Posted by Kaid Benfield in Green Enterprise , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
The federal EPA has a new and very handy "what you can do" web site on green homes. Click on a portion of the house and you'll be taken to a page with tips that pertain to that...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
Transportation for America's website introduces its important new report, Dangerous by Design, with an attention-grabbing statistic: "In the last 15 years, more than 76,000 Americans have been killed while crossing or walking along a street in their community. More...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Environmental Justice , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
On this Veterans' Day, when we remember those who have served, it is troubling to note that, although veterans make up around 9 percent of our population, they comprise 23 percent of our homeless population and fully a third of...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Curbing Pollution , Green Enterprise , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Lee County, Florida (Fort Myers) is moving forward with an innovative plan to use clustered, dense development instead of large-lot zoning to protect its water supply. Under current zoning the southeastern portion of the Gulf coast county has been threatened...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably , Moving Beyond Oil
Streetfilms has come through again with a great (if unsettling) 2-minute video on the hazards of crossing city streets. It was shot in New York, but it could have been made in any number of places where car-pedestrian interactions are...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
I've had a number of posts about the importance of street connectivity in promoting walking and cycling and shortening driving trips. The best of them was Rachel's terrific guest post, explaining the pitfalls when she was a kid trying to...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Environmental Justice , Green Enterprise , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
Following up on yesterday's post, Hank Dittmar of The Prince's Foundation sent three new photos that were taken earlier this week in Rose Town, Jamaica. Together they capture some of the progress and pride that the project is engendering. The first is...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
By the time you read this, yours truly will be in Paris, and not for work, thank you very much. We always make a point of staying within easy walking distance of Paris's wonderful park, the Jardin du Luxembourg. ...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Green Enterprise , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
Toronto's Franke James has a wildly entertaining and educational web site (actually, an extended post on her blog) detailing how she converted her driveway and front yard into a city garden. These images are just a small sample of...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Environmental Justice , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
A major challenge that has come with sprawl over the last half-century has been that growing up, maturing, and growing older has required, more often than not, moving to a new community at each new stage. This is largely because...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
Distracted driving kills people. One would think that would be enough. But, sadly, in 44 states of the good old USA, you can blather away, cellphone to ear, and drive 60 miles per hour if you want. In 33 states,...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Green Enterprise , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
For many years, the American Farmland Trust has been my go-to organization when it comes to things sustainable in farming, conservation, and food, and they have just announced the winners of their national "favorite farmers' markets" contest. Personally, I...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
This isn't usually my beat, but as someone who grew up in western North Carolina, the southern Appalachians (pronounced with a flat "a" in the third syllable, thanks) mean a great deal to me. And, like a lot of normal...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
Sharon and I often marvel at how over-scheduled and over-supervised the lives of our friends' kids seem to be. Although we grew up in different environments, she in a ranch house in a then-new suburb of DC and me in...
Posted by Kaid Benfield in Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably
The National Building Museum is hosting a terrific series of short videos on what makes a "Great Green Place." The examples come from Washington, DC, and a while back I featured one on the revitalizing Columbia Heights neighborhood, narrated by...
