Fort Myers’ Mayor Henderson is “Taking it to the Streets”!

http://www.ugottagogreen.com/post/fort_myers_mayor_henderson_is_taking_it_to_the_streets/

At this website there is a letter written by the mayor of Fort Myers. It was a nine day project that asked people to walk, bike, and carpool to go green when it comes to transportation. And it wasn't long ago, this was in March of 2011. I think it's fantastic that the mayot proposed this idea. And the fact that this is happening in our area is starting to make me believe Fort Myers will become a green city.

Article Review

http://money.cnn.com/2007/03/26/magazines/fsb/green.fsb/

This article was written in 2007 and was about how buinsesses are turning "green". One buisness that is focused on in the article, was considered green and that's how they got so many customers. Their tips were to:
1. "Get Smart About Recycling"
2. "Review Your Energy Use"
3. "Think Outside the Gas Tank"
4. "Do Your Research"

They applied these tips to their own buisness and have made over $1 million in one year. If buisnesses just went green, especially the large chains, they could make even more than they are now...all while helping the environment!

Urban Fort Myers

              For this field trip we got to go somewhere that wasn’t so natural. Urban Fort Myers is much different than the natural settings we have been to. However, it still provided a lot of things to learn about, especially when it comes to the environment and the history of Fort Myers.

            As I was walking down the city, I was trying to think of how the city used to look like. When I walked down First Street I was trying to imagine the cows walking through, like how the city was when it was first built. I also thought it was funny how Thomas Edison tried to get the city lights but they didn’t want any because of how they would affect the cattle. Now, the city is filled with all kinds of lights.

            There were quite a few pieces of art in the city and I loved walking around and seeing these. In Centennial Park, there was a statue dedicated to three influential men that lived in Florida. It was the “Uncommon Friends Statue” and included Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, and Henry Ford. Why were these 3 men so important? Thomas Edison, of course, invented the light bulb. Harvey Firestone, who made a big impact in the car industry by making tires for cars. And Henry Ford who is the founder of the Ford Motor Company. What’s more important is that all these men lived in Fort Myers. In this area are the Edison-Ford estates where people can go and visit. There was another piece of art in the city that I loved. It was the “Caloosahatchie Manuscripts” and it was 2 columns that had different plant species and the history of the Caloosahatchie. I’ve walked the city at night and the words are illuminated on the post office, and it’s really an amazing sight. The city has money just for these art projects and I definitely think it’s a good idea. The art adds character to the city and reminds people of the history of Fort Myers.
            Now, is downtown Fort Myers part of new urbanism? New urbanism is defined as “Giving people many choices for living an urban lifestyle in sustainable, convenient and enjoyable places, while providing the solutions to peak oil and climate change” (http://www.newurbanism.org/newurbanism.html). According to this site, there are 10 characteristics a city must have to be considered a part of new urbanism. It must have walkability, which means everything must be within a 10 minute walk from a person’s home. It must have connectivity, which means that is it easy to walk through streets to get to places. It must have mixed-use and diversity, which means there is not only a diversity of buildings, with different kinds of houses and shops, but also different kinds of people ranging in age, race, gender, and income levels. The others are mixed housing, quality architecture, traditional neighborhood structure, increased density, smart transportation, sustainability, and quality of life. Downtown Fort Myers doesn’t fit into all of those, but does work into some. Southwest Florida isn’t known for its diversity in people, and downtown Fort Myers was basically the same person. A lot of the people walking around were white, and a lot were white and elderly. While I was walking around, a lot of the cars were BMWs and expensive cars. In the PowerPoint, there was another characteristic, which was that a school is within walking distance. I looked online and it looked like there were some schools in the area, but not within walking distance. They were a couple miles away from the city and on the outskirts. It would be by some neighborhood, but not by the city’s center. As for walkability, it did have that. We could get from one end of the “city” to the other end quite easily. However, if the person’s apartment wasn’t in downtown then it would be quite a walk. The apartment would have to be in the downtown for it to be a short walk.

            Parking didn’t seem to be too bad. However, there was actually a boat show going on along the water so the main parking lots were blocked off. It was a bit of a problem finding one, but I think if those parking lots were open it wouldn’t have been an issue. I think the most it cost to park was by the park. It was also by where a lot of the big building and businesses were. I’m not sure how much the machines cost but there were a couple “Park All Day” parking lots and they were charging $10. There wasn’t much public transportation going around, and I only saw two people riding bikes. The actual downtown didn’t seem too bike friendly. There wasn’t a bike land and no bike racks, at least none that I saw. If there was public transportation, it would be helpful from getting to the park to the city and I would definitely take it.

