Personal Journal #3 - The Wonders and Realities of Nature

I try to work out daily whether it is yoga, jogging, swimming or lifting weights. Anything active gets the job done I like to think. So yesterday I went for I jog around my neighborhood. The clouds looked like they would open up and pour down any second but I didn’t care … it was just nice to escape the humidity for a little while. As I made the jog I let my eyes wander and so many thoughts crept into my head.

I hadn’t been home for an extended stay in years and it was so weird to see how much had changed. There was more trash scattered around the sides of the road. Everything from boxers to soda cans and empty McDonalds bags. I thought that people must be high throwing their late night munchies containers outside the car.

My feet took me past a house that used to be all woods. The people had been working on that house for a decade before it was livable. My friends and I used to run in the woods past the restricted area when we were younger. My childhood is gone and so is the location of my past memories. I was a nature rat. My first kiss to my first love was in those woods. Had him pinned up against a tree and then I ran into the restricted zone past the barbed wire where I discovered an old worn down baseball field. Vines covered the chain-linked fence but we climbed them up to the rooftops anyways to watch the snakes and the gofer turtles play.

By the time I got to my turn around point I had nearly ran over manure so many times from the horses that gallop the streets. What if they let loose in the grass instead of on the pavement, would that help the environment at all? The horses do this on a daily basis so maybe just a little.

I wonder what the people that don’t care about the environment did as a child? They didn’t really have video games so how could they not want to conserve their youth? I grow sunflower gardens and love to feel the rain on my skin and breathe in unpolluted air. Do they not have the same simplistic love? Are they bitter with those memories? Is it possibly just the educated or well-off part of the population that cares? What if there was an incentive for people to care more?

As I touched down in my driveway a squirrel ran across my drive. I could see the Mallard Ducks in the pond and my fat cat on patrol in the yard. It may be only an acre of secured tranquility … but I’m happy I have a little piece of paradise that will be eternally mine.

Field Trip #1 - Neighborhood Walk Around & Questions

I have lived in the same room in the same house in the same neighborhood all my life. As I walked around I noticed how different my neighborhood is from most though. I come from a small suburb of a town called New Port Richey about thirty minutes northwest of Tampa. Here, my neighbors have farms of Zebras, Buffalo, Outrages, Peacocks and Lamas. Don’t ask me why because I have no idea! I felt that my area is on the fence when it comes to being green friendly however. This is because there are good and bad things about it. For instance, some people have solar panels to open their gates, yet the ground is still covered in litter. As I strode through my neighborhood questions came into play that I had never wondered before.

1. Is it really necessary to cut down three acres of land when only using 1½ acres?
2. Is the water we are using green friendly if it so clearly stains the outside walls of homes? (I doubt that!)
3. Why not use efficient ground cover like peanut plants instead of the fake grass we love for some reason so much?
4. More people should have ponds in their yard. Does the cost deter them away from the idea?
5. Do ponds with sealant under the water create more overflows and harm the environment?
6. Are droughts necessary in local small neighborhoods?
7. Are foreign animals residing in a fenced house proper or have a positive aspect in any way?
8. Why do more people not walk in a safe neighborhood in the evening?
9. Why do the bunnies, turtles and deer always want to head towards the street? (Not like there is any food on the pavement).
10. Would dirt, gravel or sand roads be better off than paved?
11. Wouldn’t having roads of more natural substances be easier to create in the long run?
12. Would natural roads be harder to maintain over time?
13. Do cats and dogs in the wild have an affect on the wildlife population? (My cat eats a lot of birds).
14. How much does grilling for dinner or cookouts contribute to air pollution?
15. Why are people so lazy to not get the oil changed when they should?

Reading #12 - The Nature of the Everglades

The Everglades is a national park deemed priceless to the modern day dollar. It is a wetland so precious and amazing and we as humans only have one shot at preserving it.

I thoughts everyone understood how valuable the Everglades are but I was wrong. Majory Stoneman Douglas describes the Everglades to perfection as simple, enduring and hostile and today’s people should see our land in her eyes more often.

I believe the Everglades are simple to the eyes. The greens of grass cover massive amounts of miles and miles holding mystery to what lies in and on its soils. The Everglades are enduring by their persistence to survive and overcome human’s error. The hostility within contains the aggression of its animal life that poses a threat to humans.

With the Everglades posing as something simple, the land brings a calm feeling and clarity I have found the many times I have drove through the lands. At the same time, I have seen the alligators and snakes that this massive area holds … it is danger that turns things into excitement as well.

