Blogs & Ecology

A bunch of young Japanese monks have created a virtual temple online to talk about issues close to their hearts. They are based in Tokyo, where there are surprisingly many Buddhist temples, many as old as the city itself, dating back to the Edo Period (1603-1868) before the city started to modernize. They note that no matter how artificial our environment becomes, monks continue to pass on age-old wisdom from master to disciple, inheriting the modes of living, using the temple as its vehicle:

(Picture: the Argentine Labor Minister, Carlos Tomada, pushes a new law to fight sweatshop labor. Credit: La Nacion.) The Argentine government is pushing a new law that, they say, will help regularize the situation of workers from the textile industry.

Image source: Metcalf Institute

This year's Metcalf Institute Diversity Fellowships in Environmental Reporting, were awarded this morning. The awards are given to minority journalists early in their careers to encourage diversity and excellence in environmental reporting. Environmental journalism is still a relatively new field and as climate change becomes a daily topic of conversation many newspapers and media outlets are scrambling to find reporters who can not only cover the issues but understand the science enough to translate what it means to the reader.

We have noted before that the rich are different from you and me- they emit a lot more carbon dioxide. Presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain is no exception; Joe Romm of Climate Progress ran the numbers on as many of McCain's homes he could find information on.

He writes: "So what is the carbon footprint of McCain’s countless homes? Here is a rough estimate.According to press reports, just one of McCain’s homes, his $4.66 million condo in Phoenix, is about 7000 square feet, which is three times the size of the average American home built last year. His $850,000 Virginia condo is another 2,100 square feet. Given a total estimated ...

TreeHugger has covered resource theft before, but now organized criminals in Canada are turning to environmental crime, according to a new report from Criminal Intelligence Service Canada. "Criminal networks can profit by collecting e-waste in developed countries such as Canada and selling it to 'recyclers' in developing nations," the service reports. According to Jonathan Montpetit of the Canadian Press,

August has been mild in New York City and a perfect time for another Night of Eco-Chic Entertaining, presented by Celia Chen and her online magazine Notesonaparty.com. As with the magazine’s inaugural party in the spring, Celia used the opportunity of throwing a big bash to show how partying on a grand scale can be environmentally conscious. She partnered with the venue The Xchange to hostess a green roof-top party that was as delicious as it was glamorous. Party-goers were fed by Sage Events, a company which promises to provide clients with sustainable catering by seeking out small, local farms and offers hormone-free chicken, grass-fed beef, organic milk and eggs, and fair trade coffee and tea.

We have a vision for the Southwest that involves solar panels and windmills -- a future of clean-energy generation and green jobs, not the smokestacks, pollution, and health problems that accompany a coal-fired power plant. However, that vision got a bit hazy recently when the U.S. EPA issued an air quality permit for construction of the Desert Rock Energy Facility, yet another massive coal-fired power plant on Navajo land in northwest New Mexico.

Image source: ChannelFlip.com

There are several recent video games which teach kids to consider natural resource protection and promote planet-saving activities, but what about greening the act of gaming itself? Flip produced a 5 minute clip on several ways to green electronics and gaming habits. Narrated by Katharine Fletcher, one of the bloggers on Flip, who admits that while she is not saying that kids shouldn't game, she wants to incorporate her greenness into one of her favorite hobbies and share these tips with other fellow gamers.

Image source: Getty Images

We've touched on this idea of "eco-fatigue" in jest, but Advertising Age recently ran an article saying that consumers are beginning to burnout from all of the eco-advertising. It seems like the term 'going green' is everywhere these days and can be exhausting, not to mention confusing. With the threat of complete loss of polar bears and bees looming just over the horizon, how then do we keep on the green path without saying "screw it, I can't drive 55"?