A few simple mental habits such as knowing how to quickly pick the foods with the least carbon impact, can help you make big strides in your personal sustainability. In this Earth911 Quiz, you’ll be presented a set of foods and asked to order them by their CO2 emissions, from most CO2 to least. We’re using the BBC’s annual estimates […]
We’ve heard of life hacks. How about a hack for making a difference? Make one small tweak to something you do every day — searching the internet — and you can help protect the earth’s ecosystems and provide assistance to those in need. All you have to do is use a different search engine. Surprised? You’re in good company. Most […]
When I was a little girl, I liked to spend the night with my grandmother. Her apartment, like ours, was railroad style, consisting of five rooms lined up with one leading into the next. In the middle was the little room where I slept. The only thing I didn’t like about that room: it smelled of the mothballs my grandmother […]
Braces, expanders, headgear, retainers, and eventually, dentures. Over a lifetime, that’s lots of metal, plastic, and even precious metals and hazardous materials in our mouths. Except for the occasional broken retainer, most of our dental appliances are removed at the clinic. Where do they all go? Hazardous Waste Unfortunately, most of what lives in our mouths is worse than garbage […]
Synthetic fragrance is added to products ranging from laundry detergent, household cleaners, and air fresheners to personal care products that come in contact with your skin and hair. Whether you’re bothered by a fragrance sensitivity or you just don’t want to announce your presence to everyone’s nose, you can find sustainable brands that carry fragrance-free personal care products. On average, […]
Watching butterflies and birds or spotting a rabbit contribute as much to enjoyment of the summer garden as the plants themselves. When winter comes, we often forget about the garden and the wildlife that loves it. But while we are cozy indoors, the animals we enjoyed watching all summer are still out there trying to survive. How can you make […]
Did you know that by reducing the temperature of a load of laundry from hot to cold and shortening the wash cycle by about 60%, you will reduce the volume of plastic microfiber pollution generated by 52% and chemical dyes released by 74%? The microfibers come from our synthetic clothing (especially fleece) and are a growing source of microplastic pollution. […]
Nobody wants the things they use for cleaning to poison them or pollute the planet. But for all the attention we pay to household cleaners and personal care products, toothpaste tends to be overlooked. Maybe we check for the American Dental Association seal, but most of the time the deciding factor is taste. But considering that toothpaste is a cleaner […]
The widespread use of face masks is an effective way to slow the spread of COVID-19. Many people are now wearing cloth face masks daily. Thus, they require regular laundering. Be mindful of how you wash your face covering to promote optimum health and sustainability. Because masks cover the mouth and nose, it is essential to use natural laundry products […]
The future is not written, we can make a better, sustainable future for our children according to Chunka Mui, cofounder of the Future Histories Group and co-author of A Brief History of a Perfect Future: Inventing the world we can proudly leave our kids by 2050, with Paul Carroll, a former reporter and editor at the Wall Street Journal, and […]