Water and Trees

Last night I went to hear a wonderful talk by Robert Bateman at our local community centre about growing greener kids. Although there was nothing new or earth-shattering in his speech, it was still a wonderful talk. Mr. Bateman is a fabulous, personable, and very funny speaker. In a nutshell, his message was this - unless kids spend time in nature, unless they know it, and love it from their own experiences, not from books or lessons, they will not do anything to preserve it. He echoed the many studies that have showed the positive effects of spending time in nature for kids and adults - reduction in rates of: obesity, depression, drug and alcohol abuse, stress, suicide, and ADHD, and an increase in health, happiness, and academic achievement.

We tend to spend a fair bit of time in the woods anyway, but the beautiful weather today and the message from last night still fresh in my mind called us out today. This is an area that we have never explored before, even though it is right beside one of our favorite places. We will definitely be back.










Robert Bateman on the state of the environment:

It is like we are in a canoe going through rapids. We have a choice to stear, or not to stear. We do not have a choice to get out.