Corkscrew Swamp

This trip was fun! I remember taking pictures like crazy with my cellphone...My camera broke...I remember all the years that I would go spend the Summer at my grandparents home, and there were always some gigantic trees that the kids would go sit under, those trees represented the spirit of the town, if they could talk they would tell you so many stories about the town and its inhabitants.
The trip to Corkscrew gave me a whole new perspective on the reason why preservation is important. Recycling restroom water, are you serious, we should definitely do this for every house in the country, I bet it would definitely help the replenishing of this precious resource. Then, we had a brief lecture on how the bird population has been going down as the human population is increasing. We also learned how Lake Okeechobee used to be way larger than it is nowadays, people had made some changes to the flow of the lake not knowing that it would have had negative consequences. They eventually put it back the way it was, because it was harmful to the local residents. Now, the most exciting part of the trip were the trees. Those trees are the legacy of the area. They are the oldest ancestors that we have alive today. The board walk was amazing, We saw an owl, and a small aligator. The trees were all tall and big. I thought that a place like that would have had more in-sight wild life, but it wasn't the case, we saw a small aligator, and an owl, there were spiders all over the place though. One of the ladies, Dara, jumped everytime someone mentions spider, that was hilarious. I think we saw a snake hidden in a hole, it wouldn't come out though. There was this one bird, which I forgot the name, making noise while we were passing by. In the same area, the water was completely covered by this green layer, if one doesn't know he or she might walk on it thinking that it was hard land. I saw this one plant called 'Alligator Flag'. The presentations were interesting, we sat down and carfully listen to the presenters, and then we head back to the bus.

Packaging

This is kind of funny, since every morning when I wake up, the first thing I do is pick up my cellphone and update my status on Facebook. Now, I bought my phone about a month ago, it came in a box which the Radioshack reps put in a plastic bag along with some brochures. They are all at the house, I haven't thrown them away yet due to limited time. Then I put my sandals on, I bought those at Marshalls, they came in a plastic bag which is also still at the house, we do a lot of grocery shopping, so we have a cabinet full of plastic bags. I then took my toothbrush, I threw the packaging away right after I bought it, did the same thing with the toothpaste, not one of them was recycled...SORRY!...Then, I get in the shower, and use the soap which was purchased along with my groceries, and yes, I also threw that package away. I have a bowl of cereal that is in a box, with milk in a plastic gallon. I then go to work, where I become this totally new person, everything I touch seems to have a sustainability status, the foods, the packages, the fact that we recycle everything that we use. I guess, since I spend more time at work than I do at home, my life is pretty sustainable, but that does not mean I should not try harder to incorporate those values into my home, although my two roommates are a couple of knuckleheads.

Energy Usage

I live in an apartment with my two best friends, we have so many different point of views when it comes to lots of things. But, one thing that we seem to agree on is the fact that our electricity bill is way too much every month. On average, we pay about $125 every month for electricity, we barely cook at the house, and all our clothes are taken to the dry cleaning place. So, what is making our bill skyrock so high every month? I looked around the house one day and found out that most of our home electronics stayed plugged all the time even though they were only being used once a week.

I live in Naples, very close to Exit 101. On an average day, I travel to and from work for a total of 30 miles. I also drive to and from school, for about 50 miles. And often, I would go to the gym, which is about 12 miles away from my house, so that's 24 miles. That is over 100 miles of traveling every day, and I don't drive one of those fuel economy cars, I drive a 2002 Chevy Impala with a V6 engine. The only times I'm accompanied by a person is when I go to the gym, one of my friends actually go with me.

According to www.fueleconomy.com, my carbon emission is 12.2, and I use 22.8 barrels of fuel every year. I wish I could carpool with coworkers, and classmates so I could reduce my carbon footprint, but the fact that the world works on schedules does not leave me with too many choices. Every night, before I go to sleep, I unplug everything that doesn't need to stay plugged, I unplug my cellphone charger before I leave the house, and we had about 8 of those plug-in air fresheners, I unplugged all of them, and went and bought the ones that don't need to be plugged. It's a slow process, but eventually I will get to that sustainability status.

Campus Trail

The trip on the campus trail was both educative and fun. The first thing that we did was talking about the man-made lakes that are present on different parts of the campus. It was interesting to find out that all the water from the lakes, although they seem calm, actually flow underneath the campus. We also visited the highest point on campus, but we did not see any eagle, bummer! We learned what a slough was, a wet land where water flows from one point to another. But the most important part of the trip was getting our feet wet, literally. Getting in the water was really fun, we joked around with each other and we learned about some exotic trees that grow tall and thin. I persoanally liked the center of the trail where we all gathered to reflect on the nature of the area. At the end, we went to this spot where you could go to get in touch with nature. I believe that FGCU has a leg up on other schools, because of this colloquium class, the campus is amazing. Before I started the course, I did not have much interest for nature, now I feel like nature is very important, and preserving it makes great sense.

Food Intake

Oct. 5, 2009

*6:30 AM- Prepurchased-Bowl of cereal and milk, one serving of each; and one glass of juice

*9:00 AM-Purchased-One danish and a bottle of sweet tea

*12:00 PM-Purchased-Burger King, had a Tendercrisp chicken sandwich with a small french fries and a small Fruit Punch drink.

*3:30 PM- Prepurchased-One bottle of water.

*7:30 PM-Purchased-A plate of white rice with black beans and two chicken drumsticks; a cup of prepurchased passion fruit juice.

*10:30 PM-PurchasedMcDonalds, two apple pies and a medium strawberry shake.


