On the first (or second) Wednesday of every most months, you can find us checking in with what’s coming up on the calendar, both literally and figuratively.
Spring is officially here, but have you seen the signs in your own backyard or city? According to the National Phenology Network, the Spring leaf out continues to arrive early in the West, Southwest, Ohio Valley, and parts of the Mid-Atlantic, compared to a long-term averages (1981-2010). In parts of the Midwest and Great Plains, we’re about a week behind schedule and conversely parts of Nevada and eastern Washington, Oregon, and California are 4-5 weeks early.
I spent the end of March in Seattle where the cherry blossoms were in full bloom on University of Washington’s campus. The dogwoods were budding and opening as I spent my final days and the tulip festival was right around the corner. It was so dreamy walking around misty, damp Seattle seeing all the flowers with raindrops gathering on them. Even lovelier was looking down and seeing petal confetti everyone. Even though most days were cloudy, there wasn’t a dull thing about spring in the Pacific Northwest. Now I’m back in Boulder and welcoming spring on this side of the Rockies. We had snow three days ago and today we enjoyed nearly 70 degree weather and a tulip festival on Pearl street. Mountain wildflowers are springing up and
Environmental Holidays
World Fish Migration Day is on April 21st. Never heard of it? Me either until this year, but it was officially started in 2014 and really the main goal of WFMD in these early years is to raise awareness of the importance of open rivers and migratory fish. Many fish need to migrate to reproduce, feed and complete their life cycles. These fish species are severely threatened because their paths to migration are blocked by man-made obstacles like dams, weirs and sluices, which disrupt the natural flow of rivers. These fish make up a crucial link in the food chain and play an important role in healthy and productive river systems as well as providing an important food supply and livelihood for millions of people around the world.
Earth Day is the 22nd of April this year and we think focusing on the health of our environment is of utmost importance today and every day. This year’s theme is End Plastic Pollution, more on that below. We also love a good Earth Day celebration. Sarah plans on going for a kayak in Jordan Lake, North Carolina. How will you be celebrating? Planting any trees? Walking to work? Petting some grass?
Arbor Day is celebrated on the last Friday in April, which is the 27th this year and our Pop’s birthday! We’ll have to plant a tree in honor of him although admittedly we buy him a tree pretty much every year for father’s day. Very original. If you’d like to plant a tree or ten, you should become a member of the Arbor Day Foundation. It’s only $10 and you receive ten free trees when you sign up! Sounds like a steal to me. If you know of another great tree planting charity, please let us know in the comments.
In Earth News
A dozen new black holes were discovered in our galaxy. The holes were spotted because of their interactions with stars slowly spiraling inward and apparently they were pretty hard to find.
Global warming is causing Spring to come early and Autumn a little late. Scientists are finding that not all species are changing in pace with the seasons. Orchids are missing out on pollination, flycatchers are missing peak season to feed their new babes, and Northern lapwings nest are being run over by tractors. Another example explains that some plant species that feed young caribou are greening 26 days earlier than they did just a decade ago. The herds haven’t shifted their migration quick enough and it’s causing caribou calves who feed during the late blooming years to die earlier in life. Read the entire article here.
Animals self medicate just like we do. Researchers believe they have witnessed the first known example of a nonhuman animal using a topical analgesic. Orangutans in Borneo were observed chewing a particular plant into a foamy lather and then massing it into their fur for periods of up to 45 minutes! Read the entire article here.
April Initiative :
Our absurd plastic use sucks, but let’s first acknowledge the are many ways plastics have changed our lives for the better. Think of modern medicine, where would we be without I.V. bags and plastic syringes? What about a trip to the grocery store? Plastic allows us to buy a jug of juice, buy fresh produce in varying proportions, and store poultry and meat in safer packaging. Okay, we’re done with that part, let’s focus on the disturbing truth. There are plenty of ways in which we use and dispose plastics at an astounding rate. I mean, the Pacific garbage patch is twice the size of Texas. It’s appalling. When will we slow down and realize plastic is not the answer for everything? Or better yet, that the oceans aren’t our garbage cans? A ghastly 46% of the pacific garbage patch is made up of fishing nets.
One of my resolutions for 2018 was to not buy a single plastic water bottle.
I’ve made it to April and I’ve purchased three. I also had two gifted to me. I tried to expand on that goal by generally tracking and recording the plastic I use in a field notes notebook and I found ice coffee and pre-made or takeout food is my biggest culprit. I also realized there are a few a bunch of things that are simply impossible to buy without plastic being involved like razor refills, pre-washed lettuce, and lunch meat to name a few. Tracking my plastic use hasn’t completely stopped it by any means, but I am far more conscious of it now. I refuse straws and lids and every bit of plastic possible and yet there’s still a ton more I could be doing.
We might not see it everyday, but plastics injure and poison our marine life. Have you seen this disturbing video of a sea turtle having a plastic straw removed from its nose? Did you know an estimated 1.28 billion pounds of old fishing nets and gear are left in our oceans each year? That’s what we don’t see, but we do see plastics littering our beaches, oceans, and beautiful natural spaces each day and we know they’re clogging our waste streams and landfills. All the while plastics are also having a real effect on our health as they disrupt human hormones.
While some countries like Taiwan are slowing down use and enacting plastic bans it is up to individual businesses and people to reduce use whenever possible and to recycle always. According to Nat Geo, 91% of plastics are not being recycled worldwide. It is estimated that 8 million tons of plastic ends up in the ocean every.single.year. That’s the equivalent of five grocery bags of plastic trash for every foot of coastline around the entire globe. Eeek. If nothing else, do your part by recycling from here on out. Check out this at home plastics recycling machine while you’re at it and if you’d like to learn how to reduce your waste or encourage others to do the same, here’s an informative Plastics Pollution Primer and Action Toolkit.
Later this month, we will post a list of alternatives to plastic, products you can use for tasks that you thought were traditionally plastics’ job. Until then, we hope you’ll be mindful about all the plastic you consume on a daily basis and especially conscious of where you dispose of it.