"a derivative of rendered fat from cattle, sheep and horses. Just boil it down and mix with ammonium. After a series of chemical pit stops, it comes out a quaternary ammonium compound, or quat...quats effectively coat your clothing with lipids, (fats) making the fibers soft to the touch."

Fertilizer companies commonly add melamine to their products because it helps control the rate at which nitrogen seeps into soil, thereby allowing the farmer to get more nutrient bang for the fertilizer buck. But the government doesn’t regulate how much melamine is applied to the soil. This melamine accumulates as salt crystals in the ground, tainting the soil through which American food sucks up American nutrients.

In a town not far from Utica, New York there are acres and acres of wind turbines for as far as the eye can see. An you would think that the energy they create is actually going to the town they're in...right? NO! More than half the power the turbines create is going to New York City! So in the small little town that I live in, Albany County, NY they are debating to put up wind turbines. This has been going on for a few months now and I am starting to think: Are the wind turbines that they put up going to benefit us, or is it all just going to New York City also? I was all for this until that question can into my mind.

This is just a thought, with the thought that trash going to the landfill taking longer to decompose because of poor access to oxygen, does that mean the litter that sits out in streets and elsewhere degrades more quickly? I know there are issues of this flying off towards sewage drains, and into oceans etc, but is this something worth somehow taking advantage of? Another thought, I would imagine heat also can help decompose the trash more quickly... Is it worth having a designated area of a desert to let trash decompose? I know again there will be issues of what this trash will do to the local ecosystem, but given there's no "good' place to put trash, is this a worthwhile thought?

This has come up in a few threads now, and I'm just wondering..... With all the "communistic/dictatorship" rules and regs; why do people want to move there? I personally couldn't stand someone telling me I couldn't have a compost pile or native plants instead of a lawn with all of it's flaws, i.e. chemicals, mowing, etc. Can't line dry clothes, no solar panels allowed and on and on. What is the attraction? And why do people let themselves be ruled that way? (And please don't get mad if you live in one, I'm just wondering why you do)?????

Considering the collateral damage to approximately 2-3 million consumers in various markets tied to the industry, should we?

It's time for a change. It's time to make a PROFIT. It's time to create JOBS. It's time to stop destroying JOBS. It's time to stop destroying Pensions and Health Care. It's time to stop Bribing people to take cars. It's time to face how worthless the Big-3 are. Does it make sense, to invest $50 Billion in companies worth (less than) $8 Billion? I believe $2 Billion dollars a day goes from the US to foreign countries for oil. It would be better to take $50 Billion and create USA jobs in Green industries, transitioning the USA from oil to renewable energy. Re-train and Re-use the jobless to Re-build the countries energy infrastructure (conceptually known as “I-765”). Let the Big-3 re-purpose themselves, to cars people need.

There are certain basics everyone wants in a green building, starting with energy efficiency and non-toxic materials. Construction processes that limit the building's impact on the environment. A building that simply makes us feel better when we're inside, with its abundant daylighting, good acoustics and superior air quality. Sounds simple enough, right?

Voters here approved on November 4 a local referendum that will require the removal of all salt-regenerated home water softeners that discharge into the sewer system of the Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District...Taking effect January 1, it likely will be the first law in the nation mandating home softener removals to reduce chloride discharges into wastewater streams of a large community. The city of Santa Clarita has a population of about 177,000.

Whole Foods Market is proud to present the first ever bottling of Nouveau in plastic bottles! This lowers the carbon footprint of getting this wine to your table. Just think, less guilt while enjoying wine with friends! And it lowers the cost for you to get it to the table too. Just imagine sitting on a fatter wallet while you’re enjoying the same exact delicious wine with friends! It’s more than delicious. It’s a new way to enjoy this traditional regional wine.

We are having a debate about coffee cups in our church as we try to "go green." There are some (me included) who would like to end the horrid Styrofoam cups. But there are some arguments going around. 1) using ceramic cups means washing them in a dishwasher (health department -- we serve to the public) and dishwashers use detergent and energy. Both are bad. The evidence I found seems to point to more water/energy used to make the Styrofoam. --- BUT, now --- 2) Someone found a recent argument about how much energy is used to make a ceramic mug. (They said 1,600 uses to make it worthwhile) It will probably get dropped or broken long before it reaches that point. Someone else said only 70 uses to make it worthwhile. That's more hopeful, but still a lot. So the question (other than giving up coffee) what is the best non-disposable, dishwasher safe, low-energy to produce, product can we find? Oh, and did I mention -- as inexpensive as possible.

