Final Blog

For my final blog, I would like to briefly reflect on my experience within this Colloquium course. At first, I was dreading every minute of a required summer course, outside with field trips and essays about nature and the environment. However, at the end of this semester I found that in all actually I did enjoy myself in the course. Dr. Otto, you made this course enjoyable and not feel like a requirement and something we all needed to do just for a grade but actually facilitated learning about the issues in a manner, at least I, could understand and relate to. I used the experiences from the course to help me through some rough times and at the end of the day, I have built an amazing relationship with my volunteer organization, who I plan to continue working with, having an understanding of the importance our actions really do make, and now know that each one of us can really make a difference. Overall, I want to say thank you for making this course enjoyable and educational. Thanks for another great semester Dr. O. :)

Earth Song

Music is every where we go, at all times of the day and night, with this being said, I thought one of the best ways to get through to people about the environmental was find a song and video that would show the severity of the issue. Michael Jackson's Earth Song is accompanied by a video of images and clips of the world's demise, it was honestly hard to watch as the reality is so apparent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxwRVYSw3Kw

Save Mother Nature

I found this picture while going through some environmental blogs and articles and it really interested me. I look more into the photo and found out the meaning behind each individual piece.This piece of art was inspired by Chinese symbolism, the Peoni (red flower on the left) is representing spring time, the Chrysanthemem (yellow flower) is autumn, the Plum Blossum (the pink flower) is winter, the Lotus (yellow and purple flower) is summer, and the Rose is the 4 seasons. The dead and wilted trees and flowers represents the death of nature and the beauty left behind while the woman is representing mother nature.

ECHO

Today I took my trip up to ECHO, as the tours were not available I took it upon myself to just walk around the nursery and see what ECHO had to offer for the time being. As I browsed through the isles of vegitation, I came across a family out shopping for plants and fruits. I asked them if they normally come to ECHO for their vegitation needs or if this was their first time, they replied that they had never been to ECHO before but they were looking to start planting in their backyard as a way to keep their kids entertained over the summer and show them a little bit of responsibility. We shared some more brief conversation before saying our good-byes and leaving, on my way home I thought about what the family had said, wondering if more families thought this way and gave their children something to do with their time what the outcome would be, not only for their family but the environment overall. This definitely made the hour long drive worth it!

Downtown Fort Myers

On our field trip to downtown Fort Myers yesterday, my group and I walked down first st. and stopped to take a look at all the shops and restaurants noting that all were fairly small and appeared to be family run, or locally. Being as the streets were empty, I decided the best place to get information is from the main information where people go to file all their complaints and problems, the bar. We went into the Red Rock Saloon where only the bartender stood, sat down and asked him a few questions about the area. As we completed our assigned task for the field trip, I wanted to know more about the real culture of downtown Fort Myers and compare it the downtown area of Naples. I found it interesting that this bar serves as a place where people from all different areas, and subtypes of the world can sit, have a drink, and a good conversation. There was definintely different groups that inhabit downtown, ranging from men in business suits to young adults covered in tattoos and piercings. But according to our bartender, the Red Rock Saloon serves as a common ground for all these different groups. This is quite the opposite from downtown Naples in most parts as downtown is prodimently wealthy and has driven up their prices to ensure that it stays that way. Overall, I thought that downtown Fort Myers has the right idea, keep it local and integrated.

What You Can Do

After Monday's presentations and realizing just how much our resources we waste every day, week, month and year, I took it upon myself to look up some easy ways we can all make a difference and stumbled upon this link.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/save-earth-top-ten.htm

10 Things You Can Do to Help Save the Earth

1. Pay attention to the water you use.
2. Leave your car at home
3. Ride your bike.
4. Recycle.
5. Compost.
6. Change your light bulbs.
7. Make your home energy efficient.
8. Maintain your car.
9. Drive smarter.
10. Turn off the lights and power down.

