Latest Articles

Save Bette Midler, er, Mother Nature! [VIDEO]

I remember watching The Earth Day Special when I was 10 years old, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Earth Day, with far too much enthusiasm. I had even set the VCR to tape it more than two weeks prior. I was such a nerd. Lucky for you guys, I still am, as is some other […]

Burning oil rig sinks into Gulf of Mexico

This is bad: The oil rig that has been burning in the Gulf of Mexico since an explosion on Tuesday has sunk, CNN reports. The human cost: 17 workers injured (3 critically) and 11 missing. The Coast Guard is searching for them. The ecological cost: Crude oil is leaking from at a rate of about […]

Mike Mathieu

Art: Nat Damm Mike Mathieu Founder, Front Seat Seattle, Wash. After working at Microsoft and founding an internet publishing firm, Mike Mathieu, 41, decided to put his software smarts to work for the greater social good. Seattle-based Front Seat, which he founded and chairs, has launched “civic software” projects like Walk Score, which shows you […]

Selim Sandoval

Art: Nat Damm Selim Sandoval Founder, Growingreen Energy and EarthPlay Learning Adventures Ventura, Calif. Selim Sandoval, born in Guatemala and raised in South Central L.A., is hard at work creating green jobs in Southern California. His company Growingreen Energy installs renewable energy systems and trains workers to enter the field, while another venture, EarthPlay Learning Adventures, creates customized […]

Benjamin Shute and Miriam Latzer

Art: Nat Damm Benjamin Shute and Miriam Latzer Farmers, Hearty Roots Community Farm Tivoli, N.Y. In a shallow 2008 New York Times style-section article, Benjamin Shute was portrayed as a hipster farmer. But growing food is no trendy pastime for him and his business partner, Miriam Latzer, 35. Since 2004, they’ve run Hearty Roots Community Farm, […]

Cameron Sinclair and Kate Stohr

Art: Nat Damm Cameron Sinclair and Kate Stohr Founders, Architecture for Humanity Sausalito, Calif. Cameron Sinclair and Kate Stohr, both 36, founded Architecture for Humanity in 1999 to promote architectural and design solutions to social and humanitarian crises. Their motto: “Design like you give a damn.” (That’s also the name of their book.) Since its […]

Sammy Slade

Art: Nat Damm Sammy Slade Member, Board of Aldermen Carrboro, N.C. Sammy Slade, 35, has a vision for Carrboro, N.C., a bustling, densely populated town that borders Chapel Hill. Where other people see a conventional burg with lots of single-family houses and lawns, Slade sees one big community farm for a post-oil era. Bikes, pedestrians, […]

John and Julie Stehling

Art: Nat Damm John and Julie Stehling Owners, Early Girl Eatery Asheville, N.C. In 2001, John and Julie Stehling, now 42 and 39, had a radical idea: Let’s start a restaurant that sources as much as possible from its foodshed, and let’s serve simple, diner-style fare at accessible prices. At that time, most local-minded restaurants […]

Scientists show ‘growing’ fuel is waste of energy

Burning industrial corn in your gas tank: just as dumb as it looks in this silly picture.It’s no mystery where Grist comes down on the food vs. fuel debate, aka the Great Ethanol Boondoggle. But it’s nice to see the science continuing to support our side of the argument (via Science Daily): Using productive farmland […]

Bryant Terry

Art: Nat Damm Bryant Terry Eco-chef and Food-justice Activist Oakland, Calif. Chef and activist Bryant Terry, 36, works to make our food system just and sustainable, and, in his own words, “illuminate the intersections between poverty, structural racism, and food insecurity.” He’s reminded people of the healthy origins of African-American cuisine in Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, […]