parkgarden2: April 2012

Monday, April 30, 2012

What Exactly is Mad Cow Disease and Are You at Risk of Getting It?

misteraitch/CC BY-NC 2.0Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, often called mad cow disease, made the news most recently when the USDA confirmed its fourth case in a dairy cow in central California. According to the USDA statement " t was never presented for slaughter for human consumption, so at no time presented a risk to the food supply or human health. Additionally, milk does not transmit BSE."A Closer Look at Mad Cow

Yosemite Time-Lapse Video of Landscapes and Stars Is Unbelivable

Shawn Reeder/Video screen captureYou can't go through life not having watched this video created by Shawn Reeder. That's all there is to it. It's spectacular.And if you don't feel some level of humble appreciation for the grandeur of nature after watching it, you might want to check that your heart is still beating.I mean really. Look at this still:Shawn Reeder/Video screen captureAs Brent Rose says, "Go full screen HD or go

Sunday, April 29, 2012

3M Rolls out TEKK Protection™ safety line featuring WorkTunes™ radio equipped earmuffs

I recently reviewed WorkTunes earmuffs for 3M, a part of their new TEKK Protection line of safety equipement aimed at the DIY crowd. An easy review since I have used the product in the past although it did not have the TEKK Protection brand, it was a 3M product and virtuallyindistinguishablefrom the current model. I tend to like radio equipped ear protection but as a supervisor it's important for me not to encourage their use among employees. I'm a strict believer in the need for all of your

Saturday, April 28, 2012

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Help End Energy Poverty, Take the Power the World Pledge

© Power the WorldAddressing energy poverty—that is, the fact that roughly 1.3 billion people around the world doesn't have access to electricity, and more don't have a reliable supply of it—is a key part of both reducing the number of people living in poverty and reducing environmental degradation.While it'll be a key part of the Rio+20 conference happening in June, and is indeed the focus of the UN's Sustainable Energy For

Gorgeous (and Free) Wallpapers Put Conservation Center Stage On Your Cell Phone

Ocean Conservancy/viaI just stumbled across a great gift from the Ocean Conservancy to anyone with a smart phone or Facebook profile. The organization is providing free wallpapers of some spectacular images of marine life. They look beautiful.Ocean Conservancy/viaOcean Conservancy/viaThere's also images you can use as your Facebook Timeline cover image. Nothing like adding a little of the natural world to our techy tools. Thanks

The Week in Cleantech: X-Ray Power for Gadgets, A Bullish Cleantech Market, Energy Apps and More

jbcurio/CC BY 2.0Top stories on our radar this week in the world of clean tech.
SparkFun Electronics Travels to the USA Science and Engineering Festival to Host Electronics Workshops for Kids
"We believe in revitalizing the imagination of today's youth through tinkering and playing with electronics," explained Lindsay Levkoff, director of education at SparkFun. "To promote constructivism and exploration in the STEAM (Science,

Are You Hip to the Rose Family?

Of rose hips, Marie Iannotti says, "Many people don't realize how closely related roses and apples are until they see what look like crab apple clusters hanging from their rose bushes." It's true: Many members of the rose family are not readily identified as such by the non-botanist. In his poem, The Rose Family, Robert Frost had a little fun with this fact :

The rose is a rose,
And was always a rose.
But now the theory goes
That the apple's a rose,
And the pear is, and so's
The plum, I

Friday, April 27, 2012

Environmental Collective Declares War on Trees

© ShanonymousIt's an issue we have covered for years: the question of whether trees should be cut down to keep solar panels in sunlight. Now we learn from a submission received over the transom that there is a new environmental movement to stop shade, and ensure that every photon of precious sunlight reaches those solar panels on the roof.The artists of this little bit of agitprop remix are "a bit tired of all the earnest Earth

Speed Kills; Toronto's Top Doctor Wants Speed Limits Reduced to Protect Pedestrians

Lloyd Alter/CC BY 2.0The Toronto Board of Health recently issued a terrific report, Road to Health: Improving Walking and Cycling in Toronto that lists all the reasons one might want to promote walking and cycling, including better health, reduced obesity, lower rates of diabetes and more. Except this is Toronto, where everything is looked through the lens of the War on the Car, raging between the Mayor and his suburban driving

Microsoft Designing Landfill-Fueled, Off-Grid Data Center

© MicrosoftMicrosoft has launched a new research project that it's calling its Data Plant program where the tech giant will design and prototype a data center fueled by biogas, located right at the source. The data center will be powered by fuel cells that run on biogas captured directly from an on-site landfill or wastewater treatment plant, both rich sources of methane, instead of using biogas from the grid.Locating the data

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Texas College Converts its Football Field into a Working Farm

Handpicked Nation/Video screen captureThis may come as a shock to fans of Friday Night Lights, but Texas isn't all about football. At least, Paul Quinn College in Dallas isn't. The school took its football field and converted it into a working farm.The WE Over Me Farm, which covers 57,000 square feet, was a response to the lack of healthy food options in the economically depressed area. Highland Hills, the neighborhood where Paul

Fragile Earth App Shows Dramatic Before & After Photos of Human Influence on the Planet

© Fragile EarthIf a photo is worth a thousand words, then before and after photos are beyond words. Our impact on planet earth is no secret. We've changed it in ways that make it unrecognizable in many ways. A new app for iPhones and iPads called Fragile Earth shows the dramatic before and after images of those very changes.Divided into six sections -- including Natural Phenomena, Warming World, Water’s Power, Deserts and

GE's Hybrid Train Batteries Will Back Up Solar and Wind Power

© Arista PowerGE's transportation department began a huge RD effort in 2009 to develop nickel-salt batteries for a host of applications, with a plan to first put them in hybrid locomotives, but it looks like renewable energy power storage came calling first. GE is partnering with Arista Power to use its Durathon batteries to help integrate wind and solar power into the grid with smart grid technology.Wind farms in Hawaii, Texas

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

4 Ways Get Clean Energy Off the Subsidies Treadmill

One constantly hears that in the world of energy, government shouldn't pick winners. Get the feds out of the way and let the market work its will.

