Shaggy Lawn Mowers - Paris Tries an Eco-Friendly Way of Maintaining Park Lawns… the New York Times reports on a sustainable idea:

Mayor Bertrand Delanoë has made the environment a priority since his election in 2001, with popular bike- and car-sharing programs, an expanded network of designated lanes for bicycles and buses, and an enormous project to pedestrianize the banks along much of the Seine.

The sheep, which are to mow (and, not inconsequentially, fertilize) an airy half-acre patch in the 19th Arrondissement are intended in the same spirit. City Hall refers to the project as “eco-grazing,” and it notes that the four ewes will prevent the use of noisy, gas-guzzling mowers and cut down on the use of herbicides.

via Grist.

Dance of the Honey Bee from AbelCine. Watch more bee videos in the archives. Bees are also in the news.

via @billmckibben.

Two South African filmmakers and ecologists travel to South Georgia Island and Antarctica to film the animals that live on the seventh continent. In this episode from EarthTouch.tv, meet the trusting seals and penguins they find in this beautiful place that has no major land predators. 

You can watch Earth Touch’s entire Antarctica series here. There’s also more Antarctica in the archives.

via Climate Adaptation.

What is a gyre? And how does this natural phenomenon demonstrate the impact of our plastic trash? Anna Cummins and Marcus Eriksen of 5 Gyres Institute explain how we can understand the international issue while acting locally: 

“It is impractical to try and scoop out trash out of the ocean. What we can do is wait for it to wash ashore. So to clean a gyre, clean your beach, clean your watershed, clean your street. As close as you can get to the source, is a better way we can solve the problem of plastics in the ocean”

With a cameo by Forest Scientist Stephen Sillett, watch this behind the scenes video about photographing the world’s second-largest known tree, 3,000+ year old President, in Sequoia National Park.

The resulting image, made from 126 images by photographer Michael “Nick” Nichols, is featured in National Geographic’s December 2012 issue.