The size of new single-family American homes is on the rise again. Not even the recession could stop the relentless push for larger homes. Nor could the mass foreclosures that went with it. The increase since 1950 is roughly 250%, from an average of 943 square feet to almost 2,500 square feet today. Europeans live [...]
Tag Archives | waste
Green Your Holidays
The joy and beauty of the holiday season often seem to come at the expense of Mother Earth. But the waste is not inevitable. There are plenty of ways to color your holidays green. Bring sustainability to your celebrations Entertain with less impact Put holiday waste to use Give in a greener spirit: Give more [...]
Climate Saving Measures
Tired of waiting for government to get serious about saving the climate? Make your feelings known and take action in your own life to show you’re serious too. Here are suggestions ranging from the grand to the everyday.
Repair and Reuse — Recycle Later
The act of repairing things (or having them repaired by others) has gone woefully out of fashion. It just doesn’t seem to pay anymore. Planned obsolescence and the changed economics brought about by globalization have made buying replacements too cheap and easy. The result? A throwaway culture that dumps perfectly good resources only to mine [...]
Green Lunch Box Guide
The greenest lunch boxes are made of safe, durable materials that do not expose the user to toxic chemicals and eliminate waste. That also goes for the food packaging, beverage containers, utensils and napkins inside. It has been estimated that a schoolchild who uses such a lunch box will save 67 pounds of trash on [...]
The Magnificent Plastic Bag Mockumentary
This hilarious spoof on public TV-style nature shows, narrated by Jeremy Irons, follows “one of the most clever and illustrious creatures”—the plastic bag— on its long and perilous migration home to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. To learn more about the garbage patch (it’s real) and how you, personally, can avoid contributing to it—besides shopping [...]
Green Burials
If you are the sort of person who strives for a green lifestyle, now is the time to consider how you want to be buried and make your wishes known. Otherwise, your burial will likely be at odds with your values—and the person you have tried, all your life, to be. Why? Because the typical [...]
My Cat Reviews My New Reusable Bag
I love my new reusable bag by Flip & Tumble. It’s attractive, roomy, has a shoulder pad on the strap and rolls up into a small, lightweight ball that fits easily in my purse. I showed it to my cat Boo. He didn’t think much of it as a ball. I shook it open. That [...]
Holiday Guide to Reuse & Recycling
After the holidays, we’re often left with the problem of what to do with all the waste — from the platters of uneaten food to the Christmas tree to the old things that the shiny new gifts replaced. The answer: reuse or recycle them. See my new “Holiday Guide to Reuse & Recycling” for practical, [...]
Green Giving for the Holidays
I still remember virtually every gift I received in childhood, not because the gifts were so special, but because they were so few. Though I was a comfortable child of the post-war boom, the times were thrifty compared to today. I never had more than a few dolls, games, crayons, records, books, a bike and [...]
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This Green Blog is the companion blog to NRDC's This Green Life, a green living column written by Sheryl Eisenberg for the Natural Resources Defense Council. (Subscribe to get it for FREE each month.)
Sheryl has also written "Greentips" for the Union of Concerned Scientists and designs websites for environmental groups and others with her firm, Mixit Productions.
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