Blog Entry #9

Week #10: March 18-24, 2013

I’ve never ever thought of the question, is energy too cheap? I don’t know if I can really decide if it is or not. However I have realized in the past decade “energy” has certainly transformed America. I think it’s definitely changed peoples political party affiliations. It does blow my mind when people complain about gas prices being too high.. doesn’t anyone realize that oil is not a renewable source. Once it’s gone it’s gone. I think conservation can be a “dirty word,” when political parties are discussing the matter. No one can agree on what is beneficial not only for our planet but for profit. Sadly it took me a while to find who “Jimmy Cardigan” was but I’d have to say I agree with him, we can all we can help ease some of our energy usage with proper apparel and some common sense. For instance we live in Florida, whenever I see someone wearing hoodies and jeans when it’s 95 degrees out... no wonder they have their air conditioning unit on at 70. 

In regards to alternative energy sources, I do believe we should enter into a “free-marketeer” with a little bit of government affiliation. I don’t like that the government continiously controls all aspects of our resources when they don’t always have our best interest (profit off of us) and the best interest for our planet. In my opinion to steer away from fossil fuels and transition into a more realistic approach we should turn to energy sources like ethanol. Ethanol is an example of biofuel, which is produced mainly from plants. Brazil is already transitioning to ethanol, about 20% of all the cars on the street run on ethanol. In comparison with gasoline, ethanol produces 10-15% less harmful gases. I definitely think this can move us in the right direction. Do I think for the rest of our lives? No. But it’s start. The steps I could take tomorrow, and within the next five years to reduce my energy footprint could be for me “car pooling.” That may sound silly but I drive about 368 miles every week and a half, just driving around town. If I could manage to car pool and find rides more, and vice versa that would be HUGE for my ecological foot print.

This photo shows the cycle of the use of ethanol fuel 

Blog Entry #8

Week #9: March 11-17, 2013


In my own opinion climate change is somewhat a combination of the two influences, anthropogenic (manmade) and “natural.” Now I say this because I think the planet itself is always changing, but do I think mankind has sped up the process? Certainly. The agency that I would consider to have reputable sources for climate change information would definitely have to be EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency). I say this because they don’t play the role of “no this is only natural, humans are not at fault” type of attitude. They’re straight forward, state the facts as well as what we can do to help make a change for the future. I found this on the basic information section of EPA’s website. “Rising global temperatures have been accompanied by changes in weather and climate. Many places have seen changes in rainfall, resulting in more floods, droughts, or intense rain, as well as more frequent and severe heat waves. The planet's oceans and glaciers have also experienced some big changes - oceans are warming and becoming more acidic, ice caps are melting, and sea levels are rising.”  

I found this strategy map and thought it was awesome.

How can anyone say that is just natural? How climate change is portrayed in the media all depends on what news channel or television show you’re watching. I think all media is extremely biased, and sometimes I wish there was just a straight answer, no circling around the issues that we obviously need to face, since climate change affects everyone. It’s not just democratic liberals that should have to worry about it, it’s republicans and anyone else in between. I think after taking this course, as well as my three other environmental science courses I’ve realized how much I myself contribute to climate change. If attitudes don’t start to change about our environment and we don’t start looking into renewable and reusable energy sources I’m nervous I won’t ever get to the point of seeing my grandchildren (i’m only 22, no kids). The simplest actions, like  changing a light bulb, powering down electronics, using less water, and recycling can help immensely to continue to let our planet flourish.

Blog Entry #7

Week #7: February 25-March 3, 2013

Dear USDA,

What we know about the ecology of the eucalyptus tree is perennial, single-stemmed, large-boled, medium-sized to tall tree to 30 m high. It is common and widespread tree along watercourse mainland of Australia. So therefore it is NOT a native species to Florida. It does however like to grow around permanent or seasonal water areas. The benefits of this technology is simply this, allowing a “non-native” plant species to grow in more areas. But there is always concerns when you’re genetically modifying any plant. What is genetically modified tree spreads  it’s modified genes to other surrounding plants? The eucalyptus tree is extremely invasive and is known to spread far. Sometimes tampering with something can lead to other issues. Who is to say this won’t affect any other plants that ARE native to Florida. The only positive outlook on this is that the tree does in fact have oil that acts as an anti-inflammatory. This oil mainly is used in the medical field for chronic upper respiratory diseases (asthma) and colds: for such cases, it is used additionally as cough drops and also is applied in cosmetics and as massage oil. It also is used as a fast growing wood supply mainly for paper and cellulose industry. But do those few benefits weigh out the risks? Certainly ArborGen (a biotech company) seems to think so. But maybe we shouldn’t even risk it.

