“The vast possibilities of our great future will become realities only if we make ourselves responsible for that future.”

“Conservation is the foresighted utilization, preservation and/or renewal of forests, waters, lands and minerals, for the greatest good for the greatest number for the longest time.”

Gifford Pinchot (left) and Theodore Roosevelt.

Gifford Pinchot’s love for being in the woods led him to become Chief of the Division of Forestry in 1898. He first graduated from Yale, but when no school in the United States had a Forestry degree went to Nancy, France to learn more on the subject.  When he returned to the U.S., he worked at Vanderbilt’s Biltmore Forest Estate and was involved with the National Forest Commission where he traveled to the west looking for possible forest reserves. It was these events that led his friend President Theodore Roosevelt to name him Chief of the Division of Forestry. In 1905, when this division was moved to the Department of Agriculture and given a new title of Forest Service, it was only natural that Gifford Pinchot be named chief. Pinchot changed the way the national forests are managed with the utilitarian philosophy “greatest good for the greatest number.” He also emphasized that conservation is for the long term not just today. While he served as the Chief Forester of the U.S. Division of Forestry from 1898 to 1910, forest reserves tripled in land size. He is known as the “father” of American conservation.

by Shawn Skinner

Highly acclaimed author of In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, Michael Pollan, raises the question: “why bother?” in his article of the same title.  With the world population rocketing to seven billion, one can be left feeling quite insignificant and helpless to bring about environmental change.  While many in the United States are starting to conserve energy and resources, there are those across the globe in rapidly urbanizing countries such as China that want our standard of living—they want to drive cars and consume more resources.  So, many ask the question:  “Why go green when others are going the opposite direction?”

It is all too easy to settle into a lethargic comfort zone and ignore the problems facing our globe.  Pollan claims that, instead of accepting reality and diligently looking into environmental issues, many just turn to the popular entertainment and high tech gadgets in our society as a means of escape.  One could say:  “Why rock the boat?  The human race has made it this far; we’ll survive.”  Instead of driving to the gym to work out, people can plant and tend a garden—this will provide much needed exercise in our sedentary society.  According to Pollan, “Also, by engaging both body and mind, time spent in the garden is time (and energy) subtracted from electronic forms of entertainment.”  Besides, we would have to resort to finding alternative sources for food if a disaster ever removed us from the power grid; taking proactive measures now can help us stay a step ahead.  Even if living in a city, you can create an indoor garden or hang some pots outdoors.  Do some research, and be creative.

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by Beth Gray

Babies are cute and snuggly and just the sight of a baby can bring a smile to most peoples’ faces.  Babies are also expensive and create tremendous volumes of waste as any parent will tell you.  By one estimate, “over his/her lifetime, each American born in the 1990s will produce an average of 3.1 million pounds of CO2,” the equivalent of 413 plane trips from New York to Tokyo.  American children in particular tend to have a greater impact on the environment than other children around the world.  For example, “one American child generates as much CO2 as 106 Haitian kids.”  There are several ways to reduce the impact your bundle of joy will have on the planet, however.

New parents quickly get the hang of diapering their baby perhaps because they do it so often.  Ninety-six percent of American babies wear disposable diapers while only six percent of Chinese and only two percent of Indian babies wear them.  It takes a disposable diaper 550 years to decompose, a staggering length of time especially when one considers the number of diapers that the average child goes through in a lifetime.  Aside from the dramatic impact on the environment that disposable diapers cause, they are expensive.  For a relatively simple and effective step toward greening your baby, try switching to cloth, reusable diapers.  While they are obviously not as “user friendly” as disposable diapers and take considerably more effort and clean up on the part of mom and dad, you can save a small fortune while helping alleviate some of the strain disposable diapers put on the environment. 

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