biodiversity Archives

OPL Spotlight: A Love of Nature Sparked a Focus on Sustainability for Yvonne Dwyer

by OPL | Mar 20, 2023 | Protect the Planet, Quality of Life

“It’s not something I have to force” is how Yvonne Dwyer describes her focus on sustainability.

For Yvonne Dwyer, sustainability has become an extension of a lifestyle immersed in nature. As a Master Naturalist and writer for One Planet Life, Dwyer places particular importance on sharing how the natural world can enrich our lives.

“This is stuff that I’ve been interested in my entire life,” she said. “I can remember back to when I was five, six years old, creating my own fort out of bifold doors in the woods.”

While working for REI, Dwyer found joy in having an outlet to share her love of the outdoors. When the Pittsburgh store where she was employed closed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, it was time to reinvent herself. Lorie Buckingham, a lifelong friend of Dwyer, asked if she would like to write for her new sustainability-focused website, One Planet Life.

“I was applying for the Pennsylvania Master Naturalist program, so it seemed to be a good fit,” she said. “It makes us more credible to people than just sharing information. We are doing the things that we’re talking about. It’s important to be authentic and genuine in whatever you do.”

And it’s easy to see that Dwyer carries that authenticity into her work.

Sharing the Good News About Nature

As a naturalist, Dwyer aims to create stories that inspire positive messages. Getting out into nature is her best method.

“There’s research now where doctors are prescribing nature instead of medicine; that’s so wonderful,” she said. “Taking in the woods, the smell of the Balsam. You can’t recreate that. You’re using all of your senses.”

Enjoying the journey – not just the destination – when taking a walk in nature can be one of the best ways to encourage sustainable living because you’re experiencing the beauty at stake.

“People go from point A to point B, or I’ll say point A to point C and totally miss what’s happening in point B – the journey,” she said. “The red newt salamander you might see on the ground or a mushroom – there’s always something unusual happening in the woods, no matter what time of year you’re going there. It doesn’t have to be in the woods; you can be in a city park or your neighborhood.”

Dwyer encourages a “big picture” perspective to get the most out of outdoor adventures.

“The big picture for me is to use all of my senses, create a story, and inspire others to go out and take it all in,” she said. “Just to go out and explore and see what happens. See what your senses pick up.”

She’s also found inspiration in the naturalists who have come before her, women like Robin Wall Kimmerer and Anne LaBastille.

“Women like that inspire me,” she said. “It’s not that John Muir and [Ralph Waldo] Emerson and [Aldo] Leopold don’t – they inspire me to, but it’s cool to listen to what women are doing, their journeys, and how they’re affecting things that are happening. They’re not just sitting by; they’re on the park agency committee or a land trust committee. When we work together with everybody in diversity across the board, we all win.”

Nature offers a wonderful path toward more sustainable living. There is a tremendous amount of free information from naturalists like Dwyer, who are eager to share what they know. And there are inspiring online communities like One Planet Life and other apps.

“There are more ways than ever to educate and inform people about what is happening in our natural world, share that, and hopefully inspire others to go out and observe – maybe use iNaturalist or eBird, one of these apps. They can easily become citizen scientists, helping with climate change or bird migration.”

Committing to a Natural (and Local) Lifestyle

When Dwyer had her first child over 30 years ago, she focused on providing as much natural sustenance for her family as possible.

“We ate naturally. Our water was filtered, and I grew my own vegetables,” said Dwyer. “One of the reasons why it became important to grow my own vegetables is because the baby food company we bought our food from had glass in it. So I grew the vegetables, pureed them, put them in little ice cube trays, and froze them. That spurred my love for gardening.”

She remembered the guidance her grandmother offered as well.

“My grandmother was a big inspiration for my cooking,” she shared. “She told me, ‘When you get married, you never feed your family from a box.’ I never did.”

What she couldn’t grow on her own, Dwyer sourced as much as she could from local farmers.

“I think what started me on my journey shopping locally is that my oldest son was diagnosed with leukemia when he was three and a half,” she shared. “At the time, commercial farmers were putting in antibiotics and growth hormones. I wasn’t aware of what was being injected into our animals and how that would have an effect. So I found a farm near us.”