I don't really have time to cook at home, the only day that I spend time at the house is on Saturdays. I work five days a week, and go to school four days a week. That kind of explained my eating habit, I am also very athletic, I work out about four days a week, and play basketball or soccer whenever I have some free time. You would think that I would be more conscious about my eating habits, since I work at a place that sells health foods (Whole Foods Market), but is not the case. I often find myself out of options because of time issues. My ultimate goal is to manage my time well enough so that I can take better care of myself. I use google.com and I found out that my total intake was 3114, I probably exceed that sometimes, but my biggest problem is water, I feel like I walk around dehydrated all the time. My food choices are definitely not sustainable, the concept is all new to me. Given time, I may come around and change my practices to help myself stay healthier and be more sustainable.

Conservation 20/20

The purpose of the Conservation 20/20 program is to obtain lands that represent major areas that need to be preserved, that is lands that still have that connection with nature. The idea is to preserve those lands and possibly turn them into recreational parks, and protect them from further alterations. I have never heard of that program before, but I wish I did, it sounds like I'm always looking for places to hang out with my friends, and my appreciation for nature would really help me enjoy that place. I have not been to any other preserves mentioned in the program. I don't think I know of any other programs that do the same thing, but I know that I will find out. It is perfectly okay to use tax-dollar to for land preservation, it sounds better to me than building war weapons, and financing a war. If the government wants to use my money for land preservations, it is definitely okay with me.

Matanzas Pass Preserve

The visit to Matanzas Pass Preserve was very educational. We started off with a wonderful lecture which gives us a sense of how Estero was before the settlers came and how over the years different changes have taken place to lead to the way the area is today. The word matanza is Spanish for massacre, and before the Spanish came, the area was inhabited by the Calusa Indians. They were a peaceful people that rely mostly on fishing and agriculture to survive. I definitely enjoyed the visit, because it shows a beautiful aspect of nature that we sometimes forget. Life on Earth is interdependent and mistreating one part of nature could affect other parts. For example, although we were really bothered by the presence of the mosquitoes, we also understand that they are a very useful part of the ecosystem of that area. Spiders eat those mosquitoes; the mangroves leaves that fell in the water are eaten by smaller fish which are eaten by bigger fish or dolphin. Oh yes, we saw a dolphin. We learned about the three types of mangroves that were in the area, red, black, and white mangroves. The only weird thing about the visit was the gentleman sitting on the bench next to use. No one said anything to him, before I left I passed by him and said: "You have a wonderful day sir!"

Water Rights Reflection

Can you imagine the planet having major needs for water because of depletion of this so useful resource. Growong up in Haiti, I know all about not having enough water to take care of your needs. I remember having to travel for hours to bring water to the house. The country's huge mountains did not help at all. My grandparents happened to live on top of a mountain, which I enjoyed for the relationship with nature, but fresh water was no where near. The water scarcity situation will come down to a matter of necessity. I have no problem with anyone owning the groundwaters. We are already paying for water on a daily basis. Obtaining the rights to some groundwaters is a Business move first and foremost, but if some of the conservatists join in, it will be mostly because they have our best interests in mind. The local residents of that area might be upset that their resources are being given away to others, but it is just business. If his plan is rejected, residents of Dallas are probably gonna have to consume water from other areas, and the city itself will have to either buy waters to provide to the residents, or there could be private companies to supply water to Dallas residents. I doubt it that something like that would happen to Florida. With all the waters we have around, we are most likely to be a major supplier to other states. If by 2030 half of the world's population will inhabit areas with severe water stress, we should definitely start working on ways that we can survive with what we have at the moment without depleting it too much. Water conservation should be a must for every inhabitant of the planet. I guess one can only hope that the Earth will replenish itself and Mother Nature will forgive us and renew the resources that were given to us.

Daily Water Usage

Water Usage: Monday 10-19-09

*6:15 AM-Brush my teeth using 1 liter
*6:20 AM-Use and flush the toilet 1.5 l
*6:25 AM-Take a shower 7.5 l
*6:35 AM-Drink a glass of water before leaving the house! 0.5 l
*9:00 AM-Take a break from work, drink a bottle of water 0.5 l
*9:15 AM-Trip to the restroom, flushes, and wash hands in two automatic waterflowings 2 l
*12:00 PM-Lunch, wash hands(two automaticwaterflows) drink a bottle of water) 1.5 l
*12:30 PM-Trip to the restroom, flushed, washed my hansds(two automatic flows) 2 l
*3:30 PM-Shower 7.5 l
*4:00 PM-Drink a glass of water 0.5 l
*7:46 Drink a glass water, and head to the gym with a bottle of water 2 l
*10:24 PM-Take a shower 7.5 l
*11:19 PM-Drink a glass of water, and went to sleep... 0.5 l

On average I consume 32.5 liter of water every day. That is a lot of water, there are days that I would probably consume more than that, specially when I have to do my laundry, the dishes and wash my car. The laundry takes about 5 gallons of water, and I assume about two gallons for the dishes, and 3 gallons for washing my car. That is just me, remember that I live with two other fellows that have no clue what sustainability means. In due time, I hope to find ways to conserve more water and live a more sustainable life.

Ecological Footprint

The results are in, and apparently if people lived the same way I do, they would need 8 planets like Earth to sustain all the people on the planet. This result is mostly because of the type of transportation I use. I stay a little far from work and school, so I travel a approximately 400 miles every week. I live in an apartment with 2 of my friends, and I estimate that they travel an average of 200 miles every week. Together we are doing a lot of damages to the world's sustainabilty status. Every aspect of my life would be the same for them, our lifestyle is not sustainable at all, we eat out almost every day. I have just proposed the idea of a sustainable planet to them, they are still skeptic, but I hope that when they see me do it they will join in on the fun. I truly think that these results reflect my actual lifestyle. And, I am trying my best to change and be more sustainable.