Chine bLog

I have mentioned National Wildlife Federation's Green Hour site before. I was pleased to see the site say the possibilities of getting on the water as an avenue for getting kids involved in nature. Last week's entry was titled "C is for Canoe" and encourages finding a rental place nearby and getting the family out on the water. Here here!

By the way, NWF friends, we are nautically precise here at Chine bLog: the driving tool for a canoe is a paddle, not an oar.

I mentioned a little while ago a program that the National Wildlife Federation has launched called Green Hour. It is dedicated to the premise that:

As a society, we are raising the first generation of Americans to grow up disconnected from nature.

That's the bad news.

The good news is that the steps that got us here are easily traced, and the way to work toward reversing them is clear.

Most importantly, by giving our children a "Green Hour" a day -- a bit of time for unstructured play and interaction with the natural world -- we can set them on the path toward physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

The program recently launched its web site at www.greenhour.org and I am extremely proud to say yours truly and my colleagues at Forum One Communications provided strategy, design, and development services to bring it to life. Everyone should check it out, and parents of small children should definitely sign up and check in. This is a really important program and the complementary angles for messing about in boats are myriad. Nature is a joy, boating is a joy. Give these gifts to the next generation.

Courtesy of a new client of mine, the National Wildlife Federation, I got a copy of Richard Louv's book "The Last Child in the Woods." The premise is, essentially, that kids these days (and all of us, really) have become disconnected from nature, and that is a contributing factor to various ills, from obesity to ADHD to depression. It also puts at risk future environmental stewardship, as most current conservation leaders can trace their beliefs to free experiences in nature. Kids get outside, yes, but it is in highly structured ways rather than in the form of free exploration. The book, which I am only halfway through at the time of this writing, offers recommendations on reversing this trend, which fundamentally focus on freeing kids to find joy outside.