Single-stream recycling—or allowing households to dump all types of recyclables into one blue or green bin—has increased US recycling rates by 30 percent. It has also caused recycling contamination to skyrocket. Putting the wrong items or dirty items into your bin can ruin entire batches of recyclables, meaning they’ll all end up landfilled…
Ninety-four percent of Americans say they recycle in some manner, according to a 2014 Harris Survey. That can only be a good thing, right? For most people, yes. But for some, the impacts of recycling aren’t always all positive. In fact, they can be devastating.
“For those who make environmental and industrial decisions, communities of color—…
The Road to Recycling Contamination
Single-stream recycling, the simple act of dumping all of your recyclables into one bin, has become one of the most common recycling methods in the US. Public participation has increased due to the ease of single-stream bins, but the chances for contamination have skyrocketed. Reducing contamination is…
An investigation by China Labor Watch found that toy factory workers are often exposed to sweatshop abuses and toxic chemicals without adequate protection.
Toy companies like Hasbro and Disney that do business in China are hiding a dark secret—millions of workers toil in the Chinese factories in their supply chains under cruel, backbreaking…
Dr. Vandana Shiva is a physicist, world-renowned environmental thinker and activist, and a tireless crusader for economic, food, and gender justice. She earned a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Western Ontario, Canada, then shifted to inter-disciplinary research in science, technology, and environmental policy. In 1991, she founded…
95% of our food is grown in soil. But one-third of the world’s soils have become degraded—turning them from living soil to degraded dirt.
Find out more with our infographic.
Click here to open a larger version.
Winter 2015.
Can organic farming feed the world and curb the climate crisis? The nonprofit Rodale Institute (m) , located in Kutztown, PA, has one of the longest-running field trials showing that it can.
The Institute was founded in 1947 by J.I. Rodale, one of the first people to embrace the idea of a return to organic farming—he’s widely credited with…
Photo by Tupungato / Shutterstock
A February report found that the majority of the 164 products researchers tested from Family Dollar, Dollar General, the Dollar Tree, and 99 Cents Only contained at least one hazardous chemical linked to serious health impacts.
Love bargains? You’re right to think twice about seeking deals at your local…
Photo from Alex Eaves
Conant Metal & Light CEO Ste ven Conant, featured in the documentar y film Reuse!, shows off some of the light fixtur es, wall decor, and whimsical items offered in his store, which transforms used lighting and furniture into creative new items.
Stay Vocal(m) founder and CEO Alex Eaves has been a fan of reuse since he…
Creating clothes from field to factory can result in a whole lot of toxins being unleashed on workers, on the planet, and even on you and your family. Here’s how you can avoid fashion disasters.
Certified members of Green America’s Green Business Network® use eco-friendly fabrics and low-impact dyes and finishes. Pictured left to right: Models…
It isn't just pesticides on textile crops that makes clothes toxic. They're often coated with a whole host of chemicals. Here are 11 of the worst, named by Greenpeace.
To open as a PDF, click here.
Published in the Green American magazine issue Fall 2015.
Even though most toxins used in clothing manufacture will affect workers far more than wearers, it’s still a good idea to exercise precaution and avoid even a little exposure to toxic clothing. Use these seven tips to stay safe at home.
1. Buy less toxic clothing.
The more new conventional clothing you have hanging in your closet, the more…
Performance fabrics that offer anti-bacterial and anti-odor qualities, as well as sun protection, may contain nanoparticles that are largely untested for human health effects.
If you’ve been shopping for workout clothes lately, you may have seen labels making some extraordinary claims—namely, that you can work up a sweat and your clothes…
Underwear is just one of those things people put on without thinking in depth about the product. Does it cover everything that it needs to cover? Does it fit properly and not rub or chafe? If the underwear fulfills those requirements, wearers are typically satisfied. As a whole, most people do not think about where their underwear came from or…
image: Imperial War Museum
During WWII, the British Ministry of Information released a pamphlet titled “Make Do and Mend.” It provided tips on how to be both frugal and stylish in times of harsh rationing. Readers were advised to create pretty “decorative patches” to cover holes in warn garments, unpick old sweaters to reknit into new styles,…
If you want to make a corporation sit up and take notice, hit it where it hurts—in its profits.
Think about it: At the root of many corporate ills is a desire to maximize profits and shareholder returns. Abusive sweatshops? Created to squeeze every last dime out of the workforce. Environmental harm? Inflicted by companies that cut corners on…
Being a socially responsible investor starts with being informed about your finances. Check out your financial wellness with these calculators.
