This Sunday, Sept. 27, PBS kicks off their six-part series by Ken Burns about America’s national parks. The series is magnificent, as befits the subject, and hopefully it will inspire a reinvigorated interest in our nation's most beautiful natural spaces. (Find out more about the series in The National Parks: America’s Best Idea – A New Series from Ken Burns and PBS, a write-up by the MOTHER EARTH NEWS editors covering all six episodes.)

Along the same lines, we asked you a couple of weeks ago which national parks you visited most recently. The exciting news is that of the 949 readers who took the poll, 711 have been to a national park recently. And of the specific parks listed, Great Smoky Mountains National Parks recorded the highest number of poll-taking attendees, with 210 votes. (You can see the full survey results below.)

And that’s not all. Some of our readers have been sharing remarkable photos from their national park visits at the MOTHER EARTH NEWS photo-sharing site, cu.MotherEarthNews.com — from the Great Smoky Mountains to Glacier National. If you have photos from a recent park visit, put ’em up! We love them, and, who knows, they may appear in the CU department of the magazine.

Now, though, we want to hear your stories. What’s your favorite memory of our national parks? We know that MOTHER’s readers have some good ones, so take a minute to share them below. Haven’t been yet? Where do you want to venture first?

Photo by iStockphoto

Which U.S. national park have you been to most recently?

1. Grand Canyon National Park 10% (92 votes)
2. Yellowstone National Park 11% (104 votes)
3. Yosemite National Park 6% (58 votes)
4. Great Smoky Mountains National Park 22% (210 votes)
5. Olympic National Park 3% (31 votes)
6. Other 23% (216 votes)
7. None 25% (238 votes)

Total Votes: 949

This week President Barack Obama pushed the issue of climate change at the Group of 8 summit in Italy.

The United States and European countries, such as Germany, England, France and Italy proposed an agreement that called for worldwide emissions to be cut by 50 percent by 2050, with industrial countries cutting their emissions by 80 percent.

The industrial nations such as China, Brazil, India and Mexico did not agree to the proposal.

“They’re saying, ‘We just don’t trust you guys,’ ” said Alden Meyer, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, to the New York Times. “It’s the same gridlock we had last year when Bush was president.”

The New York Times also reported that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, the meeting’s host, said it made little sense for Group of 8 countries to take on onerous commitments if “five billion people continue to behave as they have always behaved.”

Instead the group came to an agreement that the global temperature should not rise more than 2 degrees Celsius, 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, but did not demand any commitments on how nations will do their part to ensure that goal is reached.

The fact that developing countries will not agree to major climate change reform means there is a lot of work still to be done before the worldwide climate treaty conference in Copenhagen this December.

ISTOCKPHOTO

Will consumers make healthier beverage choices if the cost of soda increases?

A new federal tax on soda and other sugary beverages has been suggested recently as a way to pay for part of the major overhaul of the U.S. health-care system proposed by the Obama administration.

According to the Wall Street Journal, "The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based watchdog group that pressures food companies to make healthier products, plans to propose a federal excise tax on soda, certain fruit drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and ready-to-drink teas. It would not include most diet beverages."

Supporters argue that the tax would have multiple benefits. In addition to partially funding health-care reform, supporters argue that a tax on sugary beverages would likely discourage their consumption, potentially relieving some of the burden on taxpayers covering the medical costs incurred because of overweight and obesity.

Addressing these issues, a recent article from the New England Journal of Medicine reports, "For each extra can or glass of sugared beverage consumed per day, the likelihood of a child’s becoming obese increases by 60 percent," and that "a review conducted by Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity suggested that for every 10 percent increase in price, consumption decreases by 7.8 percent."

Finally, the article states that "The contribution of unhealthful diets to health care costs is already high and is increasing — an estimated $79 billion is spent annually for overweight and obesity alone — and approximately half of these costs are paid by Medicare and Medicaid, at taxpayers’ expense. Diet-related diseases also cost society in terms of decreased work productivity, increased absenteeism, poorer school performance, and reduced fitness on the part of military recruits, among other negative effects."

The same Wall Street Journal article notes that "The main beverage lobby that represents Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc., Kraft Foods Inc. and other companies said such a tax would unfairly hit lower-income Americans and wouldn't deter consumption.

'Taxes are not going to teach our children how to have a healthy lifestyle,' said Susan Neely, president of the American Beverage Association. Instead, the association says it's backing programs that limit sugary beverage consumption in schools."

What do you think of a tax on sugary beverages? Would you support it?

One of my favorite beverage brands, Naked Juice — so named because of its bare, no-sugary-frills-added fruit ingredients — recently announced that all of its drinks containing bananas will now sport a label that says “Rainforest Alliance Certified.”

The certification sounds like a good thing, but as with many product claims in this era of green washing, it can be difficult to tell whether a label represents a worthwhile cause, or even represents anything at all.

So, what does “Rainforest Alliance Certified” mean?

A Rainforest Alliance Certified farm is one that complies with 10 standards set in place by the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN). These standards include ecosystem conservation, wildlife protection, and fair treatment and good working conditions for workers.

Abby Ray, Rainforest Alliance communications associate, says farms are evaluated by SAN-authorized auditors and must score at least 50 percent in each of the 10 standards and 80 percent overall in order to receive the certification. “This prohibits a farm that, for example, has beautiful forest cover but poor worker housing from passing,” Ray says.

Most farms need at least two years to achieve certification, and certified farms are re-evaluated every year by local auditors who give extra attention to any areas of the criteria in which the farms may have previously fallen short.

