News & commentary on sustainability, activism, urban planning, politics, and our world.
Sustainability and green living has hit the real estate market. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the Urban Land Institute (ULI) published the eighth Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2011 report (h/t The Guardian) earlier this year, in which the majority of 600 real estate experts indicated that sustainability issues are “unavoidable.”
Spring had finally made her way to Cascadia Meadow, one of the only remaining unpolluted watersheds in the entire Northwest Sanctuary. The recent torrential rains and melting snow meant many engorged tributaries, leaky dams and lots of work for the beaver clan.
Klaus was squatting near the river’s edge, gnawing on a tree that had been toppled, while he was talking with his old friend Otto. As soon as he had finished eating all of the delicious bark off the tree trunk, the beaver was going to drag the log into the water to help repair the damaged dam.
Heavy clay earth can pose a difficult challenge to any farmer or backyard gardener. Test your soil to find out how suitable it is for planting; if you determine that your soil is overly rich in clay, you can still grow healthy plants. But before you can properly amend a heavy clay soil, it is important to know exactly what a clay rich soil means.
If you are committed to buying food that is produced locally and sustainably now you have more help in finding it. You can use your smart phone, tablet or computer to locate information about various regional foods, whether your goal is to find some fresh organic kale from a nearby farm, or to trace a tainted food product in the case of a contamination or recall.
The interest in mapping where food comes from and tracing the supply chain of food has resulted in some innovative web based tools that are creating transparency in the food supply. Some of these food maps are being built through citizen participation for data gathering, and the more people that participate the more complete and useful the maps become.
This is a post we received from a guest author for Earth Day that I held off on publishing on that day, but wanted to feature on our site. It’s a great post and everyday is Earth Day on our site, so here it is. Ellen LaConte, author of Life Rules: Why so much is going [...]
