12/30/2020 | This resource was created by Abigail Schmid.
Exploring the outdoors during the winter months often provides unpretentious yet spectacular views of our natural world. The winter months reveal nature’s basic structures as we marvel at the complexities that exist within.
“When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.” 
Aldo Leopold, captured in black and white on a frozen Wisconsin waterway, exemplifies this reality, as do his words in from A Sand County Almanac which remind us of the imperative ecological work that lies ahead. Aldo Leopold is considered by many to have been the greatest influential conservation thinker of the 20th Century. Learn more about the Aldo Leopold Archives at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Did you know that in the United States alone, we produce ~4,6 million pounds of wrapping paper each year? To give you some perspective, that's about the weight of a fully-loaded space shuttle. In addition to that, we purchase ~7 billion greeting cards each year. Knowing this, let's discover some fun ways to change our gift-wrapping habits to benefit the environment.
Cover image credits:
"Brown Paper Packages Tied up with String" by Chiot's Run CC BY-NC 2.0