Conservation

Today is World Water Day, and the Nature Conservancy has a neat, interactive map showing where various regions and communities get their drinking water. Check it out here.

I grew up around the NYC water system (actually the older portion which is now mostly just backup) so I have a pretty good idea, but a lot of people just think theirs comes from a faucet.

Or should that be "against climate change?"

Take action at the Blog Action Day site.

Mark your calendar and plan to do something for a trail near you. National Trails Day is a day of volunteering to maintain and improve trails – it's outdoor fun, community-spirited, and great exercise! Check the American Hiking Society site to find an event near you.

The National Parks Conservation Association is lobbying to stop a bill that would permit visitors to national parks to carry firearms even when not hunting in a designated area. This is such a bad idea I don't even know where to begin! The parks staff can barely handle the problems they've already got, thanks to underfunding.

You can find out more and send an email to your representatives here:
NPCA Action Center.

Click here to go to the Wildlife Watch site.

Here are some excellent sources of information about nature and wildlife, and how to enjoy them safely.

I first heard of The Raptor Trust in the wonderful book Red Tails in Love, about the famous hawks of Central Park and the band of birdwatchers and others who love them. The Raptor Trust's website has very good, clear, and thorough info on what to do if you find a wild bird that needs help, including how to tell if it really does need human help. It also has a page of links to other wildlife rehabilitation resources online - not just for birds, and information on how you can avoid doing things that might injure birds.

This site, nycwildlife.org has a list of NYC metro-area wildlife rehabilitators.

Sunscreen database tables showing the effectiveness and harmful ingredients in sunscreens.

I really liked this article from the March/April 2007 Orion Magazine on the burgeoning movement to reconnect children with nature, and the potential benefits of doing so. "Leave No Child Inside" by Richard Louv.

Full of good points and ideas, along with some depressing – and some hopeful – statistics. I love the Ansel Adams story! The whole piece is well worth reading.

I clipped this factoid somewhere:

"Bet you didn’t know that New York City is the greenest city in America. NYC has 52,938 acres of park/open space out of 197,696 total acres (26.8%)."

Maybe it's not so crazy after all to love the big city and love nature, too.

And there's more:

If you think small things like using energy-efficient light bulbs don't mean much, think again!

Replacing just 3 of the ordinary light bulbs in your home with a compact fluorescent bulb saves an average of $60 per year in energy costs and reduces your carbon footprint by 300 pounds. If everyone in the U.S. replaced just one household bulb with a compact fluorescent, it would save enough energy to light 2.5 million homes.

Here's a link to a National Wildlife Federation article on the benefits of letting kids experience nature: SEVERAL STUDIES in recent years have shown that children who grow up exposed to nature reap psychological, emotional and physical rewards from that connection...."