News & commentary on sustainability, activism, urban planning, politics, and our world.
Many Americans, especially in urban metropolitan areas, have made it clear they no longer use printed telephone directories — turning to the Internet instead — and would prefer not to receive them. Others want to receive them but would like more information about convenient recycling options. A new Minnesota website announced Wednesday, Don’t Trash the [...]
A common criticism of major international meetings on climate change is that countless tons of carbon emissions are created by everyone flying and driving in for these meetings. I have never decided for myself if I think these meetings are worth it — if they will cut emissions more than they create them. At the [...]
Only nine months after Washington, DC implemented a 5-cent plastic bag tax, plastic bag use has dropped about 60%! I think that is a surprisingly strong result. “I am somewhat surprised by the extent to which people changed their behavior,” says acting director of the city’s Department of the Environment Christophe A.G. Tulou. 5 cents [...]
The video below needs little explanation; it’s time-lapse video of the Bay Area’s marine layer. The most striking bits absolutely evoke waves crashing against a shoreline. Absolutely beautiful. Make sure to watch it in HD, full-screen, if you can. See more of the creator’s work at simonchristen.com (he also has a great Flickr set of [...]
I wrote last week on a cool pilot project in Philadelphia in which the kinetic energy created from subway trains braking will be captured and either reused in accelerating trains, stored for later, or sold back to the electricity grid. While I think that project is super cool, this one maybe be even cooler. A [...]
