Population and Sustainability

Learning about our planet and the amounts of people living here and being born every day is absolutely mind-boggling. In lecture, we recently finished presenting our group projects on Plan B 4.0 and our group presentation was on population and sustainability. I learned so much just from hearing what my group members had to say about their part of the project. One thing I, and the professor, thought was very interesting was about how our food supply in the world is increasing by ones (1,2,3,4,5) but the population is increasing exponentially (4,8,16,32). Soon there won’t be anything left for generations to come if we can’t somehow manage our food sources better or educate the planet on not only preventing unwanted pregnancies but how to live life more efficiently to help our planet last longer. We only have one earth and if we do not start caring more as an entire population then our resources and our earth will start depleting even faster than it is now. I found a website called the population and sustainability network, which informs us about the Importance for sustainability of population and consumption worldwide. The founders of the website are really hoping to reach out to the decision makers of the government, institutions and NGOs as well as Network members to create some kind of impact. This network also looks at “both sides of the coin.” Which are population growth and overconsumption of resources, which without a doubt go hand in hand.

The group of people who created this website are truly trying to create a difference. They want to reach out to regular citizens by informing them of their mission and by giving out just small facts to make people realize really how quickly we are damaging our planet.

Another interesting website that was included in our presentation was the website that shows a pretty accurate estimate of how the population in the world (Link attached below). To be completely honest, as an incoming freshman in college I really had no idea how large these numbers were and how much of a difference we really can and need to make on our planet, or even in our own cities to start. Taking colloquium may seem like a bunch of bologna in the first couple days but you really learn a lot of valuable realistic information that you need to know. Education is one of the first most important steps we can take to solve the majority of problems, and when it comes to our environment we definitely need to learn more. 

http://www.ibiblio.org/lunarbin/worldpop

Reflection on "Last Child in the Woods"

Reading “Last Child in the Woods” by Richard Louv really made me look back and reflect on my experiences with nature and the woods as a child. As soon as someone asks me to remember, what life was like as a child I automatically think of always being outside. I have three brothers who loved playing out in the grass and dirt and my parents would not let us stay in the house when it was a nice day outside. Looking back now, I can always remember as a family we were always at either the beach, or playing in the tree house in our back yard, or swimming in the swimming pool and bouncing on the trampoline. At the time, I may have gotten frustrated when I just wanted to lie inside and watch television but now I am thankful for the way my parents raised us. I now appreciate the outside more and the fact that I did not need to grow up with video games and nonstop movies online per month to watch constantly to have fun. I am so thankful I live in the state of Florida where we have our beautiful sunshine that attracts so many tourists and makes me realize that I am very lucky to live where I do and have the things I have had. The experiences my parents offered to me through living here and raising me the way they did truly has had a huge impact on my life.

 These experiences also affected my decision of which college to go to. My choices were the University of Central Florida in big city Orlando or where I chose Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers. My first instinct when I toured FGCU was how beautiful our campus is and how environmental friendly and walking around UCF, you wouldn’t see alligators sunning themselves on the pond sides or bald eagles flying through the trees on campus. After I finished my tour, I didn’t even need to see the campus of UCF to make my decision, I knew I had fell in love with FGCU and it would be the right school for me.

I can also say I am thankful that I didn’t grow up addicted to machines and computers and video games because it taught me a lesson for my future family that I know they will be raised without these electronics glued to their eyes. Its sad to me when I see 12 year olds running around with cell phones texting when they should be outside kicking a soccer ball or playing with friends. I know my childhood experiences will definitely reflect on my future and how I live my life.

Going back to old Ft Myers

Going back in time and hearing about old Ft Myers beach while getting to enjoy homemade sea grape jelly and lemonade really reminded me of sitting at home with my grandparents hearing old war stories and about life on the farm in the early 1930’s in Iowa. I cannot recall the name of the sweet old woman who took her time to tell our class about her childhood on Ft Myers beach but I definitely will not forget this trip. Today, Ft Myers beach is look at as a crazy vacation place as one of the top 10 beaches in the United States and a landing ground for local college students. Our tour guide on this trip (the sweet old woman) went back about 2,000 years and began with the Calusa Indians that started with the construction of the shell mounds, where one is still being preserved today. The place we visited was almost like a museum of Pictures and artifacts of Ft Myers from the past 20 years. She has pictures of the hurricanes that devastated the island and the very first bridges that were built but were destroyed. This woman told her stories and this history and made me feel like I was living on the beach and saw all the history happening right around me. It must be quite an experience for this woman to have lived and watched history happen all around her and be able to share her experience with students who only know the present day Ft Myers Beach.

Hearing stories just about how much this beach has changed in the past 100 years blows my mind, just imagine what other important places in Florida looked like over 100 years ago. If we do not preserve these beaches and the beautiful nature around us then we will have nothing left to enjoy in Florida. Our beaches are the main attraction for Florida and although the tourists do not exactly know how to treat the beach, such as not feeding the seagulls and throwing trash in the designated cans, etc, they still are important for the government and each county and beach as an individual. We pride in our beautiful beaches and the awesome history that follows each beach. The town of Fort Myers beach recently celebrated their 13^th birthday. But since 1935, the residents of the beach have discussed incorporation and thankfully with the approval of the development of Estero Island, Ft Myers beach was successfully incorporated. The residents and tourists keep this beach a lively business and community involved society to the present day. 

This website definitely summed up some of the history we heard about during our trip: http://www.fortmyersbeachfl.gov/index.aspx?nid=60

I also researched and found several pictures of Past and Present Ft Myers Beach. 

Damage from 1960 Hurricane Donna:

Old Satellite picture of Fort Myers Beach:

Current Satellite Picture: 

Just an old picture I found entertaining of some community fun on the island: