Now that straws are out of the picture, it’s time to set our sights on the next wasteful item we could all live without. To-go coffee cups have my vote! They’re unnecessary, often unrecyclable, and produced in staggering amounts. (Starbucks alone serves about 8,000 per minute.) This fall, let’s all vow to either take a […]

Does your garden look as pretty at night as it does during the day? Here are some options to ensure that it does. Let there be light! Make a plan Think about what you need from your outdoor lighting: safety and security, ambience, highlighting a feature, illuminating a work area. Each type of need requires […]

Flooding from remnants of Hurricane Rosa raised concerns Tuesday after floodwaters rendered roads impassable for the Menagers Dam community near Sells, Arizona, and many residents were evacuated due to “uncertainty over the integrity of the dam,” officials said. The rainfall from Hurricane Rosa produced “unprecedented levels of flooding on the Tohono O’odham Nation, particularly in […]

Food access is not just a health issue—it’s an issue of equality. Last year 40 million Americans lived in food-insecure households, meaning they consistently did not have access to enough food to live a healthy life. Statistics like this are startling and leave us wondering if anything can be done to combat such a pressing, […]

When it comes to cleaning up around the house, few tools are as convenient as the trusty paper towel roll. But, like most things we use once and then throw away, these aren’t the most eco-friendly. Made from wood fibers that are broken down and dyed with bleach, paper towels require a lot of water […]

The sunburnt country of Australia is the perfect location to harness the power of solar energy. Discovered in 1839 by Alexandre Edmond Becquere, solar power is the conversion of light into electricity via photovoltaics. However, according to Energy Matters, it wasn’t until 100 years later in 1941 that Russell Ohl invented the solar cell. Now, […]

Rosa was like the old friend who’s a bit unruly so you hope they don’t stay too long, but after they’re gone you’re glad they were here. The hurricane remnants that blew through the state earlier this week were definitely disruptive. The storm caused flooding, power outages, school closures and forced the rescue of several motorists […]

With the passage of time, researchers have been able to identify aspects of our everyday life and items of regular use that contribute to the degradation of our planet. The 3Rs – reduce, reuse and recycle – are more than a string of three words and time has come that we go further than just […]

At the Sacramento Recycling and Transfer Station on Fruitridge Road, three forklifts with whiny motors work in unison to move bundles of materials while on the other side of the building, a piece of heavy machinery rumbles as it moves a mountain of cardboard. Above it all are catwalks and ramps and two miles of […]

Oregon-made Washing Powder uses simple, naturally occurring ingredients to leave clothes soft, clean and smelling good. As a mother of four, Tiffany Burnett does a lot of laundry. Fed up with commercial detergent’s incompatibility with her high-efficiency washing machine — it left residue and odor, despite repeated washings — she created her own. Inspired by […]