May 4th, 2013 
Eric Wilson 
I’ve started a little research project. Most mornings while I stand on the corner I count the number of cars that pass by as I wait for my bus transfer from downtown Minneapolis to downtown St. Paul. Here are my results: Tuesday I counted 50 cars passing by as I waited for the bus, [...]
Posted in Eric Wilson, Op-Ed, Transportation 
Tags: Bicycles, Bus, Dispatches from the Bus, Mass Transit, Minnesota, Prius 
No Comments » April 28th, 2013 Eric Wilson 
I feel like everywhere I look these days, all I see is excessive consumption, even when it’s not necessarily the case. On the bus, the person sitting next to me reads a magazine and my mind goes directly to the paper needed to produce it. The next step in my thinking is a tablet and [...]
Posted in Behavior, Eric Wilson, Featured Posts, Op-Ed, Sustainability Tags: Cars, Keystone Pipeline, Prius No Comments » April 25th, 2013 Chris DeArmond 
I have written a couple posts about my VW Golf TDI, noting its fuel efficiency, practicality and the relatively engaging driving experience. While I have no regrets deciding on the diesel-burning hatchback, I’ve been longing for a hybrid—or rather, the fuel efficiency of one—now that my commute is almost entirely within the city. That is [...]
Posted in Clean Technology, Op-Ed, Reviews, Transportation Tags: Cars, Chris DeArmond, Diesel, Hybrid Vehicles No Comments » April 24th, 2013 Eric Wilson 
This is an open letter to any and all companies, organizations, governments, schools, or other miscellaneous groups considering sustainability as part of their work; I hope this includes everyone. Dear Organization X, Please consider making sustainability a central component of your future plans if you have not done so already. For any group that has [...]
April 16th, 2013 Eric Wilson 
Let me start by saying I am not a prophet and do not pretend to be one. However, my recent nightmare is causing me to rethink this. My father is a psychiatrist and my sister is a physician, though more public health oriented. The former likes to analyze dreams and the latter happened to be [...]
Posted in Behavior, Eric Wilson, Featured Posts, Op-Ed, Sustainability Tags: Center for Sustainable Initiatives No Comments » April 14th, 2013 Eric Wilson 
As a follow up to a recent post about toaster ovens and toasters, I’ve come across another troublesome kitchen appliance, the dishwasher. I love the dishwasher. Well, I love the idea of it; not when it comes to resource consumption (water, detergent, materials to build), but from a pure convenience standpoint. Here’s the problem, it [...]
Posted in Behavior, Conservation, Energy Efficiency, Eric Wilson, Featured Posts, Op-Ed Tags: Tiny Homes, Water, Water Conservation No Comments » April 11th, 2013 Eric Wilson 
The New York Times’ just ran a story about the Modern Museum of Art getting set to tear down the former American Folk Art Museum building that was completed in 2001, a seminal year in New York’s history for sure. As a bit of an art history buff (though admittedly not modern and contemporary art), [...]
April 10th, 2013 Noelle Phares 
The concept of human evolution rarely extends beyond discussion of the evolution of Homo Sapiens from Homo Erectus, and Erectus from the more primitive Australopithecus. We think evolution, and we think fossil records. We think finches. When we think of humans, we think of this succession of ancient bipeds. Infrequently do discussions of evolution in [...]
Posted in 2nd Green, Agriculture, Behavior, Op-Ed Tags: Agriculture, Evolution, Noelle Phares No Comments » April 3rd, 2013 Noelle Phares 
The mandated labeling of genetically modified (GM) foods remains a pipe dream within US borders. But the topic continues to simmer on socio-political agendas. Washington State introduced labeling initiative I-522 to its state legislature earlier this year, previously label-opposed food giant Wal-Mart switched teams to start rallying for labeling at the national level in January, [...]
Posted in 2nd Green, Agriculture, Business, Op-Ed, Policy Tags: California, GMO, Noelle Phares, policy No Comments » March 31st, 2013 Eric Wilson 
I recently read Alan Weisman’s Gaviotas on the bus. Numerous tweets resulted from the first few chapters and now this post. Weisman relates the story of how the 1973 oil embargo and ensuing energy crisis played a crucial role in the attention heaped upon Gaviotas, a settlement in the llanos (savannah) of Colombia. The town [...]
