Microworlds Photography. NextNature.net – Exploring the Nature caused by People. Encyclopedia of Life. Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry. The Nature Principle. Even in solidly urban landscapes, there is nature to be found, and enjoyed. goandgo/Flickr The Nature Principle Richard Louv Algonquin Books, 320 pp., $24.95 Some teachers at my son Willie’s elementary school started planting crops at a local farm this year. A few days ago, Willie and I joined a work party there. The farm is a 20-minute walk from school. If Richard Louv’s new book is to be believed, Willie and I had just stumbled upon an important truth: the nature we need is the nature that is nearby. In The Nature Principle, Louv asks us to give up the notion that nature is some ideal place that’s out there somewhere, something to be visited annually at the nearest national park. Louv first traversed this territory in Last Child in the Woods, a book with a killer title and an urgent message: kids need nature.
Now Louv has followed up with The Nature Principle. This may sound grandiose and overwhelming, but Louv has, it seems, thousands of notions about how it might be done.