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Category Archives: Calls to action
Fish Farming in the Maritimes
This summer, Kathy and I traveled to Downeast Maine and the Canadian Maritimes. I had not been to the Maritimes since the 1970s when I worked for a summer on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. It is a beautiful part of the world.
Not much has changed, there are still many beautiful places to visit and explore. On this trip, however, I was struck by the depressed nature of homes and towns along many of the beautiful shorelines that we passed. The area had always been poor and dependent on the fishing industry, but on this trip it looked like every other house was up for sale. The traditional fishing industry is in shambles with the overfishing and consequent depletion of cod and haddock – the staples of the past. (more…)
Where Have all the Plastics Gone??
In the book, Saving the Places we Love, I described the major oceanic gyres and how they tend to concentrate the plastics that we discard. Many of the original pieces of plastic that have gotten into our oceans have broken down and now exist in many sizes down to micro-plastics. They are easily consumed by a wide range of marine life and eventually by us. These large, floating plastic enclaves, some as large as the state of Texas, can be harmful to marine life because along with the chemicals associated with the (more…)
Monarchs and Mojitos
Last night I, and 140 of my closest friends, spent the evening at the Howard County Conservancy’s Monarchs and Mojitos event. Mark Raup and Paula Shrewsbury, both professors in the entomology department at the University of Maryland, were our hosts for the evening. We heard a great deal of interesting aspects about the life of a Monarch butterfly and the challenges this beautiful species faces. Monarchs are threatened with extinction (more…)
Take These Courses for Fun, Inspiration, and Impact
There are several wonderful programs and short courses you can take to get more involved in your community and in saving and restoring our local and global environments. I encourage you to sign up now and take at least one of these. Everyone I know raves about how much they have learned and how they were inspired to get more involved in their backyards and in their communities. Please pass this notice on to others who may also (more…)
Behavior Change Requires A Spectrum of Actions
There is often a debate on “What can be done” when it comes to solving problems. Some people call on government actions to encourage or require an across the board change of behavior to fix the problem. Others will say that education is the answer. That people will do the right thing if they understand the problem – that all we have to do is provide everyone with the facts.
Well as it turns out from many decades of (more…)
Why I Lead Walks
I love walking through the woods, along streams, and around lakes because there is so much to see and discover. There are eagles, osprey, beaver, turtles, and a host of herons. There are old foundations, overgrown driveways, and ancient trees. I feel like an explorer finding new bits of (more…)
An Environmental Health Bill of Rights
Over the past 200 years we have attempted to establish what we think are our innate rights for the society we live in. We have made progress in identifying these rights in some areas of our lives. However there is much more that needs to be done, especially in the area of environmental health. These innate rights (described below) and our quality of life are threatened as our population and our consumption practices keep (more…)
Return of the Thrush (supporting the arts)
I always note with a great deal of pleasure each spring when I hear the first flute like calls of the wood thrush. His return in May is like an old friend showing up with a big smile. He calls from the tallest trees early and late in the day and when the clouds cover the sun. He slows down my pace and makes me turn toward the canopy and smile.
This year at about the same time as the return of (more…)
Ned’s Top Ten Radical Environmental Acts
These ten radical steps will greatly improve your life. They will directly improve your health, stamina, productivity, creativity, and financial well-being. They are also important for the future health of our communities and the planet. Best of all, you can take these steps without being thrown in jail. I consider them to be radical acts because they are not the norm. Most people have not taken the time to think through the negative impacts of their daily actions or develop the discipline to reduce their impacts. It is important that we all take (more…)
Interview with the National Conservation Training Center
Mark Madison, historian with the NCTC interviewed me about my new book Saving the Places We Love. He wanted to find out more about my background, why I wrote the book, and about the online community that I manage to help others save the places they love, www.SavingThePlaces.com. The video will be aired at national parks across the country.
The full video can be found on YouTube.
Take-a-way: This is a good opportunity to learn much more about the book and the campaign, and about the challenges facing our country.
Saving The Places 