CNN Money’s Financial Health Calculator
Have a bit of time on your hands? It can’t be better spent than checking your financial wellness with CNN Money’s financial health calculator. Enter your…
Part of making a difference with your money is ensuring that you save enough to put it into the saving and investing vehicles that can do the most good. By making a “shift to thrift,” you’ll spend less and save more, avoiding extra debt and shoring up your retirement accounts to secure your golden years. You’ll be buying less and wasting…
Does money have to be “at the root of all evil,” as the old saying goes? It can be. It buys resource-intensive “stuff” that damages the Earth and runs up debt. It gets deposited in mega-banks that take advantage of Main Street to pad the coffers of greedy, predatory Wall Street businesses. It’s the driving force behind industries like the fossil…
When I called up Native American activist Suzan Shown Harjo (Cheyenne & Hodulgee Muscogee) for our article, “The Shame of Stereotypes as Team Mascots,” I had no idea I was in for one of the most moving interviews I’ve ever conducted. I was quite familiar with her work on getting the Washington NFL football team to move away from…
Money alone can’t secure your future and protect you against crises. That also requires investing in your community, your skill sets, your friendships, and the environment.
Financial advisor Michael Kramer, director of social research at Natural Investments, LLC and co-author of The Resilient Investor. photo: Natural Investments, LLC
What if…
Trade is essential for any economy—or community—to thrive, but not all trade is equal. Our globalized economy makes it easy for companies to use the cheapest labor they can find anywhere in the world, even through means of exploitation, while also making it harder for people to know anything about the conditions under which their goods were made.…
When we talk about herbs, it’s often in the context of tea or food. But the ways that herbs can support the body aren’t limited to what they do inside. The same plant chemicals that boost health after they’ve been ingested will also support the body from the outside.
Using herbs topically is easy and effective, and even safer than consuming them…
The Problem with Seafood from Thailand
Thailand is the world’s third-largest seafood exporter, behind only China and Norway. Every year, the Thai fishing fleet finds itself short by about 60,000 crew members, so human traffickers help boat captains fill that gap by kidnapping men from Thailand or luring men from Myanmar (formerly Burma) and…
Choose green holiday gifts for the kids in your life.
Celebrating greener holidays can mean reducing the number of gifts you give, choosing intentionally to focus on relationships, human connection, and the spiritual meanings attached to the season. Still, many find great joy in sharing gifts with the children in their lives.…
Just in time for the holidays, New York’s famed Candle Cafe has released a vegan cookbook featuring recipes to help you celebrate every major holiday. Vegan Holiday Cooking from Candle Cafe is not only beautiful to look at on a coffee table, but the dishes are delicious! And for the omnivores out there, John Ivanko and Lisa Kivirist, owners of Inn…
With the New Year in sight, many of us start looking ahead to 2015, setting our priorities, goals, and intentions. But maybe this year, instead of making some of the same old promises to yourself (this writer confesses to ritually vowing to be more organized with paperwork, bills, and properly archiving the hundreds of pages of kid artwork that…
The Green America victories that made up our best year yet
Green America campaigns help tip corporations and industries toward green practices by applying pressure from: 1 individual members, 2 green businesses, 3 shareholders, 4 allied organizations, and 5 the media.
As Jeremy Rifkin notes, the economy is rapidly moving toward what he calls…
Whether you're lactose-intolerant, working to reduce your carbon footprint, or a complete cheese addict, there are many reasons why people want to try or commit to a dairy-free diet and lifestyle. But change can always be a challenge. So here are five tips to keep in mind in the dairy aisle when you want to go dairy-free.
1. Eat less cheese.…
Dahkota Franklin Kicking Bear Brown is a 15-year-old Miwok student who was named a 2013 Champion for Change by the Center for Native American Youth. In 2012, he founded the nonprofit NERDS (Native Education Raising Dedicated Students) to provide peer-to-peer tutoring and mentoring to Native students. His speech for the Center for American…
The “Anything Vegan” nutritionist chefs
Jasmine Simon and Marji Simon Meinefeld
show us how, simply and joyfully.
Photo from Anything Vegan
Sisters Jasmine Simon and Marjorie “Marji” Simon Meinefeld are both committed vegans, and they’ve dedicated their careers to spreading the word of the many benefits of a vegan diet and that it isn’t…
Shareholder activists usually play the long game, filing shareholder resolutions with companies, requesting dialogues with corporate managers, and issuing investor statements calling for industry-wide action. These efforts add up, over time, to spur social and environmental changes at corporations. But last December, an investor coalition led by…
Chemical-laden conventional sunscreens can include toxic ingredients that can be absorbed through the skin. Sunscreens from green companies are free from the most potent toxins, avoid problematic nanoparticles, and can still protect you from the sun.
