by Eric Wilson on August 31st, 2010
For those who have read Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point, perhaps the paperless receipt’s time has come. Apple very well may be the trend setter that makes paperless receipts “cool”. After the most recent post about these dastardly strips of paper, We received an email from yReceipts, a company that offers consumers and companies paperless tracking of their purchases.
Stay up late at night and one can see plenty of infomercials for small scanners that will transfer receipts, business cards, and other slips of paper into electronic versions that can be managed by a personal computer. However, yReceipts works to cut out the proverbial middleman.
by Justin Manger on August 30th, 2010
It looks like car companies aren’t the only things being remade as more and more vehicles go hybrid-electric, all-electric, or simply get more efficient at burning gasoline. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are “revising the fuel economy label that is required on all new cars and light-duty trucks sold in the U.S.” The proposed new labels will have a letter grade from A+ to D based on the amount of energy consumed. EPA is revising the labels “to enable consumers to make easy, well-informed comparisons across all vehicle technologies, including electric, plug-in hybrid, conventional gasoline and diesel, and other advanced technology vehicles.” The well known Miles Per Gallon (MPG) number will be replaced in partial or all-electric vehicles with MPGe, a measurement that compares mileage based on energy consumption, rather than just volume of liquid (gas) consumption. The labels (link for comments on next page)
by Eric Wilson on August 30th, 2010
While reading The Winsted Herald-Journal, a weekly small town paper in Western Minnesota, I came across a story about the locally produced documentary “Farming Forward“. Produced by a college student from Gustavus Adolphus College and the Sustainable Farming Association (SFA) of Minnesota. Living Song Farm (in Howard Lake), Riverbend Farm (in Delano), Prairie Horizons Farm (in Starbuck), Loon Organics (in Hutchinson), Big River Farm (in Marine on St. Croix), City Backyard Farming (in St. Paul), Big hill Farm (in St. Peter), and a farmer’s market in St. Paul were all featured in the film.
by Eric Wilson on August 29th, 2010
The environmental education movement in this country has been around for quite some time. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and the first Earth Day 40 years ago were both important factors in bringing environmental education to the fore. My personal journey is not nearly as long. Nearly ten years ago I worked for a school district in Southern California at their outdoor science school as well as for a non-profit out of New York teaching environmental education. As a classroom teacher then, I attempted to integrate environmental education into the courses I taught. David Orr, noted author and professor at Oberlin College says, “All education is environmental education.” Orr’s 1994 book, Earth in Mind, calls for an overhaul of education. I agree that there is a need for redefining education. However, I would argue that we need to move beyond environmental education and into sustainability education.
by Eric Wilson on August 28th, 2010
Here’s the trick, don’t mess it up in the first place.
Separating fact from (science) fiction can be difficult. Hollywood takes liberties with science in the name of entertainment. Serious scientific debate about climate change has abated, but people hold strong beliefs about mankind’s impact on the earth. A recent NPR story delved into the recent flooding in China and Pakistan. Years of environmental degradation have left the earth’s surface unable to deal with the annual monsoons. Wildfires in Russia offer a similar cautionary tale of what can happen when biodiversity is sacrificed for short term gains. As was seen in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, wetlands that once protected the Mississippi delta from storms could no longer filter the water associated with the storm. The loss of wetlands and barrier islands allowed the storm surge to ride further inland and at a higher level.
