According to a report recently issued by the international environmental nonprofit World Wildlife Fund (WWF), humanity’s demands are exceeding the planet’s capacity to sustain us. The group predicts the collapse of large-scale ecosystems around the world within a few decades if human consumption is not put in check.
In what is shaping up to be one of the most important Congressional election cycles of the last decade, the nonprofit League of Conservation Voters (LCV) is campaigning hard to convince voters across the country to dump politicians that do not support various pro-environmental initiatives.
The residents of the remote, rural eco-village of Las Gaviotas, Colombia (population around 200) and their international allies are marketing their pure water to Americans through a grassroots network of mostly volunteers. Despite the cross-continental transportation and plastic bottles required, they expect the project not only to have a neutral or negative "footprint," but also to support the growth and duplication of this model community and the ambitious reforestation project that supports it.
Islands often serve an important role in protecting and preserving species because of their isolation and lack of predators. But some species aren’t suited to the offshore ecosystem, and some countries don’t have the islands to devote to conservation efforts. New Zealand has decided to import the benefits of offshore island habitats inland by creating “mainland islands,” typically surrounded by large predator-resistant fences. Despite early success, the effort is meeting some skepticism and resistance.
With a population expected to swell by two million in 25 years, the Washington, DC metro region is under tremendous pressure. Already facing a daily onslaught of cars, the region is girding for a huge increase in traffic. In response, two of the oldest DC suburbs, Silver Spring, Maryland and Arlington, Virginia, are trying to find an antidote to sprawl—or perhaps simply to recreate an older sense of neighborhood.
It’s been a momentous year for cleaner vehicles (see "Getting There: A Guide to Planet-Friendly Cars," Consumer News, July/August 2004). DaimlerChrysler rolled out the first plug-in hybrid, albeit as a test vehicle, and announced it would soon import the fuel-sipping Smart city car. Several more manufacturers, including Ford, added new hybrids to their fleets. And the race to bring a fuel-cell car to market is getting hotter, as Honda and General Motors unveiled the latest versions of their hydrogen prototypes.
Conscious consumers can pride themselves on pushing the global coffee market in a more eco-friendly direction, but what about the disposable cup industry? According to the Food Service and Packaging Institute, Americans use and throw out nearly 44 billion disposable cups for hot beverages each year.
Last September, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 263 to 146 to pass H.R. 503, which bans the slaughter of horses for human consumption. The Senate will now consider its version of the bill, S. 1915.
<B><U>Querido DiálogoEcológico:</U> ¿Podría ser afectada negativamente nuestra salud por todas las frecuencias de radio de los fonos móviles y sus torres, los buscapersonas y sistemas Internet, y otros usos de frecuencia radial y radiación de microondas?</B>
<B><U>Querido DiálogoEcológico:</U> Recién oí la expresión "secuestro de carbono" en relación al cambio climático. ¿De qué se trata y cómo podría ayudar a detener el calentamiento global?</B>
Most homes are not lacking in ways they can be healthier for family and kinder to the environment. For one, indoor air quality is a serious problem affecting millions of homes. Studies show that air within homes can be more seriously polluted than the air outdoors
