Another Green Monday
We've long been on the bandwagon of using Glacier National Park as the poster child for global climate change and global warming but after a recent trip up North to Glacier and then Waterton National Park in Alberta, Canada, there's a new perspective at DTE. Glaciers in Glacier N.P will likely barely survive the National Park Service's centennial in 2016 and don't stand a snowball's chance in hell from being around much past the quarter mark of this millennium's first century. And quite honestly that's alright.
Since Lewis and Clark first stepped foot in what would become Yellowstone National Park, that environment has felt the effects of human development. And each National Park designation since, ecosystems have been altered at the hand of man. But nature has a way of changing itself too - and quite honestly, that way can often be more destructive.
Pine beetles have claimed millions of acres of trees in Montana, and it's to the point now where even the unobservant can't help
but stop and wonder what's wrong. But like wildfires, the pine beetles are a necessary evil of a larger ecological process.
There have been many times in the last decade where the thought and sight of pine beetle devastation has made us yearn for a time when forests were green and healthy. Then a trail sign we saw in Waterton National Park reminded us that nature has been around for a whole helluva lot longer than humans and knows a thing or to about adapting. For it was less than a half century ago that pine beetles devastated the forests there - but as it should, nature took its course and a fire swept through the forests where today healthy trees grow and remind us that change is good.
Though it's only natural to lament the loss of something you care about, it's important to have a larger view. 
Glacier National Park is one of the most beautiful, ecologically diverse areas in the world. When the glaciers are gone, it's still going to be one of the most beautiful, ecologically diverse areas in the world. Let's make sure we remember to protect the whole area, the entire park, and all the parks, and let what happens inside the borders happen - because Mother Nature knows best.
And now, here's some stories you might have missed over the last week or so.
To start it off, a big Congratulations goes out to our good friend Brandi from the wonderful blog seattleDIRT, as she recently made it to the end of her first year in the City of Seattle’s One Less Car Challenge. For inspiration or just because it's a great read, check out Brandi's perspecitve of living car-less, check out her recent post HERE.
Shoreline protection proposal for section of Spokane River in Post Falls. On July 20th, The Kootenai County Parks and Waterways Commission will hear a proposal to make a section of the Spokane River at Post Falls a new no-wake zone to prevent further shoreline erosion the Coeur d'Alene Press reported late last week. "The increase of watercraft traffic and speed is eroding the river's shorelines and destroying the natural resources," said Doug Wood, who represents a group of property owners who support the proposal. "There comes a time when things become overused. Something needs to be done about it. Read more HERE.
Hey Bloomies, sick of saving all those race numbers you've acquired over the year of training or years of running Bloomsday? If you're like us, you dread the pre- and post-race swag that accompanies each race of the season because of the thought of how much waste it's creating. And if you're a pack rat like us, you still have your Bloomsday 2001 race number. Here's a solution - Stefanie Fisher, a 24-year-old Missoula runner, turned her frustration of this very scenario into quite a successful business endeavor. Mile 22 Bags takes your racing memorabilia and turns it into bags, totes, wallets and handbags. Read more about this story HERE. And Stefanie.... When will you be partnering with Bloomsday?
Costa Rica - happiest and greenest place in the world. In the second installment of the New Economics Foundation's Happy Planet Index - Happy Planet Index 2.0, Costa Rica came out on top. The New Economics Foundation looked at 143 countries that are home to 99 percent of the world's population and devised an equation that weighed life expectancy and people's happiness against their environmental impact - the United States came in 114. Read more about this story HERE.
One quick product plug (and we bet no one will be calling us out for looking for freebies with this one) We get a lot of emails from people trying to get us to feature their products, and 90% of the time we choose not too - either because it's not relevant, it's suspected greenwashing, etc. However, local is local, and we that's something we can always get behind. So introducing LolliDoo Diapers, a product of the Newman Lake, WA company Go Green Sustainable Industries, that offers diapers made from recycled plastic bottles and certified organic cotton. If your're in the market, check them out.
