I was lost the other day as I tried to find the Pennsylvania Renewable Energy Festival.  I don’t really panic when I’m lost because I know that roads have to come out somewhere.  However, if I were really someplace unfamiliar, I think I would want to follow this guy, Will Steger.  I think he probably could find his way out of anyplace. 

Right now I am in an unfamiliar place.  I’m trying to figure out how to make the best changes we can as a family to reduce our carbon footprint.  We don’t have the money to buy a new car, install solar panels, or switch appliances.  But after hearing Will Steger speak, I think there are plenty of other things we can do that will make a difference.

I had the privilege of listening to and meeting Will Steger while in Tennessee this summer.  Will Steger is an artic explorer who has kept track of the changes in the climate as he traveled our poles.  He has always championed environmental causes but in the last years he has been particularly concerned with climate changes.  This is because he has witnessed first hand the very real difference in the arctic climate. 

Over the next three years, Will Steger and his teams will be making expeditions to the Baffin Island (2007), Ellesmere Island (2008), Antarctica (2008), and Greenland  (2009).  You can view the 2007 expedition and follow him on his 2008 expedition via podcasts.

On his website Global Warming 101, he has some very readable and easy to understand articles about what is happening in the arctic and why it is important to us.  He used some of these materials as he spoke to us both of his journey and the science behind understanding climate change. 

In the end, he left us with something very important, hope.  Very small changes can add up to big impacts.  So if you think you’re in unfamiliar territory with climate change, follow Will, I think he’s on the right trail. 

What trail are you on in your journey to reduce your carbon footprint?