Natural Baby, Toxic World
Raising a natural baby in a chemical world is not so easy. For eco-conscious parents, life’s full of choices on everything from diapers to parenting styles.
Raising a natural baby in a chemical world is not so easy. For eco-conscious parents, life’s full of choices on everything from diapers to parenting styles.
Interest in cleaner and greener auto technology is exploding. From fuel cells to plug-in hybrids, the industry is showing more research and development zeal than at any time since the halcyon days of 1900, when gasoline, steam and electric vehicles (EVs) were competing in the marketplace.
Five percent of new commercial construction meets standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program (LEED). Ten percent of new homes satisfy the federal government’s Energy Star guidelines, meaning they’re nearly one-third more energy-efficient than regulations require. But U.S. buildings put out about a third of the country’s greenhouse gasses, and at the rate green building is penetrating the market today, it will be many years before we save the 70 percent of emissions thought necessary to stabilize the climate.
Organic wine is here to stay thanks to several pioneering American wineries incorporating local produce and green packaging.
Soil is often misunderstood and under-appreciate but it truly supports everything else we do with our public and private property and needs to be nurtured to help us succeed.
Important carbon-saving programs are being launched below the radar, often by local governments, private companies and even ambitious individuals. The best initiatives use novel approaches and innovative thinking to achieve real emission reductions, tapping into and modifying consumer habits and ingrained business practices.
These days, no matter where you live, you can recycle a wide range of discards—aseptic juice packages, printer cartridges, ordinary batteries, iPods, PDAs, and even cell phones.
After the media spotlight has moved on, a toxic legacy continues to haunt New Orleans. Will the state and federal government get serious about protecting the city?
The issue isn’t whether we’re running out of oil but when will we reach the peak oil production, after which the decline will inevitably clash with demand.
To most casual drinkers, coffee has as much to do with songbirds as chalk does to cheese, but a growing movement centering on coffee’s many political dimensions is beginning, like the caffeine in the cup, to wake up a disinterested public.