A family trip recently brought me back to China for a few weeks. I was in a small provincial capital — quieter than Beijing or Shanghai and the kind of place that has seen explosive population growth in the past ten years.

I spent some time this trip trying to understand the (more…)

There is a good deal of worry about the robustness of our nation’s economy. And rightly so. Especially since we have about 5 million fewer jobs today than in 2007, even as we have about 10 million more people to support with those available jobs.

In an effort to understand why economic (more…)

Water is one of our planet’s most precious resources. It is ubiquitous: we drink it, wash with it, swim in it, and sail on it. We also use it to produce things like food, paper, and cotton clothing, among others.

But what is “virtual water?” Is it invisible? Sort of. But it is equally – if not more – omnipresent. (more…)

If you had proof that you use more energy than 78% of your neighbors, would you take steps to cut back?

Turns out that most of us would.

Through a pilot with OPower, Xcel Energy has been sending customized home energy reports to 50,000 customers in Minnesota. (more…)

Urban centers both here in the U.S. and abroad are often densely populated. Naturally, therefore, such areas may be a huge source of carbon dioxide emissions from all kinds of sources, but a principal one is transportation due to the consumption of fossil fuels from driving, taking a taxi, or even riding on a bus that may not be eco-friendly. Yet, many cities at (more…)

Since the 1970s when environmental concerns first hit the political front, we have made great attempts to encourage sustainable development. These attempts include things such as recycling, carpooling, using energy efficient lights and purchasing products which do not emit harmful chemicals. What is still not being taken into account are things such as (more…)

Use of plastic shopping bags in China has dropped 50 percent since the government required stores to charge customers for the bags, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden conducted surveys that found that consumers in Beijing and Guiyang used an average of 21 new plastic (more…)

Environmentalist David Orr says the easy part of helping the United States live within its ecological limits may be passing laws, such as one that puts a price on carbon. The hard part, he maintains in an interview with Yale Environment 360, is changing a culture of consumption that causes extensive environmental damage — and unhappiness.

Long before buzzwords like “carbon footprint” entered the general lexicon, David W. Orr was working on ways to help humanity lighten its impact on the natural world. A professor of environmental studies at Oberlin College and the author of six books, including Ecological Literacy, Orr has focused on how to best educate students about using the Earth’s resources prudently. He also has been a leading proponent of sustainable design on the country’s college campuses, and was the driving force behind building Oberlin’s $7 million Environmental Studies Center, considered a model of green architecture in the U.S. (more…)

Economic growth is such an established mantra in political and economic circles that it can seem almost outlandish to question it. Tim Jackson not only questions it but affirms we can do better without it. His book Prosperity Without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet, published last year, is based on a report he wrote earlier in the year as Economics Commissioner of the Sustainable Development Commission, the U.K. Government’s independent watchdog.

The prosperity Jackson writes of is our ability to flourish as human beings. It transcends material concern. It has to do with such matters as physical and mental health, access to education, relationships and sense of community, meaningful employment and the ability to participate in the life of society. He argues that in the developed countries we can (and must) have such prosperity without the economic growth paradigm that currently rules our thinking.

Jackson recognises the difficulties of the situation we have landed ourselves with.  On the one hand growth is unsustainable, at least in its current form. The burgeoning consumption of finite resources and the heavy costs being imposed on the environment are accompanied by profound disparities in social well-being. (more…)

In recognition of World Water Day, Underwriters Laboratories (UL) has launched its new “Save Your Water” consumption calculator.

This device allows people to calculate their daily, weekly and annual water consumption by participating in an interactive virtual home walk-through online.

Their Web site also provides statistics on water consumption, as well as offering solutions to excessive household water use.

(more…)