About 90% of all lung cancers are caused by cigarette smoking. Smoking kills 7 million people a year, speeds aging, destroys the heart and cardiovascular system, and leads to asthma and COPD. But cigarettes don’t just wreak havoc on the human body; they also wreak havoc on the environment through deforestation, pollution, and littering. [1] [2]
For the past several weeks, an environmentalist by the name of Rob Greenfield has been walking around New York City with 42 pounds of trash and counting strapped to his body. [1]
Normally, Greenfield is as friendly to the earth as he possibly can be. But for one month, he has committed to behaving like the average American and generating about 4.5 pounds of trash per day.
In January, another piece of research drew attention to the fact that plastics pollute every corner of the earth. Everywhere on the planet, cigarette butts, old CDs, supermarket bags, and nylons litter the landscape. [1]
Photograph: Erik de Castro/Reuters
As one of the richest nations in the industrialized word, the U.S. wastes an estimated 40% of all food. If we reduced that number by just 15% we could feed half of the nearly 50 million Americans, 15 million of them children that go hungry every single day. Landmark legislation was recently introduced to combat hunger and reduce food waste, but it needs help getting Congress’ attention.
By George Wuerthner A growing debate has serious consequences for our collective relationship to Nature. Beginning perhaps twenty years ago, a number of academics in disciplines such as history, anthropology, and geography, began to question whether there was any tangible wilderness or wild lands left on Earth. These academics, and ...
