Saving Our World One Step at a Time

It is important now more than ever to be involved with our earth and to develop ways of preserving it. During the past decade we have been witness to the slow destruction of the world and we are the only ones to be held accountable for it. A number of people, terrified by the idea, have developed plans, charters, acts, and social gatherings in an attempt to bring awareness to the ecological health of our planet.
One of these initiatives is called the Environmental Literacy Plan. This program is designed to teach our children, grades K-12, to understand ecology and to learn through first-hand experience. These types of experiences help develop respect for the natural world and those who inhabit it. Knowing and understanding our ecology and how it works will make these future generations more willing to become involved in their communities and in the preservation of the earth. In the long run, it is expected that the ELP will make the children ecologically aware adults that appreciate the world in a way that we never did. The outcome includes innovative ideas and eager people interested in creating a sustainable world.
This humanitarian aspect is another way to get people closer together and closer to nature. When people come together and interact, they are able to see similarities in each other that they would not have seen prior to the experience. The closer we get to one another and the more bias we can eliminate, the more equipped we will be in making larger decision that will positively impact the world. Growing and creating experiences together creates unbreakable bonds that make us more willing to open our minds to new ideas. Our little differences don’t mean much when we step back to see the big picture, in this case the crumbling health of our world.
I was able to witness first hand an environment that taught children to be ecologically aware. Isaiah, my 11 month old son accompanied me to the Imaginarium, and was amazed with everything there. He seemed curious, and I could tell he had great intuition on the topic. In all, the Imaginarium is a fun and interactive museum that did a good job in incorporating almost all of the principles of the Earth Charter. This is important because these are the same principles needed to build a sustainable environment and teach people to become forward-thinking. We are at a very critical point where we must choose our future. The Imaginarium stresses the humanitarian aspect in its mission statement to “…bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect and nature, human rights, economic justice and a culture of peace.” (Earth Charter Commission 92-95) This is accomplished by having environmentally aware activities that get children and adults from every background so close to nature that they are interacting with it.
Awareness is the first step. Our hope is that this awareness will be accompanied by action. We must to do anything we can to alter our current course before we pass the point of no return, if are not there already.



Citations:
• Earth Charter Commission. The Earth Charter. First Edition. Washington, DC: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010. 92-95. Print.

Urban Field Trip

I went to Down Town Fort Myers this afternoon. The first place I stopped at was the Edison Center. Every time I see the house I think about all the history the house possesses. It’s incredible to think that something worth wild came out of dinky old Fort Myers. I then stopped by the old court house. This place seems a little more sentimental because my great grandfather was involved with the constructions of this building. I know that it is made with sand stone with coquina’s. My grandmother has told us and showed us the building since we were little. Finally we stopped at Centennial Park. Here we can see the Caloosahatchee River. This park is fun it offers a variety of things to do and a variety of things to look at. The landscape is immaculate, and sculptures very realistic.

Swimming at Mom's House

I was at my mom’s house today and we went swimming. It was a hot afternoon, about 96 degrees Fahrenheit. Isaiah is still unsure about the pool, I think because his feet don’t touch the bottom. Whenever we’re in the pool Isaiah likes to hang on me like a monkey. We were in the pool for about a half hour before Isaiah was ready t o get out and have a snack. We had a fun time today.

Fun in the Rain

It has been raining so much that it has been hard for me to find time to go outside. Today, I finally took a brisk walk in the rain. It almost felt like I was walking around in a steam room, by the way it was soo humid. The climate was warm and the small cool droplets of rain felt good falling on my body. Isaiah had come with me, he was very fascinated, he had never experienced rain before. I think we will do it again soon.

The Beauty of a Sunset

Today I sat outside with Stan and watched the sunset. The sky was filled with orange, yellow, pink, and purple. The lower the sun got the more spectacular the view was. This was also one of my favorite sunsets where there a enough clouds to capture the colors, but also enough sky that you can see the rays beaming through. I always feel so peaceful when I see sunsets. They remind me of being with my family in the Virgin Islands, where we would go every summer.

Kids and the Park

This mourning I walked around the park with my son, we saw a bunch of kids playing on swing sets and it made Isaiah want to go on the swings too. Isaiah is always so fascinated with other kids. He would be staring at them observing their every move. It think he’s just trying to find some bad habits to pick up. We stayed at the swing set until the kids ran off to go on the jungle gym. Isaiah proceeded to jungle gym but instead of climbing up he was watching the kids from the bottom. He was laughing and running under the kids making his own fun.

Fun Time in The Back Yard

Today I was in the back yard and saw two Blue Jay’s fighting . We tossed a few pieces of bread and they stopped fighting, they each grabbed a piece and flew off. Isaiah, Stan, and I were also running around in the backyard until Isaiah started to pick up mushrooms trying to eat them. I knew it was lunch time so we went inside. Isaiah was upset about going back inside but he happy drink some water to get the nasty taste of mushrooms and sand out of his mouth.