Plastic bags are the modern environmental scourge — piling up in landfills, polluting the oceans and choking wildlife. Now, Hawaii has taken a stand by becoming the first U.S. state to ban plastic bags at checkout counters. Hawaii has always valued the land, or “Aina,” so the step isn’t too surprising. Four of the state’s five counties … [Read more…]
The sky is falling! Well, kind of. Whether we like it or not, our world is changing. It’s getting warmer, and many say we (humans) are to blame for it. Our energy consumption increases every day – from our incessant need to drive everywhere, to our countless hours plugged in to various electronic devices. There … [Read more…]
Skylights are a great way to increase your use of natural light in your home. This is important for all sorts of reasons; for example, it reduces energy consumption as you don’t need to use electric lights as much, and it provides some of the health benefits associated with exposure to sunlight. Many homes and … [Read more…]
In 2011, the U.S. generated 32 million tons of plastic waste, accounting for near 13 percent of the nation’s total garbage, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. This waste included nearly 14 million tons of plastic packaging and containers, roughly 11 million tons of durable goods such as household appliances, and almost seven million tons … [Read more…]
Life-Sustaining Liquid: The Importance Of Clean Drinking Water In the developed world, we often take it for granted that a cool glass of refreshing water is available to us whenever we feel thirsty. However, in some parts of the world, this is not the case. In many villages in Africa and other developing parts of … [Read more…]
Last Call At The Oasis – Erin Brockovich & Peter Gleick Documentary Watch Last Call At The Oasis on Amazon The global water crisis will be the central issue facing our world this century. We can manage this problem, but only if we are willing to act now. Last Call at the Oasis is a … [Read more…]
Bottled Water – The New Great Pollutant Environmental groups across the globe have been sounding the alarm for several years now regarding the health and environmental dangers of the popular bottled water trend. The environmental danger is in both the manufacture and disposal of billions of water bottles and the fact that plastic bottles make … [Read more…]
How a Sea Captain’s Chance Discovery Launched a Determined Quest to Save the Oceans Plastic Ocean: How a Sea Captain’s Chance Discovery Launched a Determined Quest to Save the Oceans In 2009, a U.N. joint commission estimated that 6.4 million metric tons of plastic waste currently pollutes the oceans. The U.N. also estimates that 5 … [Read more…]
12 Simple Things You Can Do To Reduce Water Pollution Dirty water is the world’s biggest health risk, and continues to threaten both quality of life and public health in the United States. When water from rain and melting snow runs off roofs and roads into our rivers, it picks up toxic chemicals, dirt, trash … [Read more…]
Unless you’ve been living, well, in a well, you know that bottled water is OUT for a number of reasons (BPA in the plastic, too much plastic as it is, fossil fuels burned in transport, to name three). Fracking, fluoride, chlorine and toxic pollutants make our tap water a frightful slurry most lips find no … [Read more…]
Bottled Water Sales are Dropping! This is great news! More consumers are saving every penny, and choosing to drink tap water instead of expensive, wasteful, bottled water. What does this mean? We are winning the fight against bottled water! We have a long way to go, but this is definitely a great start! Food and … [Read more…]
Floridians may end up paying a few more pennies a day in the coming years to upgrade outdated sewer systems that are contaminating public water supplies, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) said in a report on March 6. The report says that even more Florida lakes, streams, rivers and springs are polluted than previously … [Read more…]
RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—A new Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) report found that spikes in the water levels of atrazine, a common herbicide banned throughout Europe (but still legal here in the U.S.) could pose a public health risk. The hormone-disrupting chemical is used extensively in corn and sugarcane farming, but research has linked environmentally … [Read more…]
(CNN)— In the tiny New York town of LeRoy, one thing is for sure; since October, 16 people suddenly have developed uncontrollable twitching and verbal tics. Three months later, they — and the rest of the town — are still wondering why. Doctors have diagnosed most of them with conversion disorder, saying that stress is … [Read more…]