We all dream of making the world better.  But what can any one person do that will actually make a difference?

That is the central question that my books (Saving the Places We Love and The Chesapeake Watershed) try to answer.  Through personal stories, humor and an approachable list of possible actions, I hope each reader will be engaged, inspired, and enabled to act, so they will make a difference.

Each individual act may seem small, but taken together, they create ripples which in turn create waves whose energy will ultimately enable our greater goals.  But we need everyone to be creating ripples and making waves! As our society recognizes our impacts we do respond. We have accomplished a great deal over the last 50 years. But there is more to do. We need to synchronize our ripples and not cancel each other out.

My dream is to be part of a growing campaign to change our culture to one that is more sustainable. We need to regain and maintain a balance with the natural world on which all life depends.  A campaign to ensure clean air, clean water, a healthy food supply, and a wide variety of habitats and open spaces that will support us now and into the future.

Our two-year-old, Saving the Places we Love campaign continues to grow. We have reached thousands of people and received guest posts from around the world. I would like to ask you to use your sphere of influence to help engage more people in our campaign and expand our ripple effect.  Consider helping with any of these actions:

1. Use the books, our website, and our network to help save the places you love. Read them. Take action. Inspire others.
2. Give the books away as gifts to family, friends, schools, businesses, and politicians.
3. Write an article of one of the books for a group you are involved with, a magazine you read, a community or company newsletter, a blog, etc.
4. Sign up for our weekly blog (see the signup area at bottom right of the www.SavingThePlaces.com home page).
5. Join our community on Facebook. SHARE blogs. Contribute a blog.
6. Send me ideas or opportunities to get the word out about this campaign: ned@sustainable.us

Thank you so much. Please feel free to contact me if I can be of help to you in your pursuits!

I want to make clear that this is not a commercial undertaking on my part. All proceeds from the books go toward environmental and conservation efforts and local non-profits (e.g., Howard County Conservancy, Maryland Science Center, Izaak Walton League, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation). I just want to inspire as many people as possible.