People in the know understand, of course, that the emperor is prancing about in his altogether. Government has been picking winners since the republic's early days. There is no such thing as a Randian free market in energy and there never has been. The oil depletion allowance, for example, is the gift that keeps on giving

U.S. DriversTo Save $68 Billion by 2030 Under Obama's 54.5 MPG Standard

Flickr/CC BY 3.0Do it For the Earth, Or At Least for the Money...
Cleaning up our air, water, ground. Stabilizing our climate. Making life better for people all around the world. Saving endangered animal species. All these things should be enough in themselves to convince most of us to do the right thing for the environment. But to many people, unless there's cold hard cash on the line, motivation doesn't come. That's too bad,

Using sod to resurface your lawn

It's a great time of the year for lawn projects, especially lawn renovations. Using sod instead of seed is costlier and more labor intensive, but the benefits are dramatic. Nothing beats having an instant lawn as opposed to waiting weeks for seed to sprout and fill in.

Renovating a lawn is not as easy as buying some sod and throwing it on the ground. The soil should be tested for nutrient requirements and composition. The surface must be prepared properly to provide a smooth surface and

Examples of Small Mailbox Gardens

As Jamie McIntosh, About.com Guide to Flowers, notes, the mailbox area is a "highly visible part of your property." As such, it deserves a planting to spruce it up. I have seen properties otherwise nicely-landscaped where the owners have ignored the mailbox area, instead leaving the mailbox all by its little old lonesome, a foreign object sticking out like a sore thumb.

Unless you sport an unusual mailbox that really makes a statement all by itself, I believe design-conscious homeowners

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Can Social Media Really Help Make a Difference for the Environment?

Mat McDermott/CC BY-NC-ND 3.0Social media is applauded as a means of engaging crowds, creating change and encouraging action. To see where the perception of social media’s power originated, we need only to look at the pivotal role it played in political events such as the Arab Spring and Green Revolution in Iran. Not to mention those here at home – think: #occupy.Social media certainly helps spread the word, but does it mean

Ferrari Thrill Goes Mass Transit -- First Private European Rail Company Tickets on Sale Now

Treno Italo/CC BY 2.0Catching sight of a streak of red flashing across the countryside always raises excitement amongst fans of Italian design. Aerodynamic design...sleekly styled...yes, a Ferrari has been spotted. The brief spike of adrenaline fades, though; even if that high speed thrill were within fiscal reach, the environmental cost can hardly be justified.No more. The "Ferrari thrill" has gone mass transit. When the European

Incredible OLED Lighting Installations by Philips Shows Off First "Functional Lighting"

© PhilipsOLED technology has taken center stage at Philips as the future of lighting our indoor space. For the first time, Philips has created an OLED panel that is bright enough for functional lighting, and the company has unveiled its new chandeliers at the Light + Building 2012 fair.According to OLED Info, "This is the first OLED to hit the "functional lighting" barrier as Philips calls it with its high brightness - 115 lm."

Monday, April 23, 2012

Next Gen TVs Could Be As Thin As Paper With New Breakthrough in Printed Electronics

© Georgia TechYou may think your latest television is thin, you may even think that the super-thin screens of OLED TVs are impressive. But is it paper thin? The future of printable electronics promises to push the limits to how thin devices can be, and how few materials may be needed to manufacture them -- and Georgia Institute of Technology has hit a milemarker in that race.The challenge to manufacturers currently working on

Answers to 3 Common Beginner Gardening Questions

The Daily Green's senior editor Dan Shapley asked Roger Doiron, a 2009 Heart of Green Award winner, and founder of Kitchen Gardeners International 13 questions about gardening for beginners and gardening for politicians. Doiron and Kitchen Gardeners International were a big part of the movement that convinced Michelle Obama to plant that organic garden at the White House. It was Kitchen Gardeners International that launched the

15 Incredible Vertical Gardens

Siam Paragon Vertical Garden
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living wall vertical garden in siam paragon mall in bangkok
With the dream of bringing lush greenery to urban spaces, and reimagining the concept of the "built environment," architects have been establishing vertical gardens (aka living walls) all over the world. The plants in vertical gardens help absorb toxins in the air, regulate moisture, reduce reflection of light and heat, and they may even

10 Common Lawn Care Mistakes

Sometimes it's more effective to remind people what they should do by pointing out first what they shouldn't do. I've compiled a list of what I consider the ten most common lawn care mistakes. Most lawn care mistakes are a result of over-doing things rather than negligence or ignorance.

