About the IS Foundation | Ian Somerhalder Foundation

Every once in a while someone comes along with a brilliant idea, overwhelming compassion for life outside their own. Today I want to talk about Ian Somerhalder's IS Foundation. Everyone is familiar with Mr. Somerhalder's work as vampire Damon Salvatore on the CW's "Vampire Diaries" based on the books by L.J. Smith. He is also an ardent eco-activist and for that the man deserves a round of applause.  Following is an excerpt from the IS Foundation's mission statement. Impressive.

We are a team, a group of people, who view the environment as an interconnected organism of which we are not separate but a part of. There is no differentiation between all living things: trees, rivers, animals and humans. We are all one interdependent organism.

The global problems and challenges we are facing are infinitely interconnected and co-dependent, therefore our solutions and actions must be enacted in an interconnected manner. There are numerous causes, many campaigns and organizations aiming to encourage change, which includes ending deforestation, planting trees, eliminating pesticides and healing our planet. How many of these organizations or campaigns team up to become a united spirit of change?

Nature does not behave independently. It works in unison with all its elements. Working independently to transform our planet is like trying to playing a violin without strings. Communities of businesses, organizations, people and projects must begin to connect resources and skills to passions and projects. The IS FOUNDATION will behave in full collaborative spirit by joining with other Non-Profit, For-Profit and governing bodies globally.

• Distributing funds and resources towards global conservation, green energy development/deployment and educational tools.
• Creating awareness that global deforestation can be seen as a national/international and global security risk.
• Creating mobility by engaging and supporting of the most powerful, yet disregarded, disrespected and overlooked population on the planet - our youth.
• Ending animal cruelty and promoting programs such as: “species specific sterilization drugs”, transferring and re-training of abandoned animals into assistive and therapy guides.
• Supporting and creating sustainable strategies for “no-kill shelters”. 

•  Upcoming Areas of Focus for the IS Foundation

HABITAT Extinction Deforestation & Reforestation Conservation BioDiversity

ENERGY

• Fuel Transportation Impact Reduction
• Green Technology
• Local Biofuels
• Green Disaster Relief
• Greening the Entertainment Industry
• Empower public participation in legislation

ANIMALS

• Habitat & Extinction
• Cruelty
• Empowerment of NO KILL Shelters
• Sterilization
• Assistive & Therapy Animals

The IS Foundation strives for the involvement of children as well, because really don't we do all this for them? Isn't protecting our Mother Earth about future generations? Because one day I know that I would like to be able to take my grandchildren back to my hometown in Missouri and show them the local heard of wild mustangs and tell them how they used to roam freely on the high plains. Or to be able to let them see a pod of orcas  swimming freely, not confined to a tank that's to small and eventually crushes their spirits. So, from the bottom of my heart, God Bless you Ian for your work. 

Conservation, Recycling and YOU

I am a huge supporter of the effort to conserve America's endangered species, both plant an animal. Due to habitat loss, deforestation, and human encroachment, we are on the brink of losing many varieties of plants and animals. By no means am I knocking the farming industry, because they do provide an important service to everyone, but clearing vast tracts of land for industrial farming is detrimental to our environment and destroys thousands of precious ecosystems, as does littering and dumping waste materials into our rivers, streams and oceans. Think before you toss a cup from a car window or drop a wrapper on the ground, or toss a plastic water bottle that is going to clog a landfill for years. Recycling doesn't take a huge effort. I also advocate composting as means to safely dispose of organic waste material. If you've got a garden, compost makes a great fertilizer. Sierra Club Composting Tips has some great advice if you're new to the composting game. Keystone Endangered Species List from Advocates West has prime examples of American endangered species including wolves, wild mustangs, salmon, sturgeon, caribou, antelope, and goshawks and grizzly bears. So please, for the love of our mother, the Earth, think before you act.