Articles Index
Declare Your Independence from Toxic Fireworks Pollution
The fireworks display you watch on national holidays could leave you with more than a patriotic feeling. Fireworks litter the ground, pollute water supplies, and rain down chemicals and heavy metals that contribute to a wide range of serious health problems. Maybe it's time for a change.
Flying vs Driving: Which is Better for the Environment?
Flying or Driving? Does flying or driving generate more greenhouse-gas emissions and contribute more to global warming? Learn whether air travel or car travel is best for the environment in terms of fuel efficiency, cost effectiveness and reducing your carbon footprint.
Reusing Plastic Bottles Can Pose Serious Health Hazards
Reduce, reuse and recycle is the mantra of environmentalists everywhere, but reusing plastic bottles may do more harm than good by releasing toxic chemicals that can cause a host of serious health problems. Learn the dangers of reusing plastic bottles as well as some safe alternatives.
Is Clean Coal Really Clean?
Clean coal supporters claim clean coal and liquid coal can help to free the United States of its dependence on foreign oil without damaging the environment, but critics say "clean coal" is dirtier than oil-based alternatives. Get the dirt on clean coal.
Should Batteries Be Tossed or Recycled?
May batteries be safely discarded along with other household trash, or must they be recycled? While newer batteries contain less mercury and other toxic substances than older versions, they do include trace amounts that could potentially harm the environment.
Cell Phone Recycling: How to Recycle Your Old Cell Phone
What happens to your old cell phone after you upgrade to a new model? Do stores really recycle old cell phones, or refurbish them and give them to the poor, or do they just end up in landfills? Learn how you can ensure your old cell phone is recycled and put to good use instead of damaging the environment.
Mowing the Grass is Greener When You Don’t Use a Gas-Powered Mower
Gasoline-powered lawn mowers may account for five percent of U.S. air pollution, according to the EPA. Mowing your lawn for an hour with a gas-powered mower pollutes the air as much as driving 100 miles in your car. Find out how you can make mowing your grass a little greener.
The Obama Administration’s CAFE Standards
On May 19, 2009, President Barack Obama announced a new national policy and set tough new CAFE standards that will increase fuel efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions for all new cars and trucks sold in the United States beginning in 2012. Obama's CAFE standards require automakers to achieve a combined average fuel-efficiency CAFE standard of 35.5 mpg by 2016.
Portland Roofs are Going Green
Many houses and buildings in Portland, Oregon have green roofs to help manage stormwater, reduce air pollution, and cool the environment. Some of Portland's green roofs also provide pleasant public spaces for city dwellers.
Green Roofs are Cool: How Green Roofs Help the Environment
Green roofs use soil and living plants atop homes and commercial buildings to create roofs that do more than provide shelter. Green roofs collect rainwater, reduce runoff, filter pollution, and offer natural habitat for birds.
EarthTalk Bio
Information about EarthTalk, a publication of E/The Environmental Magazine.
How to Recycle Different Types of Plastic
The confusion over what we can and cannot recycle continues to confound consumers. Plastics are especially troublesome, as different types of plastic require different processing to be reformulated and re-used as raw material. Some municipalities accept all types of plastic for recycling, while others only accept jugs, containers and bottles stamped with certain numbers. But what do the numbers really mean, and how can consumers learn the code?
Do Volcanoes Generate More Greenhouse Gas Than Humans?
Do volcano eruptions really cause more greenhouse gasses than human activity? Learn the truth about volcanoes and greenhouse gas emissions, and how volcanoes contribute to global warming.
Five Ways to Help Save the Planet in 30 Minutes or Less
By choosing green living and an earth-friendly lifestyle, you can do a lot every day to help protect the environment. Here are five simple things you can do—in 30 minutes or less—to help protect the environment and save Planet Earth.
President Obama’s First 100 Days Show Environmental Progress and Promise
In his first 100 days in office, President Obama has done a remarkable job of addressing several key environmental issues.
The Five Most Important Things You Can Do for the Environment
If you feel you’re not doing enough for the environment by replacing your incandescent light bulbs with CFLs and composting your kitchen garbage, maybe you’re ready to make a deeper commitment to environmental stewardship. Some of these strategies may seem a little radical, but they are among the most valuable actions you can take to protect and preserve Earth’s environment.
U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Bush Policy on Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions
In what may prove to be an historic turning point in the fight to reduce global warming, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision in a landmark environmental case that is being hailed as a victory for the environment and a setback for the Bush administration. In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled that carbon dioxide is a pollutant under the Clean Air Act and that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles and other vehicles.
Paper, Plastic, or Something Better?
Plastic bags are hard on the environment--littering the landscape, contaminating soil and water, killing hundreds of thousands of marine mammals, and using millions of gallons of oil annually--and paper bags aren't much better. Learn about better options you can start using right away.
Celebrate Earth Day: How One Person Can Change the World
Earth Day is a time when millions of people worldwide celebrate and renew their personal commitment to environmental stewardship. In the face of the huge global problems we are facing today, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and powerless, and to find ourselves asking, “What difference can one person make?” The answer is that one person can make all the difference in the world.
Earth Day: The History and Evolution of Earth Day
Offers a history of Earth Day--how Earth Day began and how Earth Day evolved--and profiles both the international Earth Day observance held each year on the vernal equinox and the annual Earth Day celebration on April 22, which is more common in the United States.
First Lady Michele Obama Plants Organic Vegetable Garden at White House
On the first day of spring in 2009, First Lady Michele Obama broke ground for an organic vegetable garden on the South Lawn of the White House--the first full-fledged presidential vegetable patch at the White House since Eleanor Roosevelt planted a victory garden at the White House in 1943.
The First Day of Spring: Fun Facts About the Vernal Equinox
Every year we long for the first day of spring, or vernal equinox, when the days start to get longer and the weather starts getting warmer. But there is much more to know about the first day of spring.
FDA Questions Results of Study Linking Mobile Phones and Cancer
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is questioning the results of a Swedish study that claims to provide the first scientific evidence of an increased risk of brain cancer among people who use mobile phones.
U.S. Economic Stimulus Package Includes Billions for Energy and the Environment
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009—the $787.2 billion economic stimulus package proposed by President Barack Obama and passed by Congress in mid-February [2009]—is intended to put America back to work and to help shorten the recession. The economic stimulus package is also likely to have a major impact on a wide range of energy and environmental issues.
How Much Energy Does It Take to Make Bottled Water?
Bottled water is getting more popular every day, but at what cost? Not only do most of the plastic bottles end up in landfills or as litter, but the energy required to produce and transport bottled water equals millions of barrels of oil every year. How much energy should we spend on bottled water when tap water is so much more economical?