Washington City Paper, March 7, 2012 American University is trying hard to become the city’s least wasteful college. Two years ago, after eliminating trays in the cafeteria to cut down on overeating, AU started composting food scraps, collecting 500 tons annually. Then it added paper towels to the pile. Just recently, it hired a zero-waste coordinator … Read More
The Story of Stuff, February 29, 2012 Over the past several years, Walmart — the largest retailer in the United States by a factor of, well, a lot — has paraded out a series of sustainability initiatives, from energy efficient lighting in its stores to, more recently, a much-touted effort to bring fresh food to urban … Read More
Forbes, February 29, 2012 Alameda County recently passed a mandatory recycling ordinance in a bid to divert 90 percent of its “readily recyclable and compostable materials” by 2020. Alameda County includes much of the east San Francisco Bay Area, including Oakland and Berkeley. The county is following in the footsteps of its ambitious neighbor across the … Read More
Utne Reader, February 2012 Shop local, eat local, travel local. These precepts have enjoyed a grassroots renaissance over the past decade, leading in many cases to healthier food, sturdier products, and more affordable energy. They have also helped communities reduce their carbon footprint and support local businesses and small farmers. According to Stacy Mitchell, writing in … Read More
In an Op-Ed for Bloomberg, Susan Crawford highlights the advantages of publicly owned broadband. She notes that ILSR is tracking advances as more communities decide to build their own networks to ensure they are not lost in the race for advancement… Read More
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, February 12, 2012 What a great idea. That’s what Indiana merchants are saying about Square Inc., which offers a service to bypass expensive credit card transaction fees by basically using an iPad, iPhone or Android device as a cash register. There are other firms like it, but San Francisco-based Square has been … Read More
USA Today, February 5, 2012 In his article, journalist Rick Jervis turned to Christopher Mitchell on the development of community networks. More than 150 local governments across the country have built or are planning to build cyber networks, says Christopher Mitchell of the Minneapolis-based Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a non-profit group that advocates community development and … Read More
Utne Reader, January-February 2012 Shop local, eat local, travel local. These precepts have enjoyed a grassroots renaissance over the past decade, leading in many cases to healthier food, sturdier products, and more affordable energy. They have also helped communities reduce their carbon footprint and support local businesses and small farmers. According to Stacy Mitchell, writing in … Read More
In this Nov. 20 interview with Baruch on his WKBM Paradigms program, we talked about: The coming decentralization of the electricity system The folly of a building inherently decentralized technology (wind and solar) in a centralized fashion The benefits for local ownership of a decentralized system How limited economies of scale for solar and wind power … Read More
