Looking for a unique holiday for your family?  Want to teach your kids about our amazing natural world and environmental responsibility first-hand?  Do you like hiking, biking, and lobsters?  Look no further than beautiful Maine.

A recent list published by National Geographic Traveler featured Maine as one of the “places doing well” for its authenticity and stewardship.  That’s especially true, noted the report, the further north you go.  One such destination is Mount Desert Island, home to Bar Harbor and the 46,000 acres of Acadia National Park.

Rainer Jenss, former publisher of National Geographic Kids, just lived a life-long dream to take a year off and travel the world with his wife, Carol, and sons, Tyler, 11, and Stefan, 8.  After the first two months and 20 states, he published his U.S. Top Ten List.  The choice for the family’s “Favorite National Park” was Acadia. …read more of Acadia National Park in Maine here

I crave an old-fashioned Fourth of July.

A pancake breakfast sponsored by the Rotary. A parade with lots of flags. A concert on the Village Green.  Fireworks on a waterfront.

And that’s exactly what I am going to get because I’m going to spend this Fourth of July in Bar Harbor, Maine.

Chris Fogg, Executive Director of the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce, says, “We have a very traditional celebration that hits everything Maine is known for.” That means, of course, that there will be lots of blueberries and lobster. …read more of A Red, White, and Blue Holiday in Maine Goes Green here

Snow Leopards are incredible creatures. They’re elusive in the wild and their harsh habitat of the central Asian mountains makes it difficult for scientists to track them.

It’s estimated that there are between 3,500 and 7,000 snow leopards left in the world, with 600 of these leopards living in zoos.

The Snow Leopard Trust is the largest snow leopard conservation organization in the world, with offices and staff in China, India, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Pakistan, and a home base in Seattle, WA. Each office works hand in hand with the people of these Snow Leopard communities to ensure community sustainability.

I spoke to Marissa Niranjan, the Conservation Commerce Manager at the Denver Green Festival about the work of the Snow Leopard Trust. …read more of Saving Snow Leopards here

The summer is rapidly approaching and so are those two weeks of vacation that you’ve been working hard for all year.

While most people are busy making travel plans to far off places, why not avoid all the lines, tourist traps, and travel times by taking your holiday a little closer to home, and call it a “Localiday.”

In our busy day-to-day life, we may not notice all of the beautiful landscape around us or have a chance to explore the natural and historical attractions right in our own backyard.

Not only can a local vacation save you a lot of money and the hassle of booking all your travel plans, you can also drastically reduce your carbon footprint by avoiding flying or driving for long distances. …read more of You Deserve a “Localiday” here

Love turtles? Want to see sea turtles in their natural habitat?

Check out SEE Turtles, a nonprofit turtle conservation tourism project that allows people to have a hand in helping sea turtles thrive.  I spoke with co-founder Brad Nahill at Denver Green Fest earlier this month about the project and the big question: why turtles?

Nahill and fellow co-founder, Dr. Wallace Nichols, had been working with sea turtle conservation programs in developing countries in which the locals would poach the turtles to eat, as well as use their shells. At the same time, those communities would express a desire to help the turtles, but they just didn’t know where to start or how to help. …read more of The SEE Turtle Project here