They have an honorable history, having survived the Depression, had a hand in defeating the enemies of freedom in World War II, created the United Nations, and overcame the Cold War. Some have called them the "Civic Generation" because they took an interest in voting, public affairs, civil rights and civil liberties. Today, they admit to exploiting earth’s limited resources, polluting the air and our drinking water and lumbering blindly on to global warming.

Today, a group of seniors at a retirement home in Hamden, CT, have formed their own organization, GrayisGreen, and authored The Handbook on Conservation for Retirement Communities (MS Word doc). They are another link in the expanding network of seniors stepping up and making a difference in their surroundings, and ours.

My thanks to Joyce Emery of Green Seniors for the lead to this amazing group of elders.

If you’ve ever been to San Francisco, or lived there for a time as I have, you can’t help but be charmed by the city, but also aware of the natural beauty of the entire 9 county bay area. That charm and beauty, in many cases, was won in difficult and often contentious battles between environmentalists, governments and developers to name a few.

San Francisco author John Hart and photographer Nancy Kittle have put together a wonderful book about 50 notable "elders" who helped shape the area with their committment to the environment and conservation. This is a review of Legacy, and the impact the "elders" have had on the bay area.