According to the UN Food and Agricultural Organization’s November, 2006 report, “Livestock’s Long Shadow–Environmental Issues and Options”: 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock (more than from transportation). 70 percent of previously forested land in the Amazon was cleared to pasture cattle. Two-thirds (64 percent) of anthropogenic ammonia emissions, which contribute significantly to acid rain and acidification […]
Where the deeply personal meets the political
This morning I woke up and did the laundry in the bathroom sink and then asked my two-year-old, Isabella, and my wife, Michelle, if they wanted toast. They both said no. Assuming Michelle could gauge the truth for herself, I made only enough for me and Isabella. Then Michelle changed her mind and started eating toast I’d earmarked for Isabella. […]
Getting traffic off our city streets
I’ve written recently about how the environmental crisis offers us the opportunity to make life in our cities more pleasant while reducing our greenhouse gas emissions—a win/win situation. Part of the way for cities to do that is to adopt policies based on a green transportation hierarchy, which puts pedestrians, bicyclists and public transit users before automobiles (people before cars). […]
Guidelines for discussion–a reminder
I want the comments section of this blog to have real value for its participants. To accomplish that, up until now, I haven’t felt the need to moderate the discussion at all. My recent gardening experience, however, has taught me that a little judicious pruning can make an organism more healthy! So: I’ve decided to […]
Teach a man to dumpster dive and feed him for life
My friend Mayer Vishner, whose community garden plot I help out with, joked that the Freegans’ slogan should be “give a man a meal and you feed him for a day, but teach him to dumpster dive and your feed him for life.” Freegans, you see, make a political statement by trolling the world’s trash […]
Helping trees grow
I spent today in the Hunts Point neighborhood of the Bronx working alongside a bunch of really great young Rock Corps volunteers to help the excellent Sustainable South Bronx (SSB) organization clean out “tree pits.” Tree pits are the square holes cut in sidewalks for trees to grow from. Cleaning them out helps saplings planted by SSB in […]
The green transportation hierarchy
“The green transportation hierarchy is the basic concept behind transportation reform groups all over the world, including Transportation Alternatives. The hierarchy puts city-friendly cyclists and pedestrians first. It rewards their low cost, space efficiency, and zero environmental impact. Trucks are not last because they perform vital commercial functions in cities. An important part of the green transportation hierarchy is that trucks […]
What our cities could be
I’ve written before about opportunities in the environmental crisis. Getting cars out of New York City and other communities that ought to put people before cars would not only cut down on greenhouse gases and improve air quality but would offer us the opportunity to have much nicer places to live. Imagine the city as […]