I split these topics out from my other groupings of things found in my In-Box. I thought I would give it its own post as it considers environmental topics to include poverty, housing, nature, recycling, and business. All of which have an impact on the world we live in today. What is there is how people are thinking today and the results of their actions. I think I got it right. Maybe you think differently? Housing and Environment DIY ‘AirCrete’ Dome Homes Are Affordable, Resilient, and Eco-Friendly, (treehugger.com), Derek Markham. Beyond its affordability, this superstar material is easy to work with and drying in just one night. It is flexible enough to be shaped into almost any form. Are Adobe Houses Sustainable? treehugger.com, Maria
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run75441 considers the following as important: climate change, Consumerism, Hot Topics, US/Global Economics
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I split these topics out from my other groupings of things found in my In-Box. I thought I would give it its own post as it considers environmental topics to include poverty, housing, nature, recycling, and business. All of which have an impact on the world we live in today. What is there is how people are thinking today and the results of their actions. I think I got it right. Maybe you think differently?
Housing and Environment
DIY ‘AirCrete’ Dome Homes Are Affordable, Resilient, and Eco-Friendly, (treehugger.com), Derek Markham. Beyond its affordability, this superstar material is easy to work with and drying in just one night. It is flexible enough to be shaped into almost any form.
Are Adobe Houses Sustainable? treehugger.com, Maria Marabito. These simple, earthen structures produce impressive environmental benefits.
What Is a Geodesic Dome Home? History and Architectural Features, treehugger.com, Lisa Jo Rudy. While efficient and beautiful, these homes can be tricky to build and maintain.
Unprecedented 21st century heat across the Pacific Northwest of North America, npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, nature.com, Authors. Extreme summer temperatures are increasingly common across the Northern Hemisphere and inflict severe socioeconomic and biological consequences. In summer 2021, the Pacific Northwest region of North America (PNW) experienced a 2-week-long extreme heatwave,
Nature
Earth Month Challenge: 30 Easy Actions for Every Day of April, treehugger.com, Treehugger Editors. Celebrate our beautiful home planet with a small act for every day of the month.
What Trees Can Do for You, (treehugger.com, Dan Lambe. Trees naturally call for attention as they climb toward the sky with outstretching arms. Yet, it’s still easy for us to ignore them.
Monarch Butterflies Will Go Extinct if We Don’t Take Action Now, (treehugger.com), Melissa Breyer. Monarch butterflies perform one of the most mind-bending feats in the animal kingdom. Weighing just half a gram, they fly on wafer-thin wings through cities and across interstates, migrating up to 2,800 miles from Canada and the United States to their wintering grounds in the forests of Mexico.
Want to help wildlife? Turn off your lights, nationalgeographic.com, Sarah Gibbens. The day to night cycle is an essential part of nature, telling animals when to emerge to hunt, forage, migrate, and mate. When artificial light disrupts those natural light cues, wildlife from bugs to birds, and even plants, are seriously impacted.
Here is What’s Happening to US Honey Bees, treehugger.com, Meissa Breyer. Back in the winter of 2006, beekeepers in the United States began reporting startling losses of up to 90% of their hives.
Business
What if your bank fails? Here’s how to get your money out, consumeraffairs.com, Mark Huffman. Deposits of up to $250,000 are insured by FDIC so depositors with less than that amount in the bank will be made whole.
6 Best Meal Delivery for Seniors, ConsumerAffairs, Amelia York. For seniors and those with mobility issues, meal delivery services aren’t just a matter of convenience.
There’s very little blue sky in the latest consumer complaints about airlines, consumeraffairs.com, Gary Guthrie. The latest DOT Air Travel Consumer Report has been released and complaints are four times greater than they were in pre-COVID 2019. And, get this – that volume came at a time when fewer people were flying, too.
How the Jones Act Ruins Your Commute, The Atlantic, Scott Lincicome. David Zetland. The Jones Act, formally known as Section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, was ostensibly intended to ensure adequate domestic shipbuilding capacity and a ready supply of merchant mariners and ships in times of war or other national emergencies.
The FDA proposes to give food producers the OK to use salt substitutes on more than 160 products, consumeraffairs.com, Gary Guthrie. Salt lovers might not like this news, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wants to give food producers the permission to use salt substitutes instead of the real thing.
FDA makes sales of opioid overdose treatment drug over-the-counter, consumeraffairs.com, Mark Huffman. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted over-the-counter (OTC) sales status to Narcan, a move that health experts say could save lives.
Second lab-grown chicken product cleared for human consumption by U.S. regulator, Reuters, Leah Douglas. California-based cultivated meat company GOOD Meat has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to bring its lab-grown chicken to market, according to agency documents released on Tuesday.
Recyling
As Millions of Solar Panels Age Out, Recyclers Hope to Cash In, Yale E360, Jon Hurdle. David Zetland. Solar panels have a lifespan of 25 to 30 years, but they contain valuable metals, including silver and copper. With a surge of expired panels expected soon, companies are emerging that seek to recycle the reusable materials and keep the panels out of landfills.
Your ‘Recycled’ Grocery Bag Might Not Have Been Recycled, undark.org, Ian Morse. David Zetland. Recent laws encourage recycling old plastic into new products. But verifying recycled content relies on tricky math.
Try Swedish Dishcloths and Say ‘Goodbye’ to Paper Towels Forever, treehugger.com, Treehugger Editors. A single Swedish dishcloth can replace 17 rolls of paper towels—and they work even better.
Poverty and Wealth
The One Cause of Poverty That’s Never Considered, The Atlantic, Eyal Press, David Zetland. But what if the focus on the disadvantaged is misplaced? What if the persistence of poverty has less to do with the misfortunes of the needy than with the advantages the affluent presume they are entitled to? In Poverty, by America, Matthew Desmond, a sociologist at Princeton, argues that we need to examine the behavior and priorities not of the poor but of “those of us living lives of privilege and plenty.”
Elderly Poverty Statistics (2023): Senior Poverty Rate, ConsumerAffairs, Kathryn Parkman. More than 15 million older adults are economically insecure. About 50% of seniors rely on Social Security for the majority of their income. Over the next 10 years, the number of elderly Americans without homes could triple.