Shopping for pasture-raised meat, eggs, and dairy at a little farm store provided Dywer with transparency and freshness not often available at the supermarket.

“Our country exists on small businesses,” she said. “If we don’t protect small businesses, we are going to be locked down with the big businesses, their costs, and all the things that go along with it – our selection of choices may be lowered, protection for our workers, our natural resources. We can’t have a monopoly. We need to protect our small business owners to help preserve them.”

Joining Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs), shopping for what is currently in season, and learning ways to preserve fresh food at home through freezing and canning are great ways to lower your carbon footprint when it comes to eating sustainably.

“I try to encourage people to join CSAs because you’re not only helping the farmer, you are also saving money in the end,” Dwyer said. “If you go to your local farmer or CSA, you won’t pay as much as you do in the big box grocery stores. It’s going to be fresher because it came from right here.”

She tries to encourage others by giving them samples to try. Once tasting the difference in freshness, it’s easy to make the switch to local.

“If you’re buying in season, you’ll be getting the freshest food,” she added. “It can be sustained if you buy extra, put it in your freezer, or make a soup out of it, put it in your freezer, and you can have it during the winter months when produce selection is a little bit lower.”

And the best part of it all?

“It’s relationship building,” Dwyer said. “You never know who you’ll meet at one of these little places that might become your best friend, someone to walk with. There are a lot of people from COVID who are still wary of going to these big box stores. You go into smaller businesses and somehow feel a little bit safer. You feel a little bit more welcome.”

Through a lifetime love affair with the outdoors, a keen interest in learning about the natural world, and dedication to providing her family with fresh, natural meals, Dwyer’s sustainability journey has been decades in the making.

“All the things that I do, it’s natural,” she said. “It’s not something I have to force.”

And that mentality shouldn’t seem so difficult – returning to our roots. After all, our climate crisis has only been accelerating within the past few decades. If we all make an effort to support our local food chain, consume the plethora of free resources available from experts, and revel in the wonder of the outdoors, a sustainable lifestyle could quickly become “natural” for all of us.

You can read more about Yvonne’s Sustainability Journey here:

My Journey to Reduce My Carbon Footprint Started With Trash

An Easy Guide to Backyard Composting

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and REFILL to Benefit the Planet

The staff at One Planet Life are serious about sustainable living. That’s why we decided to share the struggles and successes of our individual sustainability journeys. We will share tips directly from our team members, curated through authentic personal experience. We hope that by sharing our stories, we can help foster a community committed to helping each other – and the planet!

Read about One Planet Life Founder Lorie Buckingham’s sustainability Journey.

Going Green: Wedding Celebration With a Helpful Twist

by OPL | Sep 8, 2022 | People and Planet First, Protect the Planet, Quality of Life

An environmentally conscientious couple creates a bohemian fairy garden wedding that’s kind to the planet.

How did they do it? First, it takes two multi-talented individuals, such as the bride and groom, Taylor and Nick. Both grew up learning and caring about our environment from family, education, and activities such as scouting, horse care, and stable management. Their knowledge, expertise, and outdoor experiences include working as whitewater rafting guides, ski/snowboard patrollers, protecting and managing natural resources through the conservation core, and providing community medical care. They are both highly conscientious of the importance of conservation, preservation, and sustainability in our waterways and land.

Planning a dream wedding that was kind to the planet was a priority.

Together they created a plan to use sustainable resources which could be recycled, reused, repurposed, and composted. They recruited family and friends to help make their dream wedding come true.

From the flowers to the furnishings and food, Taylor and Nick carefully planned every aspect of the wedding to be sustainable and beautiful.

The planning began approximately a year and a half in advance when the bride’s mother planted a perennial wildflower pollinating garden where the ceremony would take place. This garden, located in scenic central Pennsylvania, required tilling by the bride’s stepfather as it is a rock garden. Wildflowers seeds, including Coreopsis, Cosmos, Brown-Eyed Susans, Indian Blanket, Evening Primrose, Eastern Columbine, and Coneflower, provided pollen, nectar, and shelter for hundreds of important species, namely Monarch butterflies, native bees, and insects such as grasshoppers.

