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Journal 4 - Earth Charter and Global Efforts

Reading the Earth Charter was like reading the Declaration of Independence, and not just because of its formatting similarities. Both the Earth Charter and the Declaration have the tone of “This is unacceptable and we must do something about it now”, unfortunately, The Earth Charter doesn’t have an immediate threat to issue if there’s no action made. The Declaration of Independence was this is intolerable and we are going to war over it, but that would be worse for the environment in the Earth Charters case. 

I was surprised to learn that the Earth Charter went into as much detail as to include Economic Justice in a non-trivial manner and Social Justice in heavy clear terms that would scare a politician half to death. To see an organization speaking out so frankly on how such issues have an impact larger than the immediate issue itself is refreshing. And to be honest impacts larger than the immediate issue, the big picture of things, is really what the Earth Charter and Global Efforts towards a sustainable future are about.

I think one of the more important principles of the Earth Charter is Principle 9, “Eradicate poverty as an ethical, social, and environmental imperative.” Simply because it is rarely recognized that the eco-friendly and healthy things in the stores are always more expensive. It’s entirely unfair to place all the blame for environmental problems on the consumer and not notice that it’s also the same capitalist economic system that is preventing these people from earning enough to pay for those things. The rights to basic human necessities must be guaranteed for us to proceed.

The forces that might hinder the Earth Charter is the very force I’ve already called out. Capitalism and Consumerism. The mass consumerism brought on by the capitalist system that only focuses on profits is the biggest cause of rampant pollution and other ecological destruction. But the biggest problem of all is lobbyists. The only way to change anything in most developed countries is to change the law and to do that a bunch of old stagnant people trained to disagree for a living must agree on something past the lobbyists offering them vast sums to take their side. They could be overcome by banning lobbying of all kinds and making that illegal, but it could also be overcome by threatening the job security of congressmen by making it clear to them that they will be demonized and voted out if they do not follow the will of the masses. It’s rather effective with these political types.

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Journal 6 - ECHO and the Food Footprint

“Feed the soil and it will feed you.”

They are propagating the Barbados cherry asexually without going through the seeding process in the aluminum through a technique called air-layering. 

Some cool trivia about the Barbados cherry is that it contains more vitamin C than any other fruit in the world.

This a Moringa tree, it’s leaves are high in nutrients so they will often be found used in health foods and smoothies. They grow incredibly well in Florida and there are even some in the FGCU Food Forest.

This ginger plant collects rainwater and infuses it with its scent making it a good face wash as demonstrated by our tour guide and a few volunteers.

Echo promotes the concept that sustainable food can be grown in any environment, even urban ones. These used tire planters are an example of a way we can reuse some post-consumer waste.

This is the Castor Bean plant. It is used for fine machining oil and as a powerful laxative. 

This spinach-like tree has cyanide chemicals in the leaves unless it is boiled for five minutes, which lasts two or three days after boiling.

Echo promotes Slash and mulch not Slash and burn to sustain the soil quality. This summer squash is maintained that way.

This clearing is also Slash and Mulched, returning the nutrients to the soil so it can be planted on again!

Cooking with collected firewood is not sustainable even when planting new trees for each one cut down. So it is far better to make a biofuel digester that breaks down livestock manure and over ripened plants through anaerobic processes to create a sustainable methane gas for cooking.

The methane gas burner doesn't have any particular scent,  but you must be careful of leaks.

Zai Hole gardens have a large weeding requirement to be effective. Termites will help irrigate the dirt during the off planting season if leftover plants are left out for them.

Quick Plant Trivia:  When Millet is shaken,  little black seeds fall out.

This non-electric water pump is a modern interpretation of Archimedes' greek mechanical water pump.

Chickens fertilize and till soil as well as lay eggs and eat weeds.

This is the Malabar plant and I don’t have a cool fact about it, but I think it’s really pretty.

This is a pig pen, and the best part about it is that I was standing ten feet from it and could not smell the pigs. Let’s talk about how they did that.

