Celebrate Earth Day & End Plastic Pollution!
Today is
Earth Day! And this year's theme is ending plastic pollution!
Our reliance on single-use plastic has gotten entirely out of hand, and as a direct result of our consumer choices plastic pollution is negatively affecting our health as well as the health of the planet (particularly marine life).
I urge you - I plead with you - take some time to consider ways you can personally eliminate single-use plastic from your life. Then, start taking steps to implement your plan for a future free of plastic pollution!
For further inspiration and ideas for living without single-use plastics, check out these posts:
Kick the Plastic Habit: Plastic Bags and Other Single-Use Packaging
Kick the Plastic Habit: Plastic Water Bottles and Other Single-Use Beverage Containers
At Home With A Naturalist: In The Kitchen
Happy Earth Day!
About Me
Named after the Sierra Nevada Mountains, I am a naturalist and avid birder based in Central California. Above all, I am a follower of Jesus Christ, our amazingly good Creator God whose magnificent creation is an unending source of awe and inspiration for me. I hope to inspire others to appreciate, respect and protect this beautiful earth we share, and invite you to come along with me as I explore the nature of California and beyond!
- Siera Nystrom -
You Might Also Like:
California is certainly a special place. A treasure trove of natural wonders and beauty, the state encompasses one of the world's hotspots of biodiversity . But what makes California so remarkable, so rich in endemic plants and animals found nowhere else in the world? There have been a couple of key factors at work in this mountainous West Coast state through the ages, shaping it into what it is today: one of those factors is its unique climate, and the other is its diverse topography and underlying geology. Today, we'll take a look at California's very special climate. A quintessential Californian landscape - golden, oak-dotted hills - inside the now-imperiled Del Puerto Canyon, a hotspot for biodiversity, endemism and really neat geology in the central Coast Range. The mild, Mediterranean climate of California is shared by only four other regions in the world: central Chile, the southwestern tip of South Africa, southwestern Australia, and the Mediterra...
As the conservationist Aldo Leopold once wrote, "There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot." I am one who cannot. A rare encounter with a very special mammal recently left me pondering this idea, the notion that living in touch with nature adds something profound to the value of our human existence, that my life would be sorely lacking if I had not grown up with one foot in the wild, and didn't live that way still. An American badger, watching me and thinking badger thoughts, while I watched him and marveled at the profoundly positive effects of a life lived in harmony with nature. As a kid, my parents took me all over the western half of the U.S., traveling, hiking and exploring. Today, my husband and I often venture out together, for little reason other than simply to enjoy being in nature and to see what we can see. From massive humpback whales, elephant seals and dolphins in the Pacific, to bears, bobcats and pika in the Sierra,...
The other day, while exploring one of the remaining patches of wetlands around my county, I came across a furry little critter that was a complete surprise for me: an American Mink! Contentedly going about his (or her) business at the edge of the wetland, staying under the dense cover of an old clump of willows, the mink slipped out of sight before I was able to get a photograph. But this mink sighting got me thinking about other mammals I've encountered here in California's Central Valley, and as it turns out... there have been quite a few! California Ground Squirrel: A common sight in the Valley, and an important part of the ecosystem! Though the Central Valley is no longer the land of wild abundance it once was (at least not in terms of wildlife), more species of mammals than one might imagine still manage to make their living on the fringes of urban and agricultural land up and down the valley. National Wildlife Refuges provide much-needed havens for a ...
On a recent birding trip to Merced National Wildlife Refuge, I tallied up a list of sixteen different species of ducks. Only a few more species, around twenty in total, are expected in the Central Valley of California's freshwater marshes during the winter, so I consider that to be an excellent day for ducks! North American ducks are broadly separated into two categories, largely based on their methods of foraging for food. Dabbling ducks , also known as "puddle ducks," tend to frequent shallow water, where they are commonly seen tipping bottoms-up to feed on plant matter and invertebrates in the water and on the muddy bottom. They are most at home in water, but walk easily on land as well, as their legs are positioned near the center of their bodies. The wings of dabbling ducks are relatively large, which allows them to take off from the surface of the water, straight up into their air. Dabbling ducks almost all nest on the ground, near water....
For those of us living in the Great Central Valley, autumn is the time to head to the coast. Of course, there is no bad time to visit California's magnificent coastline. But as the heat and haze of summer drag on in the Valley, the sea becomes increasingly tantalizing: September and the onset of autumn bring sunny weather and an abundance of migratory seabirds and shorebirds to our coast. A new birder visiting California's Central Coast will undoubtedly be met with a splendid array of very confusing birds. Among these are small shorebirds like "peeps" (sandpipers), Sanderlings and various plovers . But the larger birds can be just as confusing, until you learn a few distinguishing features. Four large shorebirds that are commonly seen (and commonly confused) along California's Central Coast are Godwits, Curlews, Willets and Whimbrels. Marbled Godwit (upper left), Whimbrel (upper right), Long-billed Cu...
Birds' nests are some of the most intricate, strong and beautiful structures found in nature. They range in design from little more than a divot in the earth to elaborate mud condos and woven wonders, from enormous stick platforms to diminutive, delicate cups. Nests of North and South America's hummingbirds are among the smallest nests found in the world. While out for our daily walk a few weeks ago, I happened to look down at just the right moment and was delighted to find a hummingbird nest on the ground. The nest was below a eucalyptus tree that is frequented by Anna's Hummingbirds ( Calypte anna ), and this nest almost certainly was built by a member of that species. Presumably, the nest fell out of the tree before it served its purpose of housing young, as a used nest would be flattened (and soiled) from the rapid growth of the little birds inside. Nonetheless, I was excited by this discovery, since I have long wanted to ...
Not it's pretty amazing, but it's awfully damn stupid... and blaming it on "consumer preferences" rather than capitalistic profit motive is rather simplistic.
ReplyDeletee.g. we used to wash and re-use glass containers before "they" figured out that "they" could make more money if the bottles were trashed or replaced by plastic. Make laws against plastic and laws that necessitate the re-use/washing of glass containers (our current "re-cycling" is a sham).
The problem - our "lawmakers" are the rich and they don't seem to care about "doing right".
Yes, that pretty much sums it up exactly!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWe need to understand the importance of the recycled product. Try to use less plastic material or try to reuse it so that it may help to reduce the plastic garbage. Find out the eco-friendly product and start using them for the better future.
ReplyDelete