Going Wild

When things get out of control, sometimes, the best response is to go a little wild.

For years, the United States Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services agency has operated without oversight, killing thousands of wild animals, especially predators, in the process. Predator Defense, an environmental group based in Oregon, helped bring Wildlife Services' operations to light with last year's documentary, Exposed. Watch it below:



By revealing the negative impacts of Wild Services' illegal techniques, Predator Defense provided both a need and an opportunity to address the issue of how we interact with wildlife. The Natural Resources Defense Council took that opportunity to introduce alternatives that foster coexistence. Picking up where Predator Defense left off with Exposed, the NRDC recently released a documentary called Wild Things. The film looks at the problems with Wild Services' handing of wildlife and shows how ranchers and other landowners have successfully turned to nonlethal means of responding to the presence of predators. Check out the trailer below:



With its emphasis on people adapting to wildlife, a concern for the larger ecosystem, and the questioning of humans' domination of nature, Wild Things calls on us to rethink the blind eradication of animals. Just as importantly, it gives us a new vision and provides examples of how to achieve that ideal.

In the case of Wildlife Services, it makes sense that we turn to the wild to restore order.

It's Only Natural

In the advertising world, it's not easy to be green, but it sure is easy to say you are.

With more customers wanting to buy healthy and environmentally friendly products, companies have predictably tried to cash in on this movement. They have attempted to market just about everything as green, and one of their favorite words to use is natural. The reason for this choice is that natural is not regulated like the word organic. Organic products have to meet standards to receive official certification, but natural can be used on anything. Check out this video spoofing advertising for "natural" products:



The video is a great example of using communication to challenge rhetoric that obscures the truth. A product's claim to be "natural" doesn't mean anything. If you want healthy products that are free of added chemicals, and you're in the United States, look for a label that says the products are USDA-certified organic.

"Natural" and organic aren't the only environment-related labels out there, so additional efforts have been made to inform consumers about the real meaning of the environmental claims and labels they see. The Natural Resource Defense Council's Smarter Living initiative rates various labels, including "Bird Friendly" and "Fair Trade Certified," for their environmental virtue. To view it, click here.

Remember, all that's natural is not green.

The Year of Living Plasticlessly

Just because plastic lasts just about forever doesn't mean it can't die.

For the sake of environmental and human health, the age of plastic needs to end. With a new year getting started, now is as good of a time as any to start phasing out plastics. To get things going, the Natural Resources Defense Council is providing 10 suggestions for reducing the amount of plastic in our lives.

The stainless steel straws are interesting, and so are the bamboo utensils, but my favorite ideas are giving alternative gifts and adopting a "no-buy" goal.

Living without plastic--now, that's something that should last forever. Let's have forever begin in 2014.

Trim More Than the Tree

Less is more, but "more is more" is heard more, especially when it comes to the holidays.

Two days ago, I blogged about my present-free Christmas list. It's one of the ways I'm trying to minimize my environmental impact during the holidays. However, a lot more goes into this time of year than presents, and that means we have additional opportunities to decrease our consumption of resources.

In this green spirit of the season, The Nature Conservancy is giving people ways to "REthink the Holidays." These include buying local food, additional alternatives to giving presents, reducing waste, and several more. One is about starting green holiday traditions with a young child. I really like these ideas, and they cover just about everything involved in the holidays. Click here to see the full range of suggestions.

Of course, if you do end up with stuff, it's important to know how to deal with it. For that, the Natural Resources Defense Council has tips on how to reuse and recycle.

Cutting back may be the best gift we'll ever give to the planet.

Save the Date

As Captain Barbossa would say, "They're more like guidelines."

It turns out that the "best by" dates on food are no less arbitrary than the pirate code in a Disney film. Arbitrary is good for a laugh on the silver screen but bad for the amount of food waste we produce. As the Natural Resource Defense Council points out on its Switchboard blog, the expiration dates on food aren't governed by any regulation, so they are relatively meaningless.

The problem is that people are throwing away good food because those dates tell them it has expired. As a result, food is wasted, and so is the energy used to produce it. In addition, unless the food waste is composted, it becomes part of our trash.

Standards are needed to preserve the usefulness of expiration dates, and until we have that, saving good food comes down to our own judgment.

Stepping up Our Game

When it comes to the health of the environment, you have to play to win, and more and more sports teams are embracing that idea.

Partnering with the Natural Resources Defense Council, many leagues and teams, including the Pacific Northwest members of the Green Sports Alliance, are working to minimize their environmental impact. Check out the following video about the NRDC's 2013 game changers for environmental stewardship (that's "The Natural," Robert Redford, narrating):



As a sports fan and environmentalist, it makes me happy to see these teams helping advance the ball on environmental sustainability.

Winter Garden

As part of Thanksgiving dinner, we had homegrown tomatoes. My mom had picked green tomatoes earlier in the fall and brought them inside to ripen.

Everyone was glad to have homegrown rather than store-bought tomatoes. However, at some point, the harvest, including cucumbers and potatoes, will run out and the store will become the sole source of vegetables.

Usually, during winter, we resign ourselves to the fact that the nearest produce is at the store. However, the Natural Resources Defense Council is providing tips to keep your vegetable production going during the colder months.

As part of its Smarter Living program, the NRDC gives these recommendations for growing vegetables inside. The tips include what to grow and where and how to grow it.

This is a great idea that helps keep fresh produce around throughout the year and gives us a little more power over where we get our food.

