Earth Charter

Earth Charter was a great reading, and was good to have read this for our last blog. It seemed to want to motivate the reader that change is possible and that it needed to be done now. Earth Charter shows us who we are as people on earth, what the problems are and how we can fix them. “Humanity is part of a vast evolving universe.” Earth has thrown a lot at us of ever changing life new species and new discovering. “The well-being of humanity depended upon preserving a healthy biosphere.” Earth Charter says the problem is that “The dominant patterns of production and consumption are causing environmental devastation, the depletion of resources, and a massive extinction of species. Communities are being undermined.” There are some challenges that lay ahead like the risk of the destruction of ourselves and the diversity of life. We are at that state now where technology is very vast and can almost do anything. Earth Charters says we are able to fix these problems, “We have the knowledge and technology to provide for all and to reduce our impacts on the environment. The emergence of a global civil society is creating new opportunities to build a democratic and humane world. Our environmental, economic, political, social, and spiritual challenges are interconnected, and together we can forge inclusive solutions. Earth Charter finishes up by saying “deciding to live with a sense of universal responsibility, identifying ourselves with the whole earth community as well as our local communities.” Since we are all human beings, sharing this world, we all share responsibility to the present and future well-being of the human family and the larger living world. This is how Earth Charter thinks everyone in the world should be acting, and they are correct. 

This picture really stuck out to me because it shows that we are all humans and that this world is ours. 

http://www.cityprojectca.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/earth-charter.jpg

This is Earth Charters logo

http://safcei.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/earth-charter-logo.jpg

Orr

The first time hearing the word biophobia was while I was reading the section from Orr. The idea to me was Orr made it seem that either one has a love for life, or the other fears it. biophilia is the love for the environment while biophobia is the disregard for it. Orr says that each of us is doing something to negatively impact the earth and therefore caring for the planet is a task that requires everyone. Orr states that we need fewer malls, businesses, highways, cars, pets and corporations. To me we are way too far for this to be our next strategy. In the biophilia revolution a quote stands out to me in the beginning “humanity will love life enough to save it? And if we do love life enough to save it, what is required of us? We need to transform how and how rapidly we use the earth’s endowment of land, minerals, water, air, wildlife, and fuels.” The first revolution is mostly about technology and economics. The second revolution is about morality and human purposes. I do don’t know if it is possible to love the planet or not, “but I do know it is possible to love the places we can see, touch, feel, and experience.” To Orr, this is how we can recover our sense of place. Eric Fromm asked “whether whole societies might be judged sane or insane.”  With the past World War, we have seen genocide, and destruction. This to Orr was a clear answer that this world is insane. All and all I was not sure how I felt with the reading from Orr. The guy has a lot of information and uses some complex words that it was kind of hard for me to follow. He uses all this information to back up what he is trying to state, but I felt as if he didn’t explain things well enough so he had to use other peoples information to make his case.

David Orr

http://new.oberlin.edu/dotAsset/2367920.jpg

I just liked this picture, due to the fact that we should be thinking about the world!

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij8ELkPIoxZmOpaWe6oiDjiqPisCvMzxgjgsMwoNzlqqURxZ2uva016Lad1vWp7lVBLuTLmYB8xrIP8cE5xzTN1O0ofIdPdgNDWtCVxpofMSV_Sl4qtbe1RUZGWlhyEQH6wI6lpN45n_Ia/s1600/earth-brain-700.jpg

Goodall

I really enjoyed reading Goodall’s sections; she gave good examples of how bad things can be turned into good. One main quote that showed this was “it is living proof that the rehabilitation of a man-made wasteland is not possible, but can be accomplished with sound organic principles.” The example from this quote was the wasteland in Kenya that was turned into “paradise”. There are a lot of problems in the world today like large amount of pollution in the air, but it is not impossible to eliminate problems like this. I believe if things like Goodall’s Kenya project can work, then why not do something now in America. Goodall’s next quote was "there has been devastating destruction of habitats across the country. And having harmed so much of her own environment, China, desperate to acquire materials such as timber and minerals to sustain her economic growth, is plundering the natural resources of other countries. Especially in Africa where many politicians are willing to sell off the future of their children to make a quick buck" China holds a lot of the world’s population today and they also serve as a main provider that helps America and this world prosper. Rod Sayler also came to play in these sections and his quote “if we allow extinction to happen through ignorance or greed, then with the loss of each endangered species and unique population, our world becomes less diverse and strikingly less beautiful and mysterious. Our oceans, grasslands, and forests will echo with silence, and the human heart will know that something is missing--but it will be too late.” I do agree with Rod, we are eliminating species by knocking down their ecosystems for our personal pleasures.

