Plan B, mobilziaing to save civilization...

All of the environmental issues that were presented in Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to a safe environment, were and are very important. I don’t believe that one is much more important than the other. I will say however that the issue that stood out to me more was the Shrinking Harvests and Melting Glaciers. This issue stood out to me more because I wasn’t aware of just how big of an impact the melting of glaciers would cause on our world harvests. I didn’t even realize they had an impact at all. 

This issues ties into sustainability because it is only a matter of when the glaciers will melt, when that time comes will we have found a substitute for our harvests? Or will the world fall into utter and complete chaos? If we as a global society don’t act now then that is the direction that the world is heading for. There are places around the world that have already begun to restrict certain crops from leaving their country to limit the inflation of prices on certain goods. 

What people don’t seem to understand is that everything is connected. If you act now and reduce our pollution output that in turn helps slow down the melting of the glaciers which then allows our rivers to keep irrigating crops during the dry season. Plan B was created so that awareness could be brought to be people and they could see just how severe the consequences of our actions could be.

Downtown Fort Myers, Urban Environments

When you think of historical cities, you usually tend to think of cities such as New York, Philadelphia, and Boston, at least I do for that matter. I would never think that historical and Fort Myers would go together. However it turns out that Fort Myers has it's own place to play in history. Fort Myers was home to the Calusa Indians and the Seminole Indians before they were driven out or killed off by European disease. Afterwards, Fort Myers was established as a fort during the Seminole wars called Fort Harvie. It was then abandoned and later reestablished as a fort once more buy this time it was named Fort Myers. During the Civil War it was occupied by Black Federal Troops. Fort Myers was the only city/fort in the south that fought on the union side. Years later Ford, Edison, and Firestone changed Fort Myers once more. Edison was down here looking for way to produce rubber for Firestone's tires that way Ford would be able to use them for the manufacturing of his cars. 

2. How has the city government addressed environmental issues?

Florida was built on top of swampland and Fort Myers is no exception. Fort Myers was built on the banks of the Caloosahatchee River. Of course this raises some environmental issues. The city of Fort Myers addressed some of these by building a filtration system tank. There are two tanks, one is where rainwater is collected and the second tank is where the water is then filtered and pumped into the Caloosahatchee. You would never be able to tell what these tanks were because they are disguised as aesthetically pleasing water fountains.

Although the city is taking measures to be environmentally friendly and conserve the environment in the city, it can prove difficult. Fort Myers also depends on tourism for most of it's economy. There are many developers that want to come in and tear down historical areas to build new properties. This puts the city in quite the predicament because it has to choose between economic prosperity and the conservation of the environment and historical aspects.

Although Forty Myers is a big city, there are aspects of biophilia present throughout it. Centennial Park is a great example. Centennial Park is a combination of environment meets big city. Citizens have a chance to enjoy the outdoors by walking the park and being exposed to green space. There is also The Palm Park that is further down from Centennial. This park contains palm trees from all over the world.

ECHO Farm and the Food Footprint...

Our trip to ECHO farm was a great experience. I have never heard of ECHO Farm before so this was interesting. ECHO operates Regional Impact Centers, strategically located around the world to bring much-needed agricultural resources within reach of the small-scale farmers that need them. Regional Impact Centers are located in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Arusha, Tanzania, and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, with a long-term research project in soil science based near Modimolle, South Africa. 

                                                      Entrance to ECHO Farm, Fort Myers, FL

                                                                 Photo Credit: Carolina Ortiz

During our trip I learned that there are many different ways to be sustainable.For example, ECHO Farm does a great job of reusing whatever materials or waste they produce. They have a worm bed that helps create compost, that is in turn used to spread on the different plants on the farm and this helps them grow. The worms are places in an enclosed enclosure and given scraps of paper, scraps of vegetables, grass cuttings, and manure. The manure comes from the pigs that are raised on ECHO. This is another way how ECHO maintains it's sustainability.

Inside the worm compost bed.
Photo Credit: Carolina Ortiz

The Worm Compost Bed
Photo Credit: Carolina Ortiz

 During our trip we encountered many plants that I have never seen before or even heard of. Two of the plants/tree that really stuck out to me were the Cranberry Hibiscus, which is a plant that is red in color and its leaves are edible, and as you can tell by its name they taste like cranberries. I also thought the Moringa tree was quite fascinating because its leaves can be used to purify water and on top of that fresh Moringa leaves have many beneficial properties even more so than vitamins.

Moringa Properties
Photo Credit: Carolina Ortiz

Cranberry Hibiscus
Photo Credit: Carolina Ortiz

This trip has made me see that my foot footprint is quite heavy. As I take a step back and self reflect, I see that the majority of my food is imported. Purchasing locally grown food not only lessens your impact on the environment but it also contributes to your local community and the local farmers. During our Terry Tempest Dialogue we created " I will" statements. I wanted to end my journal with this I Will statement....I will promise myself to make more of an effort to purchase locally grown foods, such as vegetables and fruit.