Journal 7 - Based on Field trip 5 - Downtown Fort Myers

 Due to a family vacation that was already set in place, I could not participate in this field trip. This is a complete bummer because I really liked going on field trips in this class. I am not from this area so the field trips didn't only educate me on stuff related to environmental sustainability, but it also taught me a lot about what Lee county is all about. My class had the opportunity to go to downtown Fort Myers where they made multiple stops and visits to talk about different things. 

During this trip, my class learned about how Lee county respond to environmental issues including but not limited to parks, water, walkways, and buildings. As far as water, the city governmental has to do what it can to ensure that the water quality has characteristics that won't have a negative effect on human and environmental health. Local government is responsible for adding and maintaining wastewater and stormwater treatment facilities, and for providing programs for public education. For buildings I found information that drought risk is high. About 97% of buildings in Fort Myers, FL are at risk of flooding, and the risk level for these buildings is very high. About 24% of buildings in Fort Myers, FL are at risk of wildfire, and the risk level for these buildings is significant. However, there are also buildings like Seidler Hall at FGCU that is LEED platinum because of its sustainable resources and capabilities. 

Like previously mentioned, I am super sad that I didn't get a chance to attend this field trip but I am also very grateful for all the other events I was able to go to and all the new information I learned. 

Journal 5 - Pachamama Alliance - Awakening the Dreamer Project

 Our class had the opportunity to participate in a colloquium and or conversation on the Pachamama Alliance which started in the Amazon rainforest. Their mission statement is to equip people around the world with inspiration and training to regenerate the planet's ecosystem, bring justice to their communities, and restore our relationship with the Earth, with ourselves, and with each other. This movement started in 1996 and has since been trying to change the dream of the modern world. The course we looked into is called 'Awakening the Dreamer' and it is split into 4 sections. 

The first section deals with "Where Are We?" This section talks about where we are in the world right now and express the urgency to wake up and see what's going on. This section is just to create a sense of awareness. The world has a current "dream" of what it want it to look like. While it looks aesthetically pleasing, the industrialize way we live is hurting the environment and or our home, Earth. It is also important to add that this segment didn't only touch base on how our "dream" could be hurting the earth, but we also could be hitting each other, and ourselves. One more thing to add that it didn't mention was how our actions could be hurting our future generation. 

The second section talked about "How did we get here?" There are many reasons that lead to the self-destruction of the world. I think the reason behind the causes of how we got here involves people have self-greed. We live in a world where everybody think about themselves and put themselves first even when they know their actions can affect others. For example, overconsumption. People tend to take more than we need, just because we can and have the money for it. This don't only include food, but also money, clothes, and purchasing big homes for small families. When there is people in the world who is without so much, we should be more mindful of how we consume things. 

The third section talked about "What is possible now?" It is nearly impossible to completely get rid of pollution and extreme climate change because the world is constantly evolving. However, all it take is baby steps right now so that by the time the future generation get here things can be easier to manage. This includes involving politics so that rules and regulation can be made to protect our home, ourselves, and each other.

The fourth section and also the last section involves "Where do we go from here?" In this section it talks about the next steps and actions that needs to take place in order to achieve a more just, peaceful, and sustainable future. Sustainability which can be described as a meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations from meeting their needs. In order to achieve a more sustainable future we not only have to become more sustainable within ourselves but also towards each other. 

My overall verdict on this alliance is that it is helping towards a necessary goal and a goal that will benefit people from all over. The wow factor I took out of this course was that the human species is the most selfish and dangerous animals on the planets. We are selfish because we think about ourselves when it comes to consumption and we are extremely invasive. We take over areas that is not even ours. We are slowing killing ourselves and sooner than later it can catch up to us.  

Journal 6 - Waste to Energy Facility

 My class and I had the opportunity to go visit the waste to energy facility located in Fort Myers. This was my first time going to a waste facility and will probably be my last because that was the most awful smell I have ever inhaled. As soon as we stepped off the bus, the scent hits you immediately. However, once you get to a certain point on the field trip the smell either goes away or don't be as bad. On this trip, we learned a lot about how waste management will take the trash gathered from all over the county and turn the waste into renewable materials. Before going on this trip is when I saw garbage men I didn't think much about their job or the significance of it. However, their role in this world is very crucial to environmental sustainability and pollution. 