Proper mowing, feeding, watering and maintenance of a lawn is best achieved through a knowledgeable approach to lawn care. Working with nature to grow the best lawn possible is easier, safer, less expensive,

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Algae-Powered Lamps, Solar Emergency Suitcases, Energy Maps of New York and More from EarthTechling

© Sandia National LaboratoriesSandia's Low-Cost Air Monitors Sniff Out Emissions"The U.S. Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories has developed a new atmospheric sampling device that is said to be smaller, lighter, less expensive and yet more accurate for taking the air samples that are used to calculate computerized climate models."Algae-Powered Street Lamps Suck Up C02"The lamps are really more like massive tanks

Saturday, April 21, 2012

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Gorgeous Kinetic Light Uses OLED Technology

© ART+COMART+COM and Selux worked together to create Manta Rhei, a lighting design that can be choreographed to move in various, beautiful ways. The design is based on OLED technology, a lighting technology that allows for very thin, very light-weigh panels to be used in lighting design -- and ultimately these will be very energy efficient.© ART+COMCurrently, OLED technology is used on smaller scales with cell phone display

Transformer Table Squares the Circle, and Vice Versa

FAN Table from Mauricio Affonso on Vimeo.Mauricio Affonso circles the square with the Fan Table, made from 400 slats of wood.The table can be quickly transformed into an array of different shapes and sizes to suit its context or use. The surface can freely expand, contract and revolve in an effortless fan like movement of the hand.© Mauricio AffonsoThe designer is quoted in Inhabitat: “Furniture can be quite limited

An Aerial View of BPA: Where Are We Since the Rejected Ban?

krossbow/CC BY 2.0BPA is the chemical that just won’t melt back into the background--too many people have chosen sides on the issue. It’s a controversial industrial chemical that has been used since the 1960‘s and is found in epoxy resins that act as a protective lining in metal-based cans. It’s also used to make hard plastic known as polycarbonate.The FDA is unwilling to go for what Marian Nestle calls the

Friday, April 20, 2012

Midway's Green Sea Turtles Dine on Jellyfish For Lunch (Photos)

© Jaymi HeimbuchOn Midway Atoll's Sand Island there is a strip of sand on which you can find as many as 40 Green sea turtles on a sunny day. The area is called Turtle Beach for obvious reasons, and there is a good reason they come up here to rest.© Jaymi HeimbuchMidway Atoll is part of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, a double World Heritage Site and the largest conservation area established by the US to date.

3 Compost Bins for Small Spaces

© Presto ProductsMany people who are interested in composting do not do it because they think compost bins have to be large, smelly, rodent magnets and eyesores. If aesthetics are a major concern for you, a commercial compost bin may be the answer.Here are three compost bins that are perfect for urbanites and people with limited space to devote to composting.1. Geobin Composting SystemThe Geobin Composting System does not look

Buy-One-Give-One: Not Always As Generous As It Sounds

micah ogle/CC BY 2.0The following guest post was written by Chad Hamre, founder and CEO of Ethical Ocean.There was a time when ‘BOGO’ was all about what you get – a free pair of shoes, cup of coffee, a shirt. These days, the acronym loved by marketers has been transformed to be more about what you give.TOMS Shoes popularized the model in which for every pair of shoes purchased, a second pair is donated to a child in need.

How to take care of your lawn in a drought

Many parts of the country have been experiencing extended periods of drought and water restrictions that have caused us to rethink our use of water for everything from washing our beloved cars to watering our beloved lawns. Faced with shrinking reservoirs and a lack of rainfall, municipalities have enacted water restrictions and all out bans on domestic water usage for non-essential reasons.

Lawns ultimately come under intense scrutiny for their perceived gluttonous need for water but

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Breakthrough Rivals Speed of Natural Photosynthesis, Sets Solar Energy World Record

A Humble Perspective/CC BY-SA 2.0Researchers at the Swedish KTH Royal Institute of Technology have created a catalyst that can break water into oxygen and protons (which become hydrogen) at a turnover rate of 300 oxygen molecules per second per catalyst. The rate sets a world record for "turnover frequency," and represents an important breakthrough in artificial photosynthesis.A major branch of research into harvesting light energy

When Neighbors Meet to Compare Energy Bills, Much Bigger Ideas Are Born

Transition Town Totnes/Video screen captureWhen I posted about the award-winning Transition Streets program, I wrote about neighborhood groups which coached each other in energy conservation and lower carbon living. But that initial focus on cutting each others carbon at home seems to have spawned something much bigger and more exciting—a deeper, more collaborative sense of community.From solar power spreading across rooftops on

Ask the Experts: Where's All The Cellulosic Ethanol We've Been Promised?

PoetPics/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0Many environmentalists have little love for first generation ethanol and for years we've been promised that the next generation of biofuels, made from waste cellulose, but we have yet to see it replace corn ethanol. Why is cellulosic ethanol moving so slowly?Matt Merritt of POET answers,"Five years ago Congress passed the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, telling energy entrepreneurs that the

Don't fall for greenwashing

The "green" revolution is a wonderful thing. A bold step forward for the sake of humanity and the future. With so many products going natural, organic, and sustainable though, it can become difficult to decipher what's what. Is that product really green, or is the label referring simply to a color? Be on the lookout for greenwashing.

