Sustainable Living
Threats To Corals
Coral reefs are some of the most spectacular sights in the world. People call them the “rainforests of the sea.” These colorful otherworldly places are some of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth. Coral reefs provide a home for 25% of all marine species and they flourish even though ocean waters that provide few nutrients typically surround them.
Food Waste: Now Illegal In Seattle
Previous Earth Wise segments have explored the global problem of food waste. In developing nations, inefficient harvesting and poor storage result in less than half of produced crops making it to the marketplace. In the U.S., food waste tends to occur in grocery stores, homes, and restaurants.
Wind Power In Denmark
Denmark has been a world leader in wind power for a long time. Its wind energy policy had its origins in the 1970s oil crises. The country first embraced nuclear power, but abandoned it in the 80s based on public opposition.
Let’s End Factory Farming!
It’s quite clear that factory farms are only able to produce their cheap goods at the expense of the animals, the environment, and human health. And while it could be easy to feel powerless against the factory farming machine, there are several viable alternatives.
Factory Farming And Human Health
Factory farms produce cheap goods. But while consumers may be happy with how much these products cost at the grocery store, there is a much bigger price paid by the animals, the environment – even human health.
What Is Factory Farming?
We should start by clearing up a myth: A factory “farm” is no farm at all. It’s quite simply an animal factory built for efficiency. Approximately 70 billion farm animals worldwide call these places home – including chickens, turkeys, cows, pigs, goats, and sheep.
Goats As Allies In Removing Problem Plants
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s last census, there are more than 2.5 million goats living in America. The majority are reared for their milk, meat, and mohair wool. But a small but growing number have been recruited for a new task: combating nuisance and invasive plants.
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Hope For Sea Turtles
If you are fortunate enough to have encountered sea turtles while swimming, snorkeling or diving in the sea, then you know how remarkable these creatures are. The seven species of these large reptiles are real throwbacks to the age of dinosaurs.
Chocolate That Is Less Bittersweet
February is a boon for the chocolate industry, with heart-shaped confections found everywhere from drugstores to gas stations. Of course, the same could be said of almost any holiday, as chocolate has become a quintessential part of Easter, Mother’s Day and more.
Sustainable Flowers
It’s that time of year when many of us will buy flowers for those we love. After all, what’s more quintessentially romantic than a bouquet of red roses? But what it takes for those roses to get to the refrigerated case of your local florist is decidedly less romantic.
Restoring Rainforests
Forests play a major role in the Earth’s carbon cycle. Trees pull carbon dioxide out of the air and lock the carbon away in their wood and in the soil beneath them. Over time, we have cut down or damaged at least three-quarters of the world’s forests and that destruction has been an important contributor to climate change.
Algal Biofuel
At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and at dozens of other labs nationwide, scientists are trying to develop biofuels made from algae. Right now, a gallon of fuel made from algae costs four times as much as a gallon of conventional diesel, but researchers believe that the costs will come down dramatically over time.
Global Warming And Wine
It has often been argued that global climate change is affecting the less fortunate more than the wealthy. Having money can insulate people from such problems as rising food prices and flooding in coastal areas. Apart from that, much wealth is generated by industries that contribute to global warming as opposed to combating it.
Cleaning Up Carbon Pollution And Improving Air Quality
States have a chance to safeguard more than the climate when they adopt the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed Clean Power Plan. That’s because many of the strategies used to reduce carbon dioxide emissions have the added benefit of improving air quality.
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Hidden Water Usage
Water is essential for life and we use lots of it. What few of us think about is how much of our water use is hidden. This is the water used to produce the food we eat and the things we use in our daily lives. When this is added in, each person consumes between 500 and 1,300 gallons per day, or as much as 480,000 gallons a year, enough to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
Ensuring The World’s Parks Protect Biodiversity
Every ten years, the International Union for Conservation of Nature hosts the World Parks Congress. In November, more than 6,000 people from 170 countries descended on Sydney, Australia to assess the state of the world’s protected areas at the sixth Congress.
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The European Union Can Ban GMO Crops
The widespread use of genetically modified organisms or GMOs in crops is an increasingly controversial practice. Here in the US, there are battles over labeling laws and disclosures about which foods contain GMOs and which ones don’t.
Massachusetts and Solar Power
Massachusetts is not known for its sunny climate and can’t compete with California where huge solar-power farms in the desert can produce hundreds of megawatts of electricity. Nevertheless, the state is enthusiastically embracing solar energy wherever it can.
Recycling Christmas Trees
