My Visit to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City

     Yesterday, I visited the American Museum of Natural History while vacationing New York. This place is truly spectacular. It amazes me that people will wait in line for three hours to go atop the Empire State Building, yet never step foot in the AMNH. Even if you're not terribly enthusiastic about science, the AMNH is still a must see. However, if you do visit the AMNH, and you are a true science enthusiast, I recommend coming alone so you can peruse the exhibits at your own pace. I could have easily spent six hours there, and I still would have only scratched the surface.
     For you Sustainability gurus, there is a great exhibit put on by the Center for Biodiversity & Conservation. In additiona to providing compelling evidence of the impact that human civilization is having on the planet, this exhibit provides a number of useful statistics and simple steps people can take to reduce their ecological footprint. [See my "Sustainability Factoids" post for a complete list of stats and simple steps.]
     Of particluar value in this exhibit is the message, "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - and Rethink." Although this has been the EPA's tagline for a number of years now, it seems to me that many people focus heavily on recyling as the solution to our waste problem -- while investing considerably less time, energy, and money into resource reduction and reuse. I'm always a little skeptical when a company claims, "we're recycling X% more than we were a year ago." While this may be indicative of an overall increase in recyling capacity, it may also be indicative of increased consumption and waste!

REMEMBER: A company that is truly making progress towards sustainability may actually experience a DECREASE in the amount of material being recycled because it is reducing and reusing resources more effectively.

American Museum of Natural History
http://www.amnh.org/home/