The word green is turning into an overused buzzword divorced from its new meaning and even farther removed from the original green industry of lawn care, golf

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Only 1/4th of Gulf Residents are More Concerned About the Environment After BP Spill

This, evidently, wasn't catastrophic enough.New research from the University of New Hampshire takes a look at the long-term reactions of those impacted by the BP spill—and finds that only a relatively small fraction have grown more concerned about other environmental issues.Lawrence Hamilton, professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire, told Science Daily that "About one-fourth of our respondents said that as a

Urban Multifamily Passivhaus in Malmö is Cool and Modern

© Kjellgren Kaminsky ArchitectureThere is a lot of discussion going on in North America right now about whether the Passive House standard is too tough and inflexible for the climate. There is no question that it is tough, and can be expensive. But it is cold and snowy in Sweden, and they seem to manage quite nicely.For example, Joakim Fredrik of Kjellgren Kaminsky Architecture have sent us their latest, Salongen 35 in Malmö,

Weekday Vegetarian: Spicy Three-Bean Chili

Photo: Kelly Rossiter/CC BY 2.0This recipe for spicty three-bean chili got mixed reviews at the dinner table last night. I liked it very much, my daughter found it a bit too spicy for her taste, and my husband didn't like it at all. My husband tolerates legumes more than enjoys them, so I guess the combination of three beans together was just too much for him. Despite the Goldilocks nature of the responses, I liked the spiciness of

Flowering Quince Bushes: They're "the Other Quince"

What comes to mind immediately when you hear the word "quince?" Do you think of a landscaping plant? Or do you think, "Ah, quince jelly for my English muffin -- what a treat!"? I prefer guava jelly, myself, but you get the point.

The plant that produces the fruit used to make the quince jellies, jams, etc. that you can buy at the supermarket is Cydonia oblonga. Vanessa Richins Myers, About.com Guide to Trees and Shrubs, identifies it as a member of the Rose family, which also include apples

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Lost in London is a Magazine about the Beauty of London and Its Trees

Lost in London/Promo imageLost In London magazine is a lovely little booklet/magazine that comes out seasonally. Subtitled Living Simply in the City, it is filled with beautiful photos and artwork and inspiring stories of London life and wildlife.The spring edition, which is just out now, has a tree theme. With the use of photos, artist's drawings, interviews, and sculpture, the essence of trees is examined.© Lost in LondonThere

Christie's "Bid to Save the Earth" Supports Water Preservation with Live, Online Auction

© Patrick McMullan. Christie's green auction Bid to Save the Earth, presented by JW Marriott.This week, Christie's hosted their third annual green auction A Bid To Save the Earth to raise funds for top environmental non-profits Oceana, Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC), Conservation International, and the Central Park Conservancy. The auction boasts both a live, carbon-neutral event that brought in roughly $600,000 and an

Coming to Grips with Plastic Pollution, One Bird at a Time

© Jaymi HeimbuchSure, we've seen the photos. We've seen the sad images of albatross skeletons filled to bursting with plastic debris, the decaying outline of a chick or adult with the rainbow center. I've seen a lot of these photos, but when I visited Midway I wanted to see it for myself.While there is an understanding we gain from a photograph, it is difficult to get the full emotional impact of an event or sight. That is the

Enduring Lessons from the Titanic

After 100 years, what is it about the Titanic that continues its hold on our culture?

There is the human element - the quaintness of the bygone Edwardian culture, our revulsion at the rigid class separation of those days, the terror that passengers, rich and poor, must have felt as the unforgiving elements destroyed the "unsinkable" ship, the tragedy of 1,500 lives lost in the dark deep.

There is also our fascination with the arrogance of smart people who convinced

Monday, April 16, 2012

How Collaborative Consumption Could Help Shrink Government

One of the saddest things about the recent Agenda 21 conspiracy silliness has been the repeated accusation that environmentalism is somehow about abolishing private property or adopting communism.It's true that many of us believe that owning less stuff can bring you more freedom, but that's really a message about building a smarter economy, not imposing more authoritarian rules.In fact, sharing more may be key to achieving one of

How Do You Fit 1 Million More People in NYC?

divya_/CC BY 2.0On Wednesday night, I attended a discussion at the Museum of the City of New York titled "How Should New York Grow?" Based on the conservative estimate that by 2035, the city will be home to 9.2 million people (one million more than today), how can we possibly adapt our infrastructure and prepare for the long term?The panelists were Department of City Planning commissioner Anna Hayes Levin and Holliday Professor and

Graham Hill's Full-Size, Foldable Thin Bike

Fair Companies/Video screen captureWarren posted about TreeHugger founder Graham Hill's foldable, full-size Thin Bike before. It was all part of Graham's Life Edited project exploring how less stuff leads to more freedom.Now Fair Companies—the folks who have brought us video on everything from Ewok Villages in Oregon to electric bike RVs—have released a new video in which Graham explains the thinking behind the Thin Bike.Fair

Top Plants in My Landscape for April

I still have some holdovers from my March Landscaping Report performing quite well in my April landscape. Most notably, while I had some daffodils bloom early enough this year to make it into my March report, they've really come into their own in April. Another holdover worth mentioning is Lenten rose, although that plant "cheats" by sporting long-lasting sepals as its primary source of color, rather than flowers, per se.

