Energy and Waste Field Trip - Downtown Fort Myers

Downtown Fort Myers was the most recent field trip. While the area is historic it is also sustainable. Back in the day the area was primarily used for shipping supplies. But now Downtown Fort Myers is one of the major areas for tourism in Southwest Florida.

To the left is a banyan tree. While this tree is non-native it is not invasive. Most of the larger trees throughout Downtown Fort Myers are banyan trees, as they tend to produce more shade in the area. The vines that hang down from the branches are to assist the tree in holding up itself, working as a root system. The older the tree the more vines that hang down and the thicker the trunk. The rings of the tree are even able to assist researchers in determining how a year's climate was.

In the textbook, Robertson wrote about the benefits and costs of recycling. While the textbook may be discussing more man-made materials like plastics, the concept still works for buildings in Downtown Fort Myers. The picture to the right is actually the old bank building which has been turned into the new art gallery. This building, just like many others in the area have been recycled into new buildings with minimal costs. Robertson also talks about the cost of construction and demolition waste. Recycling the building was able to save money in the long run, while this building is rather old, the cost to demolish and remove all of the materials would have cost much more than doing what was done, and renovating it.


Edison, Ford, and Firestone were some of the leading innovators that lived in the area. These three men were able to bring money into the area, bring jobs and people into the area. Their inventions were a large portion of what helped to put Downtown Fort Myers on the map. While each person had their own inventions they all worked together in some fashion to be able to get the manpower, materials, and sometimes energy they needed for their products.

Vester Marine Station

There were many amazing things about the Vester field trip. Besides learning that a few of us have zero talent at canoeing, we focused on learning about the mangroves in the estuary. These plants do so much for Florida that many people don't even realize. However, there are also issues that people may not realize that come from pollution that mangroves may deal with.


Protection from Water

One of the basic functions for mangroves is to act as a sea wall. These trees often grow into a thick line of trees in estuaries and serve as a natural sea wall that protects the coast from storm surge. While most of the homes on waterways use expensive sea walls, using mangroves instead would cut down on the cost and provide a natural privacy barrier. However, when it comes to beaches mangroves would be a large help to the erosion that is constantly taking place and becomes even worse during large hurricanes.



Supporting Biological Diversity

As mangroves grow they gradually form into miniature islands. These small islands help to support populations of many species. Birds will nest in the trees and birds that consume fish will come to live near or within the mangroves. The fish that come to live within the roots of the mangroves and the shallow waters that come with the gradual land, built by the sands that get moved by the water and by animals that end up around mangrove roots.


Mangroves and Pollution

While mangroves are necessary for protection from water and to support biological diversity they also have to deal with pollution. The forms of pollution that affects the mangroves is trash left by humans, and over fertilization of the water. Any trash that gets caught up in the roots of the mangroves has a chance of being eaten by fish, which harms other fish and birds that eat those fish. Fishing line can get caught up in branches, and when fishers cut their lines or the lines snap the line can end up even more tangled and there is a chance that birds can get caught up in those lines.