While the sorts of environmental problems that can best be solved by “green” consumerism are admittedly small, they do add up if a lot of us do them together. One of my guiltiest pleasures is my love of paper towels. They clean up everything and you can just get rid of them- you can even compost them. But despite all the rationalizations, the numbers speak for themselves: In the US alone, we use 13 BILLION pounds of paper towels, or 45 pounds per person per year. And while I can’t find any numbers on sponges, they usually stay wet for long periods of time and can harbor all sorts of bacteria. In fact, the kitchen sponge may be the dirtiest thing in your entire house!
The Swedish Dishcloth has the amazing ability to (mostly) replace both products and change your life.
Ah, sell-by dates, those little stamps that are supposed to reassure us that the foods we buy aren’t spoiled. Most of us check them regualrly, if not obsessively, and trust that if we stay within their parameters, we can avoid making ourselves sick.
The Solar One Education team is excited to launch our new, enhanced website, 
Population growth and overconsumption are two of the major factors driving environmental degradation and climate change. Growing populations enjoying ever more material comforts has been the hallmark of human progress for more than 100 years.
Seagulls, they’re everywhere, am I right? Like pigeons, it may be hard for New Yorkers to see them as “wildlife” when they act like such annoying scavengers so much of the time. And because they’re what are known as “opportunistic carnivores”, they tend to hang around the species that provides the most food opportunities- humans.
This is a picture of a piece of expanded polystyrene foam- the ubiquitous squishy plastic foam that takeout food containers, hot coffee cups, hospital and school meal trays and packing peanuts are all commonly made from- under an electron microscope. 