Good Green News

As the days get shorter and cooler and the trees lose their leaves, holiday lights and Christmas trees have started making their annual appearance. I’ve been getting in the spirit of the season in my own way—by roasting chestnuts in a solar oven.
Gathering around the solar cooker may not be as romantic as getting cozy in [...]

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Are you looking for a trustworthy source of practical information about how to green your home and your life? Check out the Sierra Club’s new website, Sierra Club Green Home. The site features exclusive articles on more than 100 topics, from choosing eco-friendly countertops to selecting a solar energy installer. I may be biased, since [...]

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On April 1, from 12 to 2 pm, I’ll be giving a seminar titled “Creating Dream Green Kitchens” at the San Francisco Design Center, as part of SFDC’s seventh annual Designers’ Wednesday lunch-and-seminar series for the design professional. I’ll be talking about how to create beautiful kitchens that are healthier for people and easier on [...]

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In this land of free-flowing corn syrup and 600-calorie coffee drinks, the specter of food scarcity may seem remote to many Americans. That could change in the coming decades.
This week the United Nations Environment Programme released a report predicting that by 2050, global food production may drop by as much as 25% due to climate change, [...]

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This post belongs in the category of shamelessly tooting my own horn.
The January/February issue of the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine has a special section called “25 Amazing Alumni, 25 Amazing Ideas” in which Dartmouth College alums “from all walks of life offer the ultimate in how-to advice that will make you smarter, richer—and more interesting,” according [...]

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I’m always glad when the less sexy aspects of the green revolution get positive media attention, like this past Sunday’s article in The New York Times magazine about building deconstruction (“This Old Recyclable House” by Jon Mooallem). Solar panels, wind turbines and plug-in hybrids create buzz and attract investors, but I believe it’s mundane activities [...]

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The Los Angeles Times ran an article today about a bill making its way through the California legislature that would ban perfluoroctanoic acid (PFOA) from food packaging like microwave popcorn bags and frozen pizza boxes. This synthetic chemical, also used to make Teflon and other nonstick surfaces, is considered a likely carcinogen.
In 2006, DuPont and other makers [...]

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The New York Times today published an article, “What’s Lurking in Your Countertop?,” about the possibility of radon emissions from granite countertops.
Here’s what I wrote about the issue in Good Green Kitchens:
Radon and Stone
Radon is a colorless, odorless, radioactive gas derived from the natural decay of uranium in soil, rocks, and water. According to the U.S. [...]

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If you really want to embrace eco-friendly cooking, give solar cooking a whirl—it’s a simple technology designed for cooking outside under sunny skies. Solar cookers make particularly good sense in parts of the world where people are very poor and fuel is scarce. But anyone with access to sunny outdoor space can give solar cooking [...]

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California’s new regulations on formaldehyde emissions will make breathing easier 
California’s Air Resources Board (CARB) adopted regulations in April 2007 that will reduce formaldehyde emissions from particleboard, hardwood plywood and medium density fiberboard (MDF) sold in California. Formaldehyde is routinely used as a binder in these products and many other building materials and furnishings. 
The State of [...]

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