Last Stand for Hawaiian Birds
In 1910, German-born Ralph Hosmer planted 86 varieties of non-native trees in Maui, including the eucalyptus trees that have now grown to great heights in the grove named after him.
Clearing the Air With Hybrid Buses
The soot spewing from the exhaust pipes of diesel buses doesn’t just look dirty, it is dirty. Diesel exhaust accounts for 20 percent of U.S. air pollution, says the Natural Resources Defense Council. Some forward-thinking transit agencies are fighting back with hybrid diesel-electric buses. New York City Transit (NYCT), for example, took the lead and […]
Pollution off the Starboard Bow
From Barbie dolls to the latest consumer gadgets, most of the goods stocking North American store shelves arrive by ship. Large marine vessels such as container ships and oil tankers are one of the least-regulated sources of air pollution in the United States. As these ships make their way to and from their ports of call, a steady stream of toxic filth is released from their smokestacks.
The Nuke Next Door
Are cancer clusters more likely in populations that live near nuclear power plants? Researchers are starting to think so….
Through the Smoke
China Embraces Sustainability—One City at a Time When China announced last November that it would impose strict new fuel-economy standards for small cars and minivans, it was only one sign that the world’s most populated country is headed down a more sustainable path—while the U.S. moves in the other direction. "China’s economic development is happening […]
Greening Cuba
The Island’s New Environmentalism Faces Challenges The students of the escuela primeria in Los Tumbos, a village nestled deep within the rich agricultural province of Pinar Del Réo, constantly hover around the computer awarded to the school a year ago. Their computer runs off of two small solar panels that gleam in the sun when […]
Energizing Wood Power
Replacing Fossil Fuels in a "Clean Energy" Economy Three towering smokestacks rise from the fossil fuel-fired Schiller Power Station in the quaint New England city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Built more than 50 years ago, Schiller is a striking example of a dirty, coal-burning power plant constructed during the mid-20th century. An archaic plant exempted […]
The Paper Chase
While many futurists predicted that we’d be enjoying the paperless office around this time, Americans are still at the epicenter of a paper blizzard. Were you under the impression that the electronic age would free us from all that?
The Paper Chase- Continued
Kenaf, a long-fiber plant that originated in the East Indies and is grown in the U.S., Thailand and China, is a relative of okra and cotton that is now making inroads as a wood substitute.
Confronting Chlorine
To achieve its pearly white color, most paper goes through a bleaching process that uses some of the world’s more toxic chemicals. Assuming we can’t live without bright white paper, does it have to be bleached with chlorine, or are there feasible alternatives? Paper is traditionally bleached with chlorine and chemicals derived from it (such […]