During Wednesdays class the seventeenth, we were given an adequate presentation of Leopold’s ideas. His ideas on land ethic rang true with previous knowledge we have gained from this course. He noticed that humans were only using the rivers for transporting goods and for personal gain, never giving back. This method of taking from the earth and not giving back or replacing is not sustainable and eventually resources will run out for humans to use. This idea, similar to horticulture, is how the earth and humans have lived perfectly coinciding for thousands of years equally codependent. Now, people feel as if they are better and more superior to plants, animals, and resources of the earth, and want immediate gratification, Leopold explains. He wants humans to become equal to the earth once again. An example of this would be one that Dr. Gerry Segal mentioned in his later presentation on food growing. Thomas Jefferson, our third U.S. president was also a farmer at heart, anytime he would have guests over for dinner he would require they give back the nutrients they obtained while at his home back to the soil by using the outhouse before they left. Many people also compost material and scrap plants to go back to the earth to be recycled in a helpful way.

                Marjory Stoneman Douglas was an extremely inspirational woman. In her 108 years of living she recognized the importance of preserving a one of a kind environment in South Florida, The Everglades. A place that while she was alive was rapidly decreasing at a fast rate. Her efforts and work during a time where womens’ voices were hardly heard has been shaping in my pursuits for a better education and better stance on the importance of preserving wildlife. As the second group discussed in their presentation, there are so many unique features in this land that are not mimicked anywhere else in the world. If you live in Florida, and have not heard of this lady I think it is your responsibility to research her amazing life.

                Next, we had the privilege of watching a short inspirational documentary called Homegrown Revolution. It was about how a former hippie and his family, out of a need to feed his family non genetically modified foods, started a small garden of fruits and vegetables in his back yard.  Over twenty years of trial and error and educating themselves, on their small plot of land outside of downtown Los Angeles, their 1/10 of an acre plot not only sustains the vegetarian eating habits of four grown adults. Now, they produce 6000 pounds of food that they can sell to local restaurants. The chefs prefer this because they know where the food is coming from, their methods of organic farming create the most flavors, colors, and textures, they are growing so many different kinds of food to choose from, and it’s the freshest foods, like restaurants picking from their very own garden.

                The last part of the class our professor Dr. Gerry Segal, an avid food grower himself gave a helpful presentation on growing organically yourself at home. To see the PowerPoint of all his hints, tips, and methods for farming click here: https://elearning.fgcu.edu/AngelUploads/Content/201008-81027/_assoc/82DCF0F2E0A049FF9AD9FB9FB85FFB21/Organic_Vegetable_Gardening_2-26-10.ppt

A Journey to the Fourth "R"

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and... Recover! Last week our class explored a facility which services that fourth "R" - the Lee County Solid Waste processing plant. Our host surprised us with that fact that Fort Myers was recently named the most "sustainable city" in 2008 by researchers from Columbia University (results from 2009 have not yet been released). This honorable recognition is due largely in part by the process in which Lee County handles our solid waste. This waste includes your typical trash, other metals, appliances, co-mingled recyclables, and horticulture - up to 600 tons per day! Lee County is not home to any typical landfills, if you will, but instead chooses to employ the waste to energy system, where 43% of waste is reused, the remainder fueling energy production. The model for which is quite impressive. We were given a visual tour by way of a small model that illustrated this trash to turbine system, in which trash is pushed into a combustion chamber which reaches temperatures of 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. The energy then travels through an intense filtration system which eventually produces steam, driving a turbine. This turbine spins at an impressive 3500 rpms, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, producing 59 megawatts of power on average. Of course, not all trash will burn to ashes at this temperature, so metals such as aluminum and brass are collected, up to 20 tons a day, and are re-sold for up to $30k of revenue per week. The impact of which is far less harmful to the environment, as the end product, ash, totals 90% less waste by volume!

Unnecessary!

Not only does the facility help reduce common household trash waste, but also addresses the ever worrying tire landfill issue, as it processes tires within the same system without the need for cutting the tires to pieces first. Homeowners even have the option of placing up to two tires per week at their normal curbside pickup, at no extra charge. Speaking of charges, this system ends up costing the home owner a shockingly low amount of $4 per week. This includes trash pickup, an ingenious co-mingled recycling pickup, and even free appliance removal with proper notice. These appliances are retrieved by designated trucks once a call to Lee Co. Solid Waste has been made, and are taken to the facility to be wrapped up on massive pallets and shipped to appliance recycling centers, also providing the county with substantial revenue. The newest addition to the recovery process is the Lee County hazardous waste facility, only 1 of 2 counties in the state offering such a service. The central location has seen great success as they average 1000 drop offs per month.

Fonts aside, that bottom bracket just feels bad.

Now while theses services are far ahead of most counties, or states, for that matter, the numbers still add up to a troubling amount of overall waste being produced. It was brought to our attention that the U.S. population totals just over the 300 million mark, while countries such as China and India are home to over 1 billion each. Now the planet as a whole is home to over 6.7 billion however the United States produces 25% of the worlds trash! While our field trip focused on this fourth "R", recovery, there could have been more emphasis placed on the Reduce category. Americans are addicted to throw away products and keeping up with the latest "trends". This in turn produces that overwhelming trash statistic. Simply refraining from using plastic grocery bags and water bottles will help considerably. Investing in some reusable cloth bags and a good re-usable water bottle helps save both your wallet and the environment. Next time you pick up a product ask your self if you NEED it, and then ask yourself again. While this impressive system is in place here in Lee County, hundreds of other counties are far behind, and the trash is adding up. Be smart and see how you can help impact ALL the R's.

