Final Impression

On leaving the course, I have pretty much the same view that I did when I entered the course:

1. Climate change is cyclical; man should not attempt to interfere with this process.
2. The "green" economy is mostly BS, but I'm okay with it because it creates jobs.
3. Outdoor field trips are better than in-class instruction on this topic.
4. David Orr is a communist (this is a new one, I didn't know who he was).

If I were the colloquium coordinator, I would recommend that this course not be required for all students. It should be an elective. I would also remove all content about global warming, because there doesn't seem to be any interest in presenting other warming theories, like Urban Heat, which have as much if not more evidence behind them.

I did not like any of the readings. They were all either too dry and academic, or blatantly ridiculous, like Orr's "The Problem of Sustainability" or the Earth Charter. I would keep A Land Remembered, because it's actually a pretty good book and isn't intellectually offensive.

In future classes, less material such as this and more field trips would, I think, make the course more enjoyable and less of a waste of time and money.

Interview

For this blog entry I interviewed my grandfather. He is 92 years old and lived through the Great Depression. He also served as a SeaBee in World War II. He owns a factory that produces navy standard doors and marine ventilation equipment. He says the most important thing in business is to be competitive in service, price, and quality. He says that being competitive in business is more important than sustainability, but that a business should be responsible for its effect on the environment.

When I explained to my grandfather the content of this course, he asked me why they required that we take Colloquium. He said it was all basic common sense and that we should all do our part to not destroy the world, that it was not college material.

Canoe Trip

This was by far the best class trip of the semester. I usually go kayaking in the Estero River, which is fun, but the Imperial River is definitely easier on the eyes. The only thing I can think of that would have bettered this trip would be kayaks rather than canoes. I thought I was going to go insane listening to my boat partner's paddle scraping down the side of the canoe with every stroke. Maddening. Aside from that, though, the trip was great. I saw a few ospreys, one carrying a fish, and another carrying a snake, which is probably an Indian sign or something. The best part of the trip was, without a doubt, shucking and eating oysters right out of the river. My birthday is coming up on Thursday, and as soon as I get out of work, I'm going to rent a kayak and go out to Matlacha for some oyster hunting.

Downtown Fort Myers

I thought this trip was a ridiculous waste of time. While they've certainly done a great job trying to make the downtown area more tourist-friendly by copying the Naples format, the trip didn't instill a "sense of place" or really any positive feelings about native Florida. The only part of the trip that I found interesting in a naturalistic sense was the oak tree. It seems like every time I see it there are more steel cables vainly attempting to prevent the tree from self-destructing. The house at the Florida Historical Museum, for example, should be burned down, lest the memories of those terrible times continue through the generations. Seriously, though, the historical museum was awful. Why was there a King Tut exhibit? That made no sense to me.

Again, I want to stress that while I enjoy downtown Fort Myers, it simply had no place in this Colloquium class. I hope that the next time the curriculum is revised they exclude this trip and replace it with something more in line with the focus of the class, perhaps a camping trip or something.

Energy Usage

In home energy usage:

Fans: 2 ceiling fans on 24/7, approximately 48 W/hr = 35 kW/mo.

Lights: The majority of my time at home, approximately 7 hours today, was spent in my office and bedroom, with an average of 4 CFLs on at those times, for a total of 52 W/hr. (c. 37 kW/mo.)

A/C: does not run often. It's set at 76 degrees. I live in a ground floor condo. I estimate 200 kW/mo.

Hot water: 400 kW/mo. per the sticker on the side.

Microwave: I used the microwave for 7 minutes today.

FPL shows that I average 528 kW/hrs per month over the last four months. That's a daily use of 17.5 kW/hrs. This is approximately half the energy use of the average American household.

FPL, my power company, uses power from several sources:
52% natural gas
19% nuclear
15% purchased power
8% oil
6% coal

I drove approximately 30 miles today: 15 miles each way to and from FGCU, with one person in the car.

I drive approximately 9,000 miles every year, with an average of 24 miles per gallon, for a total gasoline use of 375 gallons per year. According to fueleconomy.gov, my car puts out 5.2 tons of CO2 a year.

For the most part, my choices are those of convenience. If it's not convenient for me to make sustainable choices, then I am going to make unsustainable ones. I try to conserve fuel for economic reasons only. I believe the environmental impact of my driving to and from work, school, and the grocery store is negligible when compared to, say, a Boeing 747 that dumps its emissions directly into the upper atmosphere.

Corkscrew Swamp

The Corkscrew Sanctuary trip was interesting for me, mainly because I don't get to see cypress forests of that magnitude often. The closest thing I can remember would be the Six Mile Cypress preserve. However, the solitary peacefulness of the trip was invaded by my number one peeve - German tourists. The mere presence of these creatures was enough to pollute the experience such that I will never return again. During the most pleasant time of the year, really the only time when it is comfortable to be outside, these pests flock to Southwest Florida with their gaudy clothes, enormous cameras, repulsive language, and rude attitudes. Their presence prevented me from getting a good view of the squirrel and bird feeder as well. If these German pests could somehow be excised from the preserve, which was otherwise beautiful, then perhaps someday I will return.

Ecological Footprint

# of earths: 7.3
lowest: garbage x1
highest: food x12
After taking the consumer consequences quiz, my score was equivalent to 7.3 Earths, with my lowest footprint correlating to garbage and my highest correlating to food. I'm not a big fan of surveys like this, because the data presented is completely arbitrary: even the link that explained how the results were tallied gave no specific information. I personally don't believe that I consume more than I reasonably should. The fact that my food score heavily skewed my total score upwards basically negates the entire game, because I'm not about to stop eating any time soon. Other than that, I really doubt I consume more than the average American: I live in a huge apartment building with a minuscule electric bill, only drive to work and school, and fly a couple times a year.

I'm in the process of replacing my light bulbs with CFLs, mostly for economic reasons. And I recycled about 25 pounds of bottles yesterday, along with a month's worth of newspapers. And I don't buy as much as I used to, once again for economic reasons. I'm also trying to cut down on the amount of grains and dairy I eat.