Jane Goodall felt a strong bond to the animal world and Africa long before she traveled there as a young woman. Working hard as a secretary in England, Jane saved enough money to fund her first trip to Kenya. There she met the husband-and-wife team of Mary and Louis Leaky who were studying apes in the wild. In 1960, the Leaky’s gave Jane the opportunity of a lifetime: to go into the Gombe National Park, a remote jungle in Tanzania for a long term project to study chimpanzees. She was perfect for the job because she had no training as a scientist and would not make assumptions about the animals she would observe. Jane’s years spent in the jungle led to many ground breaking discoveries about chimps, and our relationship to nature. She was the first to observe chimpanzees using branches to dig termites out of their nest. This shattered the basic assumption that only humans made tools and used them for specific purposes, which was thought to be the great divide between us and animal world. She also discovered that chimps make plans that showed that they were aware of their actions and consequences. Like humans, chimps go to war, can experience awe, use certain plants for medicine, adopt orphaned infants, and are not vegetarian. She even discovered that chimpanzees use different sounds to speak a certain type of language. Before Jane’s discoveries, scientists did not believe animals had emotions or personalities. Jane’s research showed how closely related we are to the other animals on Earth and to the planet we share.
From the very beginning of her work in Africa, Jane realized that chimpanzees and other species were in danger. When she began her work in Tanzania in 1960, there were an estimated 2 million chimpanzees across Africa. By 2005, that number plummeted to 125,000, making them an endangered species. Very early in her work, Jane began campaign of speeches and writings to raise awareness of the threat we humans are to the animals of our planet. She has traveled all over the world raising awareness for the plight of the chimpanzees and has written more than thirty books. She founded the Jane Goodall Institute, which emphasizes the power of individuals to make a difference for all living things, and the Chimpanzee Guardian Project in Tanzania, which protects chimpanzees and their habitats. In 1991, Jane founded a grassroots organization for youth called Roots and Shoots that has grown to more than eight thousand groups in one hundred countries. The organization was founded on the belief that knowledge leads to compassion and that compassion leads to action. Jane also believes that people acting together are stronger than individuals working alone. Click here to learn more about Roots and Shoots and to see if their is a group in your community.
“I’ll give you my tuna fish sandwich if you give me your fruit roll-up.” Sound familiar? The old cafeteria game of swapperoo enters the virtual realm on a host of new swap websites where one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Websites such as Swap Tree,Swap Ace and Swap Bot help eco-minded people looking to give their things another chance at life while simultaneously reducing their own footprint by not buying new items. Reducing consumption is an great way to cut down on the use of raw materials and the energy used to manufacture them…not to mention lightening the load on landfills.
Summer vacation is here at last! As your kids embark on their three months of freedom, you can keep their minds, bodies and souls engaged by taking them to visit a wildlife refuge. Across the country, tucked away in Bayous and canyons, estuaries and marshes, hundreds of wildlife refuges are open to the public. These pristine sanctuaries are living and breathing classrooms of ecology and are a rare opportunity to see ecosystems in there unadulterated state.
I recently ventured to the southern Maine coast and visited the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is scattered along 50 miles of coastline, but accessible in the town of Wells. A well maintained trail guides visitors through woods and along the periphery of estuaries and salt marshes. Young visitors can observe migratory birds species nesting and listen to the reeds rustle along the banks of the salt marshes. This is a great opportunity to write and draw in a nature journal, play “I Spy” with native flora and fauna or learn about the local ecosystem.
To find a wildlife refuge in your area, visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services website, and be sure to check out their ideas for visiting with kids.
Nothing says Christmas like a beautiful tree covered in chemicals, right? Wrong! Sadly, many trees, that timeless symbol of Christmas, are dangerous to your child’s health. Some farmers use 40 different pesticides, as well as chemical colorants, when growing christmas trees. The good news is that there are now a number of tree-farms that sell pesticide-free trees, so ask your local Christmas tree seller, or search for an organic tree farm near you.
If you want to go the extra mile and ensure lasting memories, you can purchase a tree with roots still intact. Once the holidays are over, you can plant the tree in your backyard or donate it to a local organization and watch it grow for years to come. To learn more about trees with their roots intact, click here.
“The Story of Stuff”is a must-see short video about where all of our “stuff” comes from, how it’s made and where it all ends up. It also reveals what effects the manufacturing, selling and disposing of all our “stuff” has on our planet, our bodies, and even our happiness. With great animations, The Story of Stuff is an engaging, thought provoking and life changing video. Going to the store will never be the same again!
