The world is changing, fast. Living well in the Climate Era requires making informed decisions while learning about a new environment, one in which our species has never lived. Elk Creek Notes shares what we have discovered about how to care for and regenerate a place, living well in harmony with nature. That is the challenge we face on the path back to the cooler, more habitable climate in which humans rose to change the world.
For almost 40 years, my wife and I have dreamed of living on a river and with the land. After eight years of explaining recycling and sustainable living at Earth911, we recognize that the human mission is to adapt to a warmer environment and regenerate nature by living in harmony with the rest of the species on our planet. To do our part, we moved to the confluence of Elk Creek and the Rogue River a couple of years ago. Now, we are committed to care for and record the impact of our choices in a warming world based on our experience on a stretch of a nationally designated wild and scenic river.
Elk Creek Notes will share what we learned about becoming deeply familiar with, caring for, and coexisting with nature in this unique place—it’s just one site on the planet, and we’ll report on its condition as a barometer of overall environmental health.
That’s not to say recycling isn’t important or worthwhile. The world needs to get a lot better at designing products and packaging to be reused, repaired, and recycled. We will continue to do our part. I’ve personally answered more than 15,000 recycling questions from Earth911 readers over the years, and we’ll continue to offer recycling guidance to our supporting subscribers, sharing general lessons that can be applied anywhere.
In addition to Elk Creek Notes’ storytelling, nature videos, and guides to living at the wilderness-urban interface, the site will provide links to products and services that we find useful in minimizing our environmental impact and efforts to regenerate local ecosystems. While we plan to eventually open comprehensive online store, we’ll begin with links to Amazon and other ecommerce sites. Rather than asking you to trust a new company with your orders, we can focus on what we do best—testing, researching, and sharing what works—while you shop with confidence through retailers you already know.
Starting our ecommerce effort this way aligns with our environmental values—research from MIT shows that e-commerce produces on average 36% lower carbon emissions than in-store shopping. Grocery delivery has been found to achieving emissions reductions of 22–65% compared to traditional retail. By directing you to existing distribution networks, we're helping you access products through the most carbon-efficient delivery systems available. Bear with us, we’re learning—and we will always cut you the same slack, offering ideas and assistance rather than hectoring you to do better.
After a year-and-a-half in our new home, which we feel blessed to have found, we’ve spent time enough time discovering the plants, animals, insects, geology, and people around this rural community to begin to share our stories. We’ll explore the path to a sustainable and regenerative modern life with articles, videos, podcast interviews on Sustainability In Your Ear, and conversations with you.
The path forward isn't about perfection—it's about making better choices with the information we have, then sharing what we learn. Join us as we document the transition to a more sustainable way of living, one decision at a time. Together, we're not just adapting to the Climate Era; we're actively working to shorten it.
Thank you for visiting Elk Creek Notes. I hope you’ll be back soon!