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 » March 23rd, 2013 Eric Wilson 
In a sign that security may best be achieved not through militarization, but rather ensuring access to the basic needs for life (food, water, shelter), defense contractor Lockheed Martin recently received a patent for a revolutionary desalination process. The numbers are pretty familiar to all by now, but they bear repeating. Some 71% of the [...]
Posted in Business, Clean Technology, Eric Wilson, News, Oceans Tags: Desalination, Water, Water Resources No Comments » March 22nd, 2013 Justin Manger 
Two trends in the atmosphere – that globally the air is getting warmer and wetter – are increasing the chance of heat waves, downpours, and other extreme weather. These statistics from the National Geographic are clear on the trend. The Earth’s surface has increased 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit since 1970. Moisture in the atmosphere has risen [...]
March 18th, 2013 Eric Wilson 
Upon finishing the Overture, the preface essentially, to Alan Weisman’s Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World, I was a bit depressed. Here was a book about a town in the desolate reaches of eastern Colombia. A town that strived to be an example of sustainable living amongst the harsh conditions of the llanos, savannas [...]
February 21st, 2013 Sean Connell Following up on two previous posts about the the Adopt-a-Stream Foundation and its role in promoting environmental education and best practices in watershed management, what sets the organization apart from others active in the Pacific Northwest (and beyond) in environmental education and watershed stewardship? How might its experiences offer models to organizations and stakeholders, not only those involved in [...]
February 19th, 2013 Sean Connell Continuing yesterday’s post on the Adopt-a-Stream Foundation and its role in promoting environmental education and best practices in watershed management, I recently had the opportunity to speak with founder and executive director Tom Murdoch and foundation staff members about the organization’s history and activities. (Best practices will be further examined in a third and concluding [...]
February 18th, 2013 Sean Connell 
Few settings evoke more of a sense of peacefulness and natural beauty than a small creek in the woods, the water burbling as it spills downstream. Sitting restfully beside a stream, maybe glimpsing a tiny fish wriggling in the water, perhaps the last thing that comes to mind (or that you want to think about) [...]
November 30th, 2012 Eric Wilson During a recent stay at the Emory Conference Center (on the campus of my alma mater), I saw an interesting sign talking about the lack of telephone books in the rooms. While I can’t recall having one in my hotel room previously, the signage regarding the amount of resources saved was astonishing. Here are the [...]
Posted in Conservation, Eric Wilson, Five Friday Facts, Recylcing Tags: Emory, kilowatt-hours, Water 1 Comment » November 25th, 2012 Eric Wilson 
Well, no, shale gas is not the answer. Neither is solar, fusion, or wind. At least these three though aren’t delaying the inevitable. Nick has written quite a few posts recently about climate change. In addition, I just finished reading SuperFreakonomics, which has a section dedicated to global warming/climate change. Part of the reason I [...]
Posted in Agriculture, Economics, Eric Wilson, Featured Posts, Op-Ed, Policy, Renewable Energy, Sustainability Tags: Bio-fuels, Climate Change, Ethanol, Global Warming, Natural Gas, Peak Oil, Water No Comments » November 16th, 2012 Justin Manger When it comes to fresh water “reserves,” there is no competing with Greenland. You can drink some of its bottled water from the ice sheet for a mere $52 per bottle. Below are the volumes of fresh water, in millions of cubic kilometers: Total worldwide: ~40.0 Antarctic ice sheets: ~24.7 Groundwater: ~12.0 [...]
Posted in Conservation, Five Friday Facts, Justin Manger, News, Oceans Tags: Environment, Water, Water Conservation No Comments »
