Lights Off!

In a twenty-four hour time span I was absolutely amazed at the amount of electric technology I used. Simply walking into a room and turning on a light switch then turning it off afterwards was my most popular action electronically. The amount of electricity I use every day really makes me think about just how much I could be saving. We do not need to turn lights on every time we go into a room, especially when it is during the day. Everything I do during the day consists, somewhat, of electricity. Whether I am sitting in a room with any lights on or making something to eat using the microwave, toaster and oven, I am constantly using up valuable resources.

By making myself become aware of my actions during the day which use electricity I subconsciously began holding back from doing those actions. By the end of the second day of keeping a record of my actions I actually started telling my roommate to stay aware of how many times she does the same things. She was shocked when she realized the truth in what I had been telling her about how many times I used our electricity.

Our electric bill (remember this is only my actions at home) last month was $61.00. My roommate and I have set a goal to cut that number in half. By doing this trial of keeping track of how many times within a 24 hour span you use electricity we both now know how to specify what actions really need to be doing and what we can eliminate. I believe everyone should do this test to see just how much they individually contribute to the usage of resources.

WORD COUNT: 301

The Japan Power Plant Meltdown!

I found a newspaper article for my journal about the recent power plant meltdown in Japan. I was inspired to write about this particular enviromental issue becasue my step-father is a chemist at the power plant here in Crystal River, Fl.
People read the news all the time and I believe they do not have much care about it because, hey, this was all the way in Japan right? Wrong. Just because those particular physical impact do not affect each of us directly does not mean we will not feel any wrath from it. "The power plant her in Florida is the same type of plant that melted down in Japan," says Tim (step-father). "We are using extreme caution right now, as we normally do but that doesn't mean it won't happen to us."
Tim went on to explain that in the power plant there are major cooling systems using water. One glitch in these systems and the plant will literally melt to the grounf just like the event in Japan.

This is a photo of our power plant in Crystal iver, Florida where my step-father works. Imagine it totally melted down into liquid metal as radiation and fumes fill our air.... But this "could never happen to us," right? ;-)

WORD COUNT: 300

Reflection on Fort Myers Beach Trip

I loved thr Fort Myers Beach field trip!

My favorite part fo the trip was visiting the historic cottage. I cannot recal the lady's name, however, she left an impact on my memory of the visit. As a student who is an avid beach visitor I never would have thought that there would be so much history behind an area I see so often. When the lady began telling us about her history living on the beach and about the first school that was formed by the local families my eyes really opened to the fact that the area has not always looked as it does now. I knew this already but my mind gets clouded with thoughts that everything has always been easy and already made for us, which we all know is not true. Ever since the field trip I have told a few of my friends about what I learned and they too are interested.

Another interesting part of the trip was when Professor Borden taught us about the history of Matanzas. Learning that the name has a background was very interesting. As we walked down the boardwalk through the Mangrove trees listening to the story of the awful massacre lead by Captain Carlos we could feel the tension in the air. It implated a sense of appreciation for the area and the local families.
Learning about the botany around us as we walked down the boardwalk was interesting but the history of it all was what really had be on my toes. I was no longer interested in having my tanning oil on or the boys who might have been watching. I was sincerely wrapped up in the stories being told about this familiar place which was being transformed into a battlefield. Who would have thought so much history could be hidden... in the little cabbin on the bay.

WORD COUNT: 313

My Carbon Footprint

By taking the consumer quiz about my lifestyle I found out that it would take 4.9 Earths in order to be sustained by people who live like I do! This was a huge suprise to me because I do not look at the way I live as extravagant or excessive at all.

                        

After takignt the quiz I was given information about each part of my life that contributed to the calculations. For example, I learned that measurements of sustainability are clled "globle acres". Global acres are the amount of biologically producticve space on Earth. The quiz was broken up into 6 different aspects of our daily lives: how your home is structured, electricity used, trash and recycling, vehicles, eating habits and shopping. The fact that shocked me the most was the amount of global acres it takes in order to sustain my driving habbits. It takes 6 global acres! Driving took up the most global acres for me and it was shocking because it's something I do everyday without question. What people don't see are the gas emitions vehicles emit into our air that polute our planet. The second worst consumer of global acres on my quiz was my eating habbits which scored a 5. The quiz questions asked how what percent of my weekly food was locally grown and by this they calculated how much global acres it takes.
Another fact that suprised me was that my trash scored a low 1 global acre. This shocked me because I never recycle any products at all, even though I know I should. I assume that due to our ways of composting and the formation of land fills we are able to keep this number low, which is good.
I believe taking this quiz and being shown just how much we impact sustainability is a great way to educate people about thier habbits which can very easily be changed.

WORD COUNT: 318