Downtown Fort Myers

Our trip to downtown Fort Myers was the first time that I actually took the time to learn its history. I have been to Centennial Park, driven through the downtown area and even walked the US 41 bridge but I never paid attention to detail, I guess you can say. I think what I enjoyed looking at was the mosaic that showed our history, it had Indians, a black solider and people working on the railroad. Who would have thought that huge mosaic would be so hidden, along with a hotel. when we got to the train cart and walked through it, it kind of freaked me out, it was too tiny for me. What I thought was really interesting was the fact that in order to keep the train cool, they would put ice in some compartments on top of the train in order to keep cool. That was something new and interesting for me to know. The cracker house was also interesting, especially the wood they used to build them. I learned the correct meaning of the word cracker.

Canoe Trip

Our canoe field trip for me was the most funniest and fun field trip of the semester. I have never been in a two person canoe before, I have however been canoeing on the beach of Hawaii. I must say that I was afraid to fall in the water so I was extremely careful on not moving too much. I enjoyed going outside of my comfort zone on this day, I got up close a personal with a mangrove due to bad communication, my partner and I at first did not get the hang of padding so we kept going in circles, I couldn't stop laughing the whole time. During our adventure we saw shrimp, a raccoon that eventually showed the class that they can swim, and a fish that was swimming so fast that it would lift the water. Some classmates decided to try some fresh oysters, now that just grossed me out. We also passed by an oysters cove, I think that's what it's called, and that required some major paddling. I must say that I would definitely do that trip again as a matter of fact some coworkers want to go, after I told them about my experience and how much fun I had.

Environment in Local news

Back in October President Obama came to a city in southwest Florida, named Arcadia. The reason behind this visit was due to the largest solar panels in the country. He was to visit the DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center. This company produces 42,000 megawatt-hours which equals enough power to help serve 3000 homes annually. The President is interested in investing in renewable energy. Solar panels will help prevent the emission of more than 575,000 tons of greenhouse gases, which would be eliminating 4500 cars from the road. Solar energy will also decrease the use of fossil fuel usage and help secure Florida in its energy future. The energy center along with two other companies will have the capacity of 100 megawatts which will then make Florida the second largest solar power producing state in the country. With all this excitement of the solar panels and centers, people are thinking that this would also help bring in new jobs.

Article was found on naplesnews.com

Image rechargenews.com

Since I arrive at my house at 7:45 p.m. I walk into my house through my front door. I walk in and right away I turn on my kitchen light since the one in my living room is broken. As I get dinner ready I have the TV on and its normally on for about two hours. I do have an elcetric stove which is used for about an hour while I prepare dinner. I go to bed around 11:00 p.m. and I connect my cell phone on to its charger which I then connect to the wall. I do have an alarm clock which is constantly plugged in. My day begins at 6:45 a.m. and the first thing I do is turn on the TV to hear the news as I get ready. I turn on the bathroom light and is on until I finish taking a shower. The total time the TV is on is about 45 minutes. The bathroom light is turned off once I exit the shower, cause by then the sun is out. The AC unit is not on today, Wednesday,

due to a cool front pass through. Also since it is Wednesday, no laundry will be done.

The total usage of my plasma TV is about .8kWh for three hours. The clock radio uses about .1kWh, lights alone take up to 2.4 kWh, since the refrigerator has to be connected at all times, it can use up to 57-160 watts.

I travel everyday to work with my son who attends the daycare at my job. We commute from Cape Coral to Fort Myers for a total round trip mileage of 20.60, which releases 7.1 carbon into the atmosphere. For being an average person, I do think that I have cut down on leaving the lights on and leaving things connected when they can be unplugged. I guess I finally realized this after I bought my house and had to pay the bills myself.

Water Rights Reflection

I must say that after reading this article I am against the selling of water for profit. First of all water is not a commodity that you can go and pick up at a mall, its something that we all need to survive. Whether we like it or not we need it. Before the United States became a divided country everyone shared what the nation had to offer. Now, since everyone owns their own land, it does not give them the right to control what everyone needs and what the land has to offer. This project can affect the community when for example the economy is down and companies decided that they want to raise the amount on your bill. Or if they decide to go into a a poor neighborhood and threaten people by saying that if they don;t pay they will not get water. Wildlife will also be impacted by not having some pond to go to drink because the owner might have hunters on he lookout for anything or anyone who is trying to drink their water. There might be a situation like this in Florida since the electricity is already being controlled, for each city you have a different company.

Water usage

On a regular day I must say I use a good amount of water for my daily uses. My mornings start off with a nice 15 minute shower, in where I also brush my teeth while I leave my conditioner in my hair. A 15 minute shower consists of 30 gallons of water usage. I use the bathroom twice at home and about once at work, its about 3 gallons a flush so I would use 9 gallons a day. My house did cone with a dishwasher but since its been broken for the longest time, I wash my dishes by hand. What I do first I just somewhat wet them, soap them up first and then turn on the water when I'm ready to rinse. In order to was a load of dishes you use approximately 5 gallons. I have a schedule for my laundry, I only wash starting Friday night after 7 and Saturday morning. Now I only wash big loads I try to stay away from doing mini loads. My washing machine takes about 10 gallons of water to do one load. While at home I do try to drink as much water as possible, but one glass of water is 1/16 of a gallon. I think I do take water conservation into consideration, I limit my showers and I don't let water run why doing the dishes or etc.

The website I used to help calculate my information was ga2.er.usgs.gov

20/20

This is the first time I have heard of Conservation 20/20. The programs main focus is to protect and preserve natural wildlife habitat, protect and preserve water quality and supply, protect developed lands from flooding and provide resource based recreation. This program was in charge of putting on the voter's ballot the option of increasing taxes to help preserve Florida's native land. Thanks to this program we can go to places and experience firsthand what Florida's nature is like. I honestly think this program is awesome, it wasn't too long ago when the city of Cape Coral was one of the nations fastest growing city in the nation. Us humans when building or expanding we tend to go outwards instead of up, by doing all this we are destroying habitats. The only conservation 20/20 property that I have been to is the Matanzas Pass Preserve in Lee county. I would like to visit the Six Mile Cypress slough with my son one day.