Blog #8 Sustainable Products

      Lately companies and people have been doing this thing called going green. Going green is when they use sustainable products to help conserve resources and help the environment. One example of a sustainable product is a toilet that has two flushes, one for liquid and the other is for solids. The flush for your number one uses less water than for your number two. Some more sustainable products include eco-friendly materials like compostable containers and accessories, energy saving light bulbs, 100% recycled material, biodegradable materials and much more. One of the more ridiculous ideas is the bottles with the smaller lids. Come on, thats not helping any cause, just really annoying to try and put those caps back on. I guess it is good because maybe now people will start to use re-usable containers like thermos's instead of buying a bunch of water bottles.

      To have the sustainable products you need the sustainable technology. Sustainable technology includes renewable energy, sustainable living, organic agriculture, environmental economics and environmental technology. These are all very important aspects of sustainability because without the knowledge of how to save resources and the environment, we could be having our hearts in the right places, but we could be going about it all wrong.

      It's also not enough to have the sustainable technology, use the sustainable technology, or even make the technology better. We need to share any knowledge we have about sustainability to other countries, and do as much as we can to get them to implement the ideas. There are other countries that use up a lot of resources and pollute like us, and we all share the same planet and atmosphere. Every time a developing country gets more and more access to resources, they take on America's worst qualities and uses up those resources really fast in bad ways. We need to not only set examples for those countries, but actually do everything we can to install a good eco-friendly way of living with their new developments.
      For more about sustainable products, they should be purchased more, because even though they may cost a lot more, in the long run they are products that will save you more money and help the environment. We need more companies to use and promote sustainable products for the good of each individual person, family, our country and the world. Our country needs to put all other petty problems aside and start looking at things that are about a million times more important.

Blog #7 Louv Readings

      
       Richard Louv explains how children have a disorder, which is why they don't like nature. He calls it nature-deficit. He does make a lot of good points about why children are not liking the outdoors anymore, but to give it a name is a little much for me. If we start giving something like this a name and blaming it for other disorders, then scientists are probably going to try and make medicine for it, and that is not what they need.
       My solution is to slow the pace down with the new technology for children so they get bored of the indoors, and the paents can then let them loose at a playground or a campsite, baseball for goodness sake! I'm sorry but the Nintendo Wii is not going to cure obesity, and keep your child fit. All the Wii will do for your kid is eliminate the need to go outside, rot their brain, give them carpal tunnel syndrom, turn them into brats, and break your $1000 television.

       See I think Louv is trying to say nature-deficit is causing attention disorders and depression, but I don't agree. I do believe that children being deprived of the outdoors can make these conditions worse. If someone is depressed, and is looking at horrible news or something on the television or computer, or a video game with killing in it, then that will make them more depressed and maybe do something that will hurt themselves. If that same depressed person took a walk at a park and maybe they could see some cute animals to make them happy, or accomplish something like climbing something, or even just be calmed down by a gentle breeze. The best thing to do is get your child to enjoy a hobby that involves something outside.
       Besides those 2 things i disagreed with, the solutions by Louv are definitely something I agree with. He wants what I want, for kids to go outside and play, and for parents to stop babying their children with every new video game console that comes out. When I was young my mom would kick us out of the house when we were sitting around too long, and we were happy when she did that because we would just ride our bikes down to the baseball field and play ball for hours. Most of the time she didn't have to kick us out because it was what we loved to do. Parents need to try every outdoor activity with their kids until they have a passion for something. My parents were lucky though because I loved sports as soon as I could walk. I also recommend keeping your baby away from the television, that might have something to do with it too.

Blog #6 Estero Bay

The Estero Bay was the first aquatic preserve established in Florida, and when our class took a field trip over there, we got to listen to a presentation by Jo Hughes. She put together a timeline of our area of the past century. I thought it was incredibly interesting that she has lived there for so long. One of the most interesting facts is that if you lived here in I believe she said the 1920's, you would have to drive to Arcadia to reach the nearest hospital.
       I also can't imagine anyone living by the Estero Bay before mosquito control. It was also crazy to find out how there are thousands of mosquito eggs each square foot in the mud at the Estero Bay.

When they hatch there are millions of them leaving the Bay at the same time, and that has got to be scary. Thanks to mosquito control, we're not completely overrun by mosquitoes, seeing how Florida is the perfect environment for mosquitoes to breed and live.
       Jo Hughes also told us about how her family depended on the health of Estero Bay, because her father was in charge of a fish house that sold mullet. The mullet numbers have decreased so much that if she still depended on the selling mullet, then she probably would have to move.
       There are many bike paths and hiking trails throughout the Estero Bay area, but we went on the boardwalk to see a nice view of the Bay. My advice is not to bring a plastic bottle on a windy day, because it will get away from you, and if you are like me and don't litter, you will get your shoes muddy. There are a couple things you have to watch out for, and one of those things is poison ivy. Some of the poison ivy goes over the railing of the boardwalk.

       Jo Hughes seemed like she knows more about this area than anyone else. She really loves southwest Florida to live here this long. Another thing I thought was a really neat subject she brought up was about how small her school was. I think she said there were 2 classrooms. Pretty much it was just extremely interesting to hear about the history of the place I've been living in since I was born. There were a lot of things I didn't know about this area before this trip to the Estero Bay.