UNF Wildlife Sanctuary

Good evening everyone! For this week's blog, I'm going to tell you about the Wildlife Sanctuary at the University of North Florida. My class was treated to a brief tour last Friday, and I have to say that it was a very interesting experience. The weather was nice, and the tour guides were very friendly. They were more than happy to answer any and all questions we had. One of the most intriguing parts of the tour was when they told us about the Eco Adventures. For a small fee, you can rent canoes and other equipment and then go out on the lakes around the sanctuary. Most of the basic supplies are included, and all of the proceeds benefit UNF students and the preservation of the sanctuary. If you are interested in taking one of these Eco Adventures at UNF, then contact them at www.unf.edu/recsports/nature or by calling 904-620-5951.

Water Conservation

Today in class, we had a guest speaker from the St John's River Management company. She was there to talk to us about water conservation, as well as some ways to find water in other sources. I found her presentation to be very informative. I knew that we get our water from aquifers, but I didn't realize that they absorb fresh water like a sponge, leaving room for salt water to be brought to the surface. This was a surprising fact to learn! Also, I had no idea that the "mandatory" watering rules only had consequences if you were visited more than once by the city's water management people. Only then can you be fined. I wish that we had been able to hear the rest of our speaker's presentation, but, sadly our class is only 50 minutes long, and we ran out of time.

Even the X-Men Care About the Planet!

Hello everyone! I can't believe we are already at mid-terms! This semester has gone by really fast! I've decided to switch gears a little bit to make my blog more exciting. In class, everyone has to present something about Chapter 2 of the Living Green book tomorrow. My group, (clean energy), is focusing on the 7 Steps to Sustainable Eating. To make it more fun, we are incorporating the X-Men characters. Each one will represent a different step. For example, Storm filters her own water. Or, Wolverine cuts out fried and processed foods. You get the idea, right? To see the rest of them, just come to class tomorrow. You are in for a treat!

How many of you have your own filter at home? Don't be shy. Not very many, huh? That's not a huge issue, but it's one you might want to consider. Not only does filtering your own water from the tap save water bottles, but it also saves water and eliminates many harmful bacterias that can make you sick. Do you honestly know where your water comes from? Think about it for a second: some animal has probably done his business in the same river that flows through your pipes! Gross! I'll admit that I don't have a water filter at home, and we still drink bottled water, but that's because of the expense. Money is pretty tight these days. However, where I live, our water is filtered before we even turn on the faucet. Maybe I will try something new though. What about you?

School on President's Day

Ok so here's something that really sucks. If you are a University of North Florida student, then you probably already know that we have to go to school on February 21st, which is President's Day. I only found out about this a few days ago, because I thought we had it off last year. So why I am upset, you may ask? I'll tell you why. My family and I have Annual Passes to Universal Orlando, and we were planning on going back the weekend of the 19th through the 21st for Mardi Gras as a way of celebrating my mom and my grandpa's birthdays. Originally, we were going to leave Saturday morning and come home late Monday afternoon, which was perfect because where I work, (the Jacksonville Public Library), I am off that day because we are closed. Now, my mom and I have to get up early Monday morning and go straight to school. My first class starts at 10 am. I am glad we are still going, even if we are not staying on property. We had this same "problem" when we went back in December, because we waited too late to make our reservations. We ended up having to stay in one of the hotels across from Universal, and then walk across the street to get to the parks. It's not as bad as it sounds though. I enjoyed the long walk, and all ten of us got plenty of exercise that weekend! Looks like I will have more than enough steps for Ospreys on the Move two weeks from now! :)