Today’s Earth911 inspiration is from economist Ha-Joon Chang: “People ‘over-produce’ pollution because they are not paying for the costs of dealing with it.” If we were charged fees to clean up the mess every time we polluted, would we pollute less? Earth911 inspirations. Post them, share your desire to help people think of the planet first, every day. Click the poster […]
Solar panels aren’t just found on rooftops and solar farms anymore — there are now numerous portable solar modules on the market for camping, RVs, and emergency preparedness. You can buy solar chargers with a small solar panel and battery to charge devices, larger DIY kits that can power an RV, and solar generators for backup power during outages. Portable […]
If you don’t want to restock your fish tank because the kids lost interest or your life is just too busy to maintain an aquarium, why not repurpose the tank into something useful? Upcycling is an incredibly popular hobby and can be a great way of giving an old, redundant object a new lease of life without consigning it to […]
Organic waste — from food scraps to yard trimmings — are compostable. While you can compost these items at home, most of the materials end up in commercial composting facilities or landfills. This Earth911 quiz tests your knowledge of what can be composted in a commercial composting facility and how it works. Are you ready to break down commercial composting? […]
The average water heater lasts anywhere from 6 to 13 years. These appliances require upkeep. Heating water accounts for about 20% of your household energy use, so it’s important that your water heater runs as efficiently as possible. If you hop in the shower and the water doesn’t warm up at all, your water heater may not be turning on. […]
Coffee can be complicated, and I’m not even talking about the heated debates over cold-brew versus percolator. Coffee is made from the beans of a tropical tree that may be grown on small family farms or vast monoculture plantations. Your coffee beans pass from farmers to processors to traders to importers to roasters to retailers before finding their way into […]
Frank Zambrelli, executive director of Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business Responsible Business Coalition, discusses the school’s recommendations for sustainability and transparency in the fashion industry. He explains findings in Accenture’s recently released report, Scaling ESG Solutions in Fashion, which identified seven areas of focus required for sustainable changes to the fashion industry. They include industry-wide adoption of transparent emissions […]
The stereotype that environmentalists are all white and wealthy, and its corollary that “Black people don’t do nature,” are both clearly false. The racist history of the environmental movement does continue to make many people of color, particularly African Americans, feel unwelcome in mainstream environmental organizations. But people of all races care about the environment. In fact, a recent survey […]
If you’re planning a move soon, your mind is likely a whirlwind of checklists, dates, and deadlines. Factor in the impact your impending move may have on the planet and things get even more stressful (think: the horror of lugging 10 trash bags to the curb on move-out day). Here is a list of tips that will help shrink the […]
Paul Hawken’s important book Drawdown is a blueprint for reducing humanity’s carbon footprint. Did you know that restoring 751 million acres of forest that have been cut down in the past few decades would remove 61.2 gigatons of CO2 from the atmosphere by 2050? This land is already abandoned and degraded, but the forest will restore itself and the ability […]