News & commentary on sustainability, activism, urban planning, politics, and our world.
Nearly half the people on our planet do not have safe water to drink. Friendly Water for the World is a nonprofit organization, founded by Quakers, whose mission is to help expand access to low-cost clean water technologies, as well as information about health and sanitation, to people in need. They teach communities how to construct simple biosand water filters, which remove nearly 99% of all parasites, disease and water-borne pathogens.
Incredibly, some Spanish towns are now fining people who search through dumpsters for food the equivalent of nearly $1000; while elsewhere, other communities are beginning to understand the power inherent in salvaging and reusing resources gleaned from our garbage.
Are you curious where your state currently stands on legal marijuana? It seems like each month another legislature decides to decriminalize pot possession or improve access to medical cannabis. Rolling Stone has just published an excellent interactive map which clearly illustrates all of the different cannabis laws in each of our US states.
In a huge victory for both clean energy and environmental advocates, the Edison Power Company announced on Friday that its troubled San Onofre nuclear power plant will be permanently shuttered.
This week the California State Senate approved seven related gun control bills, which include universal background checks for anyone who wishes to purchase ammunition. People in the state who have a criminal record, severe mental illness, or a restraining order filed against them, would also be disqualified from owning firearms.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has just introduced the Federal Student Loan Refinancing Act, legislation which would allow students to refinance their college debt at a much lower fixed rate of interest. These reforms are especially needed, because in July US student loan rates are set to double to nearly 7%. Strangely, this is also happening at a time when our government continues to allow billionaire Wall Street bankers to borrow money for a small fraction of that cost.
It’s 5 o’clock, and Yasmina is running late for her drawing and painting class; she quickly grabs her watercolors, kisses her mother, and runs out the door to school. But what you might not realize, is that Yasmina and her fellow Roma students are all defying their culture’s norms just by showing up to their art class today.
Senator Elizabeth Warren has introduced her first bill, which allows for college students to borrow money at the same low rate of interest which Wall Street banks enjoy. Why would billionaire bankers be given a much more favorable loan rate than poor, struggling students? That is a very good question that the senior senator from Massachusetts has been asking.
Recently I was listening to an engrossing radio interview with the visionary economist and author, Gar Alperovitz, as he was discussing his new book, What Then Must We Do?, which highlights the rise of cooperatives, worker ownership and the restructuring of our failing economy from the bottom up.
Riding a bicycle helps the body stay fit and is environmentally friendly, and provides numerous benefits that allow for self autonomy, mobility, and health, all factors that help our society to evolve and improve. Although when I am riding my bike, some days it still feels like some people do not understand just how truly liberating riding a bicycle can be.
