The Yangtze River loses a Friend
Dolphins are beautiful miraculous creatures. They are gentle and smart aquatic mammals. Due to heavy over fishing, ship traffic, and pollution, it is a sad announcement to say that the Baiji white dolphin has now been declared extinct. This marks the first time in over 50 years that a large…
Give Stuff or Give an Experience
I was in REI today looking at ice axes when I noticed info on Sierra Club’s Building Bridges to the Outdoors which conducts programs that get inner city kids out into nature. There are a few reasons that I believe in these kinds of programs and the people behind them.…
The Avoided Topic
Original illustration for Eco Chick by Gregory Grigoriou of I See Dots The Problem This month, one of E/ The Environmental Magazine’s feature stories is about the the myth of the population dearth, the idea that we’re not replacing ourselves at quite the rate we have during the heights of human population growth, which occurred…
Dumping once again
This morning I read this article about toxic sludge being dumped by a tanker in the ocean and washing up on the shores of the Ivory Coast. The kid in the picture above has sores on his body from exposure to this stuff. People have gotten ill from…
More Green Issues Than You Can Shake a Stick At
After the double-header of the green Elle and Vanity Fair issues, a plethora of mags have shown some planet-consciousness. I’ve been collecting these for the past 2 months or so; all sorts of mags covering green topics from various angles. Here they are, in no particular order: Innovative Home, Fall…
Arcosanti
For some reason, in my life, Arcosanti keeps appearing whenever I’m doing research on something else. I’m drawn to this experiment in human living and I think that means that someday I will end up there. Paolo Soleri, and architect who studied with Frank Lloyd Wright, is the father of Arcosanti,…
Global Warming Debate in Supreme Court
When I first read that the Supreme Court is debating global warming and whether the U.S. Government should have more stringent emissions regulations on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from automobiles, my heart skipped a beat. The Supreme Court is going to decide whether the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should treat…
It Starts With a Lightbulb
The other day I was shocked (as a new CA resident) when I looked at my electric bill for the month. Considering that I’m really conscious about turning off lights and appliances and don’t own an air conditioner, it got me thinking about what I could do as a…
Clearwater Great Hudson River Revival
I had the best time at the Hudson River Clearwater Revival this weekend! It is one of the oldest environmental summer festivals in the country (over 35 years!) and still going strong! In fact I think there were more people this year than I’ve seen in awhile. I attended this gathering as a kid…
Pollan Speaks Out
Grist has a great interview with Michael Pollan, author of the new book Omnivore’s Dilemma (I’m reading it now! So far, it’s pretty amazing…) in their newsletter this week. My favorite quote was Pollan’s assertion that the connections between what we eat and the environment are strong (duh), and tie…