 Jane Goodall is really famous for her many works, one in particular was with her chimps. 

http://www.swotti.com/tmp/swotti/cacheAMFUZSBNB29KYWXSUGVVCGXLLVBLB3BSZQ==/imgjane%20goodall1.jpg

Some ecosystem destruction.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Lacanja_burn.JPG

During my time in colloquium, we have been to many different field trips and have a read a lot of stories. These stories have included a third generation family and their life in Florida, to many small sections of stories about author’s ways to better the world. In all of the field trips we took this year, two of them stood out to me the most. The first one would have to be Estero Island. Here we received the chance to look at the history of Estero Island and met a native to the area. Arriving to the Estero Island Cottage, I was completely surprised but excited at the same time. Inside her home was so much history of Estero Island and the life that was surrounding it; this history buff was freaking out. The cottage was built back in the 1920’s and even survived that vicious hurricane in 1926. The sights and sounds really stood out to me, from feeling the breeze of the ocean and seeing the many different lives in this area. We encountered many sea grape trees, different types of fish, and all three mangroves, black, white, and red. The thing that really made this trip my favorite was the fact that I got to try something new that I actually enjoyed eating. Her sea grape jam was so good, and the passion and care she gave to us really made this trip feel fun and comfortable. The second trip that I really enjoyed was our wet walk around FGCU. It was very interesting to see that we have all this life at FGCU. The trip was very unique and fun and it really kept my attention the whole time. Even thought it was rainy and cold outside that day, our tour guide helped get us even more wet and dirty and really let us experience what exactly a wet walk should be. I am a third generation Tampa, Florida native, I am from a busy town with malls, University’s, and professional sport teams. The city of Tampa is very different from the city of Fort Myers and because of the colloquium class, I could now see why it is so important to save the land that is necessary. I do not want Fort Myers to become another Tampa because I am not sure what we have preserved up there. Down here in Fort Myers we are making strides to protect the land and the animals that live on it. All in all, the trips may not have affected my sense of place but this class has opened my eyes on how to better the future of this world and make it safe for my children and grandchildren.

The small cottage on Estero Island

http://www.fortmyersbeachfl.gov/images/pages/N305//HAC%20brochure%20photos%20designated%20sites%20007.jpg

 Tried making it smaller but it wouldn't work. But here is Matt and I on the wet walk around FGCU 

Carson

Rachel Carson had two articles to read and the first one was A Fable for Tomorrow. Carson puts in perspetive a very interesting view of our future global environment. The main focus of the passage was if sustainability is not achieved before the result of deterioration occurs than there is not much hope of the environment. The passage relates to us and our environment now because it is the time to save our earth and better reconstruct the damages our past generations have done. Carson had a very unique approach, she grabbed me as a reader with the way she worded her sentences, I felt as if the city she was explaining was real and I was standing right in the middle of it.  “The roadsides, once so attractive, were now lined with browned and withered vegetation as though swept by fire (151).” “A grim specter has crept upon us almost unnoticed, and this imagined tragedy may easily become a stark reality we all shall know (152).”

Carson’s second article, The Obligation to Endure, was a very unique view of pesticides and other damaging chemicals. A quote by Albert Schweitzer on page 154 stood out to me, “Man can hardly even recognize the devils of his own creation.” This quote seemed to emphasize how dangerous the current produces are because of the chemicals used. Carson also adds in this passage that there are over 500 new chemicals that the human body has to adapt to each year. People are normally worried about general foods that are good or bad for you, but now we also have to be aware of the chemicals used on our foods.  All together I really enjoyed reading Carson’s passages, and she may be one of my favorite authors in this book. The way she brought me into each problem and scenery was great and easy to follow. 

A picture I found that the imagery reminded me of  A Fable for Tomorrow.

http://artobserved.com/2011/04/go-see-washington-alexis-rockman-a-fable-for-tomorrow-at-the-smithsonian-american-art-museum-until-may-8th-2011/

This picture to me is a great image of kids being poisoned by all these new chemicals found in our foods now. 

http://chemicalfreelife.tumblr.com/post/19461293163

Shiva

In “What is Biodiversity and why is it So important” Shiva explains the connection between biological and cultural diversity. Reading her section made me feel kind of overwhelmed. She makes it clear what she is, and that is an activist for organic agriculture. One quote in general stood out to be on how I knew where she stood, “Globalization has accelerated the destruction of biodiversity to such a place and on such a scale that plants and animals that were common a few years ago have disappeared.” Shiva states that globalization is one of the main reasons biodiversity is failing, but believes that globalization had made not only the United States but several other nations prosper with their exports, international affairs, and imports.  Additionally, she has a bias view because she continuously insults the United States and Europe, but praises her home country of India. “India has a rich and ancient heritage of medical knowledge based on its vast resources of medicinal plant biodiversity.” Even though she gives us a lot of information, I still was not sure if I fully agreed that biodiversity is the most reliant resource to keep health food production alive. 

