sustainable living

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Activists Toss Soup on Glass-Covered Mona Lisa

Protest at the Louvre in Paris was over sustainable farming

(Newser) - Two climate activists hurled soup Sunday at the glass protecting the Mona Lisa at the Louvre Museum in Paris and shouted slogans advocating for a sustainable food system, per