The most important word Douglas described the Everglades as though is ‘enduring’. People need to sustain the life of these wetlands in order to keep the survival of this national park. I believe if we all work hand in hand and realize the threats we as humans pose upon our environment, which ultimately is our society, start taking care of our homes better, we still will have a chance to save the Everglades.

I never realized until reading this piece and watching the videos of how many different species there are in the Everglades. I am sure I have only caught glance at a mire fraction of the amazement Douglas captured in her first visit in 1930. I hope more of our lands in the word become protected national parks like the Everglades and the word witnesses its glory.

Reading #11 - Endgame, Michael Grunwald

“If we don’t save the Everglades, its hard to imagine what we can save,” said Michael Grunwald.

The Everglades is one of the largest national parks in the United States. It is rare to find a massive area of land that has been kept in its original condition and not transformed into some potential profit by humans. We are lucky that the Everglades only has a couple interstate roads built over its lands and not developed into a multi billion dollar theme park or other creation.

We must “save the planet to save ourselves” said Grunwald. “The environment is the economy.”

If we do not support our Earth, our “environment”, then our “economy” will then fall due to self-destruction. In the overall scheme of things, we are either helping or killing ourselves along with future generations to come.

“A new era of ecosystem restoration; a new era of conservation to fix the mistakes of the 21st century.”

The Everglades holds so many species of animals and so much wildlife it would be like killing off an entire country equal to the population of China. We need to preserve our lands and let the world know how valuable each acre is.

Truman and Clinton both fought to save the Everglades and realize that even though saving a massive area is a great accomplishment, it is only the start to a long journey that lies ahead. Global warming needs to be solved still; there needs to be a surrender to harming of Earth and the sooner we stop living in denial and start helping to save ourselves the better.

Reading #10 - Reflection on Vandana Shiva

I completely agree with Vandana Shiva. To be honest, I never understood how shopping is contributing to the slow death of our planet and its life forms within … I do now.

My favorite quote is when Shiva states, “high-tech agriculture is a short-term solution that will ultimately destroy the land.”

We need to not look for what is good for us but what is good for our home as well. If home is where the heart is, we need to show that we care for it and not just our human selves.

Reading #9 - Tale of Two Farms - Personal Reflection

We should learn how to live and grow from the demonstration of past mistakes. The sies of existence from past societies should illustrate the path to take with our present society.

The Five-Point Framework is constructed of the following: 1. Human impact the environment with an example of using all available non-renewable (limited) natural resources. This should ring a bell -Petrol Production Peak. 2.Climate Change. (not necessarily fatal.) 3.Relationship with friendly neighbours. 4.Relationship with hostile neighbours. 5. Social and cultural factors in societies which help or hinder solving their problems.

“It’s particularly difficult to change course when the things that get you in trouble are the things that are also the source of your strength.”

All of these have a massive impact on whether or not our Earth will continue to survive. Not just one main problem needs to be solved but all things affecting the chance of our lasting or not.

Societies may collapse due to the overuse of resources.

Europeans use half the amount of oil that we as Americans use yet they are still living a more luxurious lifestyle. How is this possible? By being more aware of our actions and caring more as a whole.

Overall, I lack to understand if all of this information is available, current and with much data and evidence to support these claims, why is the world so blind to believe and unwilling to join the movement to greener pastures? If we worked together there is a possibility for us to correct our bad mistakes.

Food for thought … is this why we have prescribed fires … to start a new? Should we ultimately be burning away the rotten of people in our presence in order for the strong to survive?

“Those who want to live, let them fight, and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not deserve to live.”

Personal Journal #2 - Personal Reflection on Ecological Footprint and other things

My ecological footprint is equal to 4.93 Earths. The first thought in receiving my results was how this website is calculating this and is it actually true? I find it more on the difficult side to believe this because I thought myself to be very conscientious of my actions. I recycle everything, turn off the lights when I am not in the room, shower fairly quickly, eat natural products for the most part and rarely do things like wash my car.

The concept that had never entered my mind was that there is so much more one can do to decrease his or her impact on Earth. Tomorrow I am looking into constructing a compost pile in my back yard to help matters for instance.

The problem I have come to find is that this could attract wild animals that could possibly harm my cats and dog since they spend most of their day out in the yard (where the compost would be).

I had started by first telling my parents that I will be doing so. They were against it at first. I then proceeded to annoy them about other things they were doing that was not environmentally friendly such as not sucking out the tail in the shrimp we had for dinner to furthermore devalue our mother nature. “There are staring kids in Kenya,” I had told them.

Soon enough they budged to allow me to take up a section of the back yard as long as the compost is in a container to not attract such wildlife. It is also my responsibility to take out the recycling to the street since I am looking for things to do … haha.

