Food: the Next Recycling Challenge
Only in a land of plenty like ours could this staggering statistic be true: 40 percent of food goes uneaten—most of it tossed in landfills or torched in incinerators. The social and ecological costs...
Author: Marina Schauffler
Dirty Fuel Divestment
When Holly Zadra suggested that Pittsfield’s First Universalist Church divest its holdings in fossil-fuel corporations, she recalls that church councilors responded with awkward silence “as if I’d said something impolite.” People naturally resist discussing...
Belonging to Place–Even in Mud Season
In the muddy-puddle depths of April, winter’s white has turned road-sand brown while summer’s uplifting palette is still a mirage. If I were ever to fall out of love with Maine, it would be...
Overstuffed: Reducing Inventory
A cousin well into her empty-nest years acknowledged that she finds herself increasingly focused on “reducing inventory.” Despite being at a different life stage, I knew just what she meant. For years, I’ve been...
Plastic Microbeads: A Small Piece of a Vast Problem
Imagine if someone had proposed this idea in a public forum 25 years ago: “Let’s start having microscopic plastic bits in products like facial scrubs. They’ll wash down drains, slide past wastewater treatment plant...
Unplug to Recharge: Going Tech-free for a Day
Are we all secretly proud of our capacity to multitask–conversing, texting and walking (or worse, driving!)–all while listening to music? Captivated by the limitless potential of e-connectivity, we convince ourselves that we can effectively...
Community-based Investing
If you’re fortunate enough to have some savings, what’s a sustainable way to invest that nest egg? The ready answer is often socially responsible investment (SRI) funds – which typically screen their holdings (ruling...
Breaking the Idling Habit
The easiest paths to sustainability offer multiple benefits – helping the environment while benefiting health and finances. Businesses refer to the “triple bottom line” when choosing options that simultaneously enhance people, profits and planet....