            Although it didn’t have public transportation, it was a very clean city. I only saw graffiti on the building that was at the park. The statues were clean, the actual park was clean, along with the city. I didn’t see any homeless people walking around and there wasn’t trash or anything in the streets or in alleys. I would feel very comfortable walking around during the day and at night. Would I live in the city? No. Everything was so connected that I got lost so many times, and that was just trying to get from the park to the city. Then trying to find 41 was a nightmare. I also need greenery around me, not just at the local park. And I grew up in a rural town, where each house had a least an acre. So being in a crowded, small city isn’t my ideal living situation. To make it a better living situation, I think more housing needs to be added. I also think a trolley or some kind of transportation should be added for riding around the city. I think it the city could be changed to be more green. When I was there, a farmer’s market was going on which is a step towards that. So I think there are people who care and want the city to change. Will it happen anytime soon? Probably not because the majority of the people who live in the city are white, elderly and rich, and they aren’t too concerned about those issues.

            I walked around the city a lot, and there were a couple places I liked more than others. I loved walking through Centennial Park. I thought it was so relaxing and it was a nice atmosphere. There was a lot of greenery and art, and then the smell of the water made it a nice walk. The other place I loved was the top of the Indigo hotel. There were no sounds of cars, just birds and the wind. I could also see the whole city and the bridge, which made it a great view of the city. I didn’t like the edge of the pier, which I was surprised. I think it’s because the end f the pier was pretty much just a view of the underside of the bridge and all I could hear were cars going over it. I did like most of the actual city; just a few streets were a bit dirty and didn’t make me feel comfortable. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed walking through the city.

            Doing this field trip has opened up my eyes to how rich in history this city is. It also taught me about how greenery in a city can really influence how people feel. For example, I felt relaxed in the park with the trees around me but in the city where there wasn’t much green, I felt unsure. I’ve also learned that the city still needs a few changes to be a part new urbanism, but I feel like Fort Myers could become a part of it. Now, when I walk in Downtown Fort Myers, I will appreciate the city’s history, architecture, and nature.

Shy Wolf Santuary

I wanted to write about my volunteering experience. For this class I have decided to volunteer at Shy Wolf Sanctuary. It's an animal refuge in Naples that has rescued wolves, wolf-dogs, panthers, and foxes. I have already learned a lot about all of these animals just from the 2 times I have volunteered there. I'm already seeing big differences between my dogs and these wolves. Wolves do things in order to survive, while dogs don't really have to worry about survival so much as pleasing their owners. I've also learned that if it looks like the wolf has a curve in the tail, then it's a wolf hybrid. As I volunteer more, I hope to learn more about their behaviors. This is the first time I've ever seen a wolf and they are majestic animals. In the book "A Land Remembered" wolves were involved in it, not always in the best way. They usually chased the cows but that's because, like I said, they are driven by their instinct to survive. But the people in the book had respect for them, as do I.

The Sounds of Nature

The past couple weeks have been so nice, with the weather changing to the cool fall. So I have been spending a lot of time outside. When I was just sitting outside and relaxed, I got to hear so many sounds that I wouldn't have heard if I was rushing around. I heard:

Birds Chirping
Leaves Crinkling
Wind moving through the trees
Squirrels talking to each other and running around
Lizards running on the ground
Animals walking around, like rabbits and others
My own breathing


Everybody should take time out of their busy schedule and just sit outside. School and everything is stressful and after I did this I felt so relaxed.

ECHO Farm

ECHO stands for the “Education Concerns for Hunger Organization”. Our guide was Mike Sullivan and he was very knowledgeable about the farm and the plants that thrived on it. He first showed us a video and explained all about the farm. There are over 3000 groups in over 180 countries that work with ECHO. The farm also has one of the three top agricultural libraries in the world. They actually host an international conference that has delegates from over 40 countries. These delegates come together and share innovations on farming like better ways to fish farm or plant seeds. He also explained where the income for the farm comes from since it is such a big farm to run. 60% of their income comes from donations and the rest comes from plants sales, gift shop sales, and grants. That brings in about $2-3 million every year and 80% of that goes to organizations around the world. Mainly they want to teach people around the world about sustainable farming. There was a quote that explained their mission, “Give a mean a fish, feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and feed for a year”. There is also an intern program. They get interns from all around the world and they learn different farming techniques, and then travel to another country to teach them about what they have learned. ECHO was started 30 years ago, and North Fort Myers was chosen as the location so that they could imitate land conditions found all around the world.   

