North America’s beauty spreads from sea to shining sea.

When wanderlust strikes, there’s the tendency to picture oneself overseas. My personal fantasies bring me to deserts in Morocco, beaches in Goa, hole-in-the-wall salsa clubs in Havana. I tend to forget the bounty of natural beauty that exists right here in North America. These pictures showcase the stunning vistas, cultural relics, and breathtaking natural phenomena that exist right at our front doors, or at least within a few hours drive.

(above) Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, USA

San Jose del Cabo, Baja California, Mexico

White Sands, New Mexico, USA

Washington, D.C., USA

Venice Beach, California, USA

Crater Lake, Oregon, USA

Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA

San Gorgonio Pass Wind Farm, White Water, California, USA

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA

Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Banff National Park, Canada

Coyote Butte North, Arizona, USA

Henkel, Colorado, USA

Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

Kent, Washington, USA 

Pagosa Valley, Colorado, USA

Lackawanna State Forest, Pennsylvania, USA

San Francisco, California, USA

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Santa Cruz, California, USA

Galveston, Texas, USA

Cape Elizabeth, Maine, USA

Bitterroot Mountains, Montana, USA

Cimarron National Grassland, Kansas, USA

Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Yosemite National Park, California, USA

U.S. Route 66, Arizona, USA

Mule Canyon, Colorado, USA

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Everglades, Florida, USA

Sequoia National Park, California, USA

Anne’s Beach, Florida Keys, USA

South Dakota, USA

Quechee, Vermont, USA

Riverwood Park, Mississauga, Canada

St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Bountiful, Utah, USA

Big Moose Lake, New York, USA

New York, New York, USA

Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, USA

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Eight of our favorite cities with bike share programs.

There are now almost 300 bike share programs around the world, from France to China, providing inhabitants with smart, environmentally friendly ways to get around.

So just where can you take advantage of  bike share? Here are eight bike sharing cities that we love.

Paris, France

Paris has been on the front pages of bike share news since it launched its popular Vélib system in 2007. Parisians and tourists alike take advantage of the program, making for about 50 million unique rides per year.

Hangzhou, China

Bike share has been available in Hangzhou since 2008 and with more than 50,000 bikes it’s the largest bike share system in the world.

Boulder, Colorado

Boulder just launched its B-Cycle program this spring, but in a college town with an avid crowd of outdoor enthusiasts, it’s no surprise that it has already been successful.

London, Britain

London’s bike share program is relatively new compared to many other European capitals, but that doesn’t make it any less noteworthy. With an interactive map available to users, you can get real-time information on the bikes available and where they’re parked.

Barcelona, Spain

Since launching in 2007, Barcelona has seen 11% of its population sign up for its bike share system, Bicing. In fact, the British Medical Journal reported that the program itself prevents 12 deaths a year. That may seem like a small number, but it’s an encouraging statistic for cities looking for more than environmental and transportation reasons to install programs.

Washington D.C.

With access to over 1,000 bicycles in Capital Bikeshare, there’s no excuse to show up to that meeting on The Hill on anything besides two wheels.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Bike sharing and investment in bike infrastructure is leading to cycling in the Argentine capital. The system launched a year ago and riders get to take advantage of improved bike paths and bike parking throughout the city.

Dublin, Ireland

When Dublin’s bike share program launched, it quickly became so popular that the city voted to expand the program from 500 bikes to 5,000.

Images: Jon & Alison, Payton Chung, Mr. T in DC, drinksmachine, Jsome1, IDTP, Mr. T in DC, infomatique

A weekly roundup of EcoSalon’s top stories.

We like being single but we also like companionship. In Abigail Wick’s weekly column Sex By Numbers, she tackles the topic: Can I Stay Single But Commit To One Man? Wick decides to address the issue penning it as an open letter to her dear friend and in truth, as much a letter to herself.

Dude, are you astrocartographically correct? In her article The 20 Best and Worst Cities for Your Astrological Sign, Shelter editor K. Emily Bond says: “Whether you actually buy into planetary politics (we’re reserving judgment), the cosmos are a fun and convenient foil for a range of bad behavior and bum luck.” Check out the story to see if your sign matches where you live.

Every city has a bevy of sustainable designers and L.A. has hurned out a fair share of them. In Sustainable Los Angeles: The Pioneers and Emergents, writer Kelly Drennan tallies up the best and brightest from shoe designers to ready-to-wear.

We have a lot we could be learning from the great north, especially when it comes to being truly environmentally friendly. In her story 7 Lessons From Canada’s Environmental Pragmatism, writer Senior Editor Luanne Bradley says: “According to the Vancouver Sun, the city is now moving ahead in 10 key areas that range from greening the economy by securing the city’s international reputation as a mecca of green enterprise, improving food production, cutting greenhouse gases and making walking, cycling and public transit the preferred transportation option for its citizens.”

Once a month, The Green Plate harvests the most interesting, biggest, weirdest, and puzzling recent news stories on food politics, the food industry, eating trends, and edible discoveries from around the web, and shares them with you. This month’s focus was on the latest food safety stories which are both shocking but fixable. Columnist Vanessa Barrington writes in (Shocking) News From the Food World: “This month, intentionally mismarked Chinese honey contaminated with heavy metals and illegal antibiotics is being shipped to the U.S. through India, preventing the U.S. from collecting tariffs and endangering your health, yet the FDA doesn’t want to inspect the honey entering the country. What gives?”

Sometimes one Foodie Underground a week just isn’t enough. In fact, we couldn’t keep this one on ice until Monday, so we’re bringing you an Extra Fresh Edition to feature Foodprint.

The partnership between food and cities is a no-brainer; travel itineraries are often created around the food of a certain place. And Foodprint is an initiative that takes a look at just that concept. An “exploration of the ways food and cities give shape to one another,” Foodprint is the brainchild of two digitally savvy, foodie obsessed women who put these series of international conversation together to get people talking about urban foodscapes.

The inaugural Foodprint was held in New York in February, and this weekend marks the next one, being held in Canadian metropolis, Toronto.

If you’re in the area, this is shaping up to be a great event. Held on Saturday July 31 from 12:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., the schedule includes interesting topics like Culinary Cartography and Edible Archeology. For the full list of programming and speakers, go here.

Fortunately, because Foodprint is all about creating an international conversation, you don’t actually have to be in Toronto to take part; tune in here to watch the event live.

What’s interesting about Foodprint is that it’s diving much deeper into the issues of urbanity and food than most of us even dare venture. Think way above and beyond food carts; the potential for the conversations and conclusions that this initiative can create is exciting and we’re looking forward to see where it goes.

Editor’s note: This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’s column at EcoSalon, Foodie Underground. Each week, Anna will be taking a look at something new and different that’s taking place in the underground food movement, from supper clubs to mini markets to culinary avant garde.

Soot, screeching sirens and forbidding skyscrapers; is this your definition of the big city? Think again. The urban landscape might seem like the epicenter of everything that’s wrong with the world, but in fact cities are where some of the most interesting components of the green movement are currently taking place.

With everything from urban farms and electric cars, large cities are surprisingly livable, and now there’s another trend on the rise: urban hiking. Living the city life has long been equated with staying indoors and neglecting to feed our human need for spending time in nature, but the onslaught of urban hiking tours is showing us that it is in fact possible to get outside, be active and explore new places in the process.

What is Urban Hiking?

Forget the days of mindlessly jumping in a taxi to go from point A to point B. Urban hiking is all about planning, executing and enjoying the journey, another great example of slow travel. According to the Urban Dictionary, urban hiking is “the exploration of diverse urban environments on foot.” Conservation and travel groups alike promote urban hiking, as it not only gets people outdoors and active, but also allows them to explore the ins and outs of urban landscapes.

Choose a Theme

The key to a great urban hike is planning. Pick a theme to your hike so you can choose specific points of interest to visit. This allows you to explore a certain aspect of the city you’re in and makes it easier to plan an itinerary. Here are some possible themes to consider:

1. Local food – Find three restaurants or cafes that all focus on serving local food and plan for an appetizer at each.
2. Markets – Markets abound in big cities – Paris and San Francisco in particular come to mind – and offer everything from local foods to crafts. Pick out a few you want to explore and track your route.
3. Parks – For a more natural experience, explore the green spaces that your urban environment has to offer. Choose a few within a walkable distance and pack a picnic item for each.
4. Architecture – Explore the designs and spaces that make the city that you’re in unique. Cities like Los Angeles have already started offering architecture-inspired guided urban hikes.
5. Art galleries - If you want a chicer urban hike, give it an art theme. Many cities offer an Art Walk on a certain night of the month. This is a great chance to plan a quick and easy urban hike itinerary. Plot out some of your favorite galleries that you want to check out and end the evening with a glass of wine at a local bistro.

Planning your route

Easy tools like Google’s pedometer will help you track how far you will be walking. Plan realistically; if you’re going with a group of friends, you’ll go at a slower pace than you expect. Assume you’ll cover about one or two miles per hour. A great day trip could be 5 or 6 miles with several stopping points incorporated, keeping you active but also ensuring that the day is enjoyable.

Be sure to bring

Just because you’re in the city doesn’t mean you can throw traditional hiking rules of thumb out the window. Carry a bottle of water and some healthy organic nuts or dried fruit to snack on.

If you’re planning on making stop off at a cafe, bring your reusable thermos or mug. And just in case you come across a to-die-for item in an unknown corner boutique, make sure you’ve got a reusable bag on hand.

Resources

If you’re looking for urban hiking suggestions, tourism websites are a great place to start, and many have suggested routes if you don’t want to plan your own. Guidebooks that have walking tour routes are also a great resource.

But remember, the best part about urban hikes are that you can tailor them to explore all the things that you’re interested in, so don’t be afraid to break out of the box!

Do you have a favorite urban hike? Tell us about it!

Image: brartist

Going on a vacation and want to make it a green theme? Green Map can help.

As part of a locally-led mapping project now in 500 cities, towns and villages in 54 countries, Green Map creates green portraits of small towns and big cities wanting to boast sustainable projects, parks, farmer’s markets, organic farms, co-ops and public transportation in just about any language you need it to be in.

Participate in producing your own map for the town you live in, explore already prepared maps and even add to maps where you think a spot was overlooked.

You can even customize your view according to “the icons of greatest personal interest, a flagging system to help monitor the quality of public content, and soon, will offer enhanced widgets so you can embed Open Green Maps on your own website.”

How cool.

Why stop there? Taking their mission to the next level, Green Map plans on soon utilizing their Open Green Map, an interactive mapmaking tool that will merge local knowledge and iconography with Google Maps. When you’re on your way to the next business meeting in the city and need a shot of green before hitting the concrete jungle, you’ll know exactly where to charge your batteries.

Look for their official launch on World Environment Day, June 5, 2009 where they’ll invite the public to add comments, green ratings, images and videos to share how each site on the map has changed their life with an innovative “Impact Index”.

I’m already there.

Top image: Moriza