Imagine a gigantic Ikea, 3 acres in size, except everything for sale has been diverted from a landfill. Down one aisle, hundreds of solid wood doors; down another aisle, porcelain toilet bowls. Deep bins filled with forks of every size, stacks of bowls and kitchenware from the 1950’s to last year. Light fixtures of every description hanging from the ceilings, walls of stereo equipment and more stuffed armchairs than you can count.
It’s all quality, it’s all dirt cheap, and it all would have been sitting in a landfill if it wasn’t for Urban Ore, a for-profit “eco park” in Berkeley, California.
…doesn’t mean you have to do it!
By Alisha Fowler
“DING! You are free to move about the country! $49 one-way tickets anywhere in the U.S. Book by Saturday to take advantage of this deal!”
Oh airplanes, how I love and hate you. In as little as 5.5 hours, I can move from Oakland, CA, [...]
Even Wasilla, AK has a farmers market.
By Tommaso Nicholas Boggia
My Aunt Luisa is the mother of two young girls, is employed full-time and has a very little time to spare. When I gave her a compost bin for Christmas I wasn’t sure whether she would use my gift, but I wanted to give her something meaningful that would add something special [...]
By Alisha Fowler
Over the past few months I have experimented with ways to get to where I work everyday. Do I bike? Drive? Walk? BART?
Now, I only live about 4 miles from work so I am very lucky compared to the average American no matter how you spin it. The average American spends about 100 [...]
By Tommaso Nicholas Boggia
Ok, this meme is getting a little over-used, but no other techno turned hip-hop song does a better job of expressing the joys and thrills of commuting by bike. You work Harder than others around you, but you are rewarded by getting around the city Faster than any of your friends, [...]
By Alisha Fowler
Offices. There are tens of thousands of offices in the U.S. – and the vast majority of us spend at least eight hours a day in them. I’m one of ‘em. Le sigh. And, as a product of my work routine, I’ve developed a pretty serious habit: coffee. Coffee is my trusty steed [...]
Written by John Landefeld
Growing up, I never fancied myself a future sustainability advocate. Fearless explorer, sure; grit-covered cowboy, definitely a fantasy. And what American boy doesn’t want to be an astronaut for at least some period of their boyhood?
Tofu-munching, bicycle-commuting, hemp bag re-using practitioner of all things eco? Not really what I had in mind [...]
By Alisha Fowler
“You’re a vegetarian?” he asked, as I ordered the bowtie pasta from the flight attendant, rather than the molded chicken dish.
“For the most part,” I replied, wondering how anyone in their right mind would sink their traveling stomachs into strange, shapeless meat at 3am local time. “Are you?” I asked the 16-year-old sitting [...]
