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Pack It In/Pack It Out
More and more parks across the country are moving to a policy of encouraging people to take their trash home with them. This is always a good policy. In the case of the parks it is also a cost saving measure resulting from the decision of many local, state, and national jurisdictions not to fund our parks sufficiently. It is also partly due to the increasing volume of trash we generate. Keeping our parks clean has become a major challenge. (more…)
Green, Green, Green – a guest post by Max Buffington
In the fall of 2014, my wife and I were drawing near the end of an extended vacation to the southwestern USA. We had driven over 5,000 miles through desert, mountains and prairie. We had viewed many beautiful landscapes, sunsets. Hiked to many natural and historical artifacts. Visited family and old friends.
Though I loved seeing American cultural treasures, I had grown consciously (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…)
Ned’s Top Ten Canoe Trips in Maryland
This list is just to get you started on your paddling adventures throughout Maryland. At some point you might be good enough to kayak, canoe, or raft down the exciting Savage or Youghiogheny rivers in western Maryland. They can be very challenging so they are not included here. This list also does not include many of the (more…)
Saving the Future – Howard County’s Central Park
Our SavingThePlaces.com online community is not only focused on restoring and maintaining the wonderful streams, forests, lakes and mountains that were preserved for us by previous generations. We are also focused on opportunities for creating new special places or redefining ones as they change with the growth of our population. Urban and suburban redevelopment will provide us with these opportunities. All of us who desire (more…)
Better Governance – Getting All the Players Together
One of the key challenges in making good decisions relative to sustainability issues is getting all the key players together. The important players often reside in a wide range of government departments, non-profits, volunteer groups, and in the business community. To be effective, they all need to meet, listen to the important issues, and work things out. This does not happen enough.
Fortunately, we are trying to take steps (more…)
Ned’s Top Ten Hikes in Howard County, Maryland
Well here they are. My new rankings for 2015!! All are good for walking, some are fine for jogging or biking. A few are used by horseback riders. My challenge to you is to get outside this spring and explore each of these. If you have a group to inspire, feel free to contact me at ned@sustainable.us. I routinely lead interpretive hikes on all of these paths. (more…)
The National Trail System
Can you imagine exploring a mountainous region without a good trail system? It would take far longer to find your way through the mountains or to find the tallest peak. You might even wander around lost for weeks trying to find your way in and out.
Fortunately, today there is a great system of trails throughout the country, and in many cases good apps for finding your way. For the most part, they are well marked and maintained, largely by volunteers. For example, the 2,175-mile Appalachian Trail is maintained by 6,000 volunteers in small clubs all along the way. This is true for many (more…)
Berenty Preserve – A Gift to the Land of Lemurs
One Family’s Gift to the Land of Lemurs: Guest Post by Mary Klett and Mark Southerland
Colonialism is often justifiably decried for its pillaging of natural and cultural resources; yet there are times when those who came to conquer, learn to appreciate and value these resources. Such was the case of Alain and Henry de Heaulme, who came to Madagascar, an island in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa, in the early 1920s to build a sisal plantation for fiber production. They settled in the arid region of the Tandroy (people of the thorns) obtaining a French government “Concession” to exploit almost 15,000 acres of land beside the Mandrare River. Recognizing the uniqueness of the land, the de Heaulmes set aside 2,500 acres (more…)
More Ways to Enjoy Winter
When we actually have a winter, instead of getting cabin fever, I like to get outside and embrace the weather. After all, many people live in more northern climates and they seem to do just fine. In fact, I think that is the answer. If you are used to cold weather and lots of snow, you learn how to enjoy it. That certainly was the case on my winter travels this year to Colorado and Maine.
I spent two weeks in Boulder in December. The first week was (more…)
Saving The Places 