Since the beginning of 2008, the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal — a green frog nestled in a circle (shown near the bottom of the bottle at right in the photo) — has been popping up on coffee, tea, cocoa and fruit products all over the world. In the United States, brands such as Lipton Tea and Newman’s Own Organics contain products from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms. (See the Rainforest Alliance Marketplace for a full list of certified products.)

A criticism that has arisen regarding the Rainforest Alliance certification is that brands are allowed to use the green frog seal on a product if even just 30 percent of the product comes from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms. Ray says, however, that 30 percent certified content from a multinational brand still has a significant impact.

“What matters to the Rainforest Alliance is the impact on the land and workers, so a company buying 30 percent of 100 tons has more of an impact than one buying 100 percent of 10 tons,” Ray says.

As for what the certification designates for Naked Juice: The delectable drink brand now buys every banana that goes into its beverages (80 percent of Naked Juice products contain bananas) from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms, making it the first U.S.-based beverage to contain sustainably produced bananas.

Yesterday, to coincide with Earth Day, representative Jim Moran (D-Va.) introduced the Plastic Bag Reduction Act of 2009, proposing a five cent tax for single-use bags — including grocery sacks, dry-cleaning bags, take-out food bags, retail bags and service station bags — to take effect January 1, 2010. The funds collected from the tax would be distributed four ways. Of the five cents, one cent would cover a tax credit for retailers implementing a qualified carryout (single-use) bag recycling program, one cent would go to the Land and Water Conservation Fund,  one cent would be dedicated to state and local trash reduction and watershed protection programs, and the remaining two cents would go toward reducing the national debt.

To find out more about the proposed bill, view a PDF of the Plastic Bag Reduction Act of 2009, read the National Plastic Bag Bill press release from Moran's page at the House of Representatives' website, or check out New bottle deposit, bag tax bills touted for combating pollution from the New York Times.

What do you think of the Plastic Bag Reduction Act — would you vote for a federal tax on non-reusable retail bags? 

FOTOLIA/ROLAND SCHMIT

They may not be kids any more, but these pretty goats  are probably just as giddy about fresh green grass  snacks and warm weather as any newbie.

Finally! Today is the first day in Kansas that's really felt like spring. We've gotten oh-so-close a couple of times before, but today's a perfect 66 degrees Fahrenheit, with the sun streaming down and literally not a single cloud in the sky. Even the slight breeze is warm. It's the kind of day where the only right thing to do is get outside and drink it in, let the warmth chase the chill from your bones.

Actually, winter is my favorite season, hands down. But spring more than carries its weight as a season to celebrate. Living in Kansas, it's the variance of the seasons — the melting and mixing that draws a new face on the earth and an altered mood into the air — that sings with life. The seasons here roll through constant change, usually in a moderate flux, sometimes calming into a steady hum, and, occasionally, exploding in roiling, earthshaking assertions of vigor. The changes seem to mirror all the moods and stages we go through, from rowdy jubilance to the quiet moments we each sometimes crave, to rest, reflect and regenerate. Though winter carries the most magic in my heart, it's the moving onward that's fully captivating and invigorating. And it's the full expression of each season that leaves us hungry for the next, so we can grasp the gifts and trials of each, fresh and eager with anticipation.

So, as it does every year, the land here is transforming. Colors that have hidden for months are peeking hello. The earth is softening in a gesture of hospitality to seeds and saplings, and all variety of animals and birds are making sounds, rustling and chatting as they shake out their fur and stretch high into warm wind. As all of this busyness is commencing, we're all looking forward to something, maybe seeing a particular flower or enjoying dinner on the porch. 

For me, spring's knob-kneed kid goats make everything right in the world. And there are few things more reassuring than the spattering, sliding and sometimes clamoring sound of spring rain on the roof. But truth be told, nothing says spring (or home) more than the deep, pungent smell of freshly turned soil. Every inch of our farm exuded that fragrance this time of year. Whether you were in the middle of the walnut grove or smack in the center of a field waiting for corn, it was inescapable, rich and smelled more than anything else like life. You can do anything with soil like that. It carries all the promise in the world, if you're willing to do your part. Even if you don't, not an inch will go to waste. A few weeks from now, flowers, weeds, grasses and insects by the dozen will be pushing and buzzing and thriving in and around that soil. There's nothing like that smell, nothing.

What are you most looking forward to, or already relishing, this spring?

With media outlets from the New York Times to individual blog "reporters" typing at their kitchen tables covering the recession — with news, conjecture and as many opinions as there are people — one facet of all this doom and gloom that isn't getting much attention is the impact of the recession on our collective environmental footprint, especially all that consumer-culture waste we seem so eager to flog ourselves over.

The Washington Post reported that landfills around the country are noticing significant decreases in the amount of trash they're receiving, and it's logical to conclude that if a newfound frugality means less shopping, that also means less waste for the trash pile. Think about it: fewer purchases means less packaging (cardboard, plastic, packing peanuts, Styrofoam, etc.), and not just when you're talking about a new flat-screen t.v. Cooking at home often translates into more fresh produce and fewer frozen dinner purchases. And since we're all buying fewer new things, it seems we're more inclined to repair what we have or purchase or trade used items. All of these decisions result in less trash. Not to mention that a lower demand for goods can  — and does, as we've been seeing a lot lately — lead to factory closings. The obvious, serious, bad news there is that hardworking men and women are losing their jobs and their ability to support themselves and their families, at least temporarily. On the other side, one less factory running means one less factory sending contaminants into the air and/or water. Looking around, it seems that one silver lining to the current state of economic affairs might just be less environmental damage from our particular species.

What do you think? Have you noticed less waste and trash in your life because of the recession? Do you think that we might hold on to the better lessons from this experience as we move forward, ultimately, to more prosperous times?