Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection has launched a great new site, called FloridaYards.org! Complete with Florida plant guide and an interactive flash Do-It-Yourself guide, the site is a nifty resource, and I recommend you go visit.

Other sections include a primer, Florida Friendly Landscaping 101, a must see, especially if you’re new to the state. I really like the Plant Guide in the Interactive Yard section. Click the native plants check box and find yourself a plant that’s sure to thrive in your particular climate.  Read more... (362 words, 2 images, estimated 1:27 mins reading time)

Ever wonder about your “Nocturnal Neighbors”? No, not those noisy neighbors next door that are always up until 2 AM. I mean the ones visiting our beaches at night as they have for longer than you can imagine. That’s right, sea turtles! The three species of sea turtle using Brevard’s beaches struggle with the burden of crawling from the surf and finding a suitable nesting location near the dune.  Read more... (669 words, 2 images, estimated 2:41 mins reading time)

Spend a Day learning about Florida’s Sea Turtles! Learn how to join NESTS — Neighbors Ensuring Sea Turtle Survival! Take a Sea Turtle Lighting Course!

Saturday, August 27 9 – 3 pm
Sea Turtle Workshop 3 –5 pm Sea Turtle Lighting Course

Beach Community Residents and Sea Turtle Enthusiast are invited to spend a day learning about sea turtles and how to protect them.  Read more... (462 words, 2 images, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)

For those of you dropping by Green Orlando on a monthly basis, sea turtles are a topic you’ve heard about before. From day one its publisher, Eric Needle, has been inspired by the story of sea turtles and the efforts citizens of this county have made to help protect these summer visitors.

Brevard County and each of the municipalities in the county have lighting ordinances established to reduce the effects of lights illuminating the beach, which disorients nesting females and the hatchlings emerging a couple of months later. It’s a concerted effort by citizens throughout the county, to do what we can to help these imperiled reptiles and it’s easy. Seeing a massive nesting sea turtle or a cute hatchling is usually enough to illicit an emotional response from most everyone and when we’re tied emotionally to these creatures we work towards protecting them.  Read more... (872 words, 3 images, estimated 3:29 mins reading time)

Florida’s new budget sets aside $2 billion for Everglades, beach restoration, land conservation and water improvement. Florida is an amazing place to be. The state of our environment is critical to so many industries. From tourism to agriculture, quality of life in the sunshine state remains a priority, and the new budget shows that Talahassee sees the connection.

With over 1000 people moving into the state every day, you have to wonder how we can sustain such growth. Only by preserving and improving, only by better managing resources can we hope to cope, and that means greening our mindset as we look at development.  Read more... (913 words, 2 images, estimated 3:39 mins reading time)

This month, the turtle walk program at Sebastian Inlet State Park broke an all-time, nightly record. Recent participants of the Sebastian Inlet State Park “Turtle Walk” made history by witnessing the magic of a loggerhead turtle lay her eggs on the same night that a leatherback and green turtle beached themselves to lay their eggs. The nesting of the leatherback was a record breaking eighth nest of its kind within the park this year.  Read more... (687 words, 2 images, estimated 2:45 mins reading time)

So you’re in Central Florida for a conference, on vacation, or maybe you live here! But have you ever seen the real Florida? Many of us, residents included, have no idea how diverse, how immense and how beautiful the natural Florida outdoors are.

Birds, manatees, dolphins, land, sea or sky, we’d like to show a slice of our world, beyond what the theme parks and night clubs can offer.  Read more... (368 words, 2 images, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)

Has this weather been amazing or what? Once again, spring is upon us. As I watch the weather around the nation it really makes me feel blessed to live here in Brevard County. This past winter has to be one of the most mild on record for Central Florida, but for most of the country it has been a season of extremes.

The 2004 Hurricane season kicked it all off. Then landslides in California, flooding in Utah, blizzards in March and several wicked winter storms made for a difficult winter. As tsunami in the far east and accompanying earthquakes hammer the region it has to give us all pause. We are not as in control as we like to believe.  Read more... (696 words, 2 images, estimated 2:47 mins reading time)

Earth Day is coming up on April 22nd and we encourage you to participate in some of the great local activites this year. Earth Day, which began in 1970, is now celebrated by millions of people worldwide. This year is its 35th anniversary, and around the world, hundreds of thousands of people — nongovernmental organizations, governments, teachers, and faith-based groups, among others, are making plans to declare that they are part of something extraordinary: a worldwide movement to protect our planet, our children, and our future.

And how can you find out what you can do, locally, this year? It’s simple, just visit Earth 911!  Read more... (641 words, 1 image, estimated 2:34 mins reading time)

The return of weary travelers begins again this spring as it has for years beyond our counting, as female sea turtles migrate back to Brevard’s beaches to begin the cycle of life anew. Last years’ hurricanes left Brevard’s beaches in shambles and likely destroyed any nests incubating at the time of the storms.

How many times has this happened in the past? How will it affect the long term survival of these ancient and imperiled mariners of the sea? Time will give us insight into this question maybe after it’s too late. Maybe instead, in time we will be celebrating the survival and recovery of these magnificent creatures.  Read more... (1051 words, 2 images, estimated 4:12 mins reading time)