The couple collected five used living room furniture sets and rugs for the reception from various estate and yard sales.

The accessories to complete the rooms were purchased, rented, or borrowed from family members and friends. The married couple sold the living room furniture pieces to those interested in purchasing them after the celebration.

Taylor and Nick rented large tents to add shelter in inclement weather.

Rustic tables, chairs, narrow table runners, chandeliers, and other accessories were also rented from local vendors such as Rustic Event Rentals. The owner, Holly Mitchell, had a vision after she married in 2016 to rent sustainable collected pieces reasonably priced for special events such as this. An assortment of clear, green, and brown bottles was saved and used to hold candles, wildflowers, and ferns. These bottles will be recycled, reused, or repurposed for future events. Finally, the moss, pine fir, pinecones, ferns, and wildflowers were all returned to the forest or wildflower garden.

The ceremony took place at dusk when the summer sky was illuminated with hues of various shades of blue, pink, orange, yellow, and white.

The wildflowers and vibrant sky were the backdrops for the wedding photographs. As part of the ceremony, the couple planted an Eastern Hemlock Spruce tree, an evergreen tree native to eastern North America, and the Pennsylvania state tree.

The wedding food consisted of beautiful handmade charcuterie boards handcrafted by Proudfit-Made. Each platter featured fresh and dried fruit, vegetables, nuts, assorted cheeses, jams, and crackers. Family and friends contributed with warm hors d’oeuvres, cookies of all kinds, and a full bar with alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. The homemade red velvet naked cake, baked by the groom and decorated by an aunt, was beautifully decorated with freshly washed and dried ferns. The tiered cookie and cake stand, wooden plates, bar, and wooden mountains with fairy lights were handcrafted by the groom and later given to those interested who attended the celebration.

Bamboo plates, utensils, and napkins were all compostable.

Individual drinking glasses were provided so guests could write their names on them, making it easy to identify them. These glasses and cookies were part of their takeaway gift. Recycle bins were placed discretely throughout, and nearly all the trash collected could be recycled.

Why would this couple go to this extent of creating such a venue? Because they care about our environment and are passionate about conservation, preservation, and sustainability with our planet’s future and its inhabitants in mind. Congratulations to this beautiful couple, Taylor and Nick, on a creative, well-thought-out, green (in more ways than one) wedding celebration for all who attended to remember.

Environmental Conservation of Our Waterways is Key to Sustainability

by OPL | Aug 11, 2022 | People and Planet First, Protect the Planet, Quality of Life

Environmental conservation of our waterways and land in the United States is key to sustainability. Conservation organizations, landowners, and volunteers spend hours working together to preserve and maintain our waterways’ natural beauty and health. These organizations and their volunteers work to remove a wide variety of inorganic items from waterways, including tires, household appliances, plastics, clothing, glass, and cement blocks. In addition, they work to restore and maintain riparian buffer zones, strips of grasslands, forested areas, wetlands, and farmlands that provide shade and protection along the waterways tract to help enhance water quality. Their actions restore many of our creeks and rivers to their natural beauty and bring them back to life.

One of these organizations is the French Creek Valley Conservancy.

Established in 1982 is the Conneaut Lake-French Creek Conservancy and now named the French Creek Valley Conservancy, concerned citizens formed it to address serious issues facing these important Pennsylvania waterways. French Creek feeds into Conneaut Lake, which is Pennsylvania’s largest lake. Conneaut Lake is an hour and a half north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and about the same distance when traveling east from Cleveland, Ohio.

Our waterways offer abundant outdoor recreation activities, including fishing, boating, swimming, and watching birds, amphibians, reptiles, insects, and invertebrates in their natural habitats.

Unfortunately, some of these waters are becoming unsuitable for recreation or wildlife habitat. Pollution from raw sewage, stormwater runoff, trash, mine drainage, and industrial chemicals such as herbicides for weed control make these bodies of water unfit for recreation and supporting wildlife species.

On a recent canoe paddling day trip along French Creek, we learned that this waterway is nationally recognized as one of the most biologically diverse waterways in the United States.

We were thrilled to see a bald eagle soaring above us when we slid our canoe into the water. We knew immediately that this nine-mile adventure would be unique and special. We didn’t think we would see more of these majestic eagles as we floated along the creek.

