A Year of Environmental Lunacy

The National Association of Environmental Education believes that ‘young people have a right to first-hand educational experiences in their local environment, because these are critical in helping people understand the importance of the biosphere to all life on the planet, as well as being a source of wellbeing and fulfilment, and a motivation towards sustainable living.’

There is a growing disconnect between us and the natural world and a failure to recognise its true worth (Dasgupta 2021) yet we know that taking time to develop and nurture positive connections to nature are vital as a foundation for collective action in the face of our current ecological, large scale threats, and that experiential environmental education provides an antidote to excessive classroom or screen time, and can help to refresh children’s attention and cognition (NAEE 2024).

There has arguably never been a more urgent time to reconnect to the nature on our doorstep, and in the wider world; to pay attention to the real living world, and appreciate how we are a part of it. With all this in mind, NAEE have initiated a Year of Environmental Lunacy and invite you to join in.

What is Environmental Lunacy?

Environmental lunacy is about noticing our natural world more carefully, prompted by the phases and monthly cycles of the moon. It is a way of slowing down and being more aware of how the environment around us changes gradually throughout the year not just during a month, but with each passing month. Observing the moon, understanding the science and geography of its influence and the cultural stories associated with it can inspire awe, wonder and knowledge about the natural world. It is an inclusive way to encourage children and young people to spend less time on screens and more time outdoors investigating the world around them.

Full Moon or New Moon?

When was the last time you noticed the moon in the sky? Do you know what shape the Moon is tonight? We see the Moon because light from the Sun is reflected off its surface back to Earth. As the Moon revolves around the Earth we see different amounts of its surface lit up and this gives us Moon phases. When it’s fully illuminated we see a full Moon and this happens once in every lunar cycle. Every lunar cycle also has a period when we can’t see the Moon at all – this dark Moon heralds a new Moon and the start of a new cycle. Our calendar months are longer than lunar cycles and so sometimes we may have two full Moons in a month, the second of these is called a Blue Moon. There can be two new Moons in a calendar month too, the second of these is called a Black Moon.

Waxing or waning?

From new Moon to full Moon, the Moon appears to grow bigger – we use the term ‘waxing’. After the full Moon, its shape appears to decrease or ‘wanes’ as less light is reflected towards us. Did you know that in the northern hemisphere, a crescent Moon lying on its right side shows the Moon is waxing whereas the opposite is true when it wanes?

Rising and Setting

Do you have any ideas where and when to look for the Moon rising and setting? The Moon rises in the eastern portion of the sky and sets in the west but the exact position and time vary. The full Moon always rises and sets about the same time as the Sun sets and rises. However, as the Moon completes its cycle, it rises later each day which explains why sometimes you can see it out in the day time.

What's the Moon got to do with us?

The Moon has an enormous influence on life on Earth and our ancestors would have been well versed in moon lore as they were in much closer touch with nature and the environment than we are today. They would know that it affected some animal behaviours, tides, and light. The light of a full Moon aids night time hunting for many animals and is still a friend to farmers when it comes to harvesting time – the Harvest Moon is aptly named perhaps!

Moonlight is used for navigation by many creatures, particularly nocturnal ones; some of whom can calculate the angle of polarized light to orient themselves. The Moon (along with the Sun) also influences Earth’s tides, and hence the movement of water and lives of those creatures living in the intertidal zone. Sandhoppers for example, live buried in sandy beaches and use both the Sun and the Moon to help them navigate between sea and shore.

Lunar rhythms

The Moon is a like a clock too, and research is still discovering how our own body rhythms and those of animal and plant life are linked to lunar cycles. Perhaps the most well-known of these is the spawning of the Great Barrier Reef corals which use the lunar cycle as a trigger for a spectacle that takes place between October and December just after the full moon.

Moon names throught the year

In many ancient cultures, from indigenous North Americans to ancient Celts, each Moon cycle was given a special name, to remind people about that time of the year in nature and its associated phenomena. It was important for people to think about the detail of the changing year and know what the natural world was likely to be doing. Often, this was a matter of survival as people lived so closely in tune with the Earth.

The last December full Moon for example, was often known in the northern hemisphere as the ‘Cold Moon’, or the ‘Long Night’s Moon’ occurring as it does in the same month as the Winter Solstice. As this new year begins, what phenomena might we want to be aware of? What can we notice, record, map and share? As the Nature Education Park initiative develops, it is an ideal opportunity to think about the combination of space and time and notice the natural world around us in a far more nuanced way.

Read our Environmental Lunacy blog

Follow our Environmental Lunacy series, where each month invites you to observe the moon, notice nature’s gradual changes, and inspire curiosity, outdoor exploration, and deeper connection with the natural world.

The Quiet Moon

This is my favourite time of year, as after the sprints of spring plantings and the flow of harvest, there is finally time for the ‘Quiet Moon’. A period where I farm into the dusk and have to give in to the darkness.

Murmuring Moon

We propose an alternative full moon name for December: the ‘Murmuring Moon’. Winter is a time when most of the natural world seems to pause, rest or sleep.

Beaver Moon

As the days get shorter in the Northern hemisphere and winter draws ever nearer, many wild animals start to behave differently. Native Americans, whose existence is intertwined with nature more than ours, would celebrate these changes in the names they gave to the full Moon.

Apple Moon

Traditionally, the October moon is known in the northern hemisphere as the Hunter’s Moon. This was a time of slaughtering animals and preserving their meats in preparation for the coming winter. Native American names for this moon include Drying Rice Moon, Falling Leaves Moon, and Freezing Moon.

Harvest Moon

Before the advent of mechanisation, people needed to have as much time during a day as possible in order to get the harvest in. This was greatly helped by the Harvest Moon because, if the sky was clear, the moonlight would extend the time when work could be done in the fields.

Thistledown Moon

On warm Autumn nights, the sky fills with seeds. The seeds are produced by thistles. They float easily on any updraft. A small breath of air will lift them into the air, where they float through French doors - flung open on a sultry evening - or drift past sausages dripping their fat into a barbecue’s flaring flames.

The Jumpers’ Moon

To the east the moon is rising, over the farmland where the haymaking of high summer gave it its name. Those fields of seeding grass and flowers, their corncrakes, yellow hammers, clouds of sparrows and hunting barn owls are long gone.