Blogs & Ecology

Photo courtesy of Daniel Belanger

There aren't too many good ol' artist/adventurer types around these days—ever notice that? Plenty of artist/graphic designer and artist/web consultants, but our generation could use a good solid artsy adventurer. You know, like Byron or Hemmingway or John Muir (okay, so he was more of an essayist/adventurer, but cut me some slack here). Perhaps with a little luck, we could find one in the intrepid photographer Daniel Belanger....

Image from jderuna

Jeeps Race Climate Change to Set Bering Strait Record
Adventurer Matthias Jeschke intends to drive from Paris to New York. Of course, since the Atlantic presents a serious obstacle to wheeled transportation, Jeschke has plotted a route inspired by early human migration -- across the Bering Strait. If he and his team succeed, they will be the first expedition to drive the trans-continental route.

Modern Obstacle: Global Warming

Photo credit: Daintree Eco Lodge & Spa

The Global Travel Editor at National Geographic Adventure has put together a handy list and a nice graphic of the 50 Best Ecolodges in the world, color-coded according to ecosystem. The hotels were chosen because they support local communities, offer authentic cultural experiences, maintain strong conservation initiatives, and increasingly emphasize adventure at the center of the experience.

Once upon a time they were known as HTH's - HomeTown Honeys. This was the acronym ascribed to those undergrad, freshman dorm-dwellers who had had The Conversation with their high school sweetheart and decided that they were going to stick together, the thick and thin thing, even though they were now 1200 miles apart, in separate colleges, and would be for (at least) 4 more years.

One never knows whether Forbes is serious or has its tongue planted in its cheek, after all Chris Buckley works there. When you read David Hirschman's Global Warming Winners you learn that we will be booking our winter vacations in Atlantic City, travelling by boat to the North Pole, and hitting the beaches of the North Sea. Somehow I don't think that there are a lot of winners in this. Virtually visit them all at Global Warming's Winners via Grist

It all reminds me of:

The Highest Railway

Global Warming Watching is now a spectator sport - tourism to the Arctic and Antarctica is on the rise. Whereas two decades ago just a few thousand people braved the chill to discover the wonders of the frozen poles, last season 40,000 people made the trek to Antarctica alone.

How many tourists is too many tourists?
Antarctica is in a particularly vulnerable position vis-a-vis visitors for a number of reasons. It is not a nation with a human population or the ability to completely control its own fate, which has always meant a mixed bag, environmentally. Last year's

Photo by Karl Manzer, via Momentum magazine

Many people will agree that spending time in the natural environment helps us better appreciate the wonders of our unique little planet. The understanding thus gained often leads to positive action to clean up our own mess. But there remains that eco-conundrum of how do we get ourselves from our mostly urban existence to those deserts, mountains, rivers, coasts and forests with their many lessons to learn. Flying and driving can seem somewhat counterproductive to the greener future we strive for.

Two of us folk singers are ditching our station wagons to tour the country by train instead.

The music and the mechanism that will propel us around the country has become appropriately named Railroad Folk. Here is the story of how we sewed together our tour by train. ...

We wouldn’t be recommending you do it in today’s 2,000 degree Mediterranean heat, but come Fall (that’s stav in Hebrew) the weather will be more human and perfect for Israel’s latest trend in urban eco-tourism: “Run the City.”

Scientist Ian Bell measures a Hawksbill Turtle off the Great Barrier Reef. Photo credit: Ian Bell.

This is the first post from guest contributor and Planet Green NGO partner EarthWatch Institute.

Image source: Ambrose Hotel

The Ambrose Hotel, in Santa Monica, CA, was just awarded the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) Certification by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) for a hotel - this the first-ever US hotel to earn such a distinction....

Images courtesy of author.

This article is continued from yesterday looking at how Bonterra winery is the leader in organic grape growing, and just how do they keep their plants healthy and the bugs away without the help of pesticides.