The Good Life

We are honored to have a professor teaching our Colloquium course
who actually walks the walk. Not to mention his

A 91 year old chinese man - Not our professor. ;)

experiences go beyond 35 years in living a natural lifestyle. On Wednesday

the third of November, he allowed us to pick his brain to learn some of the things he experienced  through owning his own health food store, being a vegan, and studying

holistic medicine. Now in his sixties he feels healthier and more active

than most twenty year olds, he never has aches and pains, and guarantees he

will outlive most and not die from the most common diseases directly because
of his lifestyle.
    The first thing he discussed was the flaws in western medicine.

Doctors are taught by the pharmaceutical companies and therefore only

understand sickness not health. If you go to a doctor and are given a clean
bill of health this means that you do not immediately have a disease or
close to death, a week later you may drop dead of a heart attack. Health is

a concept that needs to be understood more in the western world. Health (or

lack there of) in our current system treats patients as a victim and leaves

no responsibility on that person for an entire life of bad choices.
Preventative health is key to living a long life without the most common
killers, heart disease and cancer, which are again directly influenced by
the lifestyle you live and the choices you make daily.

    Students in the class then brought up by the point what about cases such as a young child being struck by cancer or a man like Lance Armstrong, arguably one of the most in shape athletes in the world. The Professor then discussed constitution and condition which lies in everyone. This concept refers to both the things we can change (condition) and the things we are born with or cannot change (constitution). Dr. Gerry Segal does believe that certain people are more predisposed to diseases but through daily choices

most people have the opportunity to change or put off their fate. Also, most diseases are hereditary because children tend to eat like their parents did.

    Other things he discussed included the idea that everything you put on your body is just as important as what you put in it. Antiperspirants and

baking soda contain aluminum which leads to Alzheimer’s and cancer. All

plastics contain high amounts of estrogen which causes breast cancer in

women, men with breasts and low sperm cell counts. Dr. Segal briefly

discussed his interest in fisianamy, which is the study of faces; it is an

ancient practice, which he said that people with big ears and big ear lobes

have a better constitution. He relates those people who now have small ears

with no lobes that sit high on their head, like animal ears, a result of

having a poor constitution and perhaps, related to choices of ancestors.

    He also discussed the most important time physically for a person is

prenatal. The change from a single celled organism to an eight pound complex

species in nine months is not duplicated in a human’s life. This brings up

another interesting point. Health is mental, physical, and spiritual, all
the same. If one of these parts of your life are off you are not considered

healthy. So yes, it is extremely important for a mother to not poison her body during pregnancy with harmful foods but it is also important for the mother to be thinking positive, welcoming thoughts, not to be stressed. Also, to be active and allow blood to flow, and oxygen to reach every body part is just as important. As some body parts are not able to function

without movement of the body.
    The remainder of the class Dr. Segal discussed the foods to eat and not to eat and the reasons for this. He also discussed exercise and the three key factors that make up an in shape person: strength, endurance, and flexibility. All of these are just as important as another, many people only focus on one of these areas which is not healthy. He also discussed sleep patterns, habits, and circadian rhythm and its extreme importance to our
health. He also told us of this concept he had been studying called
grounding, which to many is pretty out there. He believes that by walking
barefoot outside for thirty minutes everyday it would cure 99% of the mental
health cases in our society. He also sleeps on a grounding sheet which is
connected to the earth through the bottom plug of the outlet in the wall.
The idea is by “grounding himself or connecting to the earth” helps balance
mood and helps with insomnia, so far it has helped his sleeping habits.

What's Your Motivation: Fear or Love?

In our October 27th Colloquium class we had the privilege of watching and discussing the documentary, No Impact Man. This was a film that I had heard about but never had the opportunity to see. In it a husband and father , American, living in New York. Set out with his family to make little or no impact on the destruction of our planet earth. This includes no electricity, no garbage, no T.V., no meats, and no grocery store shopping. In case your thinking this is impossible they did indeed survive. The documentary followed this family over the course of the year making these drastic changes to their lifestyle. From the "power off party," to doing their laundry in the bathtub, to getting a worm compost to help eliminate all trash, to trying different methods of refrigeration, to bicycling everywhere, to buying all foods and supplies from a local farmers market. It was amazing to watch.

However, while watching the film I couldn't help but think about how little people would be willing to make lifestyle changes such as these. Even I, what could I do that would actually make an impact on not having an impact? After the film was over our class had a great discussion on the importance of making similar changes in your lives, such as making your own cleaning products instead of buying. We discussed how we live in a remarkably totally synthetic world. Everything on this planet has the ability to re nourish itself and grow and develop, including the human body.

We discussed how for millions of years humans have been able to heal themselves through natural herbs and plants found on earth and how doctors are trained by pharmaceutical companies. They only know how to do one of three things to fix medical issues. According to Dr. Gerry Segal, "1. slice and dice (surgical) 2. poison with drugs (pharmaceuticals) 3. burn with radiation." All of which methods that only cover symptoms not solve the source of a problem. These methods do not coincide with all of the earth replenishing itself.

Nor does our consumption and overpopulation coincide with the earth being able to replenish natural and necessary resources fast enough.

Colin Beavan, the author and creator of Impact man has 6 guidelines for a low impact life to help everyone start in their journey towards little or no environmental impact. http://http//www.noimpactdoc.com/no_impact_year.php

So now, it is up to you. Is your reason for change out of fear or love or both. For me it is both. I have so much fear for the years to come. I KNOW within my heart that everything will dramatically change in my lifetime. So many people do not realize this and will not be prepared its time we stand up and take action, and not just say that we will. Earth is such a astounding gift for us. I love it and I hope it can be continued to be used for my kids and grand kids to come.