What is your impact?

I just took the quiz at http://www.myfootprint.org/ to find out my ecological footprint, or environmental impact, on the earth and its resources. This is a quiz that asks questions from where do you shop to how many people live in your house to make this determination. On my own quiz, I scored a 236.42, which translates into the need for me to use 6, yes 6, earths. The scale rates your need by evaluating your carbon footprint, food footprint, housing footprint, and goods and services footprint. Take this test when you are just sitting around when there is nothing on TV. It's painless. This helped me to understand that we can live the ways we do because there are people in the world that can't even imagine the luxuries we have in the United States. I, for one, am not saying to become a tree hugging hippie and live in a tent. But we can all turn off a light switch when we leave a room. Every little thing helps whether we realize it or not.

Service Learning: Week #2

I really enjoyed this second trip out to the girl scout camp. I was informed that we were going to be able to help start and maintain a controlled burn. For the first step of the process, I had to make sure the fire barrier was clearly cultivated into the dirt, with little to no dead plant remnants to spread the fire to the unprescribed area. After doing this, me, being a huge pyromaniac, along with three other volunteers got to help set the fire line with the fire can, which is a canteen filled with flammable liquid to literally pour the fire. We had the greatest time seeing this fire catch all of the palmettos, which grow back easily due to their root base being buried deep in the dirt. Seeing the remaining invasive plant stumps become reduced to embers was such a neat feeling.

Service Learning: Week #1

This first class learning experience was so much fun and I learned a lot about the invasive plants that are eating up the natural environment. When we headed into the woods, we were introduced to the idea of seasonal waterways. These are periodic flows of water that go through the camp wher we were to help drain the Caloosahatchee River and reduce the flooding experienced by the surrounding areas. The forest ranger informed us about the maleluca trees and their initial purpose when brought to Florida. They were planted to dry up wetlands, such as the Everglades, to allow commercial growth and community development. Unfortunately, what has happened is these non-native trees have spread uncontrollably. With the spreading of maleluca, the natural composition of the soil is compromised and with the deterioration of the naturally occurring wetlands and the trees out of control spread. Malelucas are ruining the environment necessary for other plants to grow. Bugs were then imported that were spread to control the infestation of malelucas but they are now being found to cause harm to the environments where these trees are located.

ECHO

ECHO, also known as Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization, is a not for profit organization who do their work through inter-denominational Christian ideologies. They fight hunger through innovative options, farming training, and networking with the communities around them. In 180 countries, ECHO has established to provide custom growing of plants according to the varying climates. Every year, eight graduate students in environmental studies are sent overseas for 12 months. These are paid internships as missionaries to inform of new methods of growth and elaborate on progress of old methods. When one visits ECHO ,as I did, you will learn about the different climates in these 180 countries. For example, in the urban setting of Morocco, it is possible to grow plants inside of tires, use carpet cuttings for soil, and also use aluminum drink cans to act as a fertile location for plants to grow on.

The Koreshan Unity Settlement

First formed in Chicago in 1869, Dr. Cyrus Teed created the Koreshan Unity after an "illumination" he claimed to have. In 1894, Teed and his followers came to Estero, Florida to create a settlement know as "New Jerusalem". Here he intended to create a utopia where, based on a communistic goal, "everyone worked for the good of all". In the Unity, there were two kinds of members. Those of the Cooperative Order who bought shares in or worked in the Koreshan Industries. These members could live outside of the "Utopian" settlement and still remain loyal to their family unit. The members who joined under the Religious Order who remained celibate were required to live on the settlement and work for the goal of creating the New Jerusalem. Residents of the settlement had financial security, equality between men and women, and the availability of cultural activities and entertainment.
This was not my first visit to the Koreshan State Park but the experience was entirely different. On my first visit, I camped out and did not really care about the history of the land I was surrounded by and who had settled there previously. On this trip, I was more focused on the history and the culture of the Koreshan Unity and what they believed. They were an extremely devout culture with no deviation from what they believed to be true. I would definitely recommend everyone who gets the chance to visit this local settlement that shaped the Estero culture for the years it existed and the history it created for the area.

Edge of the Earth Video

During this video, I learned about a few of the factors in the mid-west that are contributing to the deterioration of the world's health. One of the most significant environmental tragedies was the dust bowl in the great plains during the 1930's. The devastation was so enormous a well know book, "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck told of the drama caused by this storm of dust. When the dust bowl occurred, it picked up all of the topsoil in the Great Plains and cleared the soil of its vital nutrients, which blew half way across the Atlantic. Farmers in the Great Plains are still suffering from the effects.
Today in Kansas, however, there is a farmer who is strongly urging farmers to create a more environmentally friendly style of farming. He persists that digging deep does not always create a higher yielding crop. In an attempt to rejuvenate the natural health of the soil he has created a grass barricade between his farming property and the river beside his land. This waterway flows into the Mississippi River and into the Gulf of Mexico, he hopes to stop as much chemical runoff as possible. The sad part is, toxins have already made it into the Gulf where the Mississippi flows and has created an area known as "The Dead Zone". Here, no fish can live and the water quality is extremely poor for any kind of marine life. With a lot of encouragement and willingness, Farmers can enhance what is left of their soil and valuable resources to create a healthier environment on land and in the world's oceans.