Blog #13

Sustainable consumerism involves minimizing the use of resources, toxic wastes and pollutants to ensure that the needs of future generations will be sustained. Globalization and capitalization are positive drivers because they are expanding and raising the economy, especially if it's sustainable production we're talking about. I wouldn't pay a premuim for organic or fair trade food, but local would be something I would invest in, because I think it would be good for our local economy and also much healthier. I prefer mom and pop places for food and groceries but I wouldn't buy merchandise or like home-made crafts because they always tend to be very overpriced. I think the concept of green washing is really sad. Like why take a positive concept and corrupt it just to make millions? I guess thats just the typical way of our government though so I'm not surprised.

Blog #12

My overall opinion of the Estero Island Cottage was that it was really cool. I enjoyed learning the history and seeing pictures of the olden days when times were simple and the population wasn't so crowded. To be honest, I didn't get to pay much attention in the boardwalk because I was being swarmed by mosquitoes. But a nice young man in our class did me the honor of fanning me off with a ponfrom just like they did back in the day! So that was a little nod to history! I took a bite of a salt wart and it was disgusting haha. I felt like a sac of salt exploded in my mouth and it wasn't very delightful. I grew up in Punta Gorda, Florida, until I was 12. We went from being one of 4 houses on the cul de sac to being surrounded by houses in a matter of 10 years. So thats when we moved out into the country. So yes, I would sell my childhood home for 300% and develop it into condos because it's already infested with people anyways! haha, but as for my home now on the acreage, I definitely wouldn't even think about doing that!

Blog #11

My ecological footprint wasn't too good. It would take 10.5 earths to support my lifestyle. My main issue was mobility but theres really no way around that unless I moved. I live a hour and a half from school, 30 minutes from my work and 20 minutes to the nearest grocery store! I guess I need to relocate.

Blog #10

I don't think that energy is too cheap, but I think we, as consumers use it at too mindless of a pace. When I think of conservation I think of turning off lights, carpooling, turning the air conditioning up when you leave and so on. I don't think that it's a dirty word, just maybe a tad played out. If I could talk to Jimmy Cardigan I think we would get along just fine. He had a simple solution to a lot of issues and I think thats the way things should be handled. He cut a lot of worthless needs, like 5 limousines and FBI bodyguards and tried to live as normal as any other human. He saw the need to conserve energy, back in 1977, and I think if we would've maybe followed his way a little more, we might be a bit better off.

In my opinion I think that waste is our most potential renewable energy source. There will always be waste, and lots of it. And to be able to make energy with it is a blessing. Steps that I should probably be taking is to pay more attention to appliances that I leave on. I always leave my computer on and sometimes my closet lights. My air conditioner is always set at 74 degrees and ends up running the majority of the night so that I can sleep like a baby! I also have a bad habit of leaving the water on while I brush my teeth, but at least I only shower every couple days, haha.

Blog #9

When I hear the word downtown it brings me to my hometown in Arcadia, Florida. They have an old opera house, really old traffic lights (without cameras), an old train station that has been made into a real estate office but still looks original. Basically, a shootout could bust out in the streets at anytime between the cowboys. Heres some photos so you can get the idea....




Downtown Fort Myers has somewhat of the same historical feeling to it. Down some of the streets where it was quite and old fashioned looking kind of reminded me of Arcadia. Fort myers is experiencing somewhat of a renaisance because I feel like they're trying to get that old fashioned downtown feeling back. By encouraging walking, eating outside, and providing you with some historical monuments to look at. Like the Edison fountains and the big black statue guy from the war. Theres also the Art Museum building which the front and some of the sides were made out of coral, which was really cool. I think a lot of the buildings had their own nods to history, the buildings outside of the pizza place we stopped at looked really cool, like really old buildings that were abandoned, which I think should be made into apartments. I also thought that the Olympic building we visited was very cool. It's only downfall is the lack of knowledge that the place even exists! Another thing that really connected with me was the fact that the area was where the people in the book 'A Land Remembered' brought their cattle to ship off. I think downtown Fort Myers has potential, they just need to do more to get the people engaged to get out and walk around, but with how lazy people are these days, I don't see that happening, at least until the cooler months of the year!

Blog #8

I believe that climate change is natural but that all the hype and supposedly disaster it's going to cause is man made. The media, and Al Gore to be specific have turned climate change into a huge pressing issue that is only to scare us Americans into buying all their green products that they make millions of dollars of profits on. I've watched an episode of 'The Conspiracy Theory' with Jesse Ventura and it actually had a guy whose identity had to be concealed because he had already had his and his families lives threatened by speaking out about the conspiracy behind the whole climate change ordeal. Just today on yahoo news there was a article that discussed how the earth's atmosphere is releasing more heat than what has been projected. So basically, a mini truth in the huge lies of the climate change masters who are trying to make a booming business out of it, and are succeeding. I think that the world isn't going to change too much for the effects to be too prominent in the years of my children, if I ever accidentally have any. But that doesn't mean that we should live carelessly and waste resources.

Blog #7

My main concern would be that because it is a genetically mutated plant, there is basically no control over the growth, or it's effect on other plants that are home to this ecosystem. It could potentially be very dangerous to it's surrounding plants and trees. My only issue is that I would want it to be tested out before just replacing the pines that inhabit the areas of the southwest. It does have a lot of benefits though, including that they can live and grow for many years, but theres also the genetic split that restricts the reproduction so I guess over population wouldn't really be an issue. In an article is states that the United States is behind the times since these trees have been abundantly being used and genetically engineered in different countries. I'm somewhat on the fence as to whether the benefits outweigh the risks or not... I don't want to be like a green freak and think that genetically engineered plants should never happen but I don't want to just start using these advances without knowing for sure the effects it could have.