Our first stop was in a conference room where we went over the basics of what goes down at the facility. Here we learned about certain important terminology, the process of turning the waste into ash, and other value information. Our guide told us that there are 5 different names that people tend to call the waste facility. These include but are not limited to waste to energy, lee county waste recovery center, magic plant, the incinerator, and lee county solid waste. He said the incinerator is the most offensive name because there is much more to them than just burning waste into ash. Our guide also mentioned how the facility got paid by enterprises and service fee funds. The thing that sets them different than others is that they have a material recovery facility where all recyclable material go. 

After we left the conference room, we went to the most stinky part of the field trip which is where all the dump trucks and garbage trucks go to drop off the trash. Although it was stink, I was blown away on how trash was taken out the garbage trucks and picked out by a overhead crane. I always thought that people take trash out the trucks but instead there is a push tool located in the back of the truck and it pushed the trash all the way to the front and out of the truck. A lot of trucks can dump their trash at the same time but there is only one overhead crane to pick up the trash which leave a big pile of trash sitting there forever. Which I think really contribute to the smell. A fun fact that I found interesting was that the overhead crane has the ability to pick up to up 10,000 pounds of trash! 

From there, we went to the combustion part of the facility which surprising wasn't as hot as I thought it was going to be. During this stage, all trash getting burned and turned into ash. The cool thing about this process is that material that can be reused is separated from the ash and sent off for example metal. I believe our tour guide said that the amount of metal they collect per year through this process can be used to make over 25,000 cars or automobiles. We wore a hard hat and goggles for safety during this part and it made me feel like a handy man. 

 

Other parts of our tour included seeing the control panel and meeting our workers at the facility and getting to know them and what they do. I really liked this part because we were able to connect with the workers and see what goes through their head while working. I, of course, had to ask them about the smell and can they put up with it. They told me that after working there for so long, you kind of get used to it. Also while looking at their computer screen, I seen a bunch of numbers and complications. When I asked about that, they were trying to build prototypes and other tools to continue to improve the operation in the facility. 

Overall, my experience at the waste facility was one for the books. They focuses on the 4 R's which is reduce, reuse, recycle, and recover. Then we added one which is rethink. They also touched on a topic that we have ben talking about since the beginning if the semester which is sustainability. Sustainability is meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Lee county is ranked one of the most cleanliest and environmentally sustainable counties in Florida for a reason. This facility helps with that ranking. 

Journal 4 - FGCU Sustainability Efforts and Nature Trail Walk

 On October 12th, 2023 my colloquium class decided to take a field trip around campus. My schools foundation is based off of environmental sustainability; however many students did not understand how or why. It was even mentioned during our tour, that majority of the students didn't chose to attend FGCU because of their environmental sustainability let alone knew about it. That is what our tour was mainly about. Most of our sustainable practices you can't see, so we do a tour to elaborate on the unseen.

Our tour started off looking at our trash cans and the way they are structured. The nickname we like to call our trash cans is big belly and that is because they can store more trash than your typical trash can. They can do this because our trash cans have simulations in it that crushes the trash to increase space. Next to every trash cans both inside and outside our buildings are recycle bins. All recycle materials can be placed in the same bin without the treat of waste contamination.

Our next stop on our campus was to our chiller or central energy plant. These plants were thermal ice storages that would cool the campus. FGCU campus buildings usually don't have a thermostat so it cools building based off the temperature outside. At night, the water is mixed with glycol and circulated through the chiller to produce and store ice in the energy storage tank. During the day, the ice is melted and the glycol is pumped through a frame heat exchanger. The chilled water is then circulated through underground pipes to cool the campus. Not only does it reduces the impact on surrounding environment but it also saves money that would he going towards power bills. 

We then proceeded to visit Whitaker Pond. This Pond is located on campus between two educational buildings and the bridge students take to class The pond is actually all man made. Also, the reason for them making the pond was to protect the land nearby from flooding. Whitaker pond is not the only pond on campus that serves this purpose but it is good to note.

The pond sits right by a building called Seidler Hall. Seidler Hall is the main building for FGCU college of Arts and sciences. This is a green building and in 2010 it received the LEED platinum by the U.S. Green Building Council. What makes it a green building includes the reduced heat simulations inside the building. As well as the 75% of materials used to build the building were all reused recycled materials. Also, 20% of those materials were collected less than 500 miles from the school, reducing the carbon footprints and CO2 emissions. Another cool thing to note about this building is that they have showers in the building to encourage people to actually bike to class instead of drive. This will once again help with pollution so not much CO2 emissions will be released. 