Best,

Jamie Hughes 

(Colloquium Student)

Blog Entry #6

Week #6: February 11-17, 2013

I’m not going to lie; when I first heard we were going to ECHO I wasn’t all that thrilled. I’ve gone to ECHO since I was younger so I thought “here we go again”.Waking up early and having to be there at 9 am didn’t help but as we started our tour I was not bored for a second. Everything was so interesting, when I started it I thought to myself how different it seemed when I was younger, where I am now 22. I loved learning about the Neem tree and how it is used for toothpaste and as bug repellant. Standing in the huts was also one of the highlights of our field trip. A lot of times you see on TV how people live in these tiny huts, but until you stand in one and think what it must be like for people to live like this is unreal. While standing in there I thought about how lucky I was to have a house and bathroom to come home to. The Moringa tree, of course was so interesting to learn about. It has so many different uses; it really is a miracle tree. At the end of the day, I was so glad we went to ECHO, there are so many different things I could go on about. They think of everything, they come up with so many different ideas to using what they have to make what they need. 

I remember the first thing the tour guide said before we even started the tour, that there philosophy is “teach a man how to fish, and feed him for a life time.” That certainly stuck with me for the rest of the trip. There work is certainly relevant in the developing world, helping to educate these poor and rural areas that have no type of agriculture education is huge. Because I’ve already completed my service learning hours for this colloquium course, maybe in the future for the rest of my service learning hours (I need 50 more still) I’d go to ECHO and help out.

A collage of my trip to ECHO!

Blog Entry #5

Week #5: February 4-10, 2013

The major elements of “sustainable” farming is according to HDRA some examples of sustainable practices are having the right soil cultivation at the right time, crop rotation, careful planning and crop choice, as well as using natural pesticides and encouraging useful predators that eat pests. The little that I do know about sustainable/organic growing is that it works in harmony with nature rather than against it. Sustainable growing is aimed at control pests and diseases without harming the environment, increase long-term soil fertility, as well as many other environmental benefits. Anything that benefits people as well as the environment resembles sustainable qualities to me. I myself don’t grow my own vegetables so it’s hard for me to say how my “ecological principles” are woven into this framework.

Yes I do often buy organic produce, and this is certainly from my mothers influence, she's always purchased organic produce and free range animal meat. She’s always given me a positive outlook on organic. I think I’d have to say I feel in between connected and disconnected with the current food system. I actually just learned about the Food Forest on campus, so that would certainly be somewhere I would like to grow my own vegetables, or help volunteer on the site so that I could take home my own vegetables that I helped grow. 

Blog Entry #4

Week #4: January 28-February 3

In my estimation, the most pressing global environmental issue facing us today has to be pollution to our planet. I say this because pollution is an extremely broad term, pollution is a negative environmental impact of the coal industry. One major pollution issue that I would want to focus on would be water pollution. A few examples of water pollution, but certainly not all of them are ocean dumping, oil spills, fish kill, algal bloom, urban runoff and eutrophication. Water makes up about 70% of the Earth’s surface water, and is such a major resource that I can’t imagine any other pressing issue that we would need to focus on. 

If benefactor like the Rockefeller Foundation gave me $100 billion to address this global problem I would certainly use all of the money to address the issue. Pollution is not just a single issue, nor is it only in one area of the planet. It spills over, and creates so many other issues that lead to even more issues in other areas. For example having urban runoff from farming, spraying pesticides and using fertilizer it then leads to the issue of algal bloom, which leads to red tide and also leads to eutrophication. The ocean has a very large food web, without the balance of the ocean, there is no balance on land.

I found this and thought it was extremely fitting!

Blog Entry #3

Week#3: January 21-27, 2013

I saw a lot of different ecosystems while on this field trip to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Naples, Florida. On the brochure I picked up in the visitor center listed the different eco systems, a pine upland, a wet prairie, a cypress forest, and a marsh.One particular ecosystem that stood out to me was the forests around, one tree in particular that I stopped to photograph a lot as the bald cypress tree, which I learned as I was there that the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary contains the largest remaining Bald Cypress forest in North America. To be honest I didn't even know what a bald cypress tree was prior to my trip to the Corkscrew Sanctuary. Another distinct ecosystem on this trip that stood out to me was the large marsh, a vast type of wetland that contains seasonal plants. It is the ecosystem that is bordering lakes or water. Both the bald cypress tree forest and marsh lands act as a habitat for many different types of animals and plants that have adapted to environments that have high or low levels of water. 

In my own words conservation in this case is protecting, conserving as well as managing the environment. Stewardship is the management of resources, to me stewardship reminds me a lot of sustainability. The role of private non-profit in these two endeavors is huge, the conservation and stewardship efforts are all driven by members of organization that are passionate to help protect, manage and sustain the environment. Without them places like the Corkscrew Sanctuary would have been removed and replaced by neighborhoods. Civic Engagement is a large factor in all of this, I am as well taking Civic Engagement this semester and I've learned that it's more than "doing your part" or "community service." Civic Engagement has been defined as "Individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern." The motivation to preserve this particular acreage was being cypress forests were being leveled in Florida for their timber. Since National Audubon was already protecting the wading birds nesting within the Corkscrew Swamp. Audubon's mission was to help protect not just the birds, but also other wildlife by conserving and restoring the natural ecosystems. If we had just bulldozed and built condos we would have destroyed four very important ecosystems, thus damaging the environment immensely. I’m glad that people in 1940-50’s were still fighting for what they believed in and didn’t take no for an answer! If they would have backed down who knows what kind of irreversible damage could have been done.