Conservation

Rooting for the Sandicoly superheroes

Roll-up for the world’s largest mangrove planting project 1
Posted 2 weeks, 6 days ago Eager to enter the pantheon of mangrove superheroes, we headed to the Saloum Delta in Senegal where the world's largest mangrove planting project is underway. Organized by local NGO, Oceanium, almost 30 million mangroves have been planted since June.
Trouble with chicks

Where the Sahara meets the Atlantic 0
Posted 1 month ago The Banc d'Arguin, where the Sahara meets the Atlantic in Mauritania, is a staging post for over two million exhausted migratory birds from Europe and Siberia. This vital geographic point is threatened by climate change.
Acres of Apathy

Does anyone still care about “the land”? 25
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago The newest climate anthem features earnest stars bleating that it's time to take a stand -- "for our land." And literally billions of people turn a deaf ear.
Ditto

With Patrick Swayze’s death, perhaps the year could take a rest 1
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago
Actor, dancer, and some-time singer Patrick Swayze is the latest pop icon to fall in 2009. We look at his eco-ties, which are tenuous, so then we mostly just look at how studly he was.
The badass birdwatcher

Teddy Roosevelt and the search for new ‘wilderness warriors’ 2
Posted 3 months ago
"He would have taken his fist and smashed the National Manufacturing Association," Douglas Brinkley, author of a new book on Theodore Roosevelt's conservation legacy, says in an interview.
Prison Break

Washington state prisons pursue sustainable practices, green-collar job training 5
Posted 3 months ago
Can prisons save money and the environment while rehabilitating lives? Washington's Sustainable Prisons Project aims to find out.
Forest gumption

New Obama forest plan leaves roadless rule intact 5
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack laid out a broad vision for the U.S. Forest Service on Friday, promising strong conservation measures and an emphasis on restoring damaged forests.
Cap-sacs, fanny packs, and bindles, oh my

Just say no to disposable bags—here are alternatives 6
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago
While Seattleites squabble over whether to impose a fee on disposable bags, we offer up alternatives to the nasty plasty.
Ask Umbra’s video advice on growing food in small urban spaces 0
Posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Is hindsight 20/20?

Learning from past civilizations 2
Posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago
To understand our current environmental dilemma, it helps to look at earlier civilizations that also got into environmental trouble. Our early 21st century civilization is not the first to face the prospect of environmentally induced economic decline. The question is how we will respond.
How Waxman-Markey tackles climate change by saving forests 1
Posted 5 months ago
One of the little-known ingredients of the deal that allowed the American Clean Energy and Security Act, H.R. 2454 to pass the Energy and Commerce committee was a breakthrough on protections for the world's vanishing tropical forests.
Come sail away

Around the Americas mission raises sails—and awareness 0
Posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago
The crew aboard the Ocean Watch aim to educate as they navigate 25,000 miles around North and South America.
Good Griddance

Ask Umbra on living off the grid 17
Posted 6 months, 3 weeks ago
What does it mean to live off the grid, and how can you get in on the action? Tune in to Umbra's latest advice.
Playing frogger with the climate

Happy Save the Frogs Day 0
Posted 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Frogs and other amphibian species are collapsing like the global financial system. Find out why climate activists should save the frogs.
The Green Divorcee

Environmental Organizing as Solution to Family Discord 0
Posted 7 months ago
Myth: Solving climate change is primarily about finding cleaner sources of energy 20
Posted 7 months, 3 weeks ago
Conversations about tackling climate change are perpetually dominated by disputes over which alternative energy sources will substitute for today's dirty energy sources.
Myth: Using less energy = sacrifice 8
Posted 7 months, 3 weeks ago
Mention "reducing demand" to Average Jane American and she'll assume you mean conservation: turning off lights, drying clothes on a clothesline, riding a bike to work, wearing a sweater when it's cold inside. And when she thinks conservation, she'll generally think, ugh, there go the dirty hippies telling me to feel guilty and be miserable again.

Both these associations are bogus.
Nothing to Sneeze At

Umbra on mini-dilemmas 14
Posted 2 years, 2 months ago