The dangers of air pollution to one's health have been widely established. However, a new study now shows that air pollution also increases the risk for deep vein thrombosis, which are blood clots in the leg veins. For some reason, the risks are smaller in women, but for men they can be up to 70% greater, depending on the level of pollution in their community. Since it is difficult to avoid air pollution, a healthy lifestyle is now even more important.

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Los Angeles is considering taking drastic action in trying to avert the possibility of the most severe water shortage in decades. Their solution is to use heavily cleansed sewage to increase the supply of drinking water. Even some former critics of this plan claim that new technological advances will make the water safe for drinking.  read more »

It sounds like a plot from some sci-fi movie. The crows are coming. However, the large increase in the crow population in Japan is causing serious problems. Their nests, which they often build on electric poles, have caused a string of blackouts.The crows in Japan are more aggressive than in the United States, and have been known to attack small children for their food. The explosion of Japan's population of crows has been the growing abundance of garbage. Trying to rid the crows has been a difficult task.  read more »

One of the louder voices pushing green practice from fad to economically sustainable practice and viable ongoing lifestyle is Oakland environmental activist Van Jones.

Seeing a shortage of skilled labor in meeting the demands of eco-conscious alternatives such as the installation of solar panels and working with bamboo, Van Jones has a vision of bringing green change to a broader market while lifting up unskilled laborers by training them meet the needs of this expanding market.  read more »

Climate change, population growth, poverty and the destabilization of our ecosystems are the major issues addressed in a new book, Plan-B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization. Written by Lester Brown, a widely published author on ecology, and the president of Earth Policy Institute, the book provides a detailed and comprehensive overview on our planet's current state. "We are crossing natural thresholds that we cannot see and violating deadlines that we do not recognize," says Brown. "These deadlines are set by nature. Nature is the timekeeper, but we cannot see the clock."  read more »

When we think about wind turbines, we usually think about rural houses far from electrical service, or remote areas with small populations. However, with new technology wind turbines are turning up in populated residential neighborhoods.  read more »

As the world has gotten smaller and the fates of the myriad economics of the world have become inextricably entwined another trend has arisen. More recently we have seen "heightened demands for global corporations to make purchasing, employment, and investment decisions that benefit local communities."

While the views of this article may be naively dialectic and overdrawn (e.g. the arguments for localization are not counter to outsourcing which is one of the more publicized aspects of globalization), the trend towards localization is real nevertheless deserves a closer look.  read more »

Last night I had the privilege of seeing and hearing Mia Farrow speak about the genocidal situation in Darfur. She was speaking at the Sheraton Hotel, in NYC, to an audience of approximately 1000 people attending a conference given by Omega Institute, titled Being Fearless. Her speech left each and everyone of us feeling horrified, shameful, angry, devastated, but most importantly inspired. Inspired to do something about this unfathomable systematic destruction of a people.  read more »

Many of us have a drawer or a cabinet filled with paper or plastic bags. The tremendous use of these bags, especially at supermarkets, have signaled an alarm that we can no longer ignore. The disposal of these bags is an environmental nightmare. With this in mind, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels announced a new proposal. Beginning next year shoppers will have to pay a 20-cent fee for every new paper or plastic bag they use to carry away goods from grocery, drug or convenience stores. Shoppers will be encourage to bring their own bags.  read more »

A recent study of over 1200 executives, over a quarter of whom were CEO's, concluded that companies "that have delivered strong share price growth over the past three years are more proactive on corporate sustainability issues than those that have seen their share price stagnate or decline."

While clearly sustainable practice cannot be deemed the cause of share price growth it demonstrates a correlation between responsible corporate stewardship and companies' actual performance performance.  read more »