All around FGCU we have plants called green plants. Its always the little things that count and FGCU made sure to pay attention to minor details like plants to keep the school sustainable. Majority of all plants on campus are native plants meaning they born and fostered here in Florida. This is important because native plants have the ability to adapt to our Florida weather because they have been here for a lifetime. This saves money because they never have to be replaced and they don't make too much of a mess on campus. Surrounding our plants are rocks that separate them from the concrete. Due to this design, the rocks help capture water so it don't destroy the soil for our plants. A last thing to note is that the surrounding plants actually help cool our buildings by not just providing shade but also by releasing water vapor through the air that can cool the surroundings. 

Our last stop included going to FGCU green lawn by the library. This massive land space can be used by anybody in the public and can be used at a place to let your inner thoughts loose. Here freedom of speech is best practiced and many events are held to get people voice or organization heard. You would often see religion advocates come to preach their word around this area and although for most students it may be annoying, that is the one place you can't tell someone no. I can see this being a safe place for someone. 

After our campus trip our professor took us on a nature trail back in this woods. I'll admit, I was not a fan of this activity at all. However, I am super happy that I went just to say that I experienced it, but I won't do something like that again personally. When we first got there, we went to a bench to sit and talked about everything we just witnessed and learned during our campus tour. Afterwards we began our journey walking through a swamp. The further we got, my higher the water level was. The journey was a little scary to say that least due to the animals and branches I kept tripping over in the water. Once we reached our destination, I was okay. Everyone had to pick their own tree and make a connection with that tree. We think had to listen for things we found and things are saw. We took a moment of silence to really make a connection and visualize a past memory you hold dear to your heart. 

Journal 3 - ECHO Global Farm

    On October 5th, 2023, I had the opportunity to visit the ECHO global farm park located in North Fort Myers with my colloquium class. Going into the trip (based on the name), I thought we were going to a farm that harvest fruits and vegetables and ship them to communities in needs. Although this is apart of ECHO mission, ECHO Stood for something much greater. 

    ECHO is used as an acronym for Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization. Their goal was to potentially ease world hunger by their resources of sharing information, ideas, techniques, methods, plants, books, materials and solutions. They function mainly by providing agricultural information to overseas workers, distributing seeds for promising food plants, and offering training opportunities at the farm. They are a nationally known organization however, most people in Fort Myers never heard about them.

    The first part of our tour took place at the seed bank. The seed bank is where the farm grow and harvest seeds and send them to communities all over the world. The seeds they harvest are called open pollination (opposite of GMO) which means to re-use of seeds to produce the same plant the following year. At this spot, we also learned about many other methods in which farmers can grow more efficiently called appropriate technology.

    After that we moved to my favorite part of the tour where we learned 4 different ways to purify water. Most people who come to seek help from ECHO live in underdeveloped countries that lack clean water. With that being said, they are forced to drink unsanitary water from swamps or streams. Being that water is arguably the most important resource in our life, it is important that we feed ourselves good fresh water. The first method we learned was by way of moringa seeds that grow on moringa trees. The moringa seed powder has a good coagulant for cleaning raw turbid water. This method can remove up to 90% of the bacteria from raw water. Another method included adapting an straw that acts almost like a vacuum

because it has a filter in it that has such small holes that only water can get through it and the rest of the bacteria and parasites (metals and chemicals) are left stuck in a filter (that you can pull out). The third method includes using a clay big bowl. Clay can filter and absorb pollutants and through porous ceramic, and purified water then seeps out the bottom through filtration. The last way is the easiest way, which is to capture water in your water bottle and to then lay it directly in the sun and let the sun radiation kill off the bacteria.

    While leaving that spot, we also saw how many people would used clay to make houses or clay to make strong, firm walls. Speaking of house, we also passed by a house made out of bamboo. The bamboo being used was not your typical bamboo, it was a lot stronger. Our tour guide informed us that bamboo have natural sugars insides that insects like to eat at. Therefore, through ECHO they will teach you how to properly clean out bamboo sticks so that the bugs won't eat you out a house. 

    The last portions of our trip or tour consist us going through the garden where we saw different fruits, plants, and harvesting of plants. Many farmers around the world are limited on supplies needed to farm correctly. Through the help of ECHO they are able to improvise by gardening with stacks, tires, and even bricks. I even saw an elevated garden built for people (older typically) who have a hard time bending down or over to do field work.

