Travel, Read, Conserve

Tapas, flamenco, fútbol, sangria. All of these have one common factor, and that is they are all overwhelmingly and characteristically Spanish. Having recently visited Spain, I saw why the country draws in millions of tourists from all over the world every year. The magnificent architecture on just about every corner, a Mediterranean coastline that spans more than 1000 miles, mountain ranges scattered throughout the country, and the extravagant, inexpensive cuisine made it very difficult for me to leave. While all of this is draw in crowds and should be on every tourist’s bucket list, I would like to focus on another, more subtle aspect of the country I slowly but surely picked up on during my travels: sustainability. It is no secret that I am obsessed with nature and am constantly looking for innovative strategies and methods that have been implemented to help regain the balance between humanity and nature. Although subtle, Spain is just chalk full of these intr...

The feeling of not doing enough was always there. Drying glaciers on our national park visits, overflowing trash cans in public places, my closet space running out mostly from old, no longer used clothes, mountains of paperwork at all corners of the home which we never look at or need, a table full of abandoned keyboards, adapters and prehistoric laptops . It made me slightly uncomfortable, while I liked facebook posts about zero waste lifestyles or discussed global warming at dinner parties. A lingering thought at the back of my mind like an unwelcome guest. I recycled the junk mail religiously at home, and made sure to throw paper wrappers in the recycle box at work, and made peace with myself. And then, a few months back, we went to the Florian Schulz National Geographic show. At the Seattle Benoraya Hall. This show overwhelmed me at so many levels that I was completely surprised by my own reaction. It was not so much about the amazing photography or the background stories Flor...