In his 2006 book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, Michael Pollan looks at the idea of foraging as one of the four meals he considers in his book (McDonald’s, Whole Foods, and a local farm represent the other three). He starts with the highly industrialized fast food meal and works his [...]
Archive for the ‘Sustainability’ Category
Taking Urban Gardens to the Next Level
March 8th, 2012 
Eric Wilson 
Posted in Agriculture, Behavior, Eric Wilson, Featured Posts, Local Energy/Food, News, Sustainability 
Tags: Food, Michael Pollan 
No Comments »March 2012 Clean Energy and Sustainability Events
March 1st, 2012 Eric Wilson Numerous events are slated for the United Kingdom this month, including a slew in London. With so many great conferences on U.S. soil though, we highlight a number of those taking place domestically this month. These include a few in Washington D.C., one of which focuses on the military and alternative energy. Check out our [...]
Posted in Conferences, Education, Eric Wilson, Sustainability Tags: Alternative Energy, Calendar, Curriculum, David Orr, Florida, New York City, Washington DC No Comments »Book Review: Cod by Mark Kurlansky
February 27th, 2012 Megan Stilley Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky (1997) tells the entire tale of cod, including the “tragic tale of environmental failure, of depleted fishing stocks where once the cod’s numbers were legendary” (back cover). This book focuses on the declining sustainability of this species and the many demanding consumers [...]
HUD Proposes $100 Million for Sustainable Communities
February 23rd, 2012 Eric Wilson Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced $100 million in Regional Planning and Community Challenge Grants as part of the 2013 budget. According to the press release, these “grants are part of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, which is an association between HUD, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and [...]
Posted in Business, Economics, Eric Wilson, Sustainability, Sustainable Development Tags: EPA, Urban Planning No Comments »Resourcefulness: A Lost Art
February 19th, 2012 Eric Wilson One could argue that I’ve overused the phrase “key to sustainability” by this point. An accurate accounting yields the following keys to sustainability: durability, resilience; one non-key; and a missing link. In that vein, I offer my latest addition to the seemingly ever expanding keychain: resourcefulness. In what seems like a trait that holds little [...]
When Big Business Is Good For the Environment
February 18th, 2012 Justin Manger McDonald’s get trashed – and sometimes quite rightly – for its policies towards the environment, workers, and animals as it serves up billions of hamburgers across the world. Recent news, however, shows the company also acknowledges it can make improvements and will listen to voices both inside and outside the company. This time it is [...]
Posted in Behavior, Business, Justin Manger, News, Op-Ed, Sustainability Tags: Environment, Food No Comments »Book Review: Michael Pollan’s Food Rules
February 16th, 2012 Eric Wilson Compared to The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food (reviewed here), Michael Pollan’s Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual is less revolutionary. Instead, his latest book, published in 2009, is more of a reflection on what he’s learned through writing about food in his previous efforts. Comprised of 64 rules in three parts (What should [...]
Posted in Agriculture, Behavior, Eric Wilson, Sustainability Tags: Book Review, Food, Michael Pollan No Comments »Japan Has World’s Highest Plastic Bottle Recycling Rate; Puts the U.S. to Shame
February 15th, 2012 Justin Manger Quick, off the top of your head what percentage of plastic bottles do you think the U.S. collects for recycling? 50%? Nah, Europe doesn’t even reach that, coming in at 48.3%. For the U.S., try more like 30% (29.1% to be exact), according to a report released by the Council for PET Bottle Recycling. Japan, on [...]
Posted in Behavior, Green Economy, Japan, Justin Manger, News, Policy, Recylcing, Sustainability Tags: Environment, Plastic No Comments »Intel (Again) Leads 2011 Green Power Purchasers List
February 13th, 2012 Justin Manger The EPA announced its annual list of top green power purchasers last month (here is the list from 2010, also with Intel on top). This includes categories for businesses, schools, and government. On the business side Intel takes the top honors while Kohl’s Department Stores slides into the runner-up position. Making a huge jump in the rankings was [...]
The Legacy of Cheap Natural Gas
February 12th, 2012 Eric Wilson What will be the legacy of cheap natural gas? Until recently, natural gas in the United States was 3-4 times as expensive as it is today. With advances in technology, costs have dropped precipitously. Natural gas prices ended the other day at $2.32 per MMBtu. 18 months ago a MMBtu sold for $5.50 on the [...]
Posted in Business, Eric Wilson, Featured Posts, Op-Ed, Policy, President Obama, Renewable Energy, Sustainability Tags: Carbon Dioxide, Economy, Fracking, Natural Gas, Shale Gas No Comments »