But enough about my holdovers. It's a brand-new month with a brand-new

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Green Rural Design Aims to Slow Urban Slum Growth

msafari2425/CC BY 2.0. Street scene in Addis Ababa.Life in a well-planned city can be about as green as it gets, but rapid urbanization in the developing world is taxing the ability of cities to provide adequate housing, sanitation, and other infrastructure for the people streaming into their ever-growing boundaries.In Istanbul, where I live, the population has roughly doubled since 1990, with nearly 1,000 people, most from rural

Saturday, April 14, 2012

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Farms Use 60 Times More Land Than Cities: It's Time to Develop Terraculture

TEDx/Video screen captureWhen I posted on Jonathan Foley's 5 point plan for feeding the world, I focused on his suggestion that we need a LEED-type certification system for sustainable farming.But there's much more to Foley's work than certification systems. He has been extremely influential in drawing attention to agriculture's astounding impact on our climate, our water and our land surfaces. In this TEDx talk, he demonstrates

Maps Show a Decade of Renewable Energy Growth, 2001-2011

EIA/Public DomainThe maps above, compiled with data from the US Energy Information Administration, document the growth of renewable energy over the last 10 years (without counting hydroelectric power). Yes, the darkening blue is thanks to widespread adoption of solar, wind, and, to a lesser extent, geothermal and biomass.Those blue spots reveal some encouraging progress, especially when paired with news that coal-fired generation

Guess What? More Bike Lanes = More Cyclists (and the Weather Doesn't Matter)

© April StreeterYou've got to hand it to Rutgers researcher John Pucher - he studies what seems like common sense in transportation, and then makes it sound good.Studying bike lanes in 90 or the 100 largest American cities, Pucher and collaborater Ralph Buehl used Pearson’s correlation, bivariate quartile analysis, and two different types of regressions to measure the relationship between more and longer bike lanes and quantity

Does Spring Bring Out Your Inner Wood Nymph?

There's something about the landscape in spring that takes me back, mentally, to ancient Greece, when nymphs still traipsed through magical forests. I guess it's the freshness in the vegetation, which has such a powerful impact on my senses that I want to imagine there's something more there than meets the eye, something "divine." Maybe the moderate temperatures have a bit to do with it, too, putting me in such an exuberant mood that I can better relate to the Greeks' predilection for

Friday, April 13, 2012

Israel Hopes To Attract Flocks Of Bird Watching Tourists By Building New Ornithological Centers

toyournas flickr page/viaHula Valley Nature Reserve's CranesThe Israeli government last week approved an investment of $10 million (NIS 37 million) to construct new birdwatching centers in the Negev and Galilee. Four new centers will be built in Sde Boker, Ein Gedi, Lotan and Hatzeva. Also three existing centers will be upgraded. The proposal was formulated by Tel Aviv University and the Society for the Protection of Nature’s in

Tiny Island Nation Embraces Composting Toilets, Fights Major Water Shortages

RERUAustralia/Video screen captureFrom its ambitious goal to produce 100% clean energy by 2020 to calling out the World's biggest polluters for their role in creating climate change, the tiny island nation of Tuvalu has already shown impressive environmental leadership—and for good reason.With a population of just 10,500 and a land mass of 26 square kilometers, most of which is barely a meter above the ocean, Tuvalu faces a very

Are You Growing a Lily or a Daylily?

As Marie Iannotti notes in this article on distinguishing between "lilies" and "daylilies", the common names of the plants we use in our landscaping can be maddening at times. But before we get to that, let me mention why it even matters that you know the difference between a lily and a daylily.

You see, this isn't a word game. It's not the equivalent of trying to distinguish between "summer" and "summertime," where it really doesn't matter which term you use. No, there can be very real

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Lenders Say Fracking Presents a Mortgage Risk

Wyoming: Upper Green River Valley/CC BY 1.0When Rolling Stone wrote about the big fracking bubble, they drew comparisons to the false accounting practices that drove the recent financial crisis. But the links to financial trouble may be as real as they are metaphorical, as the State Employees Credit Union, one of North Carolina's major mortgage lenders, has just announced that fracking can represent a very real mortgage risk:The

Even Nail Polishes Labeled "Natural" May Not Be

Many popular nail polishes contain the so-called "toxic trio" of chemicals: dibutyl phthalate (DBP), toluene and formaldehyde.

While consumers seeking to avoid these chemicals may know that nail polishes often don't list them as ingredients, a startling study from the California Department of Toxic Substances Control finds that even many brands that claim to be "three free" contain harmful substances.

"When nail care products

'Miss Ruby' Buddleia: No Song, Just Great Color

'Miss Ruby' is one of the relatively new butterfly bushes on the market. The shrub is named for its floral color, which is a rich, deep pink. The individual blooms nestle into the flower spike like so many tiny rubies.

Frankly, I'm surprised the namers of 'Miss Ruby' butterfly bush didn't call it 'Ruby Tuesday,' instead (although there is already a Helenium plant named 'Ruby Tuesday'). That way, whenever I thought about the plant, the Rolling Stones song by the same name would have been

Zoo-Bound Bear Escapes Back Into the Wild

Karl Stiler/CC BY 2.0Since Shaguyik was found wandering alone as a young cub in the forests of Alaska, the 2-year-old Kodiak bear's life has been anything but ordinary. For a little over a year, the presumed orphan has been living on the ground of the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center outside Anchorage, growing accustomed to the regular meals and general safety that captivity entails -- but her keepers' best intentions were no

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Bus Blocks Driver From Fleeing After Hit-and-Run With Cyclist (Video)

It's a sad reality that many hit-and-runs involving cyclists result in serious injury or death while the drivers escape from justice -- but thanks to some luck and two quick-thinking good Samaritans, neither is the case following a dramatic accident last week in Pennsylvania.Experienced bicyclist Frank Pavlick was recently traveling in the slow-lane over Fahy Bridge in Bethlehem, PA, in accordance with road regulations, when he was

15 Earth Day Tips that Really Make a Difference

Give Up Paper Towels
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woman washing window with a cloth towel
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No matter how you look at it, paper towels create waste. During your next trip to the grocery store, buy some reusable microfiber towels, which grip dirt and dust like a magnet, even when they get wet. When you are finished with them, toss the towels in the wash and reuse them again and again. They are even great for countertops and mirrors. When you

Ruined Rec Center Gym Floor Gets Upcycled into Furniture with a Story

© Wool HatWhen the flooring of the gym at the Northglenn Recreation Center in Colorado was damaged beyond repair, it's likely many wrote it off, assuming it would end up in a dump. But a furniture company in nearby Fort Collins saw value where others saw none, and salvaged the old maple, transforming it into tables, desks and chairs that will have a fresh lifetime of use.Wool Hat, run by Matthew and Danelle Britt, is dedicated to

Time to start thinking about the sprinkler system

Last season I didn't fire up the system until late May but this spring is off to a brutally dry start. Ponds are low, the ground is dry, and an early growth spurt seems to have ground to a halt without any rain to keep things going.

