What do you think is the most environmentally / conservation friendly past time?

Question

I'm a writer and I've been working on a story about fly fishing in the Midwest. I've found the beauty of this passion very engaging. What activities do you think draw people into thinking more about the "big picture" of the environment while enjoying their interests?

Answer 1

Play with a hair spray can.

Answer 2

Nature walking, hiking, camping. It's all very relaxing (except for the blackflies and mosquitoes) and it makes you appreciate what's around you.

Answer 3

Star Gazing.

Happy Caving Carroll

Answer 4

Gardening can be.  My garden is about 70% percent natives and relatively near protected open space, so it serves as a buffer zone for mobile species, and allows me, a naturalist, a chance to observe species such as birds, insects, reptiles and amphibians, and mammals, as well as the plants themselves.  

Photography is much more environmentally friendly than it was, due to the awesome array of digital cameras now available.  I've captured some incredible images with a decent camera.  

Several respondants mentioned hiking.  I'll add backpacking to the mix.  Pack it in, pack it out, you use only what's in your back and you work to get to enjoy some of the most beautiful places on the planet.  What a reward for your efforts!  Economical, too, depending on what kind of equipment you invest in.

As for the jabs at fishing.  I don't know what percentage of fishermen (fisherpeople?) do catch and release, but it is an option.  The fees generated from licenses go a long way toward protecting habitat that is valuable to many other species, too.  I'm a vegetarian and I don't fish, but I know many if not most fishermen are responsible and would consider themselves to be environmentalists.  You have to learn a lot about various kinds of waterways and fish to be successful.  And you have  alot of time to observe what's around you before, after, and even during.

Birding is very eco-friendly, unless you're generating a huge carbon footprint flying all over the globe to add species to your life list.  But you can bird in your backyard, or at a local park, where you can walk or bike to it without even getting in your car.

Which is the most environmentally friendly? That's a tough question, and a good one.  But all of the above activities afford people an opportunity to think about the big picture, while pursuing low impact areas of interests.

Answer 5

Bull Raking hardclams on the N.Eastern side of USA. Long Island NY north.

Answer 6

gardening.

and like amy i cant see a big problem with most sport fishing. as for hiking, lovely, but dont get all smug about it, it disturbs wildlife too;

"EVEN when they tiptoe discreetly through the undergrowth, nature lovers and ecotourists may be having an unexpectedly damaging impact on wildlife. A study of protected Californian forest has shown that hiking, wildlife-watching and similar low-impact activities are linked to a sharp drop in numbers of carnivores such as bobcats and coyotes.

"We saw dramatic, fivefold reductions in the native species," says Adina Merenlender of the University of California, Berkeley, who ran the study with Sarah Reed of the San Francisco-based Wilderness Society. "

http://environment.newscientist.com/arti...

Answer 7

Hiking.

Fishing is cruel and inhumane.

Answer 8

I think it depends on the person. I can canoe, or kayak, without disturbing the environment, as much, because I don't fish and love currents. If I see garbage, I take it with me.

If I hike, there's a trail and I stepped someplace a plant cannot grow. I used to trail blaze, to see new things. It never occurred to me I might kill something, until I was older.

I prefer to run rivers and pick up garbage. I bike and pick up garbage.

Overall, my time spent in Southern waters has been beneficial. I did my best to teach others to clean up, as well.

I think taking people in canoes for miles, makes a difference. When they see the water and what's in it, they change. I've had non-campers, non-green people react on the good side.

Tell them this is your water and you have to drink it, after it passes other people. How do you want to get it? For me, it's the rivers.

Answer 9

biking,hiking, doing forest preserve cleanups with friends; thats what I do : )