Tag: <span>sustainability</span>

Fashionably Environmentally Degrading

Who wants to wear the same style for a decade before moving on to a new trend? And why should trendy fashion be reserved for just the catwalk or celebrities? Fashion as a form of self-expression and belonging should be available to all, on demand.   Fast fashion makes it …

Flooded with Possibilities: Deciding New York City’s Fate with Sea Level Rise

It’s the year 2100, and a little boy named John wakes up to the sound of rain. The water rages down on his family’s roof, leaving his bedroom window’s view of Lower Manhattan blurry. John is only 10 years old, but he starts to worry about what the rain means. …

Sustainability at the Local Level: A Conversation With Jason West

This spring I had the pleasure of speaking with Jason West, the Director of Sustainability for the City of Albany, New York, about his fascinating career trajectory and his thoughts on sustainability, particularly at the local level.  Biography Jason served as the Mayor of New Paltz, New York for two …

Mud Houses: Affordable Housing for the Rich? – By CJ Kelley

In Marfa, Texas, prior to 2017, a house made of adobe bricks was appraised in the same way as any other house made of any other material. Now, following an update by the county tax assessors, inhabitants of adobe structures pay 57% more in taxes than other homeowners.   Let’s …

A Drop in the Bathtub

Imagine that you’re having one of the hardest days that you’ve had in a while. At the end of that day, you head home and do some self care to help ease and soothe yourself. Your routine is part recovery, part preparation for the next day.  You take a bath. …

Flooding in Central Vietnam: an Environmental Justice Issue

In addition to its beautiful scenery, beaches, and historical sites, Central Vietnam is known for extreme flooding events that are both deadly and destructive. In 2020 alone, over 240 people were either killed or went missing due to a series of floods from October through November. Property losses were valued …

The Price of a Hike: Rural Displacement in Moab, Utah

It’s a sunny summer day, and you’re looking forward to some local shopping in your sleepy Southwestern town. You soon realize, though, that it’s easier said than done—traffic is backed up to the outskirts, and the general store’s been replaced with a hotel bar. You’re outnumbered 500 to 1 by …

Greening Communities: Water Management for Climate Resilience

An estimated 10 trillion gallons of untreated stormwater runoff, containing everything from raw sewage to trash to toxins, enters U.S. waterways from city sewer systems every year, polluting the environment and our drinking water supplies. The EPA describes stormwater runoff as one of the fastest growing sources of pollution in …

A legacy of waste, a lifetime on our plates: “Forever chemicals” in the food system

Springtime in Maine is a beautiful thing. The morning air still holds the chill of winter. The faint scent of green and growing life tiptoes around your nose, suddenly bursting into fullness where a patch of afternoon sun has warmed a budding tree branch. When I lived there, I loved …

Silvopasture: Happier Animals, Happier Ecosystem!

Pictured here are two groups of relatively similar cattle who are experiencing drastically different living situations. Briefly imagine life as one of the cows pictured here—where would you rather be living? If you are a beef-consuming individual, which of these sets of cows would you rather eat, or drink milk …