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Vermont Law School's Environmental Law Center just launched its first annual Top Ten Environmental Watch List, outlining the most important environmental law and policy issues of 2010, and how they may continue to play out in the new year. According to the list, the most important event of 2010 was the inability of Congress to enact federal climate change legislation. This was a massive blow to......read more
Done right, harvesting maple sap is sustainable in eternity. The trees stay standing, producing sap generation after generation, without the "help" of agri-chemicals. And what goodness they produce! Raw, natural maple syrup is one of food's greatest pleasures. Now, an upstart company from Vermont is expanding maple's applications to include delectable sweeteners like wafers, cubes, creams and......read more
Vermont Wooden Spoon Co. is the brainchild of wood carver Jordan Marvin, who handcrafts rustic kitchen wares from local, sustainably harvested hardwoods like cherry, maple, black walnut and apple. The range includes spoons, spatulas, ladles, salad sets, serving sets and bread and cheese boards, all of which are food-safe and sealed with a light layer of mineral oil. The......read more
In Portland, OR, a new "eco-landscape management" technique is shunning gas-guzzling lawn mowers in favor of a furry, four-legged alternative. At an empty two-acre lot in midtown Portland, a herd of goats is happily working to keep grass and weeds under control. The emissions-free mowers can trim just as much grass as a gas mower, without the requisite fossil fuels and noise pollution.......read more
When a company has been around since 1649, they're probably doing something right. Fiskars is the oldest company in Finland and the brand behind the Momentum Reel Mower, an easy-pushing, eco-friendly mowing machine for any length of grass. Using smart ergonomics and a bunch of patent-pending cutting technology, the Momentum Reel Mower delivers best-in-class mowing performance without gas,......read more
Last month, we posted the beautiful, bucolic video for "Tuck the Darkness In" from North Carolina's Bowerbirds. The second video for the folk band's excellent LP, The Clearing, emits a similarly pastoral vibe, with stunning clips of nature that perfectly capture Bowerbirds' organic appeal. The video, directed by Lawrence Martinez, also features some mysterious Illuminati-esque symbolism which......read more
In the absence of government action, citizens are turning to the courts to put controls on the emissions that cause climate change. The U.S. Supreme Court announced this week that it will hear a lawsuit that aims to hold coal-fired power plants accountable for contributing to climate change, a decision that has major implications for the public's right to fight corporate pollution. In the......read more
We're big fans of school gardens around here. They're a great way to use the schoolyard as a classroom and teach students valuable concepts about food and agriculture. Katie, our latest Young Farmers subject, leads a gardening program at an extension high school in Claremont, California, where at-risk students get a chance to grow their own veggies. By literally getting their hands dirty,......read more
Lockerz and SHFT present Young Farmers, an original web series exploring the growth of 'farm-to-table' values among young people today. In the videos, we visit with 10 budding gardeners, taking a personal look at their lives and the things they grow....read more
Is gardening an art form? Well, it's a form of creation, so it should be. The difference between growing food and, say, playing in a symphony, is that a gardener's collaborator is nature itself. In this episode of Young Farmers, we meet Aileen, a high school cellist who likens gardening to music. You work hard at both, and in both cases, something eventually clicks, and the next thing you know......read more