All in all, I accept the challenge to reduce my carbon footprint. I wonder though, why is it so difficult to take extra energy, from everyone, to go that little step further? It is like saying you do not care if the future veins of the current youth live to see tomorrow.

Chapter 6 - Moving Ecoagriculture into the Mainstream

How strange that Nature does not knock, and yet does not intrude! ~Emily Dickinson

It's not what we grow but how we grow. Crop farmers may die and our cattle vanish by the way we care for each. “People’s livelihoods were in jeopardy,” stated Worldwatch Institute.

When land managers put a new grazing system into motion for livestock this improved the growing of crops, water penetration into the soil, fertilization and in two years post groundcover greatly increased.

By changing a simple grazing pattern livestock itself grew by being better fed and kills by lion predators. Fences were installed and wildlife habitat itself grew as well.

Crops can flourish along with livestock by the way we manage out grounds too with simple water and soil solutions. Agroecological results in water rerouted to land areas in need of water in order for plants to grow along with the help of animal maneuver to provide nutrients into the soil.

By placing animals where they are needed and controlling water flows an entire area can be saved or enhanced.

It’s amazing how simply management can do all of these things and how expenses can be cut down with just using your noggin.

Chapter 5 - Charting a New Path to Eliminating Hunger

Fact: A child dies every six seconds due to undernourishment.

Source: 2011 State of the World; Ch. 1 Page 4.

Fact: For the price of one missile, a school full of hungry children could eat lunch every day for 5 years.

Source: http://library.thinkquest.org/C002291/high/present/stats.htm

Good habits are instilled in children from day one to transform into a lifestyle as they continue to grow. When I am a mother, I want to require a certain number of volunteer hours a month to local communities. This will not only create good habits in my spawn, but also open his or her eyes to the harshness of the world allowing appreciation to enter their being. I believe the world now a day grows bitter and blind to the illness our Earth has weakened with.

Corporations rule trends, implementing a way of thought to what the public will be passionate about; we live in a world where the media controls our mind.

If only we could spend two years travelling West Africa to learn about the complications to our food that give way for hunger to even exist. Communities’ today care about the landscape of a yard for appearance sake. We forget the farmer on the other side of the world who lacks groundcover to keep soil from drying out.

Beyond the problem of how much food is actually capable of grow, is the problem of its distribution. “Solutions lie in making better use of the food already produced.” If only instead of letting out molded products fall into the trash, throw them into the yard. This is not pollution but restoration of our environment because in all reality that is originally where our crops came from … Earth.

Reading #4 - The Nature of Our Youth

When I was a child, I spent many hours outdoors letting my imagination run away with me. I would build forts in my Camphor Tree, collect tadpoles from my pond to investigate further (that I always replaced back into the waters) and made mud-pies out of the mucky soils. I was worn out at the end of the day and my loss of energy provided me with a healthy nights rest among experiences and a growing mind.

As I sit to write this paper, I sit outside on my porch where the heat graces my skin, ants crawl on my chair and I reminisce on the four grounds to the building blocks of my life.
Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods and The Nature Principle, and co-founder of the Children & Nature Network, placed great emphasis on, “the natural world on the ability to learn.” Louv expressed how the absence of Mother Nature’s presence leaves children today at a loss for learning outside a monitor or testing room. Being outdoors allows a student’s mind to wander.

A good friend of mine recently graduated with two Bachelor’s Degrees in engineering with a 3.98 GPA with honors. One of the brightest students of our school, yet he is incredibly challenged when it comes to relating to others. This comes from an uncommon childhood of not having touched a video game until he reached his twentieth birthday and having spent his days in the wilderness of his backyard, trekking through the woods on family vacations and getaways in the form of kayaking or hiking.

My friend cannot relate to most people because he thinks in a way outside the norm with a broader vision to oversee everyday complications that the mediocre label as impossible. The difference is how he was brought up. He was raised with an upbringing to evolve his character with the natural vitamins life has to offer.

Does creativity die with age? Not if that individual does not want his or her fire to burn out in time. Ken Robinson, Director of The Arts in Schools Project (1985–89), Professor of Arts Education at the University of Warwick (1989–2001), and knighted in 2003 for services to education, stated, “All children are born artists. The problem is to remain an artist as we grow up.”

Administration has become the hierarchy that deemed recess as a limitation and nature to be shut down by times of industrialism and ever-growing economies of scale. As technology grows and our youth’s experiences dwindle, dreams are abandoned and hope to think outside the box becomes a challenge.

“We were steered away from things we wanted to do, things we liked, on the grounds we would never get a job doing that. Benign advice is profoundly mistaken. The whole world is engulfed in a revolution. Academic views have come to dominate out views of intelligence.” (Robinson)