Kegan

This sweet puppy is named Kegan, she was brought into Brooke's Legacy Animal Rescue two weeks ago along with her 2 sisters. Kegan is a 4 month old pitbull mix who is currently living in a kennel without a foster home until she is adopted. This poor puppy spent the entire 4 hour adoption period today cowering in a corner so sleeping in my lap as she is now terrified of people due to her previous owners. Seeing an innocent animal so scared of people was heartbreaking, but also motivation to continue to work with organizations like Brooke's Legacy.

Saying Good-Bye

This is a photo of the last sunset I ever had with my friend Brittany who passed away. Looking back at this picture I remember all the good times I had with her and what an amazing person she was. Brittany's ashes were taken out to sea and spread out in the Gulf.  Thinking about everything that has happened lately not only appreciate the value of life, meaning of friendship, how precious time is, but also remember to never take another sunset for granted. Now, when I look off into the sunset I know there's a bit of my Britt smiling back down on me, she may not be there in body but she has definitely been there with me in spirit while we all sat on the beach with a cold one remembering her last night. Brittany has now become a piece of nature, making it even more beautiful than it was before.

Cruelty-Free Companies

One issue I have been passionate about even before entering this class was animal rights. To be honest, while I am not a vegetarian or vegan, I am an animal lover and believe that every animal no matter size, shape, brain capacity, etc. deserves to be treated inhumanely. So, as of recently PETA has updated their cruelty-free company list along with the companies that do test on animals and practice inhumane treatment. I have attached both PDF forms for you to take a look at. We can all be conscious consumers if we just take a second look at what we buy and may even save an animals life :)

Cruelty-Free Companies :)
http://www.mediapeta.com/peta/PDF/companiesdotest.pdf

NOT Cruelty-Free :(
http://www.mediapeta.com/peta/PDF/companiesdonttest.pdf

Save Our Earth

http://www.saveourearth.co.uk/

Save Our Earth is a website that is a non-profit, non-commerical environmental group that was created to save the tropical rainforests. This group does so by informing people about the current and ongoing issues around the world, offering petitions, along with a number of other ways to become involved.

I found this group different and interesting because, unlike many other organizations, this group does not except funding or donations, they do this because they would like to be purely self funded. This allows the group to have full control of what is broadcasted and allows a specific clear message to be sent rather than have to confine to the limitations some other organizations may face who have outside funding.

To sign any of their petitions simply log into the website listed above and press the "sign our petition" link on the left side of the home page and get to signing :)

Lemur Extinction

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18825901

Attached is an articlee from the BBC News environmental section written by Richard Black. This article briefly describes the crisis of serious oncoming of Lemur extinction. Madagascar is the only place in the world where Lemurs have been known to live and as we continue to cut down and destroy the rainforests of Madagascar, the Lemur population is suffering immensly. 52 of the 103 species of Lemur are in the extinction classification, and 19 more are vulnerable extinction.

This article is one of many about the rising issues facing deforestation and animal extinction. As this class is centered around finding our "sense of place in the environment" I felt it was important to relate this back to our own lives and realize that there are things we can do to curb these issues. Signing petitions and making ourselves aware of these issues not only in our community but also globally is just one simple step we can all make.

Finding them a good home

For my service-learning "oppurtunity", I chose to work with Brooke's Legacy Animal Rescue, this organization holds animal adoptions every Saturday from 11 to 3pm at Petco in Naples. Brooke's Legacy takes in dogs and cats from local kill shelters, and surrenders from owners. The two dogs below were both rescued from neglectful owners and brought to foster homes, then put up for adoption.

 This is Lane, a 6 month old Chihuha mix, Lane was found in the streets of Naples. He was malnourished and ill looking, Brooke's Legacy took in Lane a few weeks ago along with 3 other dogs into a foster home where he will stay until someone who has been approved by the agency adopts him.

 This is Aires, also available for adoption through Brooke's Legacy, he was taken from a neglectful owner along with 3 other Boxer puppies yesterday afternoon and brought to Petco by one of the volunteers.