Where to Find No Impact Man:
Blog URL: http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/
Category: Environment, Lifestyles

No Impact Man

In true Sustainable Dave fashion, No Impact Man is carving his own path of exemplification in the interest of compelling us all toward personal environmental and global responsibility. Colin Beavan’s No Impact Man blog is the journaling of that journey.

No Impact Man - Why You Should Go

So what is No Impact Man about? In a nutshell,

“A guilty liberal finally snaps, swears off plastic, goes organic, becomes a bicycle nut, turns off his power, composts his poop and, while living in New York City, generally turns into a tree-hugging lunatic who tries to save the polar bears and the rest of the planet from environmental catastrophe while dragging his baby daughter and Prada-wearing, four-seasons loving wife along for the ride.”

A description surely fit for a Hollywood screenplay (or a real-life documentary, based on a real-life book). All kidding aside, though, this is a serious blog about a serious subject and the way one man and his small family have set out to deal with it. Translation in more serious terms:

“No Impact Man is my experiment with researching, developing and adopting a way of life for me and my little family—one wife, one toddler, one dog—to live in the heart of New York City while causing no net environmental impact. To do this, we will decrease the things we do that hurt the earth—make trash, cause carbon dioxide emissions, for example—and increase the things we do that help the earth—clean up the banks of the Hudson River, give money to charity, rescue sea birds, say.

In mathematical terms, in case you are an engineer or just a geek who likes math, we are trying to achieve an equilibrium that looks something like this:

Negative Impact + Positive Impact = Zero.

No net impact. Get it?”

Summing Up No Impact Man

Like Dave and his peers, Colin Beavan is putting his money where his mouth is and actually doing something about the global environmental crisis facing us. Colin takes on the subject quite seriously (but not without humorous charm) to truly educate others to more sustainable living. See what No Impact Man is doing and learn some ways you can live more environmentally friendly, too.

Go here to check out No Impact Man.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2008

Where to Find Zenspace:
Blog URL: http://bandingozen.blogspot.com/
Category: Earth, Environment

Zenspace

“Find Yourself - Lose Your Way - An online garden for peaceful introspective”

If this sounds like a place you’d like to find yourself, or lose yourself, then a visit to Zenspace is in order.

Zenspace has been described to me as “an ongoing love letter to our planet.” That description is probably about as close as you can get in a few short words. Zenspace is the blog maintained by the Citizen of Earth, one who remembers times that were both more imbued with peace and love and tumultuous at the same time. But this Citizen remembers the promise of those times, and maintains this blog as a way to fulfill that promise.

Zenspace - Why You Should Go

This space of peace and contemplation is filled with posts to remind you of the only home we have, and remind us of our responsibility towards it. Through prose, poetry, and pictures, Citizen of Earth creates a quiet space for us to renew our dedication to our one planet and grow to appreciate it in the hopes that he can motivate us to treat it a little better personally, and a lot better collectively.

Summing Up Zenspace

Zenspace serves as a gentle reminder to us all of things promised and things passed, and things future, too. Visit Zenspace to stay centered and stay inspired to do your part for the appreciation and preservation of our larger global home.

Go here to check out Zenspace.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2008

Where to Find Achieving Sustainability:
http://www.chasingsustainability.blogspot.com/
Category: Environment, Green Living

Achieving Sustainability

Remember Sustainable Dave? The guy that isn’t throwing anything “away” for a whole year? Remember my saying that he maintains another blog? Well, folks, this is it.

Achieving Sustainability is the second blog maintained by Sustainable Dave, the man on a mission to stop carelessly throwing his refuse to another location somewhere out of sight and out of mind. Naturally, though, when you start looking into just how you can better the earth and minimize your impact upon it, you are bound to learn a few (hundred) great tips and tricks for lessening your impact in myriad other ways.

Achieving Sustainability - Why You Should Go

Sustainability has become a wish and a hope for many; a wish and hope, and a goal, and one that people conceptualize in different ways. Knowing the effort that Dave has put into just his waste removal, though, I think we can trust him as the “real deal.” So you can bet that what you learn from Dave is something that has not been taken lightly, and that can make a big impact in your more sustainable life, and the life of the planet. To that end on this blog Dave offers that “Herein, with any luck, you will find common sense practices, interesting tidbits, party stopping factoids, and generally amusing anecdotes (at least to the writer anyway) on our quest to achieve sustainability.”