I tried to find a steady ground with Shiva, but it seemed when I started to lean her way she brought be back down to not enjoying what she had to say. Hitting at my sense of place, being from the west, she states towards the end two root causes, “The first arises from the ‘empty-earth’ paradigm of colonization, which assumes that ecosystems are empty if not taken over by western industrial man or his clones.” I do have mixed feelings with the fact that “For the last 500 years, colonization has been based on the idea of ‘emptiness’ of the earth and of other cultures,” but look at what has come out of that 500 years. Contributes like the settlements of North and South America, Australia, and many huge countries that contribute to this world. 

Globalization destruction of forest.

http://www.greenfudge.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Greenpeace-forest-destruction.jpg

India and other hindu people take part in medicinal plant biodiversity.

 http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/00690/10VZVISKCITYREG2SAP_690429f.jpg

Diamond

Diamonds approach to the evolution of cities was very interesting to read about.  He shares with us several reasons why a city, like the Gardar farm, can collapse while farms next to it can prosper, like the Huls Farm. Diamonds shows us his five point frame work and explains why certain cities dissolve. These frames are environmental damage, climate change, hostile neighbors, friendly trade partners, and the society's responses to its environment.  I enjoyed how Diamond shows us other reasons besides environmental causes to how a city could be destroyed. Even though Diamond stayed optimistic throughout his book, it is still a little sad to think that it is possible that any city can be destroyed. These five points are great and could be very helpful on how to prevent future city destruction. One part of the book stood out to me and it was the way Diamond showed both sides of an environmental opinion.  The “environmentalist” or “pro-environment” urged the government to take action to obtain a sustainable lifestyle. Clearly he states that “our current environmental problems are serious and in urgent need of addressing, and that current rates of economic and population growth cannot be sustained.” On the other hand we see the “non-environmentalist” or “pro-business” think that the importance of the environment is exaggerated and that a country can grow without the help of environment. It was weird to read that Diamond seemed to be scolded by both environmentalist and non-environmentalist. The non-environmentalist claim “Diamond preaches gloom and doom,” “favors endangered purple louseworts over the need of people,” and on the other hand the environmentalist says “diamond has sold out to big business,” “He’s in bed with big business.” After reading this section it made me question where I stand on the environmental spectrum. Before FGCU and this class I don’t think I was clear on what actually has to happen for an area to be preserved, how a city could be destroyed, or how to rebuild the land back to its old glory days. Now I can see how big of a part the environment plays in this world.  I see every day of how FGCU isn’t leaving a carbon footprint and how I am going to be one of those students who help out with it.  

http://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/p/keep-calm-i-am-environmentalist-/

http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/bro/lowres/environmental-issues-environmentalist-recyclable-recycle-non_recyclable-reusable-bron3370l.jpg

Plan B

In Plan B, Chapter nine caught my eye because it shows us what we need to be doing now to support the 8 Billion people we are expected to have on this earth. In chapter 9 there are a few sections but the one that I felt more of a sense of place with was the section of producing protein more efficiently. Three main quotes stood out to me, the first is “World meat consumption increased from 44 million tons in 1950 to 260 million tons in 1970,” plus “consumption of milk and eggs has also risen. In every society where income has risen, so has meat consumption, reflecting a taste that evolved over 4 million years of hunting and gathering.” To me these facts are not shocking at all, but the thing that sparked my interest was what the number would be now that we are reaching 8 billion people in one area. My favorite sense of place is at the beach because it is where my whole family spends about a week just having the time of our lives. We have been going to The Islander since my oldest sister was a kid. A land Remembered really attracted my attention sine they too were a 3 generation family in one place. The last quote that caught my eye was “Fast-growing, highly grain-efficient world fish farm output may also overtake world beef production in the next few years.” My favorite food besides steak would be fish and crab legs, what will happen to the food that I enjoy from the sea if it becomes more frequent to catch and kill than the multiple amounts of land animals.  In fact, aquaculture has been the fastest-growing source of animal protein since 1990; largely because of herbivorous fish convert feed into protein so efficiently. I was going to argue that we need to take in account that soon these fish that we love so much will be gone, but countries like China are finding a way to keep these animals living but still having a large catching season. China has developed a fish polyculture using techniques of four types of carp that feed at different levels of the food chain. Silver and Bighead carp are filter feeders eating on phytoplankton and zooplankton. The grass carp, feeds on vegetation while the common carp eats detritus. This multi-species system, which converts feed into high-quality protein with remarkable efficiency, allowed China to produce some 14 million tons of carp in 2007. This to me is something America could learn off of. Like many sections we have read from Louv to Leopold, I can see that we need to preserve something that is valuable to us now. Yes these authors focused on the everglades and south west Florida but it shows similarities with China on how to preserve something and still receive a large amount of resource from it. Like I mentioned before, My sense of place is at the beach, I love the ocean, I love scuba diving in the ocean, and I love seeing all the organisms it has to offer. My sense of place would be destroyed if we don’t learn soon how to feed the 8 Billion people now since our numbers in population will just increase.

