In my teen years, my father and I used to take “dad and daughter” road trips; which included explorations through wild parts of the west. His goal was to encourage my love of the outdoors and experiential learning, as well as ensure he enjoyed a great spring break as well. So this year when he asked if I wanted to resurrect the tradition, I said yes. I needed some time outside, so we headed for the Southwest.

Sustaining a green lifestyle isn’t just about the daily choices that you make – recycling, choosing reusable bags over plastic, opting for organic cotton instead of conventional – it’s also about remembering why you make those choices. For a lot of us, that means making sure that we do all we can to lessen our impact on the environment that we inhabit. But why? Travel is often the best way to give us that reason.

Seeing an inspiring natural place first hand is one of the most effective catalysts for getting us to realize just why we should choose a greener, more sustainable and more conscious lifestyle. If you’re stuck in an urban environment all your life with no access to green spaces or open landscapes, how would you know that these places need to be protected to ensure their continued survival?

Experiencing the places that we believe in protecting doesn’t have to be about taking off on an epic adventure; it can be as simple as exploring your local state park, or even helping in a weekend of trail maintenance. Protected natural spaces are created for two reasons: to ensure their survival and make sure that people can enjoy them in a low impact and respectful way. Visiting these places is simply a way of showing your continued support for the natural environment and why we need to be taking everyday steps to do all that we can to live with a smaller impact.

Standing at the edge of a canyon, with hundreds of miles of vast, open landscape spread out before you, with an intense blue sky dotted with clouds, you easily forget all the emails, to-do lists and expectations that wait for you at home. All that you’re focused on is the amazing space in front of you; how massive, powerful and beautiful it really is. That’s what’s worth protecting. And that’s why we promote living greener lifestyles.

Even if your travels don’t take you to protected spaces, you can still do your part to support them, to ensure that our society is having the chance at experiencing them firsthand and being moved to take care of them. Here is just a sampling of the many great independent organizations that are working hard to ensure that our country’s unique places stick around for the next generation:

• National Parks Conservation Association
• The Yosemite Fund (who is soon merging with the Yosemite Association to provide a new era of support for this iconic North American park)
• Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
• Glacier National Park Fund
• Appalachian Trail Conservancy

Image: Anna Brones

The post Traveling to Remember Why We Choose a Greener Lifestyle appeared first on EcoSalon.

A recently released report, Climate Change and National Park Wildlife A Survival Guide for a Warming World, by Washington-based advocacy group National Parks Conservation Association highlights concerns relating to climate change –  from the bleaching of coral reefs in Florida to the disappearance of high-altitude ponds that nurture yellow-legged frogs in California –  in the nation’s national parks.

The report singles out air and water pollution, pesticides, logging, mining, and other processes detrimental to the park”˜s landscape and wildlife and calls on decisive action by the federal government to avoid “a potentially catastrophic loss of animal and plant life”  in our national parks.

Suggestions on how to do this include the creation of wildlife corridors from one park to another so that animals can move into cooler areas as needed without being stressed or inhibited, training national park managers to plan for climate change, funding adaptation work, and developing and expanding programs within national parks to engage park visitors in becoming part of the climate change solution.

Read the full report online to find out more about the five steps that NPCA recommends we all take to safeguard America’s wildlife and ourselves from climate change.

Image: Savannah Grandfather

The post Saving Our National Parks appeared first on EcoSalon.