Nice playful use of colors, type, and iconography in this work by Portland design studio the Bureau of Betterment:

The Intertwine is the Portland Metro area’s ever-growing network of parks, trails and natural areas. By connecting people to the nature around them, even in an urban environment, The Intertwine improves the daily lifestyle of Portland citizens.

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Polar bears are without a doubt one of the coolest animals on the planet. Watching one of them swim around is poetry in motion. Just look at those paws, man. And to think we’re destroying their natural habitat just so we can keep gassing up our Canyoneros. It’s a shame. We’re all going to hell.

See this big guy even bigger here.

British illustrator Rich Gemmell has some great outdoorsy artwork. Makes me want to climb out from behind a desk and into the mountains. (via)

Give a hoot! Don’t pollute

Listen to Woodsy Owl, kids.

Tomasz Szpaderski of Poland has some dope-ass artwork going on. (via)

I just stumbled upon this quote from author Edward Abbey, from a 1978 speech he gave to environmentalists in Missoula, Montana. It seemed like a fitting way to end this week.

One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am — a reluctant enthusiast… a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; You will outlive the bastards.

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It’s almost not even worth mentioning, but today is the 40th anniversary of the very first Earth Day in 1970. It is sort of a big deal if you look back at all the environmental progress that was sparked by that day… the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the creation of the EPA to name a few things. But we obviously still have a long way to go. In fact, we’ll probably never be finished trying to figure out how to accommodate a growing population with dwindling resources. For now I’m just going to leave you with two things…

Super-awesome Earth Day to-do list:

1. Watch this enlightening video, and share it with others.

2. Go do something fun outside.

That’s it. Check back for more brilliant ideas that are sure to lead to absolute harmony between mankind and our biosphere. Or at least attempt to make things not suck for ourselves. Cheers!

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(Image by Mark Weaver)

Robert Redford and the Fragile West

LIFE.com asked the renowned filmmaker and activist Robert Redford to choose his favorite photos of Western landscapes, and to explain the need to protect them. You can also watch a slideshow with Redford’s audio commentary.

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Model Town

An awesome illustration by Leif Parsons for a GOOD magazine article:

When you look at places like Chicago’s Millennium Park or the High Line in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood, what stands out is how marvelously nature and urban density can interact—and how that union can serve community gatherings.

Those are some big-ass trees, man. Check out that little guy on the bottom left. From National Geographic:

Monuments to nature’s possibility, some tree species can go to extremes—from towering canopies shading coastal forests to ancient, gnarled branches casting scant over arid landscapes. Many such trees have fallen prey to logging and human encroachment over the years. But a few persist.

To educate yourself on what kinds they are, zoom in on this sucker.

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