When the headlines told us that the global warming debate was over, it seemed like we environmentalists could breathe a collective sigh of relief. The United States elected a cap-and-trade-sympathetic administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency says it is going to exert some...

"We are each other's harvest; we are each other's business; we are each other's magnitude and bond." Gwendolyn Brooks

Dave Lowenstein and Gwendolyn Brooks hooked me. Just over two years ago, I was contemplating my stay in Lawrence, Kansas and sorting out future plans....

Roderick Bremby, Secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, is the first person in U.S. history to deny permits for coal plants on the basis of carbon dioxide emissions. (Read more about the decision here or watch Bremby break it down...

Here's the thing:

I eat organic food, I use a non-PVC yoga mat, I try to wear clothes that aren't made in sweatshops, I drink fair trade decaf. But my eco-friendly life hadn't really taken a trip south, so to speak,...

On October 18, 2007, Kansas made history. Health and Environmental Secretary Roderick Bremby made the landmark decision to deny permits for two new 700 MW coal-fired power plants proposed by Sunflower Electric, on the grounds that carbon emissions from the plants...

From Seventh Generation's discussion on "Children and Chemicals," featuring Jane Houlihan of the Environmental Working Group, pediatrician Dr. Alan Greene, Courtney Loveman of Seventh Generation and moderated by Simran Sethi.

We can thank WWII for...

Life Cycle is a series about the stories of our stuff.

It's been a long day. The wine has been uncorked. Now, a shoulder rub, perchance? With candles, please.

Candles are sort of deceptive, in environmental terms, because they seem so...well, good....

A portion of this interview first appeared in Heeb.

Governor Sarah Palin has demonstrated that anyone can run for office. This is both good and bad. This mini-series of posts is about what it means to be green in blue and red...

Life Cycle is a series about the stories of our stuff.

Shall we raise a glass to the fact that no other item in our Life Cycle series achieves such praise for traveling long distances, in heavy glass bottles, by way of fossil fuel powered planes, boats and automobiles,...

Life Cycle is a series of posts that looks at the environmental impacts of everyday things.

Last week we talked about popcorn. Chemically flavored, over-packaged, jacked-up-corn-crop-derived popcorn. Now we reach for one more corn-related product to round out our Blockbuster night: soda.

The incongruous convergence of our fiscal meltdown, an energy crisis and the alarming velocity of climate change is challenging and scary. It requires immediate action. But some options come with too high a cost. Nuclear energy is one of them. In last night's debate,...

Sarah Palin and John McCain have always been for it. Joe Biden was sort of against it before he was for it and Barack Obama embraces it. To what am I referring? The alleged panacea of clean coal....

Life Cycle is a series of posts that looks at the environmental impacts of everyday things.

Fall is upon us, and you've decided to make it a movie night. Footloose on the screen, popcorn in a Tupperware bowl. You're living a very American...

Life Cycle is a series of posts that looks at the environmental impacts of everyday things.

Oh baby, it's been quite a day. You did your time in your cube, got in a little vinyasa, grabbed some take-out , and...

Life Cycle is a series of posts that looks at the life and death of everyday things.

Your Styrofoam lunch container of Mooshu pork is labeled with the recycling number 6, a digit with evil connotations. Coincidence?

Styrofoam is one of the...

The Republican mandate to "drill, baby, drill" is shortsighted and unsustainable, yet even the most rational of Dems is now kowtowing to this call. On September 16, the House of Representatives debated a bill House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) unveiled last week....

Life Cycle is a series that looks at the birth, life and death of everyday objects.

"Apply a firm but gentle pressure on the food, just enough to keep the food from falling from the chopsticks. Too much pressure is more likely...

Congress returns to Washington this week, in the wake of Republican chants to "Drill, Baby, Drill." With gas hovering around $4 per gallon, energy policy and offshore drilling continues to be a red-hot issue.

Arguments over offshore drilling intensified last month when...

Life Cycle is a series of posts that looks at the life and death of everyday things.

In our blogging journey through everyday things, we've covered your morning routine--from workout to shower, from coffee to cubicle.

Now it's lunchtime, baby. Panda Garden....

Life Cycle is a series of posts that looks at the life and death of everyday things.

Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on you.

In the United States, we pay for our tap water (either through a...