A fresh environmental issue survey from CNN/Opinion Research finds that a majority of Americans believe that the economy should take precedence over the environment. It wasn’t by a huge number – a little more than half (51%) picked “economy: and slightly less than half (45%) picked “environment.” The margin of…
Remember Charlie the Tuna? If you haven’t seen him on the air in while, it’s probably because he was caught and eaten long ago. Overfishing has decimated the Atlantic bluefin tuna. Populations are shrinking fast. Stricter international regulations to prevent overfishing are long overdue. At the urging of Oceans Conservancy…
“I can do small things every day that will make an impact on water pollution.” It’s such a simple statement, and it’s true. So why is it so hard to send a message—over the airwaves, online, or in print—that actually evokes that reaction? Unfortunately, many environmental…
When we are trying to make something happen, conservationists sometimes think like cowboys. We break out the rhetorical cattle prod and try to shock the public out of complacency and into action with a stiff jolt of bad news. There’s a time and place for that—but to motivate…
Let’s take a fresh look at a couple of tired old sayings you’ve probably heard a million times, and examine what they mean when comes to raising environmental awareness and encouraging everyday citizens to do their part to preserve the planet for future generations. Here’s the first: “Which comes first,…
You’ve heard the phrase “look before you leap.” But what does that mean when it comes to environmental writing and communications? First, an urban legend about what can happen if you don’t look before you leap. Enjoying healthy sales of its Nova automobile in the U.S., Chevrolet introduced it to…
If you help run a nature center, land trust, hunting club, or local river protection group, you’ve probably wondered how to best keep in touch with your members. After all, they won’t come to an event, donate to support your work, or write that elected official unless they hear about…
Pop quiz: What are the top two news outlets on the Internet today? Well, according to the web traffic monitoring service Comscore, they are Yahoo! News and Google News. Traditional news sites like CNN.com and various New York Times properties come in a distant third—and lower. That’s right…
You probably don’t know that February 3 is World Wetlands Day—a day of proclamations, press releases, ceremonies, festivals, newsletter articles, and t-shirts all clamoring to raise awareness about the vital role of these vital habitats. World Wetlands Day is just one of many well-meaning efforts to create a…
What do you do when you find yourself getting stuck in negative thought patterns, expecting the worst possible outcome? It’s a common mind-set and happens to us all at times. The problem is, when you finally decide you’ve had enough, it has become so much of a habit that it…
In my previous two articles on “Beyond The Limits”, I talked about how getting what we want in life can often be sabotaged by the existence of deeper underlying fears and beliefs that we may not even be conscious of and that these need to be brought to light and…
Articles tagged awareness