The bedding is set up in the following order from bottom to top. Bio. Char > old wood chips > new wood chips > several layers of freshly cut banana leaves > sawdust with wood germs inoculated into it. They feed the pigs pounded plantain stalks, salt or sugar/ molasses and stale cereal.

Even the old bedding finds a use at Echo. They reuse old pig bedding to raise German Wriggler worms and then again for fertilizer all over the farm.

Tilapia are raised in the pond in the background of this photo. They are herbivores that eat algae and duckweed.  The ducks fertilize the pond to grow the algae for the fish. 

The Echo seed bank has a mission to collect and preserve heirloom seeds. They will keep behaving and fruiting the same as collected. (As opposed to hybrid seeds).

Water pumps, like this one, must have enclosures to prevent large animals from scratching themselves on it and knocking it over.

The electric water pump is better able to reach the water table far underground and is powered by solar panels on the top of the water tower.

Don’t let the bicycle like nature of this water pump fool you, it requires so little energy to use that even a young child could work it for as long as they needed to.

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Journal 5- Six Miles Cypress Slough

Visitor's Center

Six Miles Cypress is a 35 hundred acre slew with 1.2 miles of boardwalk.

I found it ironic that we just listened to a lecture on consumerism, but the first place myself and my classmates flocked to on our nature trip was the gift shop.

The trail and this journal will follow the trail as outlined above, Amphitheater to Gator lake, Gator Lake to Wood Duck Pond, Wood Duck Pond to Otter Pond, Otter Pond to Pop Ash Pond.

Another note, the boardwalk is made of recyclable material!

Amphitheater to Gator Lake

Gator lake is man-made as shown by it's rectangular shape. It doesn't dry up the same way that other ponds do. Snake birds spend time here. The man-made platforms on the lake are for sun bathing.

I love how this picture of gator lake turned out! It seems to illustrate how nature takes back, no matter how slowly.

Gator lake to Wood Duck Pond

With Mr. Bosnasia on our trip, I was feeling a bit poetic and wrote a bit of prose on this section interspersed with plant facts from the tour guide.

We begin our journey into our new section with lichen up the trees and denser woods with thicker shading overhead. The no-see-ems swirl around my legs. Blood lichen is pinkish red and indicates better air quality. The snake ferns rise up to the edges of the dock and the air feels still yet cool. The cypress trees seem thicker and the water stained more with their amber wood. That soft wood scent filling the air with a sense of distinct calm.

The woods are dense filled with tightly packed small trees that seem to blend into a single painted backdrop forty feet away. Yet, the area feels more open and welcoming than the sparsely wooded library lawn that is my respite on campus.

This is the first notable Cypress tree along the path so far!

Wood duck pond feels more like a clearing than a pond. It's hard to tell the difference between pond and swamp and where the boundaries lie.

The shrinking of the lake is beneficial for helping birds catch fish during mating season.

Wood Duck Pond to Otter Pond

There are two theories for why Cypress Trees have knees in their roots, the lesser accepted theory is that it is for structure, but the cooler, better one is that it’s because it gathers more oxygen for the trees!

Holly is actually incredibly poisonous! Meaning that if you eat it you’ll get sick.

This is a Resurrection Fern.  It appears dead for up to 100 years without water shriveled up, but springs back to life with a single rain.

Mr. Bosnasia and I spotted a turtle trying to eat a small floating fruit to no avail.

Otter Pond to Pop Ash Pond

No otters,  since we are loud, but there is a nice breeze and shade. 

We also found a limpkin eating invasive apple snails.

After that we rushed back to the bus to get there before the rain, but I was able to snap a picture of the interesting sculpture in the picnic table area.

And with that we headed back, saying goodbye to Six Mile Cypress and the wildlife we saw along the way.

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FGCU Sustainability, Nature & Ecological Footprint

FGCU is a campus that cares about ecology, being built into the grounds of a nature preserve and on a recent tour and nature walk I took I saw that all on display. 

FGCU makes use of innovative, solar trash cans with lids that make it difficult for animals to get in. They also compact trash mechanically with power from their solar panels to make trash bags last longer. Our standard trash bins, placed in areas that don’t get as much sun, have small canvas satchels tied to them filled with cherry pits as a natural deterrent to bees. We also always have trash cans directly next to recycling bins to encourage our students to properly sort their waste.