Building Our Environment

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about what it takes to have a healthy environment and strong communities.

I have realized that both require vision and focused efforts to see that vision come to life. Once the desired goal has been expressed, we must take ownership of its building and maintenance. In other words, if we want something to happen, we must make it happen.

This story from BirdNote provides a great example of what I mean. (When you check it out, you can also take a look around BirdNote's new Web site, which is fantastic.)

Of course, improving our environment and our communities means hard work, but if we really want to transform our relationships to each other and to nature, the work will be worth it.

For more ideas about communities and the environment, check out this blog from the Natural Resources Defense Council's Kaid Benfield.

Storming Oil

Oil companies receive as much as $1 trillion per year in subsidies from countries around the world.

This is interesting for two reasons. First, oil companies have been making record profits. Second, it's pretty hard to end dependence on something while giving incentives for selling it.

However, on June 18, organizations like 350.org, Greenpeace, and the Natural Resources Defense Council will be leading a "Twitter storm" to call on countries to end fossil fuel subsidies. The storm will involve people around the world sending tweets against the subsidies. If you don't use Twitter or if you'd like to do something in addition to sending a tweet on June 18, you can sign 350.org's petition against fossil fuel subsidies.

For more information on the Twitter storm, click here.

In for Repairs

One way to minimize the number of things you have to buy is to get the most out of what you already own, and one way to ensure your things get high mileage is to pick up the tricks for repairing them.

The Natural Resources Defense Council's journal, This Green Life, just released a helpful guide to becoming a repairperson for your own things. Included in the guide are shopping tips for finding durable goods, information on making repairs to a variety of products, and advice for how to decide whether to repair or replace. iFixit is one of the resources the journal article shares. It provides free manuals for repairing many different things.

I get excited about ideas like this because they focus on sustainability, help make the old new, and empower people. Empowerment against consumerism is a difficult thing to achieve, but this is a good start.

In the near future, I will begin a project to rejuvenate my computer.  I bought it as a refurbished model, and it is now more than four years old. Rather than get a new computer, I'd like to see how far I can go with this one, so I will be replacing the hard drive and updating the operating system. Hopefully, that will keep it kicking for a few more years. I'll have more about the project later as an example of getting the most out of products.

Local Eating in the Palm of Your Hand

Eating foods that are grown and sold locally is an important part of sustainability, and the Natural Resources Defense Council is trying to make local eating easier with a new app called Eat Local, which is available for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.

The app allows you to determine what foods are in season in your area, find where local farmers' markets are, and discover seasonal recipes. For more information, click here. Eat Local is another tool from the NRDC's collection of resources for Smarter Living.

Love Seafood and the Sea

The ocean certainly provides some tasty treats, and I've enjoyed a lot of them in my life. I'd like to continue enjoying them, and I also want to make sure that I show my appreciation to the ocean by protecting it.

Unfortunately, the oceans are having some trouble now. They are becoming more acidic and more polluted, and many areas have become dead zones. That's not good for the health of the oceans, the well-being of the animals and plants in them, or those of us who love the ocean and what it provides.

Through our seafood choices, we can improve the health of the oceans and ensure we get clean food. The Natural Resources Defense Council has provided tips for how to do that.

I particularly like the suggestions for eating locally and supporting sustainable-harvest practices.

Growing up within an hour of the ocean gave me some great experiences and much wonderful cuisine. I am indebted to the ocean for those things, so it's great to know I can do my part to keep them coming.

Love Birds

The last few entries have focused on resources that give us the chance to be active participants in nature-related programs and communities. Today, I'll introduce another of those communities.

The Natural Resources Defense Council and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have partnered up to create We Love Birds, which is the Web site for a membership community dedicated to birds. You have to join to interact with the other members, but joining is free, and if you're into birds, it might be something to check out.

The Web site allows members to share bird pictures and videos, ask birding questions, and read and comment on stories in various bird blogs. Some of the photos (like the one of the common nighthawk in this entry) are simply spectacular. For more information, use the link above, or go directly to the site's About page by clicking here.

Whad'Ya Know?

For this entry, I'm linking you to a great story.

I saw it (and maybe you did too) on the Natural Resource Defense Council's Switchboard blog link on the right side of this page, but I wanted to make sure that it got a little more attention before the blog link updated to a new story.

This one has some interesting lessons about what people think they know about nature and their place in the environment. Even better, it has a happy ending. I hope you like it.

Web of Green Goodness

In a previous post, I talked about using wise-giving standards to choose a charity. If that entry helped you find a charity or if you already had a favorite charity, you might be interested in a way of harnessing the Web to produce more money for your charity of choice.

GoodSearch (http://www.goodsearch.com/) is a search engine that allows you to turn your online searches and shopping into donations for your charity at no cost to you. All you have to do is verify that GoodSearch has the charity in its databank. Then, when you use GoodSearch to conduct Internet searches, the search engine donates to that charity. You can also use GoodSearch's GoodShop function to earn money for the charity while making online purchases. Many online vendors, including Amazon, iTunes, Overstock, and Barnes and Noble participate, so just start your shopping at GoodSearch. You will find a link to the vendor you want to use, and after you click that, you will be able to support your charity as you shop without paying extra. 

The charities GoodSearch benefits include numerous environmental groups such as the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, The Nature Conservancy, Defenders of Wildlife, and the National Wildlife Federation. Additionally, many local environmental groups have signed up for GoodSearch as well, so chances are pretty good that those of you who want to use the service to support a favorite environmental cause will be able to do so.