On Saturday May 9, World Fair Trade Day will celebrate its 60th birthday with a Big Bang. “Big Bang” is the celebration theme this year, which means everyone’s invited to ''bang something (anything) with spoons, sticks, hands, fingers, friends, family, neighbours, a crowd, an audience, a solution. Beat poverty beat climate change beat economic ...

It’s pretty clear that we, as a nation, need to reduce our reliance on gasoline. How can we accomplish this? One answer that frequently gets discussed is raising the price of gas (which would be accomplished by taxing it more heavily). In Europe, gas prices are more than double the prices paid by Americans. It seems to work, because Europeans use ...

If you’re stuck for Mother’s Day gift ideas this year we’ve found a great way to do good by your mom and Mother Nature. A program called HopeLine run by telecommunications giant Verizon collects out of date and no longer used cell phones, batteries and accessories at its nationwide locations. Some phones and accessories are recycled, while others ...

Recently, several students at a California school became ill after drinking Aquafina bottled water, thrusting the issue of bottled water regulation into the spotlight. One investigator reported that the water the students drank seemed to contain a “bleach-like substance.” How could the quality of such a seemingly reliable brand of water ...

Every year, the American Lung Association releases a report on the quality of the air in the United States. Every year, the results are frightening.The 10th annual State of the Air report was released on April 29th and it contains bad news for more than half of all Americans. According to the report, over 186 million people live in areas where air ...

Springtime has a way of inspiring us to fling open our doors and windows, clear out clutter and get down to the nitty gritty of cleaning house after a long winter. This spring, before you pull out your usual bucket of cleaning supplies, do a quick check to make sure you’re really keeping your home clean and safe. Nix nasty cleaning productsThe ...

Lost in the swine flu hysteria that’s sweeping the nation is an important lesson. Ultimately, what’s bad for the planet is bad for those of us who live on it, regardless of our species. Surely you’ve heard all that you care to hear about swine flu by now –the deaths, the travel advisories, etc. However, it seems like there is a widespread lack ...

It’s estimated that global plastic consumption levels are around the 150 million ton mark annually, and studies suggest that producing 1kg of common plastic requires 2kg of petroleum fossil fuels for energy and raw material – and releases about 6kg of CO2 into the atmosphere.If you needed any proof of the sheer quantity of plastic littering our ...

Lurking in the Pacific Ocean, in a section of sea rarely visited by humans, is a giant floating testament to how much damage we are capable of doing to our planet. On her recent Earth Day special, Oprah Winfrey described it as the “most shocking thing I have seen.” The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is exactly what its name suggests – a giant ...

My husband and I went to some friends’ place for the dinner the other night, and after a delicious meal of roast beef, veggies, and the freshest bread I’ve ever tasted (with real butter, no less), the bomb dropped. While clearing the plates, our hostess said, “Now, we don’t have tea or coffee, but I can offer you some homemade apple cider.” My ...