After Founding Esprit and North Face, Doug Tompkins Dresses Up an 800,000-Acre Park When Esprit founder Doug Tompkins went on a rainforest exploration trip to Chile seven years ago, he didn’t realize he’d soon be buying huge swaths of land down there, or that his growing passion for preservation would stir controversy all over the […]
Are High Immigration Levels Hurting the U.S. Economy-And the Environment? For immigration advocates, the release last May of a long-awaited National Research Council (NRC) study on the economic effects of our open door policy (around 800,000 people a year are admitted to the U.S.) was cause for rejoicing. While the NRC study did make some […]
The Student Conservation Association Builds Lifelong Environmentalists In 1955, Vassar College student Elizabeth Putnam had an innovative idea for her senior thesis proposal. Her project, modeled after the New Deal-era Civilian Conservation Corps (which put vast armies of young Americans to work on environmental projects), would organize high school and college students around the country […]
One thing’s for sure about us—the children of the late 60s and 70s known as Generation X—we hate being referred to as “slackers.” Sour on politics, and viewing elected officials as self-interested, wasteful bureaucrats who don’t truly represent our concerns, many “twentysomethings” are taking to the streets to improve our cities, put a stop to […]
A growing number of young adults have moved beyond the hallmark issues of Baby Boomers-"recycling, saving whales and hugging trees"–and onto a greater diversity of issues.
There is a 40-acre stand of ancient trees near Chester, California in the heart of the dryland timber forest. The stand is dominated by towering 500-year-old, 200-foot Ponderosa pines. These trees, which were seedlings when Columbus landed in the Americas, are lucky to have missed an appointment with the chainsaw, because they’ve been owned by a logging company since the turn of the century.
Eco-Entrepreneurs Are Making New Products From Recycled Materials Environmentalists are always talking about the three Rs-reduce, reuse and recycle. But what about the fourth R-remake? Like…rescuing that punctured bicycle tire from the garage’s bowels and, for example…fashioning new neckwear? Making products from recycled materials has evolved from a strictly green market into mainstream consumer practice. […]
Washing Machines Are Getting Cleaner and Greener Europeans who visit America find much to marvel at, but there’s always room for quiet astonishment at the top-loading washing machines which, while easier on the back than front-loaders, waste copious amounts of water, wear out clothes prematurely, leave them wet and, to a European eye, dingy. This […]
The 10 Most Important Foods to Buy Organic In 1984, Elizabeth Ryan bought a farm in New York’s mid Hudson Valley. The farm and orchard had been managed conventionally for many years, but Ryan decided to severely restrict the use of chemical pesticides. Her farm is now run under a preventive Integrated Pest Management (IPM) […]
Planned Giving Helps Green Groups–And Keeps the Tax Man at Bay Death and taxes may be inevitable, but there are ways to soften the blow. Bequeathing a gift to an environmental group can ensure that your conservation ethic lives on, while also considerably reducing taxes for you and your beneficiaries. The simplest way to give […]