Yvonne Canoeing on French Creek

Bridge along Channel of French Creek

Bank Erosion along French Creek

Osprey Nest in the Trees

French Creek is alive with bird songs from migrating birds.

With the help of the Merlin Bird App, we identified over 40 birds. If you are a birder, you would be in awe of the 379 species of birds that make this great creek their home. For many birds, it is year-round.

The banks of the streams and rivers flourish with several hues of greenery from various ferns, maple, oak, walnut, spruce, wild flowering apple trees in full bloom, and several types of shrubs. Some of the trees appear to be hundreds of years old. With bank erosion from heavy rains and flooding, you can see how high the water once was. As we continued our paddle, we took note of the massive roots on many of the trees exposed on the eroded creek banks. We were amazed that the trees didn’t topple over from the excessive weight above the ground. Native and non-native spring ephemerals such as Dame’s Rocket, Philadelphia Fleabane, Wild Geraniums, Golden Alexander, Common Milkweed, Yellow Buttercups, Violets in purple, white, and yellow colors, Columbine, Sweet Cicely, Purple Crown Vetch, and invasive Japanese Knotweed are just some of the plants we identified along the way.

French Creek has abundant wildlife, as we witnessed firsthand. We spotted freshwater mussels, amphibians, reptiles, fish, Tiger Swallow Butterflies, and Red-spotted Butterflies, among other species.

According to the French Creek Valley Conservancy, “the French Creek watershed contains over 80 species of fish and 27 of Pennsylvania’s approximately 65 species of native freshwater mussels, including threatened and endangered, the most diverse population of any stream in the state and any stream further north and east in the nation. Mussels require clean, oxygen-rich water to filter food and absorb dissolved oxygen. In the microscopic larval stage, they often attach to fish gills such as darters and are transported to different sites on the stream. As a result, their distribution and number are directly linked to the host fish’s survival.”

To learn more about waterways near you, visit your local water conservation organization and federal, state, and local parks.

These organizations support aquatic science, riparian plantings, aquatic connectivity and species passage, safety on the waterways, canoe/kayak access development, watershed grant programs, and additional resources to inspire you to get involved.

Let us take action to joyfully preserve and sustain our natural world and its inhabitants for future generations. Download our One Planet Life app to access other insightful posts, resources, and organizations that you can participate in and track your actions.

It is time to Love, Care for, and Share Our Water

by OPL | Jul 29, 2022 | People and Planet First, Protect the Planet, Quality of Life

We are utterly dependent on water. There wouldn’t be any life on earth without water.

We experience water in many different ways, both positive and negative. It seems so plentiful and readily available to most of us (except for nearly 2 billion people without access to safely managed water) that we can neglect to treat water as a precious life-sustaining resource. To better understand our water’s risks, Read our blog, We Should Never Take Water for Granted. Especially Now.

As each of us takes action to live more sustainably and in harmony with nature, how can we change our relationship with water? If each of us makes small changes to reduce, recycle, and reuse water together, they will add up in a big way!

To help you get started, we share water-saving tips for four high water usage areas: Kitchen, Bathroom, Laundry, and Outdoors.

Reduce water and chemicals while cleaning clothes

Wash only full loads of laundry or use the appropriate water level or load size selection on the washing machine
To save money on your energy bills, set your washing machine to use cold water rather than hot or warm water
Use eco-friendly laundry products
Reduce polyester and other synthetic clothing that release micro-plastics into the water system

Reduce water usage where over 50% of in-home use happens

Turn off the tap while shaving or brushing teeth
Fix any leaking pipes or faucets
Take short showers which use less water than a bath
Use eco-friendly personal products (fewer chemicals in the water and on you)
Install a dual flush or low flow toilet or put a conversion kit on your existing toilet
If updating the bathroom, look for WaterSense products and save with every use

Use less water while enjoying great meals

Eat vegetarian meals several times a week (less water is used growing veggies than meat)
Scrape your plate instead of rinsing it before loading it into the dishwasher
Use a dishwasher — and when you do, make sure it’s fully loaded!
Use eco-friendly cleaning products
Compost instead of using a garbage disposal. The less we put into our water system, the less we have to clean up
Add food waste to your compost pile instead of using the garbage disposal
Don’t use plastic water bottles and keep a bottle of drinking water in the fridge — no need to run the water until it is cold!

