Six Mile Cypress

I unfortunately missed the field trip to the corkscrew swamps but to make up for the missed day I went to Six Mile Cypress Preserve. I was a little skeptical to go because I heard so many great things about the swamps from my classmates that I felt that I was not going to enjoy the Preserve. However I had to be open minded and I grabbed a friend who was into the outdoors and we headed out there.  Because I did have to pay for the parking I really did appreciate that it was only one dollar. I felt like they were saying that you came here to connect to nature not from them to steal our money. Nature is free and everyone is entitled to experience without having to pay large sums of money. Walking on the long zig zag board walk right smack dab in the middle of the preserve made me a little nervous. I remembered watching the video where the cougar was on the board walk and I was so uncomfortable the first few minutes. 

As we continued to walk, I became more and more relaxed seeing the small animals in the trees, the woodpeckers, small snakes slithering through the low parts of the swamps, the birds flying, and the turtles bunched together. My friend swore that she saw a black hog run past us but I didn’t see it. I enjoyed the walk it didn’t feel like I was walking forever and it did not feel like it was too short, it was the right distance. It was a really great place to unwind and feel like that I was cut off from the stress of college. I feel like it was a little gem tucked away from the world, it was very peaceful. We were only there an hour but it was well worth the trip. The only flaw to the trip, is that it was really hot and I did not being sunscreen and I feel that it would have been better if we did a guided tour because I feel that we missed out on so many educational portions. There were a lot of plants and birds  that I did not know what they were or how they affect the preserve or the world. It was a defiantly a relaxing trip just no really educational. I still think it was a great experience and I can’t believe that it is right in a our backyard and I have never been or heard of it. I now know this is something that I will start going to more often when I need to wind down.

FGCU Food Forest

I thought FGCU’s Food Forest was an amazing experience to be a part of, I never been before but always heard great things about it. Walking inside, I kind of felt like it was a whimsical forest the way it was formed; I thought about a scene in the movie the bridge of Terabithia. When we first walked in, we were greeted by tall plants called chai, we were informed they were the barriers to the forest to stop some of the wind, I thought of these as the protectors of the food forest. Taking two more steps, I was able to find a plant that has the abilities to relieve the pain of my mosquito’s bites. As we twisted, turned, and ducked more into the eye shaped food forest, we found ourselves in the back of the forest, looking at the banana trees. This was fascinating for me to see because I saw banana tress before but just not in person, so to think that we actually had those in our back yard had me in awe. Since they were not in season, we were not able to see any until we were walking away; however, we found one sprouted in a tree. As we continued to follow the paths of the eye, we next found some papaya trees and mulberry trees. Honestly, I was very upset that the papaya and mulberries were not ready to harvest but I would have loved to experience harvesting my own food but I know that is something that I will have the opportunity to do in the future. In the middle of the eye, we found the beloved fruit, which only comes once a year I believe our guide said. It was sad to know that someone harvested the plant before its time and that we are never to see it grow to its full potential. I forgot the name of the plant but it was actually my favorite part of the day, still on the inside of the eye, it was a type of plant that closes when you touch the leaves; they close up. It was a bit like magic to me; it swiped my hand over a lot of them and like sea grass in the wind, they rippled shut. Leaving we looked more at the grass, and the food harvesting section. I cannot wait to go back and see the Sunflowers bloom, papaya and bananas. The food forest exemplifies exactly what is FGCU, this is a student started, student ran, and student loved forest; this forest thrives off the students. It more than goes with our mission statements with the sustainability, because not every university as a place they can harvest their own food for free and learn how to harvest these plants. The food forest is one of the small things that make FGCU special. 

Ding Darling Field Trip

I loved the field trip to Ding Darling. That was my first time in Sanibel and I honestly fell in love with the community. On the bus ride over, we got to see the polluted water of Sanibel which is something that has been talked about in the media but also in our class. First, coming into the welcome center I, thought it was fun that they had the interacting games but I really enjoyed the informational show that we watched. Learning about Ding Darling, the preserve, and the stamp-making contest, I was able to see the progression from past and it working to sustain the future. I liked seeing and learning about the mangroves. I thought it was funny how we were talking about the small crabs on the mangroves and we would point them out one by one, then we started noticing there were loads of them in the trees. I enjoyed looking at the mullet, jumping out of the water while we started talking about the birds. Seeing all the birds together reminded me of the scene of the notebook. Of course, seeing the great white pelican and knowing that it was a rare spotting coming from Africa was amazing. The fact that one of our classmates was on the news talking about the historic event, was awesome. To end it off by seeing the alligator was great experience. The only downfall would be the heat in the bus and not bringing any lunch. I think I would visit another preserve in the future and maybe go kayaking or canoeing. I thought it was very relaxing and a great way to disconnect for a while. It relates back to our discussion on land ethics by showing how places preserve their land, the animals that find homes in these places, and the plants that flourish there. I thought it was so interesting that the habitat was not even affected by the water contamination, they habitat was its own little world.