An annual spring chore in northern parts of the continent is starting up the irrigation system. This task is much easier than winterizing the system since an air compressor is not needed, just a working knowledge of the sprinkler system.

Many people have their

Double Your Pleasure With 'Sugar Tip' Rose of Sharon

Do you strive for a continual sequence of bloom in your landscaping? If so, rose of sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) can be a key element in your landscaping plan. These shrubs bloom during the second half of the summer (after many shrubs have finished flowering for the year), making them a valuable commodity in our quest for floral continuity.

'Sugar Tip' rose of sharon bears a double flower, but that's not the only reason why you can "double your pleasure" with this shrub. For, in addition to

2010 Pro-Solar Billboard Goes Viral Two Years Later

Facebook/viaI was amused when I first saw the above photo of a pro-solar billboard ad in upstate New York cycle through my Facebook feed a few days ago. The slogan was evidently the brainchild of a group called Vote Solar, which was hoping to encourage New York state politicians to support clean energy legislation—back in 2010.The premise reminded me of that gag that went viral during the height of the BP spill, when Reddit

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Monsanto Threatens to Sue Vermont Over GMO Labeling Law

Just Label It/Screen captureNearly 20 states are considering a labeling requirement for genetically engineered foods, something an estimated 90 percent of American people want but aren't getting from their federal government. (Quite the opposite: Rather than listen to public calls to require labeling of GMO foods, the FDA is silencing them.)And now, it turns out, state government officials may even be dragging their feet on

Lucirmás Turns Single Wine Bottles into 3-Piece Table Sets

© VictorMaxPhotoFuture anthropologists might conclude that we were a culture of boozers, given the abundance of wine bottles we've produced. Fortunately, they might also conclude that these wine-swilling people were a resourceful lot, given the creative reuse of said bottles. We've seen wine bottles transformed into lamps and planters, ceilings and walls, earthships and entire houses -- not to mention a whole host of glassware,

How to Landscape a Side Yard

Side yards get no respect. They're often treated as if they were good for nothing but passageways between the front yard and the backyard. But why should just the front and back portions of your landscape receive all the glory? Land is land, and to achieve unity in a landscape design, all portions of the yard should receive attention.

Or maybe you do care about your side yard and would love to landscape it properly, but you have "landscaper's block" (writers get it, so why not landscapers?).

Monday, April 9, 2012

Mitt Romney: Climate Flip-flopper and Fracking Defender

Gage Skidmore via Flickr/CC BY 2.0Mitt Romney, flanked by security guards in Pennsylvania yesterday, let his tongue loose yesterday on fracking. For a man who once stood in front of a coal plant and told a crowd that it was poisoning their community and who helped design a cap and trade system, Romney sure has changed his tune when it comes to fossil fuels. Time will tell if this endears him to suburban and rural voters whom he

Surprisingly Thoughtful Zucchini Blogs From Space

© NASA"I sprouted, thrust into this world without anyone consulting me," writes a young zucchini named Rose, apparently unaware that she in fact knows no earthy home. "I am not one of the beautiful; I am not one that by any other name instills flutters in the human heart. I am the kind that makes little boys gag at the dinner table thus being sent to bed without their dessert."Clearly, NASA's most self-aware vegetable astronaut

Dice Games in the Atmosphere

If you're playing craps in a Vegas casino, rolling 11 is an 18 to 1 shot. No one would bat an eye if you rolled 11 once ... or twice. Roll 11 several times in a row, however, and eyebrows would go up. The pit boss would likely take a hard look at the dice. If you're caught with a pair of loaded dice, you'd be looking at hard time in the state pen.
Why would a cheater try to slip a pair of loaded dice onto the table? To boost the odds the dice roll will make bets pay

Arbor Day Facts

Arbor Day 2012 lands on April 27. The fact is, we always celebrate Arbor Day on the last Friday of April. As the "tree holiday," skeptics scoff at the idea of celebrating Arbor Day (trees don't really need a day off from work, right?). But if you enjoy trees at all, it's not a bad day to meditate on their significance.

That's why I'm asking you to celebrate Arbor Day 2012 with me by answering the question, "What are the best trees you can plant in a yard?" I'm sure many of you have favorites

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Medellin to Build Massive 46-Miles Urban Park Surrounding the City

Jose Duque/CC BY 2.0The second largest city of Colombia is clearly one of the most exciting places in South America regarding public space design.Since its ascension to the mayor's office in 2004, Compromiso Ciudadano (an independent civic movement formed by academics, NGO professionals, businessmen and community organizations) carried away a bold urban planning scheme oriented to green and improve the city to encourage community

Types of Flowering Trees

One way I gauge spring's approach in my yard is by observing my magnolia trees. I love it when the buds on my early-blooming magnolias are just starting to crack open, revealing a hint of long-awaited color. The forsythias aren't far behind: from bark to bud, they give off a yellowish glow in anticipation of flowering (when they're not ready to commit to spring just yet but are not very shy about their intentions, either).

