Journal #5

           If everyone lived like me, we would need 6 planets to provide enough resources to survive. My footprint consists of 20% food, 11% shelter, 25% mobility, 12% goods, and 33% services. One aspect of my footprint that I am surprised about was the percentage of mobility. I did not think that 25% of my footprint would consist of mobility. That number seems to be a lot for the amount that I drive. Some changes that I can make in my daily life to reduce some of the resources that I use would be to try to drive less, get a car that is better on gas mileage and to try to eat less meat. Completing those three tasks wouldn’t be completely feasible for me. Driving plays a big role for me (in this area especially) though out my day-to-day life and to be honest, it would be hard to cut back on that. Along with this, decreasing the amount of meat I eat on a day-to-day basis would be difficult, yet possible for me.

            Our field trip to Pine Manor was nothing like I expected it to be. After hearing what our guides had to say about the area that we visited and what they are trying to do to help, I realized how fortunate most of us really are. It was really inspiring to see how hard they are working to try to make a difference for the people living in that community. One aspect that really stood out to me while exploring the garden was the boxes that were offered to the residents in the community to plant any crops that they would like. Having this there for people to come at certain times of the week to take care of definitely can create something for them to be proud of and can really give them a good idea of sense of place. Some connections that I can make to the course readings on the topic of food systems is the path from start to finish of each and every food that they have at that garden and facility. The food we eat in our everyday lives has to go through so much before it actually gets to our plates. This includes growing, harvesting, processing, transportation, and the consuming of the food. At the Pine Manor garden, transportation did not play a huge role. The food was there for people in the community if they would like to go get it. The processes of how the food is grown and maintained in that garden are much more in depth than people think, which is truly amazing.

Journal #4

         Our field trip to Koreshan State Park was a great time! It was awesome to go out and get to canoe for a couple hours. During the canoeing portion of our trip, I saw several animals and species. I saw a great blue haron, white ibis, mullet, and a Cuban anole. I have been canoeing at this park multiple times and the past and never really took the time to appreciate and look at all of these different animals and species, so this was a nice change. Besides the canoeing portion of this trip, we took a little hike followed by a tour with the ranger. I never knew how much history was behind that park, so our tour with the ranger was a total surprise to me. During our tour, the range informed us all about Dr. Koresh’s history and background. This town the colonists called home consisted of 200 people who all were delegated a different job. The Koreshans worked a printing facility, boating facility, a cement shop, and a bakery, from what I can remember. I thought it was so unique how everyone had their own specific responsibility throughout everyday in this community. Another fact that I found crazy was how they believed in the idea that the universe existed with a big hollow sphere. I find it difficult to even wrap my head around that belief! From the lectures that we have had in class, I can relate my experience at Koreshan State Park to those ideas. One idea that I can relate it to would be the preservation of land. During the tour with the ranger, she emphasized the idea that they work to keep the land as similar to how it was back in the day to now. They work to not only keep the houses and buildings the same, but the forest and wildlife area as well. Another idea that I can relate my experience at Koreshan State Park to would be the idea of sense of place. The way that the colonists lived in this community directly represented this idea. They knew everything about it and loved everything about it. Keeping and preserving historic and natural settings like this part is very important and interesting. It is always a good thing to see the way that people lived in the past and to be able to compare and contrast how different it is to now. Having places like this helps people to appreciate everything that we have to enjoy in present day. Overall, my experience at the Koreshan State Park was a great time and I would definitely do it again!

Journal #3

 Before going on this field trip, I never have had the chance to go walk around and explore Downtown Fort Myers. To be honest, I did not expect the layout to be the way it was but it was really nice! As we walked through the area, I noticed how close all of the buildings and stores were together, which was very unique. This made it very easy for people to walk or even bike around the area to go to wherever they wanted to go. Along with this, almost every street was an idea description and layout of a complete street. The streets were laid out with pavers and had cross walks, the sidewalks included lights, benches, garbage cans, and crossing signs, and the exit areas from the side walk to the street included the rigid mats for disabled people. The way that these streets were designed was very sustainable for the environment as well. Having parks such as continental and park of palms help to give off green space and open space. Along with that, having the pavers throughout the streets will help so that water get spread throughout the ground there and having palm trees along the side walk with plants surrounding them will help spread water throughout those areas. When it comes to business throughout this area, there are a wide variety of places to go. There are law offices, courthouses, many restaurants to eat, bars, thrift stores, coffee shops, and even some art stores. One aspect of Downtown Fort Myers that really caught my attention was the art sculptures all along most of the streets. I thought it was a nice touch that this area had. Each of these sculptures enacted something that you can do in that area, which was very unique.

 My experience downtown related a whole lot to our course material and class discussions that we have been having in our lectures. One thing that really stood out to me was how rather than just asphalt throughout the streets and sidewalks, the area of Downtown Fort Myers was designed in a very permeable fashion. Throughout some of the streets and sidewalks there were pavers, allowing water to flow through the surface. Along with this, there were many soil areas surrounded by trees and plants, allowing water to flow through the land surrounding. Downtown Fort Myers is a great area to have surfaces like this, considering how traffic throughout that area is lower than most. Having an area like Downtown Fort Myers would definitely be an area of interest to live for me. It is nice to be in a surrounding where everyone is so active. Cities designs have a huge impact on people’s lives. If we were to compare the area of Downtown Fort Myers to the Estero area, they are completely different. Most places around the Estero area you will need a car to get to when in Downtown Fort Myers, you can almost walk everywhere. Living in one of these areas will directly effect how active on will or could be throughout their everyday lives.