Salt is a historically significant commodity that is essential to human life. Humans have used salt for thousands of years to preserve and flavor food, and there are many modern industrial applications of salt such as de-icing roads or adding it to
Read more…With the holiday season upon us, we’ll have more opportunities to enjoy home cooked meals with family and friends. For this holiday cooking season, why not make a shift towards more plant-based options? It’s worth reflecting how eating more sustainab
Read more…Compassion is a hard sell! The word comes from the Latin and means "suffer with." Developing a compassionate heart takes time, practice, and patience, another word rooted in suffering. But compassion is essential to the work of sustainable living.
Nu
Read more…While shopping in the produce section of your local grocery store, you might hear a piped-in storm sound and then see misters spraying the shelves of vegetables with something. Pre-cut fruit like mango and watermelon are likewise sprayed before being
By Dr. Laurine Grere Osborne, Expert in Responsible Fashion and Product Development
As the holiday shopping season approaches, Black Friday and Cyber Monday bring an onslaught of deals, especially in fashion. Yet the genuine cost of clothing is rare
Read more…Autonomous vehicles are here. Major car manufacturers like Ford and BMW have been developing self-driving cars for a decade. But how will having more AVs on the road affect the climate? Will it reduce or increase fossil fuel use? Here are some consid
There are many decluttering philosophies out there, and Swedish death cleaning is one of the new kids on the block. In her New York Times bestselling book The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, artist Margareta Magnusson takes a different approac
Read more…Every few years Californians vote on bond measures to fund infrastructure projects and schools, fight homelessness, provide affordable mental health services, and other programs. With concern about climate change top of mind these days, Proposition 4
In October we not only welcome fall, but we begin to adjust to cooler temperatures, the leaves begin to turn beautiful colors, everything is all of a sudden pumpkin spice and cinnamon-flavored, and we prepare for Halloween. Living in Northern Califor
Read more…Photo by Marek Studzinski on Unsplash
In Hitchcock’s suspense masterpiece Notorious, Nazi villain Claude Rains discovers his wife, Ingrid Bergman, is an undercover agent and plots to kill her without detection by gradually poisoning her coffee.
When we
Read more…Today's buzzword for energy nerds, green builders, and environmentalists is "electrification." You might know some other buzzwords like "renewable energy portfolios," "net zero energy use buildings," and "Passive House." These all refer to the same
The 16th Annual Leadership in Sustainability Awards Gala will have plenty of sustainable and appetizing options to enjoy! Courtesy of our partners, Calicraft Brewing and Captain and Viano Vineyards, there will be sustainable and local food, beer and
Read more…In the United States alone, 40 billion plastic utensils are thrown away each year, and there are estimates that plastic in the oceans will outweigh fish by the year 2050. Are bioplastics the magic solution to the plastic global crisis? Does the littl
Water will be an essential and stressed resource in California, the West, and in any hot, dry climate far into the future. Politics and economic forces are at play regarding water and other natural resources. Besides advocating for local, state, nati
Regenerative agriculture certainly sounds positive and healthy, but what is it? One way to find out would be to attend a screening of the powerful film "Kiss the Ground," presented by Sustainable Contra Costa and Unity of Walnut Creek. Narrated by an
Read more…Xeriscaping, from the Greek prefix “xeric,” meaning “dry,” is a popular style of landscaping, particularly in areas with arid or semi-arid climates such as California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Texas. Xeriscaping (“zeer-i-scaping”) reduces the
Read more…It's like being pelted with popcorn—the choices and decisions keep coming at us. But some popcorn is more significant than others. The house we are remodeling in Orinda had cement tile shingles, and though the shingles held a lifetime guarantee, we c
Read more…Real grass was introduced to North America by the early settlers in order to feed grazing livestock. Later, green lawns came to represent the American dream of living in an orderly, desirable neighborhood with a manicured lawn. We’ve come to learn th
Repair and reuse are key concepts at the heart of sustainability. Pushed towards consumerism, Americans have gotten into the habit of buying new things instead of fixing broken ones. This practice is not only wasteful and expensive, it is not sustain
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