The Nature Conservancy

If you are interested in being green but find it a turn off when Hollywood types suggest we only use one square of toilet paper when we do our binness, The Nature Conservancy might be for you. I sent my first tiny donation to them last month. They buy land legally and return it to it's natural state. They approach a farmer, for example, who is growing corn that rots in silos and makes an offer on the land. It's all up front. They work with politicians and make politicians look good which I'm convinced is one of the few things a politician cares about. They will let politicians take credit for good environmental policy as if it were their idea. I am most grateful to this org for saving the Pascagoula River that runs through my hometown. How did they do it? They purchased it and the Pascagoula River is forever safe and in my opinion one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Read more about this huge swath of marshland in South Mississippi, free flowing and natural at the link below. I had no idea when I was a teenager of the jewel of a river that was practically in my backyard.
http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/mississippi/preserves/art17304.html

From Green to Brown: The Gas Mower Wins

On Friday I pick up my gas powered lawn mower from the repair shop. I feel a bit defeated and a bit guilty, to boot. This summer has defeated me not with heat but with rain and long quickly growing grass and weed. The young man at the repair shop laughed when I told him I had been using a push reel mower. In Texas?, he asked. He said push reel mowers only work on certain kinds of grass. He named them. I responded, "Hey, I've never heard of those grasses." 'Exactly," he concludes with a bit of sarcasm and pity. I actually look forward to the rumble beneath my fingers as I push my mighty 10 year old Honda Lawnmower through my thicket of North Texas weeds. Save the Whales! I'll be sure to make a donation to the National Conservancy.