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How green is the state of our union?

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Feb. 12   Leave a Comment  

Obama's State of the Union address was, in the words of one prominent green leader, "a strong defense of the importance of clean energy to America’s long-term economic prosperity." (White House photo)

All-in-all, not a bad year

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Fact: Carbon emissions are making our oceans acidic

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Feb. 1   Leave a Comment  

Ocean acidification is likely to affect the ability of some shellfish to produce and maintain their shells. This process will not only wreak havoc on the shellfish we eat, but also on smaller marine organisms that are key components of the lower end of the marine food chain. (Thinkstock)

Goodbye coral. Goodbye shellfish.

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Water usage in the bathroom

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Jan. 24   1 Comment  

Some 60 percent of our household indoor water usage happens in the bathroom. Toilets are the biggest water hogs, with older models using as much as eight gallons per flush. A shower, even with a low-flow shower head, can use up to 40 gallons of water, and a bath can use up to 50-60 gallons. (Thinkstock)

It’s more than you thought!

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Analysis: Cutting down forests for biomass fuel

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Jan. 24   Leave a Comment  

In theory, burning any kind of plant material for energy is a carbon-neutral endeavor, but chopping down forests for ethanol is unwise because they cannot be regrown quickly. And tree plantations don't provide the clean water, storm buffers, wildlife habitat and other ecosystem services that natural forests do. Pictured: A wood biomass plant. (Thinkstock)

This will trouble you…

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Global warming and water shortages

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Jan. 8   3 Comments  

One out of three counties across the contiguous U.S., says a recent study commissioned by the Natural Resources Defense Council, should brace for water shortages by mid-century as a result of human induced climate change. (Media credit/Comstock)

Water supplies would be hit especially hard

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About home energy audits

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Dec. 30, 2011   Leave a Comment  

EarthTalkEnergyAudits

Do-it-yourself or hire out?

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Safe and green-friendly hair care

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Dec. 22, 2011   2 Comments  

Many mass-market hair care products rely on harsh chemicals that can cause follicle, skin and eye irritation. In some cases, ingredients have been implicated in respiratory, immune and endocrine problems, even cancer. Fortunately, there is now a wide range of greener, healthier hair care products available. (Thinkstock/iStock)

Do your hair without doing damage (to the earth)

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Report: Asthma rates on the rise

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Dec. 17, 2011   Leave a Comment  

Asthma rates have doubled since the 1980s, in spite of air quality in U.S. cities having increased over the same time period. This has led some experts to conclude that other factors -- including Vitamin D deficiency, obesity, overuse of acetaminophen (i.e. Tylenol) and spray mist from glass cleaners and air fresheners -- are now playing a role. (Thinkstock)

New factors contributing

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Why should I recycle?

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Dec. 17, 2011   Leave a Comment  

Recycling and re-use have many environmental benefits, including reducing the amount of waste we bury in already overcrowded landfills and burn in polluting incinerators, like the one pictured here. (Thinkstock)

Do you really need an explanation?

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Meat and the environment

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Dec. 3, 2011   Leave a Comment  

David Pimentel of Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences says that the grain currently fed to some seven billion livestock in the United States could feed nearly 800 million people directly. (Thinkstock)

Shifting diets makes a big difference

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Can using thorium instead of uranium make nuclear energy safer?

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Nov. 26, 2011   Leave a Comment  

Advocates of thorium to power nuclear plants say that the element is safer than uranium, and that its waste cannot -- like the plutonium waste of uranium fission -- be re-formulated for nuclear weapons. Thorium plants, they say, also wouldn't need containment domes like those pictured here because the reactors can't "melt down" and release radiation. (iStock)

Most likely

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Green holiday gifts

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Nov. 20, 2011   Leave a Comment  

A wide range of green gifts can be obtained from nonprofit organizations that use the proceeds to fund important work and from green companies, easily found online, that sell recycled, recyclable or otherwise sustainably sourced and produced merchandise. Pictured: Organic Bug's Tree of Life recycled metal folk art. (Media credit/Organic Bug)

Give the gift of environment!

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Coffee in crisis? Climate change poses threat to crop, scientists warn

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Oct. 31, 2011   1 Comment  

(Media Credit/Nate Steiner via Flickr)

Could lead to a diminishing supply and an increase in prices

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The environmental impact of gold mining with cyanide

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Oct. 30, 2011   Leave a Comment  

Some 90 percent of gold mines around the world employ "cyanidation," the use of a sodium cyanide compound to separate the gold from finely ground rock. At a gold mine in Romania in 2000, the accidental release of 100,000 cubic meters of cyanide-rich waste into the local watershed killed all aquatic life in nearby waters and cut off water supplies for 2.5 million people. (Media credit/Kacos2000 via Flickr)

Thankfully it’s becoming less common

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“Wet cleaning” vs. dry cleaning

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Oct. 23, 2011   Leave a Comment  

Most of the nation's 34,000 dry cleaners still clean clothes using perchloroethylene, or “perc,” a hazardous air contaminant and a probable human carcinogen. But some cleaning professionals are moving to greener and safer methods, including the use of pressurized carbon dioxide, and "wet cleaning," which uses water, non-toxic detergents and conditioners inside specially designed machines. (Media credit/Simon Law)

An industry under attack

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Will the U.S. ever put limits on greenhouse gas emissions?

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Oct. 15, 2011   Leave a Comment  

Politics still stand in the way of efforts to limit U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Two efforts, the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) of 2009 and the American Power Act of 2010, got tabled or failed to make it to the Senate floor for a vote. ACES was, however, passed by a narrow margin in the House of Representatives, the first time the legislative branch has called for sweeping climate legislation. (Media credit/Rachel Johnson via Flickr)

Outlook gloomy

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Will “Plan B” save the environment?

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Sept. 17, 2011   1 Comment  

Lester R. Brown's "Plan B" is an integrated program with four interdependent goals: drastically cutting carbon dioxide emissions, stabilizing population, eradicating poverty, and restoring the Earth’s natural systems. Pictured: Mr. Brown and the first Plan B book, published in 2003. There have been three subsequent editions.

Book spawns environmental movement

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What is nonpoint source pollution?

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Aug. 26, 2011   Leave a Comment  

Nonpoint source pollution comes from many diffuse sources, but in the aggregate creates a formidable challenge for municipal, state and federal environmental and water control authorities -- and is likely the largest threat to our water quality. Pictured: Runoff of fertilizer-laced soil from a farm. (USDA)

Whose fault is it?

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Freezing foods without plastic

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Aug. 26, 2011   1 Comment  

Freezing foods in plastic containers isn't as worrisome as heating them, but if you're leery of plastic, glass containers designed to withstand large temperature extremes, such as Ball Jars (aka Mason jars), like the one pictured here, or anything made by Pyrex, can be a sensible alternative. Just be sure not to load them to the brim as some foods expand when frozen. (Media credit/Wikipedia)

Break out the mason jars

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Consequences of stripping the EPA of water quality regulatory authority

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Aug. 26, 2011   Leave a Comment  

A new bill, passed by the House of Representatives and awaiting vote in the Senate, aims to strip the EPA of its authority over individual states' water quality. Pictured: The Cuyahoga River on fire in 1952. When it happened again in 1969 it helped kick start the modern environmental movement including the establishment of the Clean Water Act and the founding of the EPA. (Media credit/Wikipedia)

It’s happening

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