Tales of a TreeHugger
Blogging for TreeHugger provided an excuse to contact and meet all sorts of fascinating people; the opportunity to cover events such as the 5th World Water Forum and the London School of Economics' Urban Age conference; and the chance to raise the profile of places I care about -- Istanbul, of course, but also Beirut, which I fell in love with on a 2010 visit, and Lake Urmia in Iran, where my grandfather originated and where I hope to travel someday. (It also let me occasionally indulge my nostalgia for San Francisco and baseball.) One of my posts got picked up by the popular tech site Boing Boing, while another led to an assignment for BBC Wildlife magazine.
Now, 656 blog posts later, I'm moving on due to some changes at the site. I've already wrapped up a baker's dozen worth of my favorite posts related to Turkey for my personal blog, The Turkish Life. Here's an assortment of 10 more stories on other topics that I enjoyed writing for TreeHugger.com:
- Artists Turn Water Into Masterpieces (Slideshow) (June 26, 2009)
- Boosting Recycling, Scavenger Incomes in Jordan (Aug. 23, 2009)
- Chasing Orchids and Fireflies in Central Colorado (Sep. 27, 2009)
- Naturally Temperature-Conditioned Traditional Courtyard Homes: Ready for a Renaissance? (Feb. 3, 2010)
- American University Students Help Create Afghanistan's First List of Protected Species (Feb. 6, 2010)
- 'Pretty' Pollution Photos Show Depths of Minnesota Lake's Environmental Distress (Slideshow) (Feb. 11, 2010)
- Two Intrepid Cyclists Embark on a Silk Road Adventure With an Environmental Twist (Jan. 12, 2011)
- Traditional Landscapes With a Twist: Photographer Yao Lu Makes Mountains out of China's Rubble Heaps (May 11, 2011)
- Artist's 'Three Gorges' Video Installation Takes Viewers Into a Disappearing Landscape (Nov. 5, 2011)
- Swim Down Through a Sea of Trash With Dramatic, Eerily Beautiful Photos by Mandy Barker (Feb. 8, 2012)