An online outpost for those who'd rather be outside.

October and I have always had a thing. It's probably my favorite month of the year, and not just because my birthday lands in it. Give me cool mornings, sunny afternoons without the humidity, changing leaves, and squirrels tearing around the yard like they've been assigned an impossible acorn quota. I'm happy.

There's a lot more to living alongside bats than choosing a place for them to sleep. What happens when one gets inside your house? How do you safely encourage an attic colony to relocate? What makes a good bat house, and where should you put it?

Founder Antoinette Jackson, who also goes by Anny, built SuperBee after spending years working in sustainable product development in Southeast Asia. Along the way, she discovered that some of the best environmental solutions aren't necessarily new inventions. Sometimes they're old habits, thoughtful design, and the simple realization that people are much more likely to make a sustainable choice when it doesn't make their lives harder.

Squirrels gather groceries. Beavers build homes and maintain the infrastructure that protects them. Bees commute to flowers to collect food. Birds travel extraordinary distances, raise families, and defend their homes. Some animals spend much of their lives preparing for the seasons ahead. They work to feed themselves, protect their families, find shelter, and survive. Sound familiar?

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has released a new report confirming that the world can no longer realistically avoid exceeding 1.5°C of long-term global warming. If you saw the headlines and thought, Well, that's it. We failed. Game over. Please stay with me.

On October 20, Chiricahua National Monument became Chiricahua National Park. That sounds like uncomplicated good news, right? A remarkable place received greater national recognition. Bipartisan legislation passed. People who have worked for years to elevate Chiricahua finally get to celebrate. But the change means more than a new sign at the entrance—and less than the phrase “new national park” might suggest.

It's called light pollution, and unlike the trash we can see in a ditch or the smog hanging over a city, we don't always recognize it as pollution. We just see lights. But all those unnecessary beams, glowing buildings, and bright security fixtures add up. Artificial light scatters through the atmosphere, creating skyglow that washes out the stars, sometimes far beyond the places producing it.

Yes, you can reduce unwanted email and snail mail. Much of it can be done for free. But there’s no universal off switch, and a legitimate service isn’t a guarantee that every sender will cooperate. Here’s how to make the cleanup worth your time, without surrendering your Social Security number or paying for something you don’t need.

This batch of stories started in wildly different places: fake spiderwebs, a pile of camping clothes, an absurdly good cinnamon roll, a printable for bored kids, and some uncomfortable questions about what we call conservation. And somehow they all landed in roughly the same place. Pay attention. Ask more questions.

I have become a big believer in a camping capsule wardrobe: fewer pieces, better pieces, and almost everything I pack needs to do at least two jobs. Hike in it. Sleep in it. Wear it into town. Throw it over a swimsuit. Sit around the campfire in it. Rinse it out and wear it again.

For this round of Let’s Clean Up, we’re taking on Halloween. Not by canceling the candy or telling you that your 12-foot skeleton is questionable. Frankly, if you already own that glorious beast, I hope he gets a name and his own room. We’re just cleaning things up a little.

Halloween has somehow become another holiday where we are encouraged to buy an entire collection of things specifically designed to become irrelevant the next day. I say boo to that.