Category Archives: Sustainability

Can a $40 Washing Machine Really Bring Families Out of Poverty?

Yes, yes it can. GiraDora is a blue bucket that conceals a spinning mechanism that washes clothes and then partially dries them. It’s operated by a foot pedal, while the user sits on the lid to stabilize the rapidly churning contents. Sitting alleviates lower-back pain associated with hand-washing clothes, and frees up the washer toContinue reading “Can a $40 Washing Machine Really Bring Families Out of Poverty?”

Organic can be the right choice for fruit, sometimes

This “Green Chain”column will be published in the Lake County Record-Bee on Tuesday. “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?” – John Maynard Keynes. Forgive me please for starting this month’s column with the same John Maynard Keynes’ quote as last month’s. But new facts have been brought toContinue reading “Organic can be the right choice for fruit, sometimes”

Pink Slime gone. 1.5 Million more cattle needed to meet US demand.

Travis Arp is Ph.D. student at Colorado State University studying Meat Science and “grew up on a farm.” He says in the comments section of his post that 1,500,000 additional cattle will need to be raised to meet the shortfall due to the closure of three of four of Beef Product Inc,’s plants. That shouldContinue reading “Pink Slime gone. 1.5 Million more cattle needed to meet US demand.”

“Excuse me waiter, there are chemicals in my soup.”

My latest article for the Lake County Record-Bee Green Scene page: Regular readers of the Timberati blog or the Green Chain column know that I am not chemo-phobic. In fact, I enjoy eating chemicals because all foods are chemicals. To be afraid of chemicals is to fear our world. We cannot escape chemicals; they surroundContinue reading ““Excuse me waiter, there are chemicals in my soup.””

The Green BS-ometer Checklist: 5 red flags to watch for

My latest Green Chain column for the Lake County Record-Bee: Do you think that what commercials want to sell you and people promoting a “green” lifestyle are miles apart? They are not as far apart as you might think. Commercials sell a fantasy world; the message is usually: “If you buy this, you will beContinue reading “The Green BS-ometer Checklist: 5 red flags to watch for”

Comparing organic farming to conventional. Is one better for the environment?

Norman Borlaug, father of the Green Revolution, estimated we could feed four billion people if we used organic farming. The earth now is home to seven billion people and will probably go to nine billion before leveling off and declining, according to the United Nations. Organic farming means 50% of our world population would dieContinue reading “Comparing organic farming to conventional. Is one better for the environment?”

Unintended Consequences – risks and rewards of needing energy

In this video, Matt Palmer, filmmaker and photographer, raises good points about how we produce our energy and its consequences–intended and otherwise. Energy is important to everyone and every process on earth. We want energy to power our lives. So, as Robert Bryce, author of Power Hungry, reminds us, “We put energy in a conversionContinue reading “Unintended Consequences – risks and rewards of needing energy”

7 Billion Reasons to be Thankful

Last month, the world welcomed the birth of Danica Camacho of the Philippines.[i] The United Nations chose her to represent the arrival of the seven billionth person on Earth. And, even though the UN picked Halloween, this event is more in keeping with Thanksgiving. Danica has inherited a better world than her mother. She hasContinue reading “7 Billion Reasons to be Thankful”

Will Living Simply Help Save the World?

Last month, famed primatologist Jane Goodall was quoted on the Huffington Post as saying, “The world is in a horrible mess … We need to starting changing (sic) the way we live, from the clothes we buy to the food we eat. We need to change our greed and materialism. We need a critical massContinue reading “Will Living Simply Help Save the World?”