Once such early bloomers have "broken the ice," we know it's only a

Landscape Ideas (Pool Landscaping Ideas)

Download Landscape Ideas here tinyurl.com Have you considered different landscaping ideas for front yard and backyard projects? Are you wanting to move forward but have not found pictures for your landscaping ideas for front yard and backyard? The motivation for healthier, peaceful and relaxed living is producing in a expanding awareness of the value of landscaping to a residence. Your strategies for home modernizing therefore, must not be restricted within the walls of your residence, but

Landscaping Ideas For Ranch Style Homes

Get Landscaping Ideas For Ranch Style Homes here tinyurl.com Have you considered different landscaping ideas for front yard and backyard projects? Are you wanting to move forward but have not found pictures for your landscaping ideas for front yard and backyard? The motivation for healthier, peaceful and relaxed living is producing in a expanding awareness of the value of landscaping to a residence. Your strategies for home modernizing therefore, must not be restricted within the walls of your

How To Landscape Your Garden And Make the Neighbours Jealous!

derwoodhomes.co.uk Garden landscapng and garden makeovers can turn your garden into a pleasureable outside experience of relaxation and socialising. Planning and obtaining Garden landscaping ideas and advise is a great way to get started. Derwood homes offers just that.. garden landscaping advice to suit your needs and budget.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Spring is the time to get your soil tested

It's the same thing every year. Spring arrives and everyone's raring to get going on their lawn, but do you know what's in your soil? Do you know the pH of your soil? Have you had your soil tested in the last three years?

Soil is the key ingredient in a healthy lawn. Knowing what makes up your soil will help guide you in your fertility program or let you know if you need to add lime. If you refuse to become acquainted with your soil, there's not much hope for your grass. Soil is that

Information About Poison Ivy

There's lots of information out there amidst the general public about poison ivy. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation, too. Then there's the kind of poison-ivy information that is not especially well known, but which blows your mind when you hear it! Here is an example of each:

The general public is aware that a tripartite leaflet is an identifying feature of poison ivy, due to the leaves of three, let it be rhyme. That's good solid information -- as far as it goes. Problem is,

Some Coral May Be Better Suited for a Warmer, More Acidic Ocean

USFWS Pacific/CC BY 2.0Aside from acting as center of biodiversity in the oceans, coral reefs play important roles in costal ecosystems and protect shorelines during storms and rough seas. Unfortunately, with ocean temperatures forecast to increase between one and three degrees Celsius by the end of the century, the outlook for these vital habitats is not good. The problem, scientists have long known, is that as water temperatures

Is It a Boxwood or a Holly?

Certain plants that are totally different from one another do, nonetheless, look alike. Or at least they bear a very similar appearance. If you know what to look for in the way of distinguishing marks -- and get up really close to them, for a proper inspection -- then sure, you can tell them apart. But it takes some effort.

Do such challenges in plant identification excite you? Yes? Then you've come to the right place here at About.com's Landscaping site. Excitement over such endeavors is

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Facebook and Opower Launch Social Energy App

social.opower.com/Screen captureFacebook is the ultimate tool for sharing our lives. We share photos of our kids, where and what we're eating, and now we can share our energy use. We reported last fall on Facebook's plans to partner with Opower and the National Resource Defense Council (NRDC) to launch a "social energy" app that will let users share and compare their home energy consumption with their friends. Today, that app went

Plain Vanilla Fail: A Matter Of Climate Change, Population Growth, & Clear-Cutting?

foam/CC BY 2.0Vanilla plant, with unripe pods.Pun-filled coverage of a world wide vanilla bean shortage is luscious desert for local, regional, and national news outlets. Here's a typical piece: Vanilla Shortage: Rocky Road For Ice Cream Prices. Just why vanilla bean production is failing, and where it is failing, sufficient to drastically increase prices all over the world, get no mention. Heaven forbid, something not-cute be

Look for Good Housekeeping's 'Green Central Station'

To bring further awareness to consumers on environmental issues and the impact of our world, Good Housekeeping will debut “Green Central Station” an interactive exhibit, during Earth Month on Monday, April 23rd, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Located at Grand Central Terminal, in Vanderbilt Hall, the display will bring to life the Good Housekeeping Research Institute, the Green Good Housekeeping Seal, and the following sponsors who produce

What Are Your Views on Earth Day?

Earth Day 2012 is right around the corner. Events will be taking place April 22, 2012. While the World Earth Day events constitute a sort of holy day for environmentalism, even die-hard greensters admit that the real focus should be on showing your "Earth Day spirit" 365 days per year.

As harmless as "Earth Day" might sound (what sane person doesn't love the earth, right?), the festival generates considerable debate. Indeed, this is as it should be. The first Earth Day, in 1970, was

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

If the Supreme Court Throws Out Health Care Law, Might Environmental Protections be Next?

Max Fischer via Flickr/CC BY 2.0If the Supreme Court were to strike down the recently-passed healthcare law as unconstitutional—which would be a bold and largely unprecedented act—some scholars and experts worry that longstanding environmental protections and labor laws might be next.So reporteth Politico: Simon Lazarus of the National Senior Citizens Law Center, has made some of the most attention-grabbing predictions, arguing

Nearly 90% of Chinese 18-25 Year-Olds Want Brands to Cut Carbon Emissions

Tom Thai/CC BY 2.0I'm not going to belabor this one too much, but Green Biz has the results of an interesting survey of 18-25 year olds and how business efforts to lower carbon emissions may influence brand loyalty.88% of this demographic in China said they want firms to cut carbon emissions, with 83% saying they'd be more loyal to companies who actually do so. In second place was South Africa (86% want corporate emissions cuts);

Does your lawn need lime this spring?

