Elanso

At the approach of spring the red squirrels got under my house, two at a time, directly under my feet as I sat reading or writing, and kept up the queerest chuckling and chirruping and vocal pirouetting and gurgling sounds that ever were heard; and when I stamped they only chirruped the louder, as if past all fear and respect in their mad pranks, defying humanity to stop them.

No, you don’t — chickaree — chickaree. They were wholly deaf to my arguments, or failed to perceive their force, and fell into a strain of invective that was irresistible.

– Henry David Thoreau, Walden, Spring.

Today is the first day of spring, and I decided to focus on nature instead of search engines or patents or web sites.

I’ve been reading through some of the blogs listed at Best Green Blogs, and I’m finding some great writing and interesting ideas on how each of us can make a difference in the world around us.

Some of them focus upon living a more ecologically friendly and sustainable life, while others share some of the technology and gadgets that could help conserve energy or resources. I’ve added a number to my feed reader, and have more that I want to look through - so far I’ve only made it to the letter “D” in the directory of blogs.

It’s exciting to see things like a new faucet design that saves energy while saving water.

I’ve been asking myself what I can do to try to have less of an impact on the environment. There are steps that can be taken everyday that can help.

Even becoming more aware can be a good start. The Nature Conservancy has an online carbon footprint calculator which can help give you a sense of how much your life style might impact the greenhouse gas emissions enter into the atmosphere. I’ve discovered that my results are above the national average. I’ll be working on that.

Sites like A Bunch of Greens review a range of products that are safer, more environmentally friendly and considerate of nature. It’s good to learn from places like The Accidental Environmentalist about a Green, Bio-Degradable and Non-Toxic Laundry Detergent.

Some green sites focus more upon nature and science, like Blogfish.

Some are from people who are actively attempting to make a difference, like Jeff Davis at Frog Matters, with his work for Amphibian Ark.

In a couple of weeks, I’ll be planting some trees in a local state part that is being reforested, through volunteer efforts coordinated by the Delaware Nature Society. I’ve seen a number of other volunteer efforts for other local environmental organizations that look like they would be worth pursuing.

As the leaves in the trees start turning green this spring, I want to add more green to my life. I’ll be adding a weekly post here on environmental and sustainable issues.