The summer months are upon us, and for many people, that means more time outside in the sun. It…
Li Qiang, founder and executive director of New York-based China Labor Watch, often sends undercover investigators to work in electronics supplier factories in China. They report back on the labor conditions they experienced, which CLW uses as ammunition to advocate—on the ground in China and with US corporations that use the factories—for better…
Have you ever heard of conflict diamonds? The phrase refers to diamonds that originate in war-torn areas and are sold to buy arms or in other ways fund a conflict. Turns out diamonds aren’t the only resource financing wars—you may be walking around with a conflict cell phone in your pocket.
Tantalum is one of many “conflict minerals” that are key…
Once cell phones, laptops, or other electronics have outlived their mayfly-like lifespans, their disposal becomes an issue. Full of toxic chemicals such as lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium, and PCBs, improperly recycled electronic waste, or e-waste, can expose people to substances that lead to cancer, birth defects, and other major health issues…
For evidence that Big Biotech is working to suppress independent scientific research that links GMOs to health effects, you don’t have to look any further than the much-maligned 2012 study by Dr. Gilles-Eric Séralini, a professor of microbiology at the University of Caen in France.
In November 2012, he and his colleagues published a peer-…
Monsanto’s “seed police” are notorious for traveling the country, inspecting farms for Monsanto-patented GM seeds or plants that were not purchased from the company. Since Monsanto forbids farmers from saving its seeds, the company then sues farmers for patent infringement, even if farmers claim the contamination was accidental.
A 2013 report…
Fifty to sixty percent of US sugar comes from sugar beets—and almost all of that comes from a genetically modified (GM) version of the plant. Sugar is in a good chunk of our foods, even savory ones like soups and bread. With no requirements in our country that GM foods be labeled, you may be consuming a lot more GM sugar that you think.
As…
Even as science works to prove the safety, or lack thereof, of GMOs when it comes to human health, there are other issues at stake with biotechnology.
1. GMO Contamination --
Currently, GMO and non-GMO crops coexist side-by-side. But due to cross-pollination from insects, wind, and farmer error, some non-GMO and organic crops are being…
George Naylor has been growing non-GMO corn and soy on his Iowa farm since 1976. He talked to Green America editor-in-chief Tracy Fernandez Rysavy about his fight to stay GMO-free.
Green America/TRACY: Why did you decide to go GMO-free?
George Naylor: I chose not to raise GMOs, period. I just refused to buy products where corporations are…
Dr. Jane Doe is a biologist who works on crop evolution, genetics, and improvement at a major university. She asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of her work. Dr. Doe talked to Green American editor-in-chief Tracy Fernandez Rysavy about her research into stronger, better hybrid seeds, how they compare to GMOs, and how…
Every 30 minutes, a farmer commits suicide in India, a phenomenon that has been steadily rising since the 1970s. Documentary filmmaker Micha X. Peled took his cameras to the vibrant farming community of Telung Takli in the state of Maharashtra—which sits at the heart of the crisis— to find out why.
Peled’s 2011 film Bitter Seeds starts…
As a green-economy activist, you demand that companies improve their social and environmental practices. But what’s going on behind the scenes in these campaigns? Here’s an insider’s look at how Green America leverages your voice to engineer green tipping points—in this case, against genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in our food, starting with…
UPDATE: March 2014... There's still a chance to revive the Production Tax Credit!
Though the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind energy expired at the end of the 2013, members of Congress are working to bring it back. On March 21, 144 representatives and senators sent letters to their colleagues urging the PTC's renewal.…
The expansion of the green economy is seen in the growth or green market segments, certifications, higher education programs, and industry associations. (Source: The Big Green Opportunity Report, 2013; click image for larger.)
Here are seven things being "greenwashed," from granola bars to cleaning products. These items may seem more environmentally friendly than they are, but there are better alternatives for you to consider.
1. Biodegradable Bags
How much do they cost? $5 – $20
What’s wrong with them? Unless you know these bags are ending up in a…
It can be hard to eat organic food on a budget. But we have some tips on how to prioritize the foods least contaminated by pesticides, increase your access to healthy, organic foods, and even build community along the way.
Organic or Conventional?
If you’re on a tight budget, prioritize buying organic versions of produce that’s normally…
What if you could get what you need for free and make some really great friends in the process? That’s the concept behind what even the mainstream media has started to call “the sharing economy”—where people come together to pool time, talent, and treasure so everyone involved can get what they need. All around the world, people are sharing their…
We asked our summer editorial fellows, Krisna Bharvani and Sierra Schellenberg, to find an office casual outfit that they would wear, as cheaply as possible. The rules were that they could spend no more than $50; they had to assemble a complete outfit, including shoes and one accessory; and they needed to get their items from a combination of…
