Why is sustainability so sexy these days? There are a lot of reasons. My top theory is that it’s become so clear that people can save money through green living ideas. So on Earth Day, we at the Inspired Economist wanted to inspire you to save money in a few ways that will also lower […]
Save money this Earth Day (to also save the planet) Read More 👉
Most economies around the world measure their prosperity and progress using a metric economists call the Gross Domestic Product, or GDP. It is measured by tracking economic activity on, well, everything. GDP is equal to the sum of the price of all goods and services sold in the country at any given time. We’ve argued
Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness: a Model for other countries? Read More 👉
A growing movement called “Go Fossil Free” at colleges across America is pushing University Endowment managers to divest from fossil fuel stocks. Currently, over 300 colleges, 74 cities and states, and several religious institutions are participating, meaning that they’ve moved their investment portfolios that support their endowments entirely away from coal, natural gas, petroleum, and
University endowment divestment from fossil fuel stocks: effective? Read More 👉
If you’re anything like me, you’ve waited til the last minute to do, and pay, your taxes. (I had far more important things to do, like write an April Fools post about Monsanto inserting rabbit DNA into human babies to eliminate their tear duct and get them to quit crying all the darn time). When
How much of your taxes go to war? Read More 👉
Monsanto today announced their latest innovation in genetic modification: a human baby that will never cry. Investors on Wall Street cheered the news, moving shares higher by 4.2% to close at $105.22 (NYSE: MON). According to the press release, the company got regulatory approval today after a 2 week public comment period closed last week. It
Monsanto Patents the “No Cry BabyTM”: Inserted Rabbit Genes Eliminate Tear Duct Read More 👉
It seems a perfect storm of events has lined itself up to create a political environment that *should* push forward a carbon tax. Will it happen, what would it do, and could it work? Let’s start with a quick definition. A carbon tax, in its simplest form, is simply a tax on polluting carbon emissions.
Oahu’s recent Wanderlust Festival provided yoginis the opportunity to mix and mingle with some of the yoga world’s biggest names: Shiva Rae, Baron Baptiste, Shakti Sunfire, Eion Finn and Michael Franti were fixtures in the festivities. Given the yoga crowd’s penchant for mindfulness, organic foods, and all things green, the choice of location for such
Turtle Bay Resort: a sustainable place to host an event? Read More 👉
Last week, I gave much love to the city of New York (see Green, New York Style, March 15th). Today it’s time to drive some good spirited competition into the mix, based on the following press release I received this morning. It was titled simply, “Boston Rules.” The full, very concise text read as follows,
Boston vs. New York: which city is greener? Read More 👉
The Big Apple has moved decisively in the direction of being the green apple in recent years. Here’s the coolest green happenings in the big city. Transportation The city has moved aggressively to create an infrastructure that encourages cycling as a form of commuting, both to alleviate traffic and air quality issues and to facilitate
Green, New York Style: A Sustainability Tour of the Big Apple Read More 👉
In a potential sign of things to come, a west Texas meat packing facility has shuttered its operations as meat demand, and supply, drops. Demand for factory farmed meat is dropping for a variety of reasons, but the supply is dropping due to climate change, as persistent droughts sweep across formerly fertile farmlands. Cargill, one
Climate change related job losses Read More 👉
LYFE Kitchens founder Steve Sidwell knew nothing about the grocery retail market, but he knew what demand was. Sidwell, who said he’d struggled with finding healthy, quick meals for years and battled weight issues as a result, was looking for a good tasting, healthy, quick meal plan that he could stock up in his fridge.
Lyfe Kitchens cuts into Lean Cuisine’s market share with wholesome quick meals Read More 👉
Ask an economist to give an opinion about any controversial subject in society, and they’ll turn to the data and start digging for answers. While I’ve covered the economics of GMOs in the past, Dr. Vandana Shiva, on a recent visit by the visionary sustainability guru to my home state of Hawaii, opened my eyes to
The Economic Argument Against GMOs: a Top Ten List Read More 👉
The environment has become an increasingly big concern for companies around the world. While many companies are begrudgingly forced to abide by local environmental regulations, the are other companies that are constantly looking for new and more efficient ways to be green. In addition to our recent America-centric article about corporate social responsibility in the
Titans of eco-friendly industry, 2013 edition Read More 👉
Love, hugs, good friends, walks in the woods….The best things in life are free, right? Well, maybe. If you’re an economist at heart, you tend to see the dollars and cents in pretty much everything. So recently when my girlfriend and I were debating the merits of moving in together, I, the incorrigible economist, pointed
Puppy Love: something money can’t buy…or can it? Read More 👉
Many of us are trying to make the world a better place. Some of us inspired economics-focused folks would say that the best way to do that is to drive money into the sustainable marketplace: provide an organic carrot for businesses, and they will drive their operations towards it. Many of us seem to also
Holidays and positive uses of money Read More 👉
The trend for men spending more than women in preparation for Valentines Day is a global one, as early figures released in the U.S. seem to confirm. According to the study cited above, male consumers are planning to spend an estimated 75% more than their female companions on gifts and events this year. On the
Buying Jewelry for Valentine’s Day? Avoid Conflict Diamonds Read More 👉
Last week on our sister site Red Green and Blue, editor Jeremy Bloom argued that we people of all political stripes should rally around Senator Al Franken (D-MN), in his quest to overturn Citizens United. Last week was the third anniversary of Citizens United, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that opened the floodgates allowing secret
With the failure of big money, is it really important to overturn Citizens United? Read More 👉
Investors reacted lukewarmly to the passage of the “beyond midnight” fiscal cliff compromise that left Democrats unhappy and Republicans, well, unhappy. When investors react with a mere “meh” to a bipartisan deal that averted what we were told was the potential end of the world as we know it, that might mean one of two
Effects of the Fiscal Cliff deal on green energy and investment Read More 👉
While working in the green economy is an option for many people nowadays, there are many folks who, for one reason or another, do not, but would still like to support the growth of sustainability and clean tech. Good news–there are many ways that you can invest your money to help make a better world…and
Options for investing in sustainability and the clean tech economy Read More 👉
Reading the headlines, you might guess that the Fiscal Cliff is, as the Mayans predicted, legitimately making 2012 the end of the world. The truth is likely much less dire. In an op-ed in the New York Times this week, Nassim Taleb, finance professor and author of Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder, argues that
The housing boom and subsequent bust that caused the financial meltdown of 2008 in the U.S. had many origins. I’d argue that a main cause that has not received much attention was America’s commitment to accommodating the car. Urban planning changed radically when, after World War II, cars became the norm in America. No longer
The effect of walkability and bikeability on real estate value Read More 👉
Worry sweeps across Britain as five of the “Big 6” energy companies declare their gas and electricity prices will have significantly risen by the end of 2012. With Christmas approaching and temperatures dropping in the UK, this news is hitting families and property-owners hard. The UK government, however, is set to launch its scheme, The
The European Union has long been ahead of the curve in terms of sustainability efforts and legislative action around carbon emissions, cleaner energy, toxins in consumer products, and the like. The journey for the EU is well underway and looks to be picking up speed. For instance, pervasive GMO labeling laws across EU member states
How much will it cost for Europe to go entirely green? Read More 👉
This is a great panel discussion about crowdfunding strategies in order to get a social-mission-driven company started (or a project developed). Jeff from Sustainablog hosted Tinia from Re-Nuble and Jen & Nick from TriplePundit, both of whom are doing crowdfunding campaigns at the moment, to talk about what’s going right, and what’s going wrong, with
Crowdfunding strategies for social entrepreneurs Read More 👉