One of Chinas grass carp. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_carp

Family and friends at The Islander, the motel my family has been going to since my 30 year old sister was a baby!

A land Remembered

A land remembered by Patrick D. Smith tells us of a story about the MacIvey family who lays roots in Florida and is told of their years in the state through 3 generations. Tobias, the main character, leaves the state of Georgia for Florida in search for a better life for his wife and kids. While his transition to Florida was swift, his living conditions were not. At first Tobias and his family lived off of the things he could only kill. Mosquitoes would come in and destroy a herd of cattle and their cabin caught fire. With the civil war in full affect, it was hard for any food or supplies to even venture down to Florida. It wasn’t until Tobias ran into a man named Keith Tiger, a Seminal Indian, where he actually learned how to make food and money for his family. Keith Tiger should Tobias how to round up, sell, grave, and to fatten cattle for the market and his family. Tobias was the one character that stood out to me because of his bravery and his father figure on how to provide for his family. In the pages of 19 and 20, his bravery stood out to be a man of not discriminating. Not only did he house a runaway slave but he stood up for his Seminole friends. Three men on horses started whipping the Indians, and Tobias stood his ground, shot a dog, and threatens the men. To me this is a sign of a man who is American and is standing up for those who can’t.

After years of cattle herding, Tobias eventually ventures into a new money making business of orange groves. Thought Tobias was a great man, and his work earns him a life-long reputation as a good and decent man, he feels that he failed to meet the needs of his wife and family.  After many years in the state of Florida, Tobias gets attacked by many mosquitos and catches malaria.  Though Tobias is temporarily healed by and Indian medicine man, he soon dies toward the end of his sons section of the book. The malaria catches up with him when he tries to save his orange groves from the freeze, and being too weak to do any action, the cold soon took over. I honestly was not looking forward to reading this book, just based on the fact that I am not a big reader, but after I read it I felt a sense of pride. Now driving through Florida I can feel a sense of pride in our rich history and because of the way Patrick D. Smith wrote his story, he made the imagery so clear to me. From the last field trip we had in downtown Fort Myers, our first tour guide asked us what the word “cracker” meant. Clearly this word cracker could be applied to Tobias. Yes he didn’t come from Ireland or Scotland, but he traveled down to Florida, with little in his pocket and made something for his family. 

Just a picture i found that i feel describes the MacIvery lives in Florida 

http://patricksmithonline.com/RickPowers/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Anewbeginning800x533.jpg


this is the same map from the book. 

http://activerain.com/blogsview/797309/-a-land-remembered-florida-s-early-history-or-where-the-
name-cracker-originates

Grunwald

Michael Grunwald

In this passage it seemed to hit me close to home. One because I am from Florida so I believe every Floridian should care about the everglades and also because I have family down in homestead.  Grunwald was correct when he was talking about the everglades being right on the border of homestead. I believe it they never built anything by homestead; it would just be the single one lane road to the keys surrounded by the everglades. One quote that I liked a lot came from DeFoor “DeFoor sensed that south Florida’s interest groups were like drunks at the end of a bar fight. Their arms felt heavy, and they wanted an excuse to stop slugging” P81.   Both of her sides that she needed went on to support the governor’s funding bill. Many people were iffy if they wanted to support this million dollar project to save the everglades, or at least protect it. Another quote stood out to me that really hit the spot for me and I think others that read this section. “If the Everglades was really Americas Everglades, as the Florida senators kept calling it, then a threat to the Everglades was Americas Business” P82.

With people finally backing the project to protect the everglades, and the airport on hold it was finally time to see what their first steps would be. The last quote I found was my favorite “All of a sudden, we come along with the romance of the everglades” P92. To me and obviously to Warner, we knew that without this bill to protect the everglades that it would soon dwarf and not exist anymore. The funny thing to me is, that they stopped with the airport in Homestead but a couple years later went on to build an Air force base, where my brother-in-law is station. It just seemed a little ironic to me, that both parties got what they kind of wanted in the end. All and all Grunwald was a nice passage to read, just didn’t enjoy all the politician talk, not really my favorite thing to read about. 