Does your soil need lime? That is the question. The best way to find out is by having your soil tested. To get your soil tested, contact your local cooperative extension office.

The results will mainly indicate fertilizer requirements and soil pH. If the soil pH is out of balance nutrient intake is impaired and it will result a general decline of the plant. If the pH is low (acidic) lime may be needed. Acidic soil is also known as "sour" soil and lime is added to "sweeten" it. If your soil pH

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Scotland Now Gets 1/3 of Its Power from Renewable Sources

Vincent van Zeijst, Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 3.0Good news out of Scotland today: The nation is now 35% powered by renewable energy. Impressive, sure. But it also means that Scotland has hit an important milestone en route to its goal of getting 100% of its power from renewable sources by 2020.Here's the BBC: The Department of Energy and Climate Change statistics said the amount generated in Scotland rose by 45% last year to 13,750

Google Introduces GMail Tap, Another Example Of How We Can Learn From The Past To Improve The Future

.. / .-- .- ... / ...- . .-. -.-- / . -..- -.-. .. - . -.. / - --- / .-.. . .- .-. -. / .- -... --- ..- - / --. -- .- .. .-.. / - .- .--. --..-- / - .... . / -. . .-- / .--. .-. --- --. .-. .- -- / ..-. --- .-. / .- -. -.. .-. --- .. -.. / .--. .... --- -. . ... / - .... .- - / .-.. . - ... / -.-- --- ..- / ..- ... . / --- -. .-.. -.-- / - .-- --- / ..-. .. -. --. . .-. ... / - --- / . -. - . .-. / -- ---

Students Clean Up Lake, Discover Sunken Treasure

bgreenlee/CC BY 2.0Each week, students from St. Paul's Elementary School in Oakland, California, volunteer their time pick up trash around their community. But on a recent outing to clean a polluted lake downtown, one group sixth-graders found something more than just sense of civic pride.While scouring the banks and trolling the depths of Oakland's Lake Merritt for plastic bottles, cigarette butts, and assorted garbage last week,

Monday, April 2, 2012

Planning A Single-Issue Vote For This Fall May Be The Best Thing You Can Do For Earth Day

US Senate/Public DomainAbove, directly cited from the US Senate website, are names of all 47 US Senators who recently voted against and 51 other Senators who voted for "A bill to eliminate unnecessary tax subsidies and promote renewable energy and energy conservation" (S.2204).Do something now to ready yourself for the coming Earth Day. Go to that official US Senate web page link above. Make a bookmark and note any of those

Snails that Produce Electricity Could Lead to an Army of Insect Cyborgs

© Clarkson UniversityWhen it comes to animals, electricity is more often associated with the Energy Bunny than with the snail- but that may be about to change. Researchers at Clarkson University have successfully implanted a biofuel cell in a living snail. The cell produces electrical energy using the snail's natural glucose as fuel.According to Clarkson, the snail will be able to operate normally in a natural environment, while

SUV-Driving Congressmen Blame Obama for High Cost of Filling Up at the Pump

Andrij Bulba via Flickr/CC BY 2.0Republican congressmen are outraged—outraged!—that they are paying so much money for gas, and that Obama won't immediately turn the nation into a self-serving petro-state to bring costs down.To demonstrate their anger at the president's unwillingness to wave his magic scepter over the oil futures market to instantly lower gas prices, Republicans are aiming a variety of publicity stunts and angry

Selecting Rock Garden Plants

Some readers have sent in their own rock garden ideas, one even writing at more length about a rock garden perched on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Feel free to add your own thoughts to these resources.

What makes a good rock garden plant? Well, the answer to that query depends on how the question is framed. There are certain plants that we could call "classic" choices for rock gardens. But everybody's situation is different, and a plant that is a great choice for one person might not be so

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Google's Super-Efficient Belgium Data Center Operates at 95 Degrees

ketmonkey/CC BY-ND 2.0Google's St. Ghislain, Belgium data center has made news before for running without the use of any chillers, the biggest energy-hogs in a data center. The data center uses fresh air cooling for its server areas and, up until recently, was allowing them to run at temperatures up to 80 degrees, sending traffic to other facilities to be processed when it got too hot, but now the tech giant is pushing the

Living Planter Chandelier Combines Lighting with Cacti

© Omer Arbel Combining lighting and plants isn't as strange as it might first seem, especially if they are hung from the ceiling. Canadian designer Omer Arbel's "38 series" planter chandelier is another striking iteration of this eccentric marriage, using mouth-blown glass and a variety of plants.© Omer Arbel Designboom notes that the chandelier is seen and acts as a hub of activity, and uses a "mechanical conveyor system" in its

Serving Dandelion Wine to April Fools

Do you have a bad neighbor who criticizes your landscaping? Are you never quite quick enough to think of something witty to say in response to the charge of bad landscaping, while remaining civil? Maybe it's time you were supplied with a little ammunition with which to defend yourself....

This being April Fool's Day, though, you should be aware that I offer these comeback lines with tongue thoroughly tucked in cheek. Are the jokes in this article meant to be delivered by or to April fools?

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