The Generosity of Birds
Why do we help out our relatives when one of them needs a buck or a meal, and who gains the most from such acts of generosity? A tough question, but there are hints of answers in birds. A just-published study reports new insights into the evolution of altruistic behavior. It suggests that sometimes the greatest beneficiaries are neither those giving or receiving alms, but those whose main job is t... posted on Aug 28 2007, 2,235 reads

Philosophy & Recycling in Albania
Miranda Fejzo is an unlikely person to find standing in the middle of a rubbish heap. Smartly dressed in matching black jacket and skirt, with white high heels, she explains the intricacies of recycling while carefully navigating between piles of discarded plastic bottles and heaps of cardboard and tins."Here comes the rubbish," she says - long, silver coloured fingernails pointing at a battered t... posted on Aug 22 2007, 2,297 reads

The Year Without Toilet Paper
Welcome to Walden Pond, Fifth Avenue style. Colin Beavan, 43, a writer of historical nonfiction, and Michelle Conlin, 39, a senior writer at Business Week, are four months into a yearlong lifestyle experiment they call No Impact. Its rules are evolving, as Mr. Beavan will tell you, but to date include eating only food (organically) grown within a 250-mile radius of Manhattan; (mostly) no shopping ... posted on Aug 04 2007, 3,038 reads

The Little Island That Could
It's a two-hour ferry ride to the Danish island of Samso — and it can seem like a trip back through time. But if you look more closely, to visit Samso is to see the future. Samso is an area about 40 square miles long with a permanent population of about 4,000 — all of them living a green dream. Take farmer Erik Andersen. His tractor runs on oil from seed, which he grows. His hot water and powe... posted on Jul 21 2007, 2,367 reads

The New French Revolution
About a dozen people pedaled bicycles up the Champs-Elysees on Sunday as onlookers cheered. These were not the leading riders of the Tour de France racing toward the finish line, but American tourists testing this city’s new communal bike program. More than 10,600 of the hefty gray bicycles became available for modest rental prices on Sunday at 750 self-service docking stations that provide ac... posted on Jul 19 2007, 1,944 reads

Taking a $5 Billion Stand
The shy, 36-year-old sole member of the Djok clan and senior custodian of the Koongarra uranium deposit in Australia has decided never to allow the ecologically sensitive land to be mined. Jeffery Lee is not interested in the soaring price of uranium, which could make him one of the world's richest men. "This is my country, look, it's beautiful and I fear somebody will disturb it,” he said, wavi... posted on Jul 17 2007, 2,398 reads

The World's Biggest Concert Ever
Live Earth is a monumental music event taking place on July 7th 2007 (07/07/07). The 24 hour, 7-continent, star-studded show will begin in Sydney, Australia, and then roll around the globe with concerts in Tokyo, Johannesburg, Shanghai, Hamburg, London's Wembley stadium, New York and finally, at 8pm, Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach. A special performance at the British Antarctic Survey Station i... posted on Jul 07 2007, 2,989 reads

Making Cars Not Garbage
Each week, hundreds of new cars roll out of the Subaru factory in Lafayette, Indiana. But for three years what hasn’t come out is -- the trash. When the garbage truck rolls up to the curb in front of your house each week, it hauls away more trash than is generated by the manufacturing processes at the factory. 100 percent of the waste steel, plastic and other materials coming out of the plant is... posted on Jul 06 2007, 1,903 reads

Beyond Human Altruism
Altruism may be far more widespread than had been realized. A new study shows that chimpanzees are capable of helping others without any thought of personal reward, demonstrating that young chimpanzees spontaneously and repeatedly helped humans who appeared to be struggling to reach sticks within the animals' enclosure. Elsewhere in the animal world there are many examples of apparent altruism. Do... posted on Jun 27 2007, 3,940 reads

Finding Gold in the Garbarge
Patrick Fitzgerald found himself distracted as he studied for the bar exam at Fordham University five years ago. New York City was debating the merits of continuing its recycling program and Mr. Fitzgerald wondered why that was a question at all. "I wasn't an overt tree-hugger, but I thought it was odd," he said. He began poking around Web sites and news articles about the economics of recycling, ... posted on Jun 21 2007, 2,827 reads