“If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life.” -Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson, (1907-1964) was a writer, a scientist, an ecologist and a brave advocate for the environment. As a young girl, Rachel’s mother nurtured her daughter’s love of nature. She studied the sea, plants and wildlife, and taught others about the living world around them through her books and articles. As a young woman, she became the Editor-in-Chief of all publications for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, where she wrote pamphlets on natural resources and conservation. Carson strongly believed that people are integrally linked with nature, and must learn to care for it, rather than overpower it. One article she wrote, “Help Your Child to Wonder,” (1956) aimed to teach people about the wonder and beauty of the living world.
In 1962, Carson published the book SILENT SPRING, and with it the environmental movement was born. The book was written to raise awareness of the great harm that synthetic chemical pesticides had on the environment. It took great courage for Carson to speak out against the agriculture and chemical industries. But she firmly believed that we as human beings are just as vulnerable to the toxic pesticides we spray on our fields, homes and trees as the insects themselves are. In defending her book, Rachel Carson stated: “We still talk in terms of conquest. We still haven’t become mature enough to think of ourselves as only a tiny part of a vast and incredible universe. Man’s attitude toward nature is today critically important simply because we have now acquired a fateful power to alter and destroy nature.”
Lilly Tougas, a young girl from Florida, has done extraordinary things to educate her community about going green. She is a great example of how one small person can make a big impact. Last year Lilly was invited to travel to China during the Beijing olympics to paint a mural with the artist Wyland and with children from all around the world. The goal of the mural was to raise awareness about taking care of our oceans. I was lucky enough to get an interview with Lilly to ask her about her quest to go green.
How old were you when you learned about what it means to “go green?”
When I was 3 at my Montessori school, I would sing a song ”the Earth is our Mother, we must take care of her” and I took it very seriously. When I was 6, my Mom and I read a book called “Hold Your Water” by Wyland and Steve Creech. At the end, I took a pledge, like a check off list of things and learned a lot about what to do.
How did it make you feel to find out that people were hurting the planet through our everyday actions?
It hurt me really deep.
What was one of the first ideas you had to go green?
Well, at first, it was just turning off lights and water when brushing my teeth, then I would leave messages on the answering machine telling people about doing that.
What are a few things that you do to save the planet everyday?
Turn off lights,T.V., and water, recycle and take my friends trash home with me to make sure that it gets recycled. I also tell people every day how important it is to do these things. We are Mother Natures eyes and when we see what is wrong we need to help.
Is there something you wish you could do to help the earth, but don’t know how?
Yes, I was hoping to get the use of plastic bags banned in my town, I wrote a letter and nothing happened, I feel sad when I see them as trash all around town, and I feel really really sad when I see a picture of a Sea Turtle who tried to eat one.
Which of your going green projects are you most proud of?
Hand’s across the Ocean in China, my idea of having a Lemonade stand to purchase reusable grocery bags to hand out to people who need them, bringing recycling bins to school, writing a note to Congress with pictures of plastic bags stuck in trees and in pastures with cows. I guess I am most proud of all of them and it is a long list.
What was it like to travel to China for “Hands Across The Ocean” at the Olympics?
It was amazing to join hands with other kids around the world and pledge to care for the worlds oceans together. Not to mention painting with Wyland, he is such an inspiration, I hope we do something at the Olympics in Canada.
Lilly working a booth for Earth Rehab to raise money for the Wyland Foundation
“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” –John Muir
John Muir (1838-1914), known as “the father of our national parks”, was America’s most famed naturalist and conservationist. As an explorer, he embarked on exciting wilderness adventures from Indiana all the way to Florida, among Alaska’s glaciers and throughout California’s Sierra Nevada. During his journeys he kept nature journals in which he wrote about the beauty he saw in nature. He drew detailed sketches of plants, animals, mountains and landscapes. He used these journals to compose letters, essays, articles and books that taught people, then and now, the importance of experiencing and protecting nature. His writing and activism inspired President Theodore Roosevelt’s bold conservation programs and lead to the creation of Yosemite, Sequoia, Mount Rainier, Petrified Forest and the Grand Canyon National Parks. In 1892, John Muir formed the Sierra Club and was the club’s very first president. The Sierra Club continues John Muir’s work today, teaching people about conserving our natural heritage and establishing new National Parks and a National Wilderness Preservation System.