Waste to Energy

My experience at the Lee County Waste center was a very informational experience. I feel that I was able to be more aware about my community and how to help with our waste disposal issue.  I personally did not think there was a trash issue, however going on the field trip I was able to learn more about the dumps and the alternatives that are better for our environment. I do wish I could have seen more and have more of on hands on experience than listening to a lecture for more than an hour. I never thought about how much trash a household throws out, for it being close to a million that shocked me. Then to equate that just with Lee County not even Florida, I realized how much of an impact the waste energy facility makes. Even though there is a debate about how the trash is wasted, looking at the pictures of the dumps, I did not understand why any person would want to have that in their town. Not only does it look bad; it smells bad, but also takes revenue from the town because no tourist wants to visit a town where it smells but also stinks. I personally think it is a great idea to have a facility in that they burn the trash but also can collect aluminum and precious metals that can bring lee county more revenue. However, there is room for improvement, in that we do not need to waste so much of our resources like food, clothes, etc.  Personally, I never thought about how many dumps we have in America and how it affects us until we went to the facility. It does make it want to change how I dispose my waste, telling my family and friends. I feel that waste disposal is not something that one thinks about on a normal basis because it usually does not affect them. It is like out of sight, out of mind. I believe that once people are educated on the matter, they can make smarter decisions when it comes to disposing waste. I do think it is best to dispose of the trash in a facility by burning to create natural gases. Therefore, it will make me want to do better with my waste disposal, however being that I live in a college campus other than recycling and not wasting any of my belongings, it is not that easy. I know that my family and I use or resources poorly and that is something that we can no work on. Now that we are educated, we can do better. We will do better.  

Journal 1

Overall my sense is place is obviously my campus. I feel almost special knowing that someone designed a place for me to live, learn, and sustain. Also I take into mind that that even though the building of Florida Gulf Coast University were put in a specific place by architects to know that each tree, plant, or animal was placed there by human nature. That they were not disturbed or uprooted but they are in their natural habitat. In some tours that are used, some tour guides say that the animals were here first and we came after, so therefore we respect them and what they have built. I believe that; we are on eight hundred acres and we will only building half of that keeping the other four hundred in its natural environment. Who does that? Florida Gulf Coast University does. Even though they are made objects here at Florida Gulf Coast University, they are here to better sustain this land. Even with our building like now called, Seider Hall being Leadership in environmental & energy design is helping or environment by having nontraditional air condition units, the showers to reduce carbon foot prints, recycling 70 percent of its waste and 20 percent of the waste was recycled back into the building to make the floors.  It helps me understand not only our university’s mission statement of having a university that prides itself on public service and environmental sustainability.  That makes me feel like I am a part of something bigger than going to an university to get an education but by doing service learning, learning about all the natural habitats, environments I am making a difference in society. Moreover, because I am in the classes like colloquium and foundations of civic engagements, I am also learning these aspects in class, I am taking the initiative to go to my community and helping. Thus, passing the idea of service learning down to later generation, which ultimately will create a better society for the next people coming up in the world. You do not see that at any other university that puts so much inferences on the idea of service learning, the idea that you need to give back to your community to be able to reap the benefits. That if you want something in life you actually need to help someone else before you get there. That whole idea just makes the sense of place so much stronger. The idea that I can just look out my window at a pond surrounded by trees maybe see some type of wildlife bird and then the next day see a baby alligator. How blessed am I to experience that .Even though I do not understand everything about Florida Gulf coast environment, it is something that I am excited to learn. I feel at home at Florida Gulf Coast University because this campus is so special and unique in itself. Not only does it care about the students, academics, etc but also the small things like the animals, the trees, air. Which in turn are actually huge because that’s how we survive.