forests and help the environment through a gain in forestry in areas where eucalyptus trees would die.  It would increase the productivity for wood, fiber, and energy.  Some potential intrinsic concerns include the act of "Playing God" by altering genetics of the biology of plants or understanding the ethical responsibilities of changing natural genetic codes.  Some extrinsic concerns include unintentionally creating super-viruses that may cause epidemics in human or ecological health.  A way to prevent these super-viruses is through reasonable and calculated steps in the scientific process.  Scientists would have to create isolated experiments that would be lengthy in time and would be very costly.  The benefits may outweigh the risks when using it beneficially for economic impact on poor populations, but these trees have been deemed as the "tree-weeds" of the earth.  They spread and consume too much water, and the spread of these weeds throughout the earth may spread chaos in this already water-depleted world.

Blog Entry # 6: ECHO and Appropriate Technology

ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization) has a variety of farming techniques and technologies that should "hopefully" be beneficial for developing nations around the world.  The different ideas that you witness throughout the tour such as the different farming and agriculture systems.  I feel American agriculture has strayed from this approach to farming.  American agriculture uses a more mass feeding and artificial method that has led to it being one of the most hazardous industries.ECHO's relevance to feeding the developing world is minute to the scale of global hunger.  The whole point of ECHO is to teach people from developing nations how just "not to farm, but to work to make farmers more effective at growing food producing crops under harsh conditions.  Appropriate technology is used to help these people from developing nations.  Appropriate technology is a means to use small scale, labor intensive, energy sufficient, and environmentally sound methods usually towards agriculture.  An example of appropriate technology are bike and hand powered water pumps and other self powered equipments.  I would be interested in doing service learning with ECHO in order to work with developing nations around the world.  Different cultures interest me, and to just know that I am giving a helping hand to a great idea would be very fulfilling.