News & commentary on sustainability, activism, urban planning, politics, and our world.
This is a special guest post by Rev. Billy Talen. There is a feeling of enchantment in the act of resisting a big deadly institution; in standing in the lobby of a bank, say, a bank that arranges hundreds of millions so that mountains will explode and be made lifeless, and then bulldozed into the [...]
During the Cold War, liquid waste containing radioactive salts was routinely discharged into the ground near the central part of the old Hanford Nuclear Facility, in the State of Washington. The salts tended to attract various animals, including rabbits. Prior to 1969, various animal interlopers had spread radioactivity through their droppings over a 13.7 square [...]
Today is the TEDx Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a gathering of artists, scientists, advocates, and policy makers all addressing the global problem of plastic pollution. It is being hosted by the Plastic Pollution Coalition in Santa Monica, CA on November 6. Speakers include Ed Begley, Jr., Beth Terry (of Fake Plastic Fish fame), Van Jones, [...]
Last week while strolling through downtown Berkeley, we came across a municipal sign ensconced in a colorful knitted woolen cozy. I was really curious about it, and asked my friend Ida if she had any insight as to why the visitor information sign had its own armless sweater. She explained to me that the knitters [...]
We’ve been covering the progress of the proposal to ban the inclusion of toys in unhealthy fast food meals (e.g. McDonald’s Happy Meals) in San Francisco for awhile now (see: McDonald’s Happy Meal Toys to be Banned in San Francisco? and Update on San Francisco Happy Meal Toy Ban). The vote on this proposal was just the other [...]
