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Climate change is irrevocably linked to deforestation around the globe. Long-standing old growth forests have been decimated, destroyed and replaced by mining, farming and other short-sighted money-making interests. Almost 20 percent of the Amazon rainforests have been lost in the last fifty years. And scientists are continually warning that this dire situation is bringing us dangerously close to…

Farmers have been using pesticides on their food crops for decades. That’s not news. But what IS news is that these pesticides are causing serious harm to humans. Some pesticides have been involved in the pathogenesis (the development) of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases as well as various disorders of the respiratory and reproductive tracts. Many pesticides are endocrine disruptors,…

Are Solar Covered Canals California’s Best Solution to Drought?

Across the globe, drought has become one of the most prevalent and critical issues of our times. In the western US, it’s a growing disaster – with California’s 37.1 million people, the largest state population in the country, facing severe drought conditions. In 2022, fifty-eight California counties were given USDA disaster designations. There is no easy fix, no simple go-to that will ease…

5 Things You Need To Know To Create A Successful Vegetable Garden To Grow Your Own Food – an Interview with Martita Mestey

As we all know, inflation has really increased the price of food. Many people have turned to home gardening to grow their own food. Many have tried this and have been really successful. But others struggle to produce food in their own garden. What do you need to know to create a successful vegetable garden to grow your own food? In this interview series, called “5 Things You Need To Know To…

Water without plastic — a choice we can make

Photo by tanvi sharma on Unsplash Plastic bottles are insidiously convenient. They’re easy to pack, relatively lightweight and inexpensive. Every year, over 481 billion plastic bottles are purchased across the globe. In the US., we buy one million of them every day. Yet 91 percent of the world’s water bottles don’t get recycled, ending up in landfills, oceans or waterways. The effects of this…

Eco-Anxiety – a Real, Often Frightening Thing

The idea of climate change affecting people’s well-being may seem like science fiction. Yet evidence of climate change has barreled full force into our lives – more frequent, more destructive hurricanes; rising temperatures; melting glaciers and disintegrating ice shelves; severe droughts. This has given rise to what’s termed eco-anxiety. And psychologists are paying attention. A 2017 report by…

An Innovative Solution to Plastic Bag Recycling

Across the globe, we use 5 trillion plastic bags per year. According to the EPA, the U.S. uses 730,000 tons of plastic bags, sacks and wraps annually – and less than one percent of these get recycled. Few US recycling centers or curbside recyclers accept them because bags gum up and contaminate their sorting machines. An environmental scourge, few plastic bags make it to landfills. Most get blown…

An Innovative Solution to Plastic Bag Recycling

Across the globe, we use 5 trillion plastic bags per year. According to the EPA, the U.S. uses 730,000 tons of plastic bags, sacks and wraps annually – and less than one percent of these get recycled. Few US recycling centers or curbside recyclers accept them because bags gum up and contaminate their sorting machines. An environmental scourge, few plastic bags make it to landfills. Most get blown…

Could the EV Superhighway become a reality?

EV Charging Station, photo courtesy of Oregon Dept. of Transportation, flickr Electric vehicles are cool. Secretly a lot of us would love to own one. But a few factors stand in the way. For many, cost is a big consideration .And because we Americans love to travel by car, the toughest factor that keeps many from splurging on an electric vehicle is that there aren’t enough EV charging stations to…

Food waste – a huge problem

Americans discard nearly 40 million tons of perfectly good food each year With the pandemic still very wrecking havoc in our lives, it’s easy to ignore many other important problems, many hidden in plain sight One such issue is that of food waste. Here are some sobering statistics. The United States has the dubious distinction of being the global leader in food waste. America wastes between 30…

A waste problem in plain sight finds a simple recycling solution

Photo courtesy of Dean Moriarty from Pixabay  If I had to pick, I’d say that my top 2 favorite foods are really good Chinese and Japanese. And, over the years, I’ve become fairly proficient in using chopsticks to enjoy them with. I’ve even been known to quietly swipe a couple of extra one pairs from restaurants so that I can have some at home to use with my leftovers. But as an environmental…

Buyers beware. Do your favorite products test on animals?

Chimpanzee in laboratory cage. Photo courtesy of PETA

As consumers, we gravitate to products that are convenient, that are good quality, that have what we consider to be good reputations. But there’s another factor we need to consider and add to our list of “should we or shouldn’t we” when it comes to purchasing. And that is do they test their products on animals or not?

Here are two…

Julián Castro introduces extensive animal welfare platform

Editors Note: This is NOT a paid political advertisement or endorsed by anyone other than the writer / author of this blog.

On Monday, August 19th, Democratic Presidential candidate Julián Castro unveiled a platform focused on advancing the welfare of animals around the globe, both domestic and wildlife. It would raise standards for factory farms and encourage conservation efforts, including…

Wild salmon documented inside fish farm

How wild salmon are supposed to look. But you won’t see this at British Columbian fish farms. Photo by Barbara Jackson, Pixabay.

They said it couldn’t happen. They said wild salmon would never breach penned-up fish farms. They were wrong. And that’s a big problem.

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We don’t need a Border Wall. There’s a good solution in plain sight

Trump’s border wall would disrupt and potentially destroy the already fractured habitat of endangered species such as this jaguar. Photo courtesy of Bureau of Land Management

President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency has escalated tensions all across the southern border. The large majority of residents who live near  the Mexican border don’t want the Wall built. Their reasons include…

UK research firm applies for permit to grow GM broccoli and wheat

Just when you thought your food choices were clear and safe. UK firm The John Innes Centre has applied for permission to plant experimental genetically modified wheat and broccoli in open fields at their farm outside Norwich, in the United Kingdom. The research company hopes to begin two small-scale field trials in April.

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Reducing Food Waste: Compost Production Recovers Nutrients for Soil Benefits

Green waste used as part of a mixture of ingredients for compost

When you consider our nation’s health, the quality of our food, its decreasing nutritional value and the increased degradation of our farmland, it’s not a pretty picture — and the challenges related to these issues keep growing.

By 2050 the world’s population will likely reach close to 9 billion people. To feed everyone, we’ll…