Natural History Journal

A mother sea otter attempts to remove a plastic bag from her pup. Photo credit: SeaOtters.com As residents of this beautiful planet we call Earth, we are charged with its stewardship.  Regardless of nationality, economic status or religious beliefs, we are all temporarily tethered to this breathtaking sphere of rock, suspended miraculously in space.  From the earth, we all derive life-giving sustenance: clean air, pure water, nutritious food.  We bathe in its waters, feast on its abundance, and revel in its beauty.  The care of our planet and our finite resources should be the easiest thing in the world (no pun intended) for us all to agree on. And yet... we are clearly failing, somewhat miserably. Worldwide,  one million plastic bags are used every minute .  In one year, our world of brilliant, talented, beautiful human beings manages to use 500 billion  single-use plastic bags.  For ...

I'm a few days late (blame another beautiful camping trip!) but... Happy  Plastic Free July !!!  Single-use plastics have become a HUGE problem in recent decades, persisting in the environment indefinitely and posing life-threatening hazards to wildlife.  Even if you don't care about the sea turtles, birds, whales and the like, realize this: plastics do not "break down."  They break up into little pieces, and those little pieces become part of the food chain.  If you remain unconvinced... surely you can relate to the feeling of disgust that comes with seeing plastic trash covering our roadsides, beaches and other wild areas. The premise of having of Plastic Free July (or summer, or life !) is simple: Refuse the single-use plastic items in your life.  They have GOT TO GO.  All of them. This sea turtle died after trying to eat a plastic bag, which turtles commonly mistake for jellyfish.  (Photo courtesy of marineparks.wa.gov.au) ...

I love Christmas.  I love celebrating the birth of our Savior, and enjoying time with my family.  I appreciate the general feelings of warmth and love, generosity and kindness that seems to pervade at this time of year.  I love Christmas trees and the stockings.  I love snow in the Sierra.  I love the candlelight Christmas Eve service at church and exchanging gifts with my family. But there are things I dislike about Christmas, too.  And that's ok.  I dislike the rampant consumerism of the season and giant inflatable "decorations" covering front lawns.  I dislike all the waste that comes with mountains of wrapped gifts.  I dislike advertisements that sell expectations, and commercials with starry-eyed kids and shiny cars with big red bows on top.  I dislike the focus-shift that has happened.  Christmas is NOT about shopping or buying gifts, over-decorating your home with shiny things, or even the "win...

The Christmas season is upon us!  Evergreen trees, bright red berries, pinecones, sparkling snow and... mountains of crumpled wrapping paper?  Though it might be economic heresy to say it, our country's consumer habits are out of control.  I don't claim to be an economist, but I can tell you a little bit about what our consumer mentality has done to both our personal happiness and the wellbeing of the environment.   A snowy walk through the woods: perfection for a naturalist, and 100% free of consumerism.   First, we have to realize that we are being taken gross advantage of by marketing and advertising.  Companies know that American consumers don't really care what the product is, we only care how it is marketed to us.  Is it faster?  Bigger?  Shinier?  Easier?  Better?  Anything to make us look cooler, thinner, stronger, smarter, better .  Americans want i...

The kitchen is often referred to as the heart of the home, but the true fact is that the kitchen is more accurately the heart of household waste production.  But this hasn't always been the case.  We can apply some of the valuable skills dear to our grandparents (like composting kitchen scraps) and combine them with a few new innovative ideas (like reusable sandwich bags) to create an efficient, cost effective, healthy kitchen... that produces much less waste. Below is a list of practices that we follow in our kitchen to ensure our waste production and resource consumption are both minimal.  I promise these practices are all completely feasible, with very minimal cost and effort.  In short, these are not just nice ideas; they are rules that work very well in everyday life.  The kitchen toolbox for reducing waste.  Clockwise, from top left: Reusable lunch bag, reusable water bottles and thermos, reusable sandwich bags an...

And now for something completely different... Well, not completely.  It is entirely in keeping with a main theme of this blog, conservation, which is a favorite topic of mine.  In posts titled "At Home With A Naturalist," I will endeavor to give a brief glimpse into the day-to-day lifestyle of a naturalist or conservationist, since naturalists ought to be, by definition, environmentally conscious, green-living individuals.  It think it's necessary and important to set a good example through our actions, and it would be hypocritical of me to write about the beauty and grandeur of nature, as well as the harsh reality of environmental issues, but not live accordingly.  No one wants to see a "naturalist" drinking from a plastic water bottle!! (At least I sure don't!) These posts will address issues related to environmental degradation, especially those brought on by our general over-consumption as a society, and w...