Greening the Mother Road

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Ant Colony Conquers Earth

An Argentine mega-colony of ants has spread from it's home continent of South America to Japan, Europe, and the US.  It is the largest known colony of any insect known.  Ants from the colony in Japan, when introduced to its relatives from Europe and California, rubbed antennae and behaved as old friends.  It should be noted that the spread of the colony is the result of unintentional human interference and assistance.

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SF's Recycling Revolution

The Board of Supervisors in San Francisco has recently voted for the most vigorous recycling laws in the United States. The new set of laws, which involves separating waste into three different colored receptacles, will take full effect in fall, 2009. Fines for the failure to have receptacles range from $100-500, although a cessation on fines lasting until July 2011 will be put in place for specific properties in an effort to assist people getting used to the new program.

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Caribou Crash

A recent study published in Global Change Biology reports an average of a 60 percent reduction in caribou populations worldwide.  Investigators looked at 58 different herds from Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia, and Siberia, and found that at least 34 were in serious decline.  While a few herds are increasing in size, some are taking much larger losses.  For example, a herd in Labrador that was 50,000 strong in the mid 20th century has shrunk to less than 1,000 animals.  There are many contributing fact

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Open Source Farming

The  Open Source Ecology movement is bringing individuals together through the Internet to develop tools that can create replicable "resilient communities."  One of the main goals of this collaboration is to reduce the cost of building such communities to that of scrap metal and labor.  Their online ebook, The Global Village Construction Set gives instructions on just how to do this.

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148: Finding an Ecovillage / Sacred Activism — Love, Grief, and Empowerment

Diana Leafe Christian, author of Finding Community: How to join an Ecovillage or Intentional Community, zeros in on how to find an ecovillage. Once you determine what you want, what are the criteria to explore whether an ecovillage is a good fit/match for you? (www.EcovillageNews.org). Bob Banner, publisher of Hopedance magazine, shares insights from Andrew Harvey’s [...]

147 A Geodesic Greenhouse — Year-Round Gardening at 6000 Feet

In Colorado it’s cold for much of the year, but inside this cozy dome greenhouse, the plants are growing happily. Take a grand tour with Buckhorn Gardens manager and permaculturist Breigh Peterson: the greenhouse structure with its interplay of light and water, warmth and air; curving raised beds of vegetables and flowers; fish tanks moderating [...]

146 Permaculture for Humanity

The future is abundant, asserts permaculture designer Larry Santoyo. His vision of living in the present provides a wonderful antidote to fear about uncertain futures. People need to rediscover that we’re part of the ecosystem, and apply permaculture design principles to the many problems we face. Larry teaches sustainable permaculture design as a discovery of [...]

145 Resourceful Guy Builds Solar House, Solar Power, Solar Car

John Weber’s Boise, Idaho house with south-facing windows rarely needs heat and never air conditioning. Meet a man who has built a passive-solar house with solar electric power and solar hot water; plus a solar-powered electric car — and who rides a bike! With photovoltaics tied to the grid, he sells surplus electricity back to [...]

144 Local Living Economies - Protecting What We Love

Judy Wicks’ love of place has made widening ripples on a global scale. She’s the founder of BALLE (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies), a national network of sustainable, small businesses. After moving onto a quaint street in Philadelphia, she learned it was slated to be torn down. Organizing her community, she saved the block [...]