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It seems like one step forward, two steps back for the environmental movement these days. The once-high hopes of achieving national and/or international action on climate change have faded to a mere memory. Backward-thinking Republicans are attacking the Environmental Protection Agency in Congress. Eco-minded folks are getting bummed. But another movement, one that shares a common ethos with......read more
Eating food that was raised locally is all well and good, but if the meat in your organic, grass-fed burger was processed in some massive slaughterhouse across state lines, it kind of defeats the purpose. And in all likelihood, it probably wasn't processed anywhere nearby. That's because the meat industry, like much else in U.S. agriculture, is a highly consolidated beast. According to......read more
Energy efficiency is not a new concept. Hell, it was 1976 when energy policy analyst Amory Levins put forth his ideas on a "soft energy path," waking people up to the notion that simple building retrofits could produce big energy savings. In 2009, McKinsey published a study that found that efficiency measures across the U.S. economy could reduce energy consumption 23% by 2020,......read more
When the owner of a Silicon Valley property decided to renovate his family home, he also decided to make good on an idea he and his daughter shared: building treehouses in an oak grove on the edge of the property. While not exactly treehouses per se, these three tea houses nestled among the stands of oak should do the trick. Designed by Swatt Miers Architects, the glass-paneled tea houses......read more
As any parent can no doubt attest, kids like dirt. In Canada, teachers are taking advantage of that impulse with seeds and soil that teach kids vital lessons about food, sustainability, and the environment. In fact, school gardens are getting so popular up north that the Canadian charity Nutrients for Life this week launched a school garden network, complete with case studies, lesson guides and......read more
Old wood is the goods. Reclaimed timber has a rugged beauty that new wood products can't replicate. That's our humble opinion, anyway, and Jamison Sellers' too. The Rhode Island designer/craftsman salvages wooden pallets and boards to craft chairs, tables, and shelves that are as simple as they are striking. Alternating diffierent colors of scrap wood in thin strips, Sellers makes furniture with......read more
