Broadlands Nature Center

04/01/2019

Broadlands Naturally

Broadlands Naturally

A study conducted by the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine found that lymphoma in animals directly correlated with some lawn care chemicals. Specifically, products that included 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. 2 4-D is an endocrine-disrupting chemical, meant to kill off clovers and dandelions. When it’s absorbed into a dog’s body, it targets the thyroid and keeps the body from producing hormones that regulate normal functions such as white blood cell production.

03/31/2019

The Best Technology for Fighting Climate Change Isn't a Technology: It's Forests

Planting planting planting!

Forests are the most powerful and efficient carbon-capture system on the planet.. The latest IPCC report does not mince words about the state of our planet: we must act now to achieve global change at a scale that has “no documented historical precedent” in order to avoid the climate catastrophe...

03/29/2019

Grocery Chain Replaces Plastic Produce Packaging with Banana Leaves

CA and now NY have banned single use plastic gunk that is all over the place in our stores and restaurants. Wonder if this will be more of the look of grocery shelves in a year.

This Thai supermarket chain is now wrapping its fruits and veggies in an abundant biodegradable, renewable resource — banana leaves A supermarket chain in Chiangmai, Thailand, is doing its part to stem the tide of single-use plastics flooding into the ocean. While most supermarkets bundle their st...

03/27/2019

2019 Potions Class Series

Potions Class on the horizon (April 6th). We're making everything for cleaning from scratch with no toxic ingredients--soaps, sprays, alternatives for laundry, floors, and kitchen.

03/26/2019

EcoWatch

EcoWatch

These stunning, immensely big trolls made out of discarded waste are popping up all over the world.

They're made by recycling artist Thomas Dambo

BrightVibes

03/25/2019

Grow Food, Not Lawns

Be a dandelion!

03/25/2019

Six spots where you can enjoy the cherry blossoms around D.C. — without big crowds

Six spots where you can enjoy the cherry blossoms around D.C. — without big crowds

Skip the madness of the Tidal Basin and head to one of these quieter, but also beautiful, locales.

03/23/2019

Soulstice

Friendly reminder by Wilder Child

03/23/2019

Top Places for Finding Spring Wildflowers - Find Your Chesapeake - National Park Service and Chesapeake Conservancy

Top Places for Finding Spring Wildflowers - Find Your Chesapeake - National Park Service and Chesapeake Conservancy

Find Your Chesapeake is focused on connecting people to authentic Chesapeake Experiences.

03/23/2019

Finland is offering free trips to people in need of happiness lessons

They say their great secret is going outside anytime anxiety rears its head.

For three days this summer, a local host could show you why their country consistently ranks among the happiest in the world.

03/19/2019

As you plant seeds as we do--looking forward to full spring--keep this in the back of your mind.

Microscopic Images Of Seeds: https://buff.ly/2u1gbW5

03/15/2019

Moncler Takes the Sleeping Bag and Makes It High Fashion

So ridiculous. But a weird image to celebrate the fact that camping season is right around the corner! Where are your favorite places to camp? (and somebody better say the Nature Center's backyard!)

Our beloved puffy took on a very different look at Milan's Fashion Week

03/14/2019

Incredible Edible Penticton

I believe

03/14/2019

Extension Master Gardener

WHICH BEST DESCRIBES YOU?

via Joseph Tychonievich

~nk

03/12/2019

Women Who Farm

Imagine what would happen if we all did this?

03/11/2019

Sowing the seeds of success - Winchester Star

So proud to partner with Farm Less Ordinary to receive farm shares here. Check out the incredible work that they are doing--and support it by getting farm fresh food!

SATURDAY IN THE STAR BLUEMONT — A Farm Less Ordinary employs workers with intellectual and physical disabilities, and with that comes a need for unique farming solutions.

03/11/2019

Native Plant Sale is right around the corner!

03/08/2019

NowThis Politics

We've started a new tradition at dinnertime of chatting about all of the farmers that have produced the food that we are about to eat and saying thank you to them. Grateful for this video to show to my own children so they can have some images in their minds of the effort food requires.

This is how your vegetables make it from the dirt to your table (via UFW)

03/08/2019

Plantae

80 Plants from Fiction such as Whomping Willow from Harry Potter and Pod Plants from Star Trek: http://bit.ly/80FictionPlants ☄️🌹🛸

03/08/2019

Ancient Forests & Champion Trees

03/07/2019

Scientists Have Discovered A Mushroom That Eats Plastic, And It Could Clean Our Landfills

Scientists Have Discovered A Mushroom That Eats Plastic, And It Could Clean Our Landfills

It looks like George Carlin is right again, even more than ten years after his death. In his famous “Saving the Planet” standup comedy act, he takes the piss out…

03/07/2019

A fun meme to highlight that pile of photovoltaic cells that now decorate the nature center’s roof. Proud to use smarter electricity.

03/07/2019

Grow Food, Not Lawns

03/06/2019

TreeHugger

And keeping nature in your communities is something that you have to take a role in. You can’t let developers be the only people that show up to the councils and hearings. They’re never going to vote for the trees.

A remarkable Danish study underscores the importance of keeping nature in our cities and our lives.

03/05/2019

Collective Evolution

03/05/2019

It's time for the war on balloons

I don't just casually like balloons--I love them. That scene from "Up" with the house flying--it is from my dreams, stolen right out of my night visions and wishes if I ever met a genie in a bottle. But this is changing my mind pretty quickly on how needful they are.

Once the party's over, balloons become the leading cause of death for seabirds ingesting marine debris.

