Currently browsing Pollution

If your office environment is anything like mine, chances are you’re surrounded by rows and rows of cubical farms (covered in hideous synthetic fabric pattern!), with circulated air and very little natural light. Although its not something you think about all the time, the air quality of most offices is pretty poor, and this can [...]

WORLD OF WASTE: America’s Mass Consumption in Images
Look at this image.

Photo by Chris Jordan.
Pan out . . .

Photo by Chris Jordan.
Pan out a little more . . .

Chris Jordan. Plastic Bottles, 2007. 60×120″
That right there, is 2,000,000 plastic bottles. The amount of plastic bottles Americans throw out every five minutes.
Welcome to the work [...]

Did you know: the majority of Americans do their banking by snail mail? Yes, the most common US payment method is the handwritten check, stuffed in an envelope and stamped with 39 cents . . . or is it 41 these days?
This is silly. Not only is the paper check outdated it’s also a [...]

For many, the thought of going near a smelly dumpster, let alone touching, wearing or using the contents from inside of a dumpster is dirty, if not completely revolting. I say it’s wonderful!
Ok, ok, rewind. Though I have never riffled through the trash myself, I must admit to having tremendous respect for those who [...]

Full Disclosure: About once a week I go to Starbucks. I hide my head in shame (hey, I protested Starbucks putting locals out of business in the 90’s) and stand on line for a soy latte. I work and attend grad school in Manhattan, and Starbucks are everywhere AND they always have Silk (sometimes organic [...]

Need another reason to ditch the disposable plastic water bottle? How about fourteen reasons?
SIGG (you know the hardwearing yet elegant water bottle Co.), Elle Magazine and Laurie David’s Stop Global Warming have joined forces to up the anti-plastic rationale. The iconic dream team has commissioned fourteen leading names in fashion (yes, were talking Zac [...]

I’ve recently been told weed killer is something to avoid using in the yard. But does a little really hurt?
—David Simons, Portland, OR
A spritz here, a spritz there—no big deal, right? The problem is, you’re not the only one who’s spraying to keep the weeds down, and it’s the cumulative effect of many people using [...]

…..they are the future, and your kids’ future, and your grandkids’ future, and your great-grandkids’….because they never degrade! Watch Zaproot for more fun facts about plastics.

Isn’t it funny how a lot of us grew up with the idea that a ‘clean’ house smelled like a bunch of toxic chemicals? Since my grandma who raised me had a mild version of MCS (that’s multiple chemical sensitivity), I remember her making her own all-natural (not to mention cheap!) cleaners, but my school [...]

I don’t know who the heck that guy is on the right, but wouldn’t it be cool if a giant battery robot showed up at your house to help you recycle?
How can I recycle batteries?
—Barbara Kenopsky, Milford, CT
Somehow, it happens: You end up with a drawer full of spent batteries and no idea what to [...]