Every shade of green.
Here are just a few great ideas for earth-friendly fun.
Big Cypress Gallery features the black and white landscape photography of Clyde Butcher, who has spent more than forty years preserving pristine wilderness settings on film.
Collier County Museums offer a fascinating look at the history and heritage of the Paradise Coast. Five separate and unique museum facilities each provide a different glimpse into the area’s past, including long-vanished civilizations, stunning archaeological finds, curious inventions, turn-of-the-century trading posts, cowmen, cattle ranches, and some of Florida's most adventurous and colorful characters. Even better, all of the Collier County museum locations offer free admission.
Naples Botanical Garden, a 160-acre complex, features 90 natural acres in The Preserve, which includes lakes, seven distinct natural habitats and ecosystems, nature trails and a birding tower. The cultivated gardens feature the plants and cultures along 26 degrees north and south, with gardens of Florida, the Caribbean, Brazil and Asia with over 600 species of subtropical and tropical plants. There is also an interactive Children’s Garden and a Water Garden, along with a growing selection of workshops and events. This exciting new attraction has been honored for its green practices, winning the 2009 Intelligent Use of WaterTM Leadership Award by Rain Bird, the leading manufacturer and provider of irrigation products and services. Naples Botanical Garden has also incorporated high performance and sustainable green building practices into the design of its landscape and facilities.
Naples Zoo places a strong emphasis on conservation, with a portion of admissions and some gift shop sales going to support the Naples Zoo Conservation Fund, providing critical conservation assistance to a variety of groups worldwide, such as the Madagascar Fauna Group. When visiting the zoo, be sure to experience the Primate Expedition Cruise where you can see all the zoo’s primates, including lemurs from Madagascar, that live on cage-free islands within a large lake.
Naples Historic District Walking Tours offers a stroll through historic Third Street South and the neighborhoods of Old Naples. Also offered are docent-guided tours of Palm Cottage, Naples’ oldest house built in 1895 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the adjacent Norris Gardens.
Third Street Farmer’s Market, an outdoor market featuring stands with fruits, vegetables, pastas, cakes, flowers, plants and more, is staged every Saturday year-round from 7:30am to 11:30am in the Neapolitan parking lot between Third Street South and Gordon Drive. You’ll find locally grown produce, fresh baked treats for humans and dogs and other artisan products.
Waterfront Walkabout is a walk along the Naples Waterfront using the Gordon River Bridge Underpass. The tour includes a visit to Naples Backyard History’s new Mini Museums at each location – Tin City’s Working Waterfront Museum and Bayfront’s History of the Tamiami Trail and the Everglades. Staged every Wednesday.
Both Segway of Naples and Naples Gliding Adventures lets you zip through historic downtown Naples on Segway Personal Transporters for an informative sightseeing tour, switching your consumption from petroleum to battery power for a more eco-friendly alternative. Highlights include the Naples Pier, Port Royal, Aqualane Shores, Fifth Avenue and Cambier Park.
The New Golisano Children’s Museum of Naples or C’mon, is scheduled to open in February 2012. The exhibits present a well-rounded universe that is rarely experienced by children or, for that matter, the adults in their lives, from the swamps of the Everglades to outer reaches of the galaxy, from the annual change of seasons to a farm to a day at the beach. At the heart of the exhibits is The Banyan Tree, a soaring, two-story banyan tree with cubbies nestled in vertical prop roots, a lookout platform, and crawling branches that lead to the fascinating tree house at the top, inspiring children’s imagination as well as body coordination. The Golisano Children’s Museum is housed in a LEED green building certified by the United States Green Building Council. This will be the first green museum in Collier County and will serve as an educational learning lab as to how visitors can make their own home green. Environmentally friendly features in C’mon include recycled materials, rainwater harvesting, natural sunlight and a wind turbine. These features make the museum a much safer, healthier space for children.
The Conservancy of Southwest Florida’s Naples Nature Center has long been a leading family attraction in Naples. The Nature Center is partially open now but when it fully reopens after a major renovation (expected reopening in November 2012), it will be part of a major state-of-the-art sustainable facility enhancement at the Conservancy campus, making the Conservancy one of the greenest nature attractions in the country. As they create three new buildings and renovate three others, each will meet the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED standards and the center will utilize an integrated energy consumption approach through geothermal cooling, solar, LED lighting and "smart buildings" technologies.
Experience the thrill of sailing on the Paradise Coast with Off The Hook Adventures, Island Sailing or Sailing Adventures. Learn the sailing basics or kick back and relax on this adventure powered by the wind.
Countless eco-tours are also yours to enjoy on the Paradise Coast, whether self-guided along miles of wilderness trails or guided tours by canoe, kayak and more. Join knowledgeable guides as you embark on journeys of discovery in the pristine Paradise Coast wilderness.
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