Campus trails and sustainability at FGCU

The FGCU campus trails field trip was very interesting and I learned a lot about sustainability at FGCU. Prior to the field trip, I had no idea our school was so sustainable. One of the most interesting things I learned while on the tour was that our school has their very own air conditioning system. The system actually stores a huge block of ice that melts and goes into all of our buildings air conditioners on campus. At night when no one is on campus, they refreeze the block of ice to get it ready for the next day. The second thing I found to be super interesting is the saw palmetto trees. These trees have a berry attached that is used to help make medicine. 

The third thing I found out that was super interesting was that back in the old days campers would use this tree to hang their boots out to dry at night. 

During the trail tour I was able to make connections from our readings. One connection I made was that the FGCU uses sustainable concepts throughout campus. One way the concepts are used is through our trash cans/recycle bins. Each trashcan that is placed on our campus condenses the trash that is thrown away, so that we don't have to hire people to take the trash out as often. This helps with equity costs and is a great way to limit trash loads. This ties back to our reading on natural capital, which is when goods are provided to help support human life. 

Overall the campus tour was a great experience and opened my eyes to many things that are on or around our campus. It was great to see the different types of plants and trees that are planted around our school. I was surprised that most of them were native to Florida. My most favorite part of the tour was when we stopped to read in the middle of the trail. It was very relaxing and helped me to connect with nature.