    I really enjoyed my trip at ECHO. So far out of the rest of the trips we went on, this one had the most sentimental touch. You never really realize how blessed and fortunate you are until you hear about what's taking place in different countries. This trip reminded me to be grateful for the little things and that one mans trash can also be another mans treasure. 

Journal 2 - Six Miles Cypress Slough

     This previous Thursday, I had the pleasure of visiting the Six Miles Cypress Slough in Fort Myers. This was my first time being there and before visiting I thought it would be like the typical natural trails much like at our school. However, it was so much more and quite the beauty to look at. Another misconception I had before entering, was thinking that the actual hike was six mile miles long. However, once I got there our tour guide let us know that its called six mile slough because once travelers reach the slough, they know that they got six miles left to reach the city of Fort Myers.

    We started our journey at the welcome center and headed towards the alligator pond. When we began walking is when I learned what a slough is. A slough is a drainage channel in a wetland. It was filled with cypress trees which are skinny trees that have a wide thick bottom. The bottom is thick because it keeps the tree sturdy against strong winds and any physical force. The water surrounding the trees appears to be brown also like tea. This is because the cypress trees drop cypress needles which are like leaves and give it that color. Once we made it to the alligator pond, there was a quote that our professor had us read and jot down. It read, "We don't inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children" from Chief Seattle. 

    While heading to our next stop there were many other points along the way that struck my attention. One being air plants that live on other plants are trees and prosper when it rains and the water runs down the tree and onto the plant. We also learned about ecotone which is the area in which two ecosystem meet. Our next stop would be wood duck pond which is where we learned about aquaphor and the three different types of ponds. Aquaphor is when water is being pulled out during drying season. There is rain, fire and alligator ponds. For alligator pond, during drying season (winter) alligator build holes that forms an unique ecosystem. There was a another quote that read, "If there is magic on the planet, it is contained in the water" from Loren Eisley. 

    We then went to the otter pond where we saw some turtles and birds. Many of which looked alike. For example, anhingas and cormorants are diving birds that look very much alike. The real many difference between the two if their bill. Anhinga have a pointy bill and the cormorant have a double-crested bill. We can say the same about the great and snowy egrets where they main distinction between them are the color of the beak. 

Walking back I took another picture of a quite that read "Ones happiness depends less on what he knows than on what he feels." Walking back to the main area where we started made me appreciate nature in a different light. It made also think about my ecological footprint and how important it is to be more sustainable because there is nature all around us depending on us to do right. 

Journal 1 - Introduction, Pre-conceptions and Sense of Place

 Hello Everyone!!

    My name is Taylor Fullard and I am a last-semester senior here at Florida Gulf Coast University. I major in management with a concentration in sports. Due to my concentration, it is not hard to tell that I have a profound love for all sports but especially basketball. I have played basketball almost all of my life and have found peace in what it brings me. Other than basketball, my others hobbies consist of traveling, working out in the gym, and shopping for fashion. I believe in the concept that if you look good, you'll feel good. 

    When it comes to this University Colloquium course, at first I thought it was just about us learning about the climate change in the world and how it effects us. However, this is not a science class instead it is a class focused on FGCU and what concept it values most (environmental sustainability). The fact that the university was built on the region that is considered to be the Everglades, it is important that they take care of the nature and wildlife there. Therefore, it is important for the students to also know how essential it is so that they take care of all of our home. In comparison to all of my other peers in my group, they though the same thing. One main difference between me and the others however, was that they actually had friends that took the class already so they a little bit more insight than me. 

    Now that I know what the class is all about, I really look forward to learning more about the nature and how big of an impact it has on our school. I am interested because I do a lot of traveling both in the country and outside the country. When I travel, I like to reconnect with that country or state culture and nature. For example. in the pictures below you will see me outside connecting with the world in the countries of Costa Rica and Dominican Republic. Just like how I learn to connect with the cultural traditions of other countries, I had to learn to do the same with FGCU.

    
    I think this class would be great in helping explain what sense of place mean to someone. Sense of place to me is not just a location that makes you feel at home but it could also be people. It is a place where you feel attached and a place of self-identity. For me, my sense of place is the hometown I grow up in called Pompano Beach located in Broward County Florida. I stayed in that city my entire life so much of what I learn about in life came from there. My parents recently move to Georgia so I thought my sense of place and home feeling would be broken. However, I realize that by being around my hometown friends and family still make me feel at home. 

    I hope to connect with the environment and learn more about my school in this course. My major is management so I would hope to learn how to better manage and maintain a healthier lifestyle both internally and externally.