Environmental Writer
Climate Change/Energy / Pollution/Waste / Transportation/Travel
by Marina Schauffler · Published June 14, 2015 · Last modified June 24, 2016
It seemed at first like a reasonable expectation. Looking to replace a 16-year-old car, I assumed that comparable vehicles–bought new or lightly used–would have markedly higher fuel efficiency. Technology had come a long way...
Food / Pollution/Waste / Sustainable Practices / Uncategorized
by Marina Schauffler · Published May 3, 2015 · Last modified June 12, 2016
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...
Climate Change/Energy / Economics / Pollution/Waste
by Marina Schauffler · Published April 19, 2015 · Last modified June 12, 2016
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...
Pollution/Waste / Sustainable Practices
by Marina Schauffler · Published March 22, 2015 · Last modified June 12, 2016
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...
Coastal Issues / Pollution/Waste
by Marina Schauffler · Published March 8, 2015 · Last modified June 12, 2016
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...
Climate Change/Energy / Health / Pollution/Waste / Sustainable Practices / Transportation/Travel
by Marina Schauffler · Published January 25, 2015 · Last modified June 12, 2016
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....
Ecological Values / Economics / Food / Pollution/Waste / Sustainable Practices
by Marina Schauffler · Published November 30, 2014 · Last modified June 12, 2016
With Black Friday behind us, we are now officially in the annual biathlon of spending and overeating – a feeding frenzy not for the faint of heart or light of wallet. Economists see the...
Pollution/Waste / Sustainable Practices / Transportation/Travel
by Marina Schauffler · Published November 3, 2014 · Last modified June 12, 2016
In the decades after World War II, cars represented much more than mere transportation. From finned convertibles to the VW bug, they brimmed with personality and symbolized the road to freedom. America’s passion for...
