Nature! - Environmental Year in Review and 2016 Goals

This week is all about looking back on this year and seeing where we have been and where we are at currently, while forecasting what is to come in 2016.  There have been major changes in my family's lifestyle since the start of 2015 and we will be continuing to build on those changes in 2016.  (See the Food! post from Dec 28, 2015 and the Let's Learn! post from Dec 29, 2015.)  Surprisingly, even with my background tied to the environment, I have learned of some new environmental issues which I was not aware of previously.  "Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret" has made an impact on my life and is shaping, reinforcing, confirming how I think about the environment and will be a guiding force as I post about nature related topics in 2016.

As I wrote about in previous Nature! posts (Growing Up In Nature, Maturing In Nature, and Living In Nature) I have always enjoyed the great outdoors!  From spending time exploring and playing outside as a child to working to helping reduce our impact on the environment in my professional work, my love and enjoyment of nature continues to grow.  With our children, my husband and I promote outdoor play and exploration.  We pick up trash and recycling on our walks and our children usually recognize recyclable products.  We ID birds and fish and spend a lot of time checking them out at the bird feeders, around the lake and catching fish.  My husband is better at it than I, but we try to minimize the amount of electricity and water we use on a daily basis.  Overall, we have a pretty solid foundation of sustainability and environmental awareness for our children to build on.

Of course there are some areas we need to work on.  For 2016, I would like to set three (3) nature based/environmental goals for my family to achieve.  The first goal is to continue spreading the word of "Cowspiracy".  Animal agriculture is destroying the planet far faster than any individual water, electricity, and fuel saving measures we attempt to implement in order to slow the destruction.  The second goal is to have a more successful garden in 2016.  Our 2015 garden started out promising with starting seeds indoors, but ended up being quite a let down as one thing after another happened and we only harvested a small amount of tomatoes and a few tiny green peppers.  The third goal is to explore more of the natural features close to home.  Every year I want to take the children to nearby nature spots (State Parks, Nature Preserves, Historic Sites, etc.) but usually only make it to one or two.  Now that I am publishing my goals for 2016, I intend to hold myself responsible for them.  Starting with three goals is doable.  Each year I hope to have at least three environmental/nature based goals to work towards.

To start 2016, I will expound on each of the goals and future posts will document our progress.  Of course there will be some Nature! posts not directly related to the goals.  If I seem to not be posting regularly about the goals, please ask about them! I'm looking forward to building off of what I have learned in 2015 and sharing my experiences with my readers in hopes that they will see that if I can do it, so can they!  

What are your nature based/environmental goals for 2016???