03/05/2019

Fan of the Farm Season Pass

It's sign-up-for-your-local-farm season again! For those of you not prepared to cook farm fresh meats, veggies, eggs, and dairy every week there is another fun option--become a "Fan of the Farm" at Great Country Farms and enjoy all 14 of their outdoor festivals, meet your farmer pancake breakfasts, and unlimited visits to their outdoor adventure land including a large petting zoo, ninja forest course, and tractor rides to pick every fruit you can imagine. http://greatcountryfarms.com/community-supported-agriculture-csa/fan-of-the-farm-season-pass/

03/04/2019

Wilderness training may have helped sisters survive 44 hours lost in California woods

Wilderness training may have helped sisters survive 44 hours lost in California woods

Wilderness training may have played a role in the survival of two sisters, ages 5 and 8, who were found safe Sunday after spending 44 hours in California woods, police say.

03/04/2019

How to Build a Backyard Ice Skating Rink

NOT SAYING THIS WOULD BE APPROVED BY THE HOA MODIFICATION COMMITTEE> Just saying it would be cool.

You can. You should. It will become part of your family lore.

03/03/2019

Public Service Announcement...The Nature Center does NOT want the bunny you bought as an Easter present. And the dumping of wildlife into the great outdoors (even nature preserves, even your backyard) is illegal. Let's end this local exploitation of small animals for Easter. We have three bunnies that would love a visit from you, and you'll never have to clean the 500 pellets of feces each one leaves every single day.

We do not sell bunnies for Easter 🐰

03/03/2019

For all of those Potions Class nerds out there...

03/02/2019

Microplastics found in 90% of table salt

In potions classes I often get comments like, "well, but it's just your salt" (speaking of why you would pay more for higher quality to have trace minerals included in your seasoning of everything)...Well, it's just your salt indeed.

Researchers sampled sea, rock, and lake salt from around the world – they found microplastics in most of it.

03/02/2019

Arborsmith Studios

Ent found in Bulgaria.

“I am not going to tell you my name, not yet at any rate.' A queer half-knowing, half-humorous look came with a green flicker into his eyes. 'For one thing it would take a long while: my name is growing all the time, and I've lived a very long, long time; so my name is like a story.
Treebeard-

03/01/2019

Do you know Rosalind Franklin?

A celebration of Women in History to kick off Women's History Month!

To discover new children's books for Women's History Month, we've collected the best books on trailblazing women that have been published in the past 12 months in a new blog post, "60 New Books for Women's History Month," at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=23246

For adults seeking hope and inspiration in the stories of Mighty Women from around the world, you can find many reading recommendations in our blog post, "Stories of Mighty Women: 75 New Biographies for Adult Readers," at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=19181

And, for many more books about Mighty Women to share with kids during Women's History Month and throughout the year, we feature hundreds of youth-oriented biographies - sortable by reader age – at https://www.amightygirl.com/books/history-biography/biography

This fantastic illustration is by artist Rebecca Cohen of Gyno-Star Studios - check out more of her work on Etsy at http://etsy.me/2FQQ7zp #WomensHistoryMonth

02/28/2019

Children Should Be Outside for 4-6 Hours Everyday

Children Should Be Outside for 4-6 Hours Everyday

Let me begin by saying we are not outside for 4-6 hours everyday. We aim for 4-6 hours outside at least three to four times a week (a little more in the nicer months and a little less in the worse...

02/28/2019

Harvard Scientists Begin Experiment To Block Out The Sun

Let's talk truth. It is easier to utilize the knowledge that we already have: to improve agriculture techniques, to demand low (or no) emissions from cars, to hold companies accountable for their pollution, than to throw millions if not billions of dollars and human research hours into blocking the sun, or settling a colony on Mars, or burying ourselves in caves underground. As a species we are more flexible than we are currently acting and our fantastical sci-fi inspired science needs to take a a back seat to what we already know. Namely, we can adapt and change our abusive use of the earth.

A group of Harvard scientists plans to tackle climate change through geoengineering by blocking out the sun. The concept of artificially reflecting sunlight has been around for decades, yet this will be the first real attempt at controlling Earth's temperature through solar engineering.

02/27/2019

Potions class this weekend! We're making teas and tinctures, smoking potpourri and hot chocolate all with herbal medicinal benefits for anxiety. Now don't you want some hot chocolate that chills you out?

02/27/2019

Your ultra-soft toilet paper is ultra-bad for the planet

It's a rough day for butts

Hey, toilet-paper snobs! You’re putting everyone’s butt on the line!

02/27/2019

Villagers are knitting jumpers for elephants to protect them from near-freezing temperatures

If someone snope's this and finds it is not true, please do not let me know. The world is healed and can continue to spin another day because of the incredible-ness of this story.

Local women make colourful jumpers for formerly abused animals after staff at conservation centre warn of temperatures dipping close to freezing point

02/27/2019

Rewilding

02/26/2019

The World's Largest Ocean Cleanup Has Officially Begun

The World's Largest Ocean Cleanup Has Officially Begun

Ambitious dreams have now become a reality as the Ocean Cleanup deploys its $20 million system designed to clean up the 1.8 trillion pieces of trash floating in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

02/26/2019

Science lovers

For all of you fellow moon-ers

From a very patient photographer.

02/24/2019

1 Million Women

The first image you see is of the exact same location plus 18 years of reforestation.

Just like we can destroy our planet, we can also choose to restore it 🌎. And that is what this Brazilian couple did! 💯

Thank you Instituto Terra for your amazing work.

02/22/2019

Untamed Reads Book Club tonight at the Nature Center.

02/22/2019

Start looking for buds!

Cast your eyes tree-wards and see if you can spot new buds. This fantastic ID sheet by Discover the Wild is a great way to identify each tree.