Joel’s words: Whether or not you believe carbon dioxide is the cause of global warming or not, it is harmful to the environment and reducing your carbon footprint is a great idea.

I evaluated myself at one of the several sites mentioned [Carbon Footprint], one that is based out of the UK but has data to compare me to my peers here in central U.S.A. The calculations for the primary emissions are based on a combination of metrics from the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the UK’s Department for Transport, and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). P.s. it was fun.

I gave US dollar figures for various types of fuel (electricity, coal, natural gas, LP, others) use at home and the results:

Total for your home = 7.437 tonnes of CO2
Total for your cars = 3.124 tonnes of CO2
Total secondary footprint = 4.813 tonnes of CO2
Total = 15.374 tonnes of CO2

* The average footprint for people in United States is 20.4 tonnes.
* The average for the industrial nations is about 11 tonnes.
* The average worldwide carbon footprint is about 4 tonnes.
* To combat climate change the worldwide average needs to reduce to 2 tonnes.

The final stage of the evaluation reveals several options to donate to offset one’s personal carbon footprint!

Do you consider yourself a nature-lover? An appreciator? To get the most out of your view, try nature journaling. Now is a good time to start so that you can really appreciate the change is season. Here are some simple steps to make your own nature journal:

1. Start by opening a window and taking note different types of species, colors, cloud types.

2. Choose a notebook and spend ten to fifteen minutes writing about your observations.

3. Draw (preferably with a pencil) what you can see as accurately as possible.

4. Buy plant and bird guide books for your local area, so you know what you’re looking at.

5. Keep it up!

Another tip: Keep a camera around to capture wild things in action. Thomas Haney, a photographer from Austin, Texas has taken landscape and micro nature photography. To see more photos like the one above, check out Thomas Haney’s website. Of his photos, Thomas says:

“One thing [photography] has certainly taught me,especially macro photography, is how much beauty and complexity there is everywhere, if you just look closely, of course that’s nothing a little serious contemplation couldn’t teach you. I’d say the most positive influence it’s had on me is just to get me out in the wilderness and paying attention.”

A great book I own:

Keeping a Nature Journal: Discover a Whole New Way of Seeing the World Around You by Clare Walker Leslie and Charles E. Roth