JOURNAL #9-DOWNTOWN FO TOWN

FACT # 9: Fort Myers was constructed as a military fort. It was utilized to prevent the Seminole Indians from continuing to kill the settlers in the region. The fort was given its name as a tribute to Col. Abraham C. Myers who was stationed in the state of Florida and was the son-in-law of the commander of the fort. In 1858 the Indians surrendered and vacated the area which allowed the soldiers to abandon the fort. However, federal soldiers took advantage of the existence of the fort and they occupied it during the Civil War. When the Civil War ended, the fort was abandoned. In 1882, the population significantly increased by the arrival of a vast amount of settlers. The city experienced another population surge in 1924 due to the construction of the Tamiami Trail Bridge which crosses the Caloosahatchee River.
[source:citytowninfo.com]

This semester, we have gone on some pretty amazing field trips and I have learned so much! I wasn't expecting to learn so much on our downtown trip because I (apparently like many before me) was under the impression that I knew most there was to know about the city considering I've lived here for 7 years and spend a lot of time downtown. Boy was I wrong!

I figured for this blog it would be interesting if I listed some of the neat things I learned about! I took so many picture this week that I couldn't pick just two, so I decided to make a picture documentary of our last field trip :(

1. We have palm trees in Ft. Myers that have the biggest leaves of any plant in the world!

2. Reclinata Palms, native of Botswana, grow in spirals!

3. The city of Ft.Myers is beautiful, especially from the roof top of Indigo hotel!

4. City Tavern has great happy hour specials! ;)

5. Historical artwork can make even the ugliest buildings beautiful!

In class we discussed that the above mural was never dedicated because the government wasn't happy with the artist's description. Though it's hard to admit, I believe that sort of thing happens often and I can even apply it to environmental sustainability. Just as the government doesn't want to admit what happened, people struggle to admit that climate change is happening and that there are things we can do to impact our community and ultimately, our planet.

I think it's really crazy how much you can learn in your own backyard! I was an orientation leader for FGCU and thought I knew almost everything there was to know about our school, yet before this class, I couldn't define sustainability. This class has helped me to open my eyes to the endless learning possibilities everywhere, and more importantly, to be willing to listen!

JOURNAL #8-SMOKING HAZARDS

FACT #8: In an hour cigarette-manufacturing unit requires almost 4 miles of paper for rolling and packaging of the cigarettes. Just to produce 300 cigarettes one tree is being wasted. Energy and water is also being wasted for the production of the cigarettes as well as the chemical wastes from the manufacturing unit is also dumped into the soil. Hence it is clear the cigarettes are in total adding huge strain on the body and environment. With the use of more advance technology tobacco industry can help in decreasing the strain from the environment. But just to save billions of dollar profit/year the industry is not willing to go for the advanced technology. The best and the easiest way to control this environmental destruction, is to stop buying this harmful product.

Lately, I have been noticing an extreme amount of cigarette butts on the ground of our beautiful and "environmentally sustainable" university, so I thought I'd do some research on the harmful affects of cigarette butts and smoke to our environment.

Many people say that smoking is their choice, just as one chooses to be overweight, they too can choose to pollute their lungs. That being said, I think it is important to learn the facts about the harmful affect smoking has on our planet and on non-smokers.

How Smoking Causes Air Pollution? (smoking environment pollution)
It is quite evident that smoking causes air pollution and to some extent also pollutes the ground. Approximately 4000 chemicals are present in cigarettes, which are breathed out and released in the atmosphere. Out of the total North American population 30% of them are smokers and the percentage of the smoking population in developing countries is much higher. This indicates that an enormous quantity of pollution is being released in the atmosphere every day.

How Smoking Causes Land and Water Pollution? (smoking environment damage)
Pollution caused due to smoking is not confined only to the air or body but to some extent it is also responsible in polluting the land and the water. Every day millions of cigarette butts are left on the ground. Maximum of the cigarette butts finally end up in lakes and rivers. By mistake fishes and other water animals eat these butts resulting in death of these water bodies. The remaining butts left on the ground will approximately take 25-26 years to decompose. The various additives and chemicals are leached into the soil, polluting the soil as well as plants. During dry seasons cigarette butts can even cause major fire, which is even harmful for the environment.

