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Issues: Living Sustainably

Great work from Boston-based smart growth architects

May 15, 2008

Posted by Kaid Benfield in Environmental Justice , Green Enterprise , Living Sustainably

Tags:
affordablehousing, architecture, community, HOPE-VI, neighborhood, planning, publictransportation, smart-growth, smartgrowth, transit, transit-oriented-development

 My friend David Dixon, and his Boston-based architecture firm, Goody Clancy, has been doing some fabulous smart growth work, and I’m here to give them a well-deserved pat on the back for it.   I mention this because I’m off...continued

Robert Rauschenberg, 1925-2008

May 14, 2008

Posted by Kaid Benfield in Living Sustainably , The Media and the Environment

Tags:
earth-day, robert-rauschenberg

 Robert Rauschenberg was my favorite artist, certainly my favorite of those that have been well known.  I paid a small – well, actually, not so small – fortune for a signed screenprint of his LA Uncovered #7, image above, which...continued

How smart is your city?

May 13, 2008

Posted by Kaid Benfield in Curbing Pollution , Green Enterprise , Living Sustainably , Solving Global Warming

Tags:
cities, driving, green-cities, publictransportation, smart-growth, smartgrowth, sprawl, sustainability, sustainable, transit-oriented-development, walkable

  After so many wonky posts in a row, this time I'm going to lighten up with one of those fun internet quizzes that I can do more or less all day when I have something I want to procrastinate.  This...continued

Ecological Accounting: A New Measure of Economic Health

May 13, 2008

Posted by Frances Beinecke

Tags:
bridgeattheedgeoftheworld, capitalism, consumerism, extinction, globalwarming, gusspeth, WRI, yaleforestryschool

My day-to-day work life focuses on relatively concrete notions: passing global warming legislation, getting more energy efficient appliances into the hands of consumers, pushing automakers to produce more efficient cars. These are the tools I believe we must use to...continued

Rethinking environmental impacts to manage growth

May 13, 2008

Posted by Kaid Benfield in Curbing Pollution , Living Sustainably , Solving Global Warming , U.S. Law and Policy

Tags:
carbon, co2, driving, growth-management, impervious-surface, runoff, smart-growth, smartgrowth, sprawl, stormwater

 When faced with a situation where rapid growth is occurring, such as I discussed yesterday, the best thing to do environmentally is to manage and shape it so that a good quality of life is maintained with the least environmental harm.  This...continued

How much the US will grow, and where: numbers and a map

May 12, 2008

Posted by Kaid Benfield in Living Sustainably , The Media and the Environment , U.S. Law and Policy

Tags:
development, growth-management, housing, population, projection, smart-growth, smartgrowth, sprawl

 The housing market may be in a slump right now - in part because we've been building too much sprawl - but over the next 25 years or so the US is going to experience rapid population growth, and the...continued

For the Love of Veggies

May 9, 2008

Posted by Alba Garzon in Living Sustainably

Tags:
carbonfootprint, vegan, vegetarian

For years, when faced with the "are you vegetarian" question I’ve responded with "no, but I am veggie-friendly."  This of course always leads to raised eyebrows and more questions.  It's quite simple actually: I eat (and enjoy) vegetarian food, I...continued

Smart growth improves air quality, says new research

May 7, 2008

Posted by Kaid Benfield in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably

Tags:
airpollution, brownfields, congestion, emissions, infill, neighborhood, smart-growth, smartgrowth, sprawl, traffic, transit, transportation

 The federal Environmental Protection Agency has released important new research detailing the benefits of smart growth on transportation emissions and air quality.  In particular, the report reviews the effects on traffic and pollution that would occur if new growth and land development...continued

Neighborhood food choices may affect your health

May 6, 2008

Posted by Kaid Benfield in Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably

Tags:
choices, community, diabetes, fastfood, neighborhood, obesity, simplesteps, sustainability

The balance of healthy-vs.-unhealthy food options near your home has a major impact on your health risk, according to a new report released this week by PolicyLink, UCLA's Center for Health Policy Research, and the California Center for Public Health...continued

Mother’s Day Gifts for the Mindful Buyer

May 5, 2008

Posted by Courtney Hamilton in Living Sustainably

Tags:
ecolifetips, foodmiles, giftideas, greenliving, localfood, mothersday, organic, phthalates, simplesteps

Now I’m not a mom yet, and my mom lives on the west coast (leaving me pretty much off the hook when it comes to Mother’s Day) but that’s not to say that I don’t have plenty of ideas...continued