Summing Up Achieving Sustainability

Yes, we are given this blog, too, in true Dave fashion, complete with amusing asides, and chuck-full of good information, mostly apolitical, but analytical when the need presents. Frequent this blog of Dave’s, too, to see what else you can do, and what else you should know about Achieving Sustainability.

Go here to check out Achieving Sustainability.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2008

Where to Find Journals of an Amateur Naturalist:
Blog URL: http://naturejournals.blogspot.com/
Category: Nature, Outdoors

Journals of an Amateur Naturalist

Many of us share an affinity with nature; if not a direct connection and experience of it at least a curiosity. Others make it their singular hobby, a passion, really, as Jace Stansbury has. Jace is a self-proclaimed amateur naturalist who uses his blog to share his love of nature, the creatures within it, and the stories he thinks are worth sharing.

Journals of an Amateur Naturalist - Why You Should Go

Jace is a US amateur naturalist, and many of his posts and the creatures that he spotlights are found there. That presents an opportunity for naturalists around the world to learn more about the animals that the common person comes into contact with, as opposed to what you might learn about in mainstream press. This blog is more like a living field guide that shows the diversity of the wildlife Jace explores, on a more intimate and personal basis. For those more local, Jace Stansbury’s blog is an opportunity to see what you might be missing in your own back yard, and how you might enjoy it.

Summing Up Journals of an Amateur Naturalist

Jace Stansbury writes with an obvious passion and impressive depth of knowledge for one who claims the title of ‘amateur’. This is an interesting nature blog written with care and concern for creatures and habitats far and wide, a good place to learn about supporting wildlife and enjoying the great outdoors.

Go here to check out Journals of an Amateur Naturalist.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2008

Where to Find 365 Days Of Trash:
Blog URL: http://365daysoftrash.blogspot.com/
Category: Environment, Going Green

365 Days Of Trash

What do you do with your trash 365 days of the year? If you are like most people you justify your waste with a touch of recycling, and then throw away the balance never to be seen again. Unfortunately, we all know that last part isn’t at all true—the waste is simply shifted, not really dealt with, and just becomes a problem in another place of the city, state, region, or world.

But what can you do about it? We all create waste. We all need to live healthily. But we also have to respect and preserve our planet, right? So how do you reconcile the waste you create and the mess we are collectively making of the place?

365 Days of Trash - Why You Should Go

If you are Sustainable Dave you challenge yourself—challenge yourself not to throw anything away for a year. To recycle as much as possible, to compost as much as possible, and to stash the remainder (which you are now sure to limit significantly) in the basement. And then you blog about it. (Oh yes—and you develop a course on conservation and sustainability to teach to California kids and teens.)

What purpose would that serve? It would show you and the world that there are much better ways to deal with your trash, starting with the choices you make, than just making it go “away.” It would show you and everyone who reads your blog that the average person can do a whole lot more to be making the world a better, cleaner, cooler place to live. And it would inspire others to reassess their living (and wasting) habits.

Summing Up 365 Days Of Trash

By now you surely have questions and to be honest the answers are too many to relate in this short space, so I’ll leave that to Sustainable Dave. He has provided pretty much every answer you could think of (including, yes, “are you insane?”) and listed them on an FAQ page on his blog site, as well as a list of “The Rules” he goes by.

A lot of thought has gone into Dave’s experiment, and he’s done a lot of learning and teaching along the way. Reading his blog doesn’t take a long daily time commitment, but the impact is significant. Chances are that you won’t go to Dave’s extent, but chances are good, too, that just knowing how possible a cleaner, more sustainable lifestyle is will inspire you to do a little better yourself. And that collective effort is sure to add up to something.

Go here to check out 365 Days of Trash.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2008

Where to Find Discovering British Columbia:
Blog URL: http://skinnymoose.com/britishcolumbia/
Category: Tourism, Personal

Discovering British Columbia

Discovering British Columbia is a blog that is just what it sounds like it would be; it is a blog about exploring and uncovering the many spectacular things about this place and the places, people, and things to do there. KT, our guide to BC, takes us on her adventures in British Columbia as she learns about the place first-hand and works to formulate and achieve her own personal version of her 5 year plan.

Discovering British Columbia - Why You Should Go

This blog ranks up with the likes of K. Field’s Alaska blog as a way to learn about a land apart, and perhaps explore a potential destination. But KT offers a particularly unique perspective as she goes. KT was originally from England, and emigrated to British Columbia only recently because of her love of the land, which adds to everything she talks about because we are, in effect, learning all about BC as KT does. What’s more, KT is on a mission (the 5 year plan) to work her way towards a more fulfilling career in tourism and/or eco-tourism, so we have yet another added advantage of exploring a place with a real budding guide.