            On the farm, they have a seed bank. They store the various seeds here and put them in packets to send out all over the world. There are 6 steps in order to send out a seed. First, seeds are collected from plants are cleaned. Second, the new seeds are assigned numbers. Third, the seeds are stored. Fourth, is that each set is tested annually for germination. Fifth, the volunteers fill out sample packets. And lastly, the database keeps track of seeds worldwide. One of the main seeds they send out is called the Moringa Tree, along with the other 350 seeds that they send. The Moringa is very healthy and has a lot of vitamins in it. I got to taste and it didn’t taste that great ,just like a leaf but Mike swore it was the best thing for somebody. It can grow up to 16 feet a year and can also act as a fence or barrier against predators. It can also purify water. We learned that if one crushed the Moringa seed into powder, then let sit in dirty water for 15 minutes, it would purify and clean the water. Another important plant is called the Monstera deliciosa. It takes a year for the plant to grow and it has a lot of antioxidants, so much that it will actually make your lips tingle. We also learned about the Chaya tree. It is like spinach but more nutritious. It also fights against insects because it naturally has cyanide in it, but when cooked, it gets steamed out and makes it edible after that.  One of the techniques that they used on the plants was called air layering. They would go up a branch about 12-15 inches, clear the bark, wrap in moss, then wrap that in plastic, and then wrap in tin foil. It’s a way to propagate, and they cut the branch right below the tin foil and plant it in the ground as a whole new branch.

            There were six different climates at the farm. The first one we saw was the hot humid lowlands. They mostly worked with rice plants here and figured out there is a fern that releases nitrogen to the rice plants. This allows farmers to use 1/3 the seed and increase production by 50%. The next area we saw was the mountain area. Here they used the SALT technique which stands for sloping agricultural land technique. Here they would do a process where they cut trees in half and would then let them decompose for a year. Then they could plant a vegetable crop there and the decomposed plants acted as a fertilizer which let the crop grow 10 times better. We also learned about irrigation systems in the monsoon garden and the semi-arid desert. My favorite climate was the urban garden one. This is for people who don’t have a lot, or any, green space. They can grow it on top of their roof and fairly easy. At ECHO there were plants growing in tires, plastic pools, and plastic buckets. This showed that anybody can start a garden, even if they are in the middle of a city,

            Mike also taught us how we can have our own bio gas. It saves a lot of money for families that don’t make a lot of money. All they would need is a plastic barrel, water, and cow manure. The family could fill the plastic barrel with water and cow manure and in 3 weeks it will produce methane gas. It is smokeless and can provide gas for cooking as well as for light. 1 barrel will allow a family to cook 3 times a day for 3 months.

            While there, we also learned about different kinds of crops, animal crops. First we learned about goat crops. It is cheaper to buy goats than cows, and can provide more. The family could eat, breed, and get milk from the goats. Goats are also not picky eaters so they are very easy to keep. There were also chickens there that were called Naked Neck Chickens and they don’t have feathers on their neck. This enables them to take hotter and more humid weather. Also, if the family can’t afford a tiller, the chickens will do it for them. In 3 months they can dig 8 inches deep into the ground. These birds will also eat a lot of insects. The third crop was rabbits. One could sell or eat and their manure is also very good. Of course, you could use manure from the other animals and it’s very good for the plants. But rabbit manure could house worms, which could be used for catching fish or even for the worms manure which is “the best kind out there”, according to Mike.

            I learned a lot while at the ECHO farm. It has a fantastic mission and has definitely taught me the importance of sustainable farming. There are so many people out there who aren’t getting enough food, and ECHO is playing a huge part in helping those people to learn how to grow their own food.

Technique of air layering

Trying a Moringa leaf...not the tastiest but at least it's healthy

The Mountain garden

One of the  goats on the farm (SOO ADORABLE)

My favorite garden, the Urban garden

The Florida Trail

So since the book we are reading, "A Land Remembered", involves a lot of horse back riding in the wilderness, I thought I would share some of my trail riding photos. I have grown up riding horses and a lot of that time was riding in wilderness. There was a 1000 acre land reserve I spent a lot of time on, and to get to a lot of places we would have to use canals to get there. The whole time I was reading this book all I could think of was how I could relate to how beautiful the Florida wilderness, especially when by horse because the animals don't run away as if you were just walking on foot. All of these were taken in Jupiter, Fl.