How Cigarette Production Affects Environment? (effects of smoking environment)
Effects of smoking environment: Major impact on the environment is due the production of the cigarettes. The land, which is used for the cultivation of tobacco plants, could be better used for producing food for the third world countries. Moreover as the tobacco plant is highly susceptible to pests and disease so to maintain their proper growth and health various chemicals and pesticides are being sprayed. For the production and packaging of the cigarette requires a lot of trees. [source:ygoy.com]

We often discuss the issues of environmental sustainability and I believe that cigarettes are leaders in ignorance towards sustainability. Though smokers are here today and will eventually die, it will take 500+ years for the cigarette butts they leave on the ground to disintegrate, and even then, our ozone will be further polluted.

I understand that we live in a free country and people feel that they should be able to make choices for themselves and should be able to experience freedom, however, I take my health very seriously and I don't feel as though I should have to suffer from the choices my freedom seeking American neighbors make.

http://www.chamainc.com/images/no-smoking-ad.gif

JOURNAL #7-CANOE TRIP

FACT #7: The canoe varies in material according to locality and in design according to the use made of it. In North America, where horses were not generally used and where the interlocking river systems were unusually favorable, the canoe in its various types was highly developed. Where large logs were available, it took the form of the hollowed-out log, or dugout, especially on the N Pacific coast, where immense trees grew at the water's edge, where an intricate archipelago invited navigation in ocean waters, and where the tribes came to depend to a large extent upon sea life for their food supply. A semi-seafaring culture developed there, and the great canoes of the Haida and Tlingit tribes, with high, decorated prows, capable of carrying 30 to 50 people, began to resemble the boats of Viking culture.On the northern fringe of the American forest where smaller tree trunks were found and rapid rivers and many portages favored a lighter craft, the bark canoe dominated, reaching its highest development in the birch bark canoe. At portages this light canoe could be lifted on one's shoulders and easily transported. It was the birch bark canoe that carried such explorers as Jacques Marquette, Sir Alexander Mackenzie, and David Thompson on their journeys and carried fur traders out to trade with Native Americans; thus it played an important part in early American history.
[source:Yahoo Education]

Thursday was a lot of fun canoeing and exploring Fishtrap Bay. Though Andrea and I are both big nature fans, I don't think we had any idea what we were getting ourselves into! The hardest part was by far the steering, but it was a lot of fun once we got the hang of it!

When we got back to Fishtrap Bay we were so tired
but it was a great workout for the two of us....

I wish we would have gotten to see more wildlife when we were out on the bay, but it was neat to identify the different types on mangroves like the ones I discussed in my blog last week.
In class on Thursday we also discussed Professor Wilkinson's trip through the Everglades and his encounters with 20+ venomous snakes! I would have been terrified for sure but as I continue taking colloquium, I have found that I have become much more comfortable with snakes and other creatures.

I was recently swimming with a friend and we found a ringneck snake in his pool. I was so proud of myself for being able to pick it up and transport it to a safer area (especially since he was afraid to touch it) ;)

My new friend!

(though this isn't the picture I took, the snake we found looked just like this!)

After we saved it, we looked it up in his colloquium book and found:

Description: Ringneck snakes are small – 10 - 15 in (25 - 38 cm) – slender snakes that are generally grayish with a yellow or orange band around the back of the neck and a yellow or orange underside.

Range and Habitat: The ringneck snake has one of the largest geographic ranges of any species of snake in North America and is represented by several subspecies. Ringnecks are found throughout the eastern two thirds of the United States from southern Canada to Florida , across the desert southwest and along most of the Pacific coast. Ringnecks are found throughout Georgia and South Carolina with the northern subspecies (D. p. edwardsi) inhabiting the mountains and the southern subspecies (D. p. punctatus) being found in the Coastal Plain. Ringnecks from the Piedmont are intergrades between the two races.

Habits: Like other small woodland snakes in the Southeast, ringneck snakes spend most of their time underground or hidden under logs, rocks, leaf litter, or debris. However, ringnecks can occasionally be found crawling in the open or crossing roads, often at night. Ringnecks are one of the more common species in many habitats in the Southeast and in other parts of their range can reach extraordinary densities.
[source:uga.edu]

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