 This is a picture of an arial view of the  Air force base in Homestead

http://www.frankvreilly.com/?_escaped_fragment_=homestead-air-reserve-base/zoom/c1n8o/imageqwg

Michael Grunwald

http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/articles/news_and_politics/interrogation/2012/08/120801_INT_Michael-Grunwald_The-New-New-DealEX.jpg.CROP.rectangle3-large.jpg

Douglas

Stoneman Douglas 

When reading the nature of the everglades, I felt as if I would know everything he was about to say. Growing up in Florida you always hear about the everglades, in school and out of school. We learn about the animals, how the everglades came about and how we need to better preserve them. As I began reading I already started to learn new things, even from the very first line, "There are no other everglades in the world." I did not even realize how important it would be to preserve the everglades until that line came about, we have the only one in the world. Other things came up early on that I was shocked I did not know "The everglades begin at Lake Okeechobee.” Later through the book, I enjoyed reading about the animals but most of all the panthers. “The pale colored lithe beautiful panthers that feed on deer,” I knew that the Florida panther roamed around our state, but I didn’t realize they would wonder into the everglades. The animals that spark my mind about the everglades are of course, alligators, snakes, fish, and birds, nothing about big cats and panthers are just one of these cats, the everglades also have wildcats! Though this section was a little longer than the others, I enjoyed reading and learning about my state and the everglades.

coyotes-wolves-cougars.blogspot.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everglades

Leopold

Aldo Leopold 

After going through Leopold's The Land Ethic, it had me thinking at the end whether or not I enjoyed his writing. With me not being a strong reader and not knowing certain words, his writing made me second guess myself on what I just read or made me go back and re read the sentence entirety. Even though he had a couple of words that through me off, I was intrigued from the start. "When God-like Odysseus returned from the wars in Troy, he hanged all on one rope a dozen slave-girls of his household whom he suspected of misbehavior during his absence (Leopold 58)." That sentence right there is a ballsy but eye catching statement that makes the reader want to continue on. He held my attention for the most part because of all the historically references he made, and to a history major that is all we need. It makes me wonder if he did a deep research of all the historically documented things he mentioned or if he too is a history major and just knew them. He ranges all the way from Odysseus, Ezekiel, and Isiah to parts of the revolutionary war. Land ethic changes the role of humans from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it. Leopold gives an example, "the settlement of the Mississippi valley (Leopold 61)." What if American settlers never concord the land? What if the English and Indians won that? Would there have been a civil war? These are the questions Leopold was asking and they are all so good. If America settlers never tried to or even succeed at conquering the Mississippi valley, what would have happened. 

After hearing about all of this, Leopold finishes out with something that made me a little upset, but he may be right. He states, "He has no vital reaction to it: to him it is space between cities on which crop grows (Leopold 74)."  Here he is talking about my generation and how the education systems are headed away from teaching us how to respect the land. All in all, the reading was okay, he made some really good points, and then some that made me give him a nasty face. I kinda compared him to a really well known speaker in the Christian world, John Piper. He uses really big words, and leads me in all different directions, but gives amazing examples. 

Richard Louv

I did not find many quotes from Richard Louv himself, but the main person I kept agreeing with was the newly graduated teacher. She stated that "With all of the testing in schools there is no time for physical education, let alone exploring the outdoors." Louv tells us that in the United States, the local school boards have pushed for higher test scores to creating a better America. nearly 40 percent of American elementary schools either eliminated or were considering eliminating recess all together to help promote the higher test scores. To me and this newly graduated teacher, this was outrageous and unacceptable. I have been to Germany twice, one through the foreign exchange program and the other to visit the family I stayed with before. My first time to Germany I attended school with my exchange partner, Fabio. School over in Germany is very different from America. They maintain high test scores, have about 8 or 9 classes a semester, but go through them in blocks. With all this being said, Fabio had Physical education or "recess" every single day. The Germans noticed, same as the new teacher did, that the outside, in an open field will better the students, instead of keeping them locked up in a classroom the whole time.

Now studies have shown that nature may be a useful as a therapy for Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). These kids are just as smart or can ever be smarter than those without a disorder. If this therapy works than we could not take out recess or physical education at all. Louv did bring up some very good thoughts later in his writing about being outside even if your not a student. But this part in the beginning really stood out to me.

Lex Krautheim