Putting a Brand Label on Wind Power

Consumerism—perhaps more than any other factor—has driven the growth of green ideas and policies over the past decade. (Which, if you think about it, is a little ironic, but never mind that for now.) Whether it’s the near-vertical growth of the organic food movement, the spread of BPA-free bottles and other products for the concerned [...]

Keeping Kids and Chemicals Apart

Better hope you’ve got a little extra closet space. Sometime today, American industry will manufacture or import 250 lbs. of chemicals just for you. There will be another 250 lbs. tomorrow and another the day after that — every day, in fact, throughout the year. That’s a pretty big mountain of chemistry, but if we’re [...]

Industrial Tourism in Japan: Your Health Hazard, My Holiday

The Wall Street Journal has run a fascinating article about a newish travel trend in Japan called kojo moe – roughly translated as “factory love” or “factory infatuation.” Kojo moe enthusiasts fetishize the otherworldly beauty of elaborate industrial spaces: the steam punk drawbridge, the soft billows of a polluting smokestack emptying into an otherwise blue [...]

Cracking Down on Toxic Makeup

Let’s put this out there first: I do not know much about cosmetics. I have deodorant and shaving cream and—because I burn in the sun faster than Robert Pattinson in Twilight—lots and lots of sunblock. The average American uses 10 personal care products a day, and I am sub-average. But I do know that government [...]