tree day.A greener world.
A life well lived.
IDEAS TO TAKE INTO EVERYDAY LIFE
Explore practical guides on trees, climate, gardens, wildlife, water, food, homes and community life.
321 articles
Wildlife & biodiversity · Guide
A food chain follows one path of energy transfer between organisms, while a food web maps many connected feeding relationships. Use a chain to explain a simple route and a web to see the alternatives and dependencies around it.
Water & oceans · Guide
Wetlands support wildlife, store floodwater, help improve water quality and provide natural products and places for recreation. Their benefits depend on local conditions and on connections to the surrounding watershed.
Climate & change · Guide
Carbon sequestration is the capture and storage of carbon, including carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere or kept from entering it. This guide explains the main distinction, why storage duration matters and what to look for in a sequestration claim.
Gardens & growing · Guide
For a typical backyard pile, fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, leaves and untreated plant material are useful ingredients. Some items accepted by commercial facilities should stay out of home piles, so check local collection rules.
Waste & circular living · Guide
Paper, cardboard, metal cans, glass containers, and some plastic containers are commonly recyclable, but acceptance depends on the local program. Batteries, electronics, food scraps, and hazardous products need different routes.
Trees & forests · Guide
For many trees, a cool dormant period gives roots time to settle before heat or active growth adds stress. The right window depends on local ground conditions, species, stock type and the care you can provide.
Trees & forests · Guide
A shallow, broad mulch layer can buffer soil temperature, conserve moisture and reduce grass competition. Keep it away from the trunk and flare, where piled mulch can trap moisture and contribute to damage.
Waste & circular living · Guide
Battery disposal depends on chemistry and size, and many types should stay out of both household trash and recycling carts. Identify the battery, protect it from damage and use a dedicated collection point or local hazardous-waste guidance.
Trees & forests · Guide
Identify a tree by combining several features, especially leaves, arrangement, bark, fruit and overall form. Record what you can observe across seasons, and use a regional guide to narrow the possibilities.
Gardens & growing · Guide
A well-maintained backyard pile may finish in about three to five months, while an untended pile may take a year. Materials, moisture, airflow and turning affect the pace, so look for finished texture as well as elapsed time.
Seasons & outdoor life · Guide
Earth’s tilted axis changes the angle and duration of sunlight reaching each hemisphere through the year, producing seasonal patterns rather than a simple distance-from-the-Sun effect.
Wildlife & biodiversity · Guide
Citizen science is research that involves members of the public in activities such as observing nature and recording data. Here’s how participation can contribute useful evidence, what it cannot establish alone and how to choose a project that fits.
Waste & circular living · Guide
A circular economy aims to keep products and materials useful for longer through prevention, repair, reuse, and recovery. Here is what that means in ordinary household choices and where the idea has limits.
Water & oceans · Guide
Drinking water can begin as surface water, groundwater or another local source, then move through infrastructure and treatment before reaching a tap. The exact route depends on the community and its water system.
Food & land · Guide
Agroforestry combines trees or shrubs with crops or livestock on the same land. Its design depends on the site and the goals for production, so the presence of trees alone does not show how well a system works.
Wildlife & biodiversity · Guide
A wildlife corridor is a route or connected habitat that helps organisms move between areas they use. Whether a strip, crossing, or chain of habitat functions as a corridor depends on the species, landscape, and conditions along the route.
Climate & change · Guide
Reducing a carbon footprint starts with identifying major sources such as home energy, transport and consumption, then choosing changes that fit local options and daily needs. A focused plan beats an imprecise list of universal fixes.
Waste & circular living · Guide
Reduce food waste by buying for meals you expect to eat, keeping track of what needs using, and making leftovers easy to see and reuse. Small changes work best when they address the reason a particular food gets discarded.
