Week #15 response

Living healthy and green is a tough challenge, but every step towards that goal improves the health and longevity of our planet.  The Asian meat industry video was a good example of how appalling and just wrong some our human practices feel.  That video didn't need to utter a single word to really convey how unnatural of a situation we put these animals in, and why it needs to stop.  The sows stuck in boxes that are the perfect dimensions for their body to be unable to move was downright sickening.  Our group has learned a lot this past semester and hopefully we can put that to good use in order to stop things like this. 

 

Field Trip #5: Waste Treatment Facility

Our recent class field trip to the Fort Myers Waste Treatment Facility was one of our favorite trips. When you put that plastic garbage container out each week, most of us don't give it a second thought about where our garbage goes. Well, thanks to this trip, we have a much better understanding of the new processes and procedures for handling our waste. Using garbage like this for a energy source is an ingenuity way to sustain our lifestyles. We need to start living more sustainable lives in order to leave the world in tact for future generations to enjoy. Everyone wants to discuss the energy crises but technologies and methods like these are swept under the rug.

Waste Pile and Crane

Boiler

Moving Waste in the Facility

Week 13: Permaculture

The video about permaculture showed how many systems in our natural environment exist to check and balance themselves.  Whether it was the mushrooms feeding on oil trapped in the ground, or certain plants drawing a toxic level of heavy metals out of the dirt, there seems to be a plant or organism for any occasion.  The world has had millions of years to develop a certain harmony with all of its inhabitants and we humans are better off learning from it than forging our own reckless path.  It makes no sense to continue to use archaic farming methods when the world provides a way to yield more to harvest as well as keeping the soil healthy and rich.  Without these methods, the world would have been a barren wasteland before we came along, so we should learn from what's around us.

The video showing the reflections and symmetry of the tiniest flowers and leaves to the stars and even our own blood vessels was also really amazing.  Seeing that kind of silent poetry in all facets of nature is an inexplicable, heartwarming feeling, which gives credence to our natural world being good for the soul. 

Week 12: Response to Homestead Garden

The homestead garden was an amazing spectacle to watch and learn about.  It was very uplifting to see how efficient and how sustainable that family could be on a tiny plot of land in Pasadena.  It's obviously possible for our nation on the whole to do something similar in order to provide enough food for ourselves as well as preserving the environment. While the gardens my group plans on having may not necessarily be as large and bountiful as the homesteaders, it will share some characteristics, like the compost heap and the raised beds.  It was also nice to see that the Homesteaders could sell their excess crop to local kitchens and restaurants, showing a clear market for local grown vegetables.  Some lifestyle changes only occur with a financial incentive, and the movement to organic produce will be more helpful than not.