So how does the carbon footprint living in a New Jersey suburb compare with that of living in a cabin in the woods of Maine? You’ll be surprised. Guest blogger, Craig Leisher, is halfway through a year in the woods project with his family and has some intriguing data to share.

I have loved the outdoors all my life. It served as escape and solace during my childhood and useful work and source of recreation and inspiration during my adult years.

In an amazing discovery, a fossilized, 298-million-year-old forest has been found under a coal mine near Wuda, in Inner Mongolia, China. Like the Roman city of Pompeii, the 10,763-square-foot (1,000-square-meter) forest was preserved by ash from the eruption of an ancient volcano.

The state of Texas lost 5.6 million urban trees and as many as 500 million forest trees in the drought that’s been plaguing the state since last year, according to a Texas Forest Research study released last week. With these kinds of numbers we’re looking at a loss of about 10 percent of the city trees and 10 percent of the forest trees in the entire state.

We contribute to the Nature Conservancy carbon credits program whenever we travel, and have been purchasing wind energy from our local electric company.

Topping the list of most common marital disagreements are usually things like money and children. But if the list were derived from my household, it would include cars and light bulbs.

Where does your water come from? For many cities often the source is a distant natural area. In Bogotá, – the capital of Colombia and its largest city – the water comes from a mysterious and unique habitat threatened by climate change. Last year I got to see it first-hand.

After hearing Bill McKibben speak at an event near my home in 2008, I began to keep a “global cooling journal” in which I recorded actions I was taking to fight climate change.

Frank Lowenstein of The Nature Conservancy talks about how we can respond to and prepare for climate change.

Getting my roommates, friends, family, and coworkers on-board with reducing our carbon emissions has resulted in them telling all of their friends and passing the message outward in a ripple effect.

With Hurricane Irene in recent memory, Connecticut considers ways to promote local coastal planning for higher seas and the potential for damage from storms. New Coastal Resilience planning tools are available online.