Summing Up Discovering British Columbia

KT’s Discovering British Columbia blog is one altogether personal, professional, and exploration. Come along with this blogger as she offers a unique perspective on the place she most wants to be.

Go here to check out Discovering British Columbia.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2008

Where to Find Green Living Tips:
Blog URL: http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/
Category: Green Living, Environment

Green Living Tips

Green Living Tips is another blog where the name says it all; but this blog, the work of Australian Michael Bloch, is more than your average green living blog site. It’s an environmentally-charged website with all the news, information, and green living resources you need, and one that does it all with personality and flair‚Äîand action!

Green Living Tips - Why You Should Go

Green Living Tips is a lot like Tree Hugging Family in that it gives you practical ways to live greener and healthier everyday. The blog is a compilation of information that Michael Bloch has learned through his years of learning to live greener for the sake of the environment and for himself (living earth-friendly in the remote reaches of Australia has been a dream of his for some time now). Michael shares what he’s learned through his blog, which is in part both a personal journal and reference website.

The blog itself is part of a larger site that also includes articles and links to more green living resources and information and initiatives, the best of which are featured in daily posts. There are categories and posts to cover every imaginable aspect of going green, including topics like business, cleaning, energy, family, food, gadgets, garden, health, pets, and many others.

Michael’s dedication to green living extends beyond his blog, though. He also incorporates environmentally friendly practices into business and education. He hosts and maintains a website dedicated to educating the public about the effects of carbon dioxide on the environment called Carbonify.com. He also runs a totally green web hosting company, ThinkHost, which is powered entirely by eco-friendly renewable wind and solar power.

Summing Up Green Living Tips

Green living tips is one of the top-ranked green living (and working) websites for a reason; it is one of the most comprehensive and user-friendly resources of its kind. Best of all, Michael blends an entertaining sense of humor and personality into his blog. His compassion, friendliness, and approachability has done much to build a community of readers and commenters, and a bigger community of earth-first thinkers and doers all looking to Michael to help them do their part and live more responsibly for the sake of the earth’s environment.

Go here to check out Green Living Tips.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2008

Where to Find Tree Hugging Family:
Blog URL: www.treehuggingfamily.com
Category: Green living, Environment

Tree Hugging Family

Tree Hugging Family is a cooperatively run blog at b5media written by co-bloggers Jennifer Chait and Peggy Rowland. This blog is a place where you can go daily to learn how to make small changes that turn into a huge environmental impact.

Tree Hugging Family - Why You Should Go

The name ‘Tree Hugging Family‘ might evoke images in some of extremist, well, tree-huggers, or closed-minded fanatics interested only in promoting their own hard-core environmental points of view. But the Tree Hugging Family blog is nothing of the kind. Tree Hugging Family is a blog where writer Jennifer Chait and Peggy Rowland work post by post to educate readers as to the impact of global warming, but more importantly to educate readers in how they can live better, cleaner, and greener.

Tree Hugging Family is really a very open and warm community, and welcoming of civil debate over the issue. But the real impetus behind the blog is to offer up solutions, not argument over the problem. Day by day, post by post, the blog’s authors present new ways to easily and painlessly change little things in your daily routine. The focus is more on sustainable, livable solutions to global warming through green living.

The topics and green actions presented span a wide range; timely news is presented, as well as meaningful activities like

• Green kids activities
• Green crafts
• Green cleaning
• Green pets
• Green remodeling
• Green schools
• Green work and office
• Energy audits & tips
• Recycling
• Saving energy
• Gardening
• Eco living
• Flowers
• Gardening
• Organics
• Extreme green for hard-core environmentalists
• A lot more…

There’s really a wealth of information here, and it’s good to know that with blogs like this around we can hope that people are reading and learning and making our shared environment a healthier, more earth-friendly place to be.

Summing Up Tree Hugging Family

As the topics and categories suggest, Tree Hugging Family has a bit of something of interest for everyone. This is an excellent read and an excellent resource regardless of your stance on global warming. Thanks to b5media and the girls at Tree Hugging Family, there’s still hope that people can learn to live in cleaner and greener ways without making it so painful an experience that it can’t be sustained.

Go and check out The Tree Hugging Family for yourself.

Sean Rasmussen
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2008