I take offense to junk mail period. But the mailing I got today takes the cake by a long shot: Wrapped in what doesn't look like a recyclable plastic envelope (but at least it is resealable so perhaps it is reuseable because they didn't affix the mailing label to the outside of it) came a multi-page advertisement for LAND ROVER with a very thick cardstock cover. The inital page, in what can only be described as irony, depicts the Boston Tea Party. LAND ROVER. Sending me a mailer with the Boston Tea Party on it? I digress. It says, "For more than two centuries, Americans have been looking for ways to lower their taxes." On the inside it says, "This time you don't have to start a revolution." The mailer then depicts how my buying a 6,000 pound LAND ROVER will help me recoup taxes for a small business LAND ROVER purchase vs. other luxury cars. On a Range Rover, I can write off $68,842 compared to $20,385 on a $78,000 luxury car w/50% bonus depreciation. On a Range Rover Sport, I can write off $53,952 compared to $20,385 on a $60,000 luxury car w/50% bonus depreciation. On an LR3 I can write off $45,680 compared to $20,385 on a luxury car w/50% bonus depreciation. Well sign me up! With the tax benefit, they're practically giving these things away! [/sarcasm] And this is got to be endemic of what's wrong with America for so many reasons....

The other key numbers, according to the report, by Greenpeace, the Energy Foundation and WWF: coal is the source of 70% of the country’s energy, 85% of China’s sulphur dioxide emissions, 67% of its nitrogen dioxide emissions, 80% of its carbon dioxide emissions, and creates 25% of China's waste water. China's coal mines are the world's deadliest, killing an average of 13 miners a day. For some cough-worthy visual evidence, take a look at the city of Linfen.

But a less obvious threat smolders underground: at least 62 coal fires that destroy 20 million tons of coal annually, nearly equal to Germany's entire annual production. As Tim Johnson of McClatchy reports, scientists estimate that the fires alone may account for 2 to 3 percent of the world's annual emissions of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels. ...

Some 23 initiatives were approved nationwide. . .that will inject $75 billion into transportation systems, according to the Center for Transportation Excellence, a nonpartisan research group that promotes mass-transit service. Among the winners: Nearly $10 billion in bonds to start building a high-speed rail network in California, and $18 billion to expand mass-transit service in the Seattle area. The vote on another measure, which would raise the sales tax in Santa Clara County, Calif., to fund an extension of Bay Area Rapid Transit service, remains too close to call.

Americans finally may have understood the relationship of oil supply and demand. If you want fuel to be cheap, you have to use less of it. For all the talk of achieving energy independence through drilling, solar or wind, it's conservation -- even without a concerted, coordinated national effort -- that has proven to be the quickest route. That's why green-design efforts won't stop, especially in the heating-oil dependent Northeast.

A compact shelter where one may spend the evening admiring the stars and the beautiful surrounding mountain range. It would offer the opportunity of overnight stays within a spectacular 360 degree view.

Of the four projects, this is the least site-specific and therefore hardest to determine how well it fits into the city or if its contextual engagement is, per the studio brief, primarily urban. Is it in London or could we even be in the countryside? One has to give it a generous benefit of a doubt to accept that it wasn't arbitrarily plopped into place.

Upon taking office in January, President-elect Obama will face a daunting array of challenges to our nation’s prosperity. Short-term issues include severe financial credit disruptions, economy instability and rising unemployment. But the biggest trial for the new administration will be how to address these pressing issues while, at the same time, solving long-term challenges, like creating a more efficient and sustainable energy future for America.

The good news is that economic and sustainability issues go hand in hand. There is a way to secure our energy future while building our economy and creating jobs. When we talk about creating alternative sources of energy – whether it’s wind, solar or biofuels – we often overlook a vital, untapped resource right here at home: the ingenuity, talent and productivity of U.S. workers.

When will there be a way to recycle cell phone chargers?! I am so frustrated with this. I have recycled all old/damaged/out of date cell phones (save one gigantic one that is just too hilarious to let go of quite yet) and here I am stuck with all of the chargers. More recent ones find homes, but what about the oldies? Will this ever be possible? Really, they should just all use the same chargers. So frustrating. Anybody hear any recent news on electronics chargers and what to do with them?

“We have to subsidize Detroit so that it will innovate? What business were you people in other than innovation?” If we give you another $25 billion, will you also do accounting?

"We are conducting a vast toxicological experiment in which our children and our children's children are the experimental subjects."

Brita is going to announce a recycling program for its water filter cartridges on Tuesday. The brand manager from Brita contacted the Take Back The Filter campaign yesterday and gave us the word. We can't reveal the details until Monday night. But I can say that their plan includes almost all of the things we asked for on our petition and during the campaign.