We also have plenty of bike racks to encourage our students to choose a more eco-friendly form of transportation! They come equipped with bike tools and a handy QR code that will link you to a video teaching you how to use it!

This is a LEED Platinum certification plaque! Our science hall, Seidler has the highest level of Leadership through Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification possible. Artichoke lights, tinted window, recycled flooring, showers to promote cycling, indoor trashcans made out of post-consumer waste, eco-friendly reflective roofing and sidewalk pebbles to prevent soil erosion from rain runoff are all ways Seidler really is a building of the future (an eco-friendly one that is). 

As a person who has literally seen heat waving off hundred and twenty-degree pavement, I am incredibly thankful for these efforts to keep my school cool.

There’s also quite a bit of wildlife on campus, so everyone gets a chance to enjoy nature right outside their classroom. This is an Anhinga, we walked past on our way to the nature trail, drying it’s wings after a nice swim behind Whitaker hall. 

This is the Chiller Plant Building, which air conditions half the buildings on campus by freezing water overnight on discounted “low use hours” FPL energy  and then blowing air over it during the day to cool it.

This is Mulberry Hill, a student hangout, study and relaxation area. The mulberry trees it’s named after bloom and berry twice a year, offering students a sustainable and delicious snack!

Finally, we reach the nature trail and enter the Pine Flatwoods section. We are warned by our guides to watch out for Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron Raticans) and Rattle Snakes. Also not to step on brush or stray from the path. So we stomp down the path, thirty strong like a herd of elephants and every living creature in a five-mile radius turns and flees.

The Pine Flatwoods are so named for their dominant tree, the Pine and the flat underbrush. Or at least it would be if the burns that are so important to this environment weren’t smothered for college safety. As the highest section of land in the area it also remains rather dry. Further facilitating the burn system that runs on a five to ten year schedule. 

These ferns are growing out of patches of dirt in this palm tree. The one towards the bottom is called shoestring fern and is endangered and the top one is rabbit’s foot fern, so named for how soft its leaves are.

Now Entering The ECOTOUNS!

Dominated by Oak trees, this section of the tour shows the most biodiversity of any as it is the mixing point between all the other more distinct areas. The elevation drops and we begin to see mud from the recent rains.

This is called Virginia Creeper and it grows along the forest floor and is often mistaken for poision ivy. It is benign. 

This is the variation of Poison Ivy that is common to Florida, it secretes an oil that causes rashes and clings to clothing. Deers love to eat poison ivy and ours attracts them in the woods.

Grape Vines reach up to oak hammock to fight for  more sunlight from their roots on the ground. My grandmother used to weave wreathes out of the green sections and then leave it to dry out.

NEXT THE CYPRESS SWAMP!!!

Cypress trees dominate this ecosystem as well as the high waters. I saw wild river otters!!! The trees stain the water brown, but it’s still probably cleaner than the tap water in North Lake!

Hello from the Cypress Dome! The ground is concave so the trees in the center grow better from getting more nutrients and water than others. So the top of the trees make a dome, giving it its name!!! We stopped for a moment to take in the quiet and it was far more peaceful an environment than I usually get to enjoy (plus it was raining so extra calming). 

It then began to thunder and lightning so we had to cut our trip short, but I got this cool picture on our way out.

Now leaving the nature trail. Returning to civilization for better or worse.

Sense of Place on FGCU

My favorite place on campus is behind Merwin Hall in the little courtyard between the center lounge and the teacher’s offices. It’s a nice quiet place to study, have lunch or take a phone call with a loved one. 

All of which I’ve done a lot. I will walk all the way across campus and get a little miffed if there isn’t any seating. It’s a safe, quiet place on campus to study and helps me understand sense of place by my personal attachment to it. There are plenty of quiet picnic tables on campus, but this one is inexplicably better.

Ecological Footprint

If everyone on earth lived the way that I did, we would need 1.9 earths to sustain it. I could be doing a lot better on getting more sustainable food, but I’m not from Fort Myers and don’t know where the local farmers' markets are. (also Ramen is cheap...)

Reflecting on that, while I can’t do anything about my housing’s sustainability on campus, I will work on actively looking for farmer’s markets and more sustainable food as well as trying to convince those I carpool with to go! 

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Sense of Place vs Biophobia

The above photo is my beach, my personal sense of place and a current local law could disrupt it entirely. I alongside the citizens of my hometown will be voting this November for or against allowing vehicles on our beach, the car access ramp cutting through the sand dunes in a concrete strip. And I will be voting against. 

It is a sea turtle nesting site and many locals’ personal safe place.  But some fear that choosing the large grassy patches that can harbor snakes and other predatory animals of the beach ecosystem, over an oversized beach ramp could hurt our tourist economy. Others further insist that we mow down the dunes to facilate parking, but that won’t happen. Will it?

Sense of place is a calming feeling of belonging. The tranquility of your favorite place to just take in the peaceful air. A sense of place is vital as Cultural Geographer, J.B. Jackson states,  “It is (the) place, (the) permanent position in both the social and topographical sense, that gives us our identity.”

However, more and more prevalently, natural lands are being destroyed, outdoor recreation areas are going abandoned in favor of indoor entertainment and schools across America are canceling recess and frowning on students playing freely in nature. Insisting they become quiet, productive little cogs in the industrial and capitalist world. 

Nature is dangerous, messy and boring, and could never compete with the constant onslaught of advertisements heralding other forms of entertainment. With national and state parks losing funding, and quite a few in Florida becoming derelict and closing down with the property being sold, soon parks and true nature areas will be few and far between. Depriving people of finding the tranquility their sense of place can bring. 

Biophobia is, simply put, the fear of the natural world. And in Florida, we have more reason to fear than most. With large predatory cats, bears, too many venomous snakes, and sharks we need to have a sharp eye in nature to stay safe, but it also prevents people from enjoying themselves... 

Is the rain really that bad? Everyone scurries away from it, but as my grandmother would say, “Jesus Jessica, you’re not gonna melt!”. And I’m really not, it’s a bit distracting since I wear glasses and the droplets obscure my vision, but I’ve learned to enjoy the rain. Back to my hometown, my personal beach is literally the shark bite capital of the world, we end up on Shark Week every year. It’s not top in shark fatalities (that’s somewhere in Australia), but every time I mention it people ask me why I still go swimming. I always say, “They only bite surfers and idiot tourists.” but I know my beach is safe. 

But how does one find sense of place in this world of biophobia?

We need to find a solution quick or we may lose out on many of our safe havens and our sense of place. 

And I think the only real solution is to be informed of the dangers, but then just don’t think about it, because the odds are astronomical, you’re prepared and you’re here to enjoy the atmosphere, not panic about something that may or may not come to be.

https://www.terrain.org/ecomedia/q1/definitions.htm 

(J.B. Jackson quote and decent article)

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Introductions, Pre-conceptions, and Sense of Place

I am Jessica Silvey, a Junior year Forensics student, and an amateur digital artist.

I am taking this class in order to receive my two-year degree (Associate of Arts) before continuing with my major after this Fall semester. My biggest goals are passing and having fun doing so.

I know a bit about some of Colloquium’s topics already from personal interest, but not in great detail. Global warming is likely a natural cycle of our earth, however, sped up the process may be, but also could create catastrophic conditions on earth that are not great for our continued existence so we should probably do something about that. 

I'm all for reducing carbon emissions, picking up litter and recycling, but until better laws are in place to make it mandatory business practice for factories within the country and high tariffs are placed on foreign factories that refuse to comply, the impact of our efforts is but a drop in the bucket.  

I expect to learn a bit about the local environmental protection programs since I am from out of the area and not caught up on the volunteerism scene. My sense of place is stronger with my hometown’s beaches and natural parks with all the memories I have of growing up there. 

Hopefully, I will be able to use the skills and knowledge I learn in this class to further my career in forensics. Furthermore, I hope to implement this knowledge in my local communities’ environmental programs to keep my sense of place safe and clean.