Mid-February Motivation

It’s that time of year when the holidays are over, but in many parts of the world it’s still cold, dreary and winter seems to still have us in her grip. While the weather might have you feeling down, there is some great environmental news coming out of the UK and Germany. I’ve also got some activities to share that are happening this month to motivate you to get outside and enjoy nature, no matter the weather!

Headlines

There has been a flurry of climate change-addressing activity happening in Europe lately, here’s a rundown of some of my favorites.

Single use plastic coffee cups disposed of — Plastic coffee cup garbage

BBC to Eliminate Single Use Plastics by 2020 – 2 million pieces of single use plastic coffee cups are thrown out by BBC visitors in a year. Think of all the other plastic products out there! Big move.
Royal Estate Does Away with Plastic Bottles, Cups, Straws – She may be royalty, but it seems the queen is just as swayed by the power of Sir David Attenborough. No more single use plastics here, either.
Germany Fights Pollution with a Free Ride – Who doesn’t love a free ride? Germany proposes free public transit to reduce pollution caused by their famously engineered cars.

Plastic water bottle pollution — Single use plastic water bottles

40 Days of Plastic Sacrifice – The church of England comes up with a genius Lenten sacrifice – plastics. You can find the full plastic challenge calendar here.

So Much Room for Activities

Looking to get outside and make an impact yourself? Here are a couple great activities happening now!

A robin sits on a snow covered branch and looks into the camera — Count me!

The Great Backyard Bird Count – Join 160,000 other citizen-scientists with just 15 minutes of observation that will help make a difference in how we study and understand bird populations all over the world! This event runs from 2/16/2018 – 2/19/2018.
Join Leave No Trace, Get Goodies – Also until 2/19, when you join Leave No Trace, they’ll send you a Deuter Dirtbag, perfect for picking up and packing out trash (you know, one of the seven LNT principles)!

Don’t worry, if you miss out on the dirtbag, you can always snag a t-shirt with your donation. Or, you can contribute 100% of your joining donation to LNT and skip the freebies altogether.
Find Your Park – Wanna find a cool place to pick up trash and count some birds? Find YOUR park!

Wooden termometer — Thermometer Challenge!

Lessen Your Impact – Join me on my quest to reduce my environmental impact this year with monthly mini-challenges! This month we’re reducing energy usage by setting the thermostat a bit lower (or higher, depending on where you are), as well as eating Meatless Mondays. To be notified when the March challenge is released, subscribe now!