Seven ways to GROW your nature connection

Want to spend more time outside? Here are some fun and easy ways to grow your connection with nature.

1. Get outside and love it up. Loving and appreciating our beautiful earth is a big part of preservation. Do something fun that will get you connected to the energy of our earth. Go for a walk. Plant a tree. Watch the birds. Go on a picnic. Make a nature collage. Take a hike. Shoot some photographs. I think you get the idea. 

2. Become an amateur naturalist. Explore something in nature that interests you and become an expert. Keep it niche like. It can be anything. Ideas include trees, butterflies, flowers, animals, beach critters, or whales. Do whatever resonates with you. Field guides are abundant with information and, of course, so is the internet.   

3. Do one small thing and feel good about it. You might not be able to stop an oil spill in one of our beautiful oceans, but you can personally stop oil and soap suds from washing into our storm drains and flowing untreated into our streams rivers by fixing your auto oil leaks and taking your car to a commercial car wash. 

4. Sign up for a nature walk at your local urban park. These walks are always fun, offer great exercise and packed with interesting anecdotes about the park. Most park people are happy to show you park secrets such as where owls and other birds nest.

5. Join us for our Nature Me walks. Mark your calendar for our next Seattle urban walk

6. Start a nature journal. Journaling about nature is a powerful way to connect with our natural world. Keeping a simple nature list noting the things you see works great, too. It will help you capture your in-the-moment experiences and get you paying attention. 

7. Check out Jonna Yarrow's book 1,001 Ways to Save the Earth. It's a tiny little book, but packed with helpful ideas about simple changes we can make in our everyday lives. Not preachy at all.