Improve efficiency, reuse, and store water

Plant native plants and food gardens that are beautiful and efficient to bring nature closer
Don’t overwater your lawn or water during peak periods, and install rain sensors on irrigation systems
Capture rainwater and stormwater runoff from your roof, driveway, and other areas to use in watering your garden
Plant trees — as many as you can
Clean up and help restore areas around rivers, streams, lakes, and oceans

To learn more about water, we suggest these blogs and books:

We love water, but do you wonder why? We flock to the ocean and lakes to sit quietly, taking it all in. We need water daily to survive. We love to splash and float in water. “The Blue Mind story seeks to reconnect people to nature in ways that make them feel good and shows them how water can help them become better versions of themselves.” Read more.

Nature is a connected network of life that we rarely notice. Peter Wohlleben shares many examples of this interconnectedness so we can begin to see nature in all its beautiful complexity. Based on science, he leads us through life cycles where salmon, rivers, and trees support each other. We learn how wolves, bears, and fish need each other in Yellowstone National Park. To our surprise, trees take loving care of their young. In one chapter, he explores our role in nature. Read more.

This children’s book, We Are Water Protectors, written by Carole Lindstrom and beautifully illustrated by Michaela Goade, serves as a reminder of the importance of protecting our water. It is inspired by Indigenous-led movements to protect our natural resources. Soak up this story as it is read by Joanna Henry. Read more.

A Bioblitz is a Great Way to Learn What is Living Near You

by OPL | Jun 6, 2022 | People and Planet First, Protect the Planet, Quality of Life

When you are outside, have you ever noticed anything interesting or peculiar regarding plants, insects, animals, birds, fungi, or trees, that you wished you could identify? A Bioblitz is a great way to learn what is living in your regional environment.

Join a bioblitz as a volunteer citizen scientist and help identify species near you.

“Bioblitzing” is a fun way to turn ecology into a captivating story. Getting involved is easy. You help scientists collect an inventory of increasing/decreasing species and document how well or poor native/non-native species are doing in their natural/unnatural habitats in our ever-changing climate, locally and globally.

What is a Bioblitz?

A bioblitz is a collaborative intensive quick field study that provides data to scientists over a specific time in a designated region of living things such as plants, animals, insects, fungi, and microorganisms. This study helps identify uncommon or unique habitats for protection and management and identify rare species.

All you need is a camera or a smartphone and an app such as iNaturalist (respected as one of the world’s most popular citizen science data portals.) Follow the app’s setup instructions, record your observations on your preferred device, upload photos with a comment and add them to a chosen organization’s project. Currently on iNaturalist there are 85,406,596 observations. Research-graded data (the highest quality data) includes a photo or sound recording, what was seen or heard, correct identification, GPS recorded location, time and date of encounter, and posting to your account so that you as a citizen scientist get credit for the observation.

Organizations where you may participate

A bioblitz is local, so there is no need to travel far in your scientific journey. If you travel outside of your region, there are many projects you can participate in worldwide. These organizations typically launch bioblitz programs.

Local, Regional, County, State, and National Parks
Heritage, Nature, and Watershed Conservancies, Botanical and Aquatic Gardens, Arboretums, Science Centers, Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation, and Universities
Government agencies such as the Department of Environmental Conservation, Fish and Game Commission, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Urban Connections Programs, and Bureau of Land Management

The time frame for a bioblitz varies.

You can bioblitz for 5-10 minutes in your backyard, viewing the natural world while participating in a community bioblitz project. You can also join in an intense study held for a designated location over a season. The data you collect may include findings of spring ephemerals, macroinvertebrates in streams, and migrating birds. A word of warning; You may find yourself immersed with fresh air, exercise, and a sense of purpose as you look a little closer into the natural world, thereby spending more time as your curiosity peeks into the world of biodiversity.

Have fun out there!

Read our blog on the importance of biodiversity, Biodiversity is Life and Extinction is Accelerating to learn more.