Eco-tourism

                 

Ecotourism can be defined as a type of tourism where the environment, local community and visitor all benefit. It can also be defined as tourism that is designed to contribute to the protection of the environment or at least minimize the damage to it, often involving travel to areas of natural interest in developing countries or participation in environmental projects. Ecotourism offers many fun activities like sailing, biking, rafting, hiking and many other activities that evolve around the ecosystem. One of the benefits of Eco-tourism is helping out local communities economy in developing countries around the world. The local people are the ones with the knowledge about their land and they could be used as guides. The main difference between tourism and eco-tourism is that tourism primarily concentrates on pure entertainment and financial gain. Where in the other hand eco-tourism is primarily focused on attractions related to the natural environment and provides environmental and social awareness. The money from eco-tourism could be used to preserve nature, wildlife species and earth's natural resources. In my opinion I would rather make a trip to the Amazon jungle than visiting a busy city full of pollution and noise. Everyone has the right to choose where to spend time on a vacation but its important to be educated about the opportunity eco-tourism offers.  

 

University Colloquium.

This will be my last Journal post. I believe my writing has improved however; it would be important to continue practicing in the future. I did not know what to expect from Colloquium. After only six weeks I have changed the way a view our environment and our food. Colloquium really made an impact in my life. I learned a lot about the issues going on around the world. It is important to know about this issues and what we can do to help. I enjoyed watching the videos and learned a lot about them. My favorite video was Food, Inc. and Bag it. Those two documentaries changed my life for the better. I also really enjoyed taking the field trips. I really enjoyed going to Echo farms. Colloquium has encouraged me to start growing my own vegetables and fruits. I am glad that I had to take this class. Now that I know what Colloquium is all about. If you ask me again if I would take this class even if I didn't have to I would take it because I really enjoyed it. The semester went by fast and I am glad I took this class over the summer. Now I'm off to try to make the world a better pace.             

                                                    

                          

Plastic

Plastic is a problem for the environment yet, we still manage to produce it and use it in almost everything we use. If is not made from plastic, it comes wrapped in plastic. Plastic is made from petroleum and natural gases. It takes about a quarter a bottle of petroleum to make a single plastic bottle. It also contains chemicals like pthalates and bispehnol-a that can be harmful for our health. There is websites and organizations that can help inform the public about the use of plastic and how it affects our health. The production of plastic, the use of plastic and the dispose of plastic is all toxic and is not good for our environment. We are dumping plastic into the ocean. Plastic doesn't go away it just keeps on breaking down into smaller pieces and fishes are mistaking it for food. More than 100 thousand marine animals die every year from eating plastic. Fishes that eat plastic are ingesting toxic plastic that makes them unsafe to eat. Birds also are dying and what they find in their stomachs is plastic caps from all kinds of bottles. The production of plastic is not going to stop. Humans need to change their habits and use less plastic.

Eco Shuttles

 

Group 4 presentation on Eco shuttles was interesting. They mentioned three ways to to improve shuttles with alternative fuels; Electric, Hydrogen Powered, Vegetable oil. I like their idea however; it will be extremely costly to transforemed a gas shuttle to anything else. The best idea would be to purchase new shuttles with alternative fuels and that would be expensive as well. They mentioned many ideas that will actually work for all three alternative fuels. They also mentioned how FGCU shuttles could be transformed to use other fuels. My opinion is it would be extremely hard to make all shuttles in FGCU not run on gas but maybe run on electrcity or vegatable oil. There is cars on the road like the hybrid models sold by Ford and Toyota that run with less gas but they cost more than the average vehicle. Making the shuttles hybrid could make a difference and help the environment. Overall I enjoyed the presentation and it is a great idea to have shuttles run with alternative fuels.

Rain Barrels

During the summer an average of 40 percent of the water we use goes to our yards to keep them green. One way to safe water is using rain barrels. Rain barrels collect water from the rain. Most barrels are 55 gallons and when they are full they can weight to about 400 pounds. In order to get a full use of the rain barrels is important to build it correctly. One way is to have an opening on top in case the barrel gets full so water can escape. Also cover the opening with a screen to prevent mosquitoes and leafes to go into the barrels is important. The benefits of the rain barrel is inexpensive supply for water, especially during the summer. Florida is known to be hot during the summer. Gardens need water in order to keep green. Keeping a rain barrel just for the use of the garden can safe people money. One disadvantage of rain barrels is that they could be costly to install. Also if not install correctly it can attract mosquitos. Overall if you have a nice yard that you will like to keep it green all year around a rain barrel would be something to think about buying.

SWFL Museum of History

The field trip to the SWFL museum was very educational. I learned a lot about the history of Fort Myers. I found out information I never knew before. The museum showcases an extensive collection of chronicling history of SWFL. They have man displays that are very amuzing to see. Our tour guide had a very good knowledge about the history of Fort Myers. I enjoyed how the museum has a good collection of artifacts from early civilization. Sadly, after thirteen years of living in Fort Myers, I learned about the history of SWFL. I think school should have a class on the history of Florida because it is important to know about our history.
My favorite part about the trip was getting in the private train. Considering the time the private train seemed very luxurious. I can not imagine how society viewed the people that traveled in one of those private trains. I would recomend the museum to all my friends that are interested about the history of Fort Myers.

Bag It

The documentary “Bag it” has made an impact the way I view plastic and especially plastic bags. Plastic is an amazing material used in mostly everything we own. If it is not made of plastic it comes wrapped in plastic. The bad thing is that plastic does not go away.  No one knows how long it takes for plastic to decompose. Some plastic can be recycled or reused but plastic bags are not recyclable. There are many places around the world that have banned the use of plastic bags in order to help the environment. However; in the U.S. the American Chemistry Council are not against the use of plastic bags. Producing plastic bags makes a lot of people rich since so many bags are used every day. Trying to get rid of plastic bags will be difficult because the system is too corrupted and it seems that we care more about making money than making our environment cleaner.

Sadly humans are throwing trash into the ocean. More than 100 thousand marine animals die every year from eating plastic. Many fishes and turtles are found dead and inside their stomachs they have found large quantities of plastic bags. Birds also are dying and what they find in their stomachs is plastic caps from all kinds of bottles.

Plastic bottles are another plastic item that is affecting our environment. Plastic is made from petroleum and natural gases. It takes about a quarter a bottle of petroleum to make a single plastic bottle. Then if you add transportation costs, in order to make one plastic bottle a half bottle of petroleum is needed.  Regrettably some bottles get only one time use because people do not recycle or the bottle is not recyclable.  

The production of plastic is not going to stop. What humans can do to help the environment is less consumption. If we don’t demand plastic as much, especially plastic bags and bottles, the production will reduce and there will be less plastic bags in the ocean and less dead marine animals. The way I decided to help is by reusing bottle water and bringing my own bags to the grocery store and not buying plastic bottles.