Element Media, publishers of a variety of magazines focused on the Honolulu market, this week announced a partnership with Hawaiian Legacy Hardwoods to plant native koa trees on the Big Island of Hawaii in order to offset the carbon emissions and paper use from their periodical Pacific Edge. The move bucks a trend, as many …
Element Media’s Print Publications Go Carbon Neutral Read More »
The small town of Lac-Magentic in the Quebec province of Canada is ablaze over a full day after a driverless train carrying 72 tankers of oil derailed and exploded in the downtown area. At least one casualty has been reported, with police and officials indicating that the death toll will likely continue to rise. The …
Generally speaking, putting solar on your home is a good investment. But what if you’re planning to sell? Are homebuyers willing to up the ante for a home with solar panels? According to some recent studies, the answer is an overwhelming yes. The first study, by the Lawrence Berkeley Lab, looked at home resale statistics …
Solar Panels & Resale Value: Is There An Effect? Read More »
Most enviros these days have their sights set squarely on Keystone XL (KXL) as the true barometer of the Obama climate change legacy. Given that, just yesterday, the British Columbia government shut down the possibility of piping the extremely dirty Canadian tar sands oil from Alberta to the coast through the BC province, Obama’s decision …
“Stealthy” Obama Adds Some Cement to His Climate Change Legacy Read More »
Restaurant chain McDonald’s yesterday rolled out a new menu item in Italy built around the country’s iconic food staple, pasta. The new dish, “Insalata di pasta” is made up of bleached, processed white flour pasta with tuna, tomatoes, peppers, capers, and olives, and was rolled out at a premium price of €4.90 (currently about $6.33). It’s …
McDonald’s sets sights on local food… or, at least its version Read More »
It’s fairly well established that, in terms of sustainability, attitudes far surpass actions. According to Gallup polls, at least 2/3 of respondents have consistently responded to questions about their concern for the environment by saying that they would describe themselves as fairly green. This trend has been consistent for decades. But action is not always …
People frequently respond very positively to polling about environmental attitudes. Even in down years, a grand majority of people respond that they’re concerned about the environment (and/or describe themselves as “environmentalist” in attitude). But the behavior often doesn’t follow the attitude, and it is perhaps the biggest missing link in creating real sustainable change. In the introductory …
Environmental Attitude vs. Behavior: Why the Disconnect? Read More »
Japanese electronics manufacturer Epson has kept a low profile in its corporate social responsibility efforts over its 7 decades in business. The company has recently made a few small waves, including committing to the green electronics certification EPEAT. EPEAT is a certification registry that now includes computers, printers, scanners, copiers, and multifunction devices. Other than that, …
Corporate Social Responsibility at Epson: Printers Designed for the Dump? Read More »
“The cornerstone of sustainability is behavior change” I think, as environmentalists, we’d like to see people, altruistically, care about things that [we think] matter. Species extinction. Global climate patterns that are going to create millions of environmental refugees and spawn war and bloodshed. Ever dwindling wild places. But reality hits, and we realize that that’s …
With concerns over the wider environment growing on an almost daily basis, the pressure is increasing on some of the world’s largest companies, particularly those in the technology sector to clean up their act. Google is one firm that seem to have paid attention to their carbon footprint, and have apparently invested huge amounts of …
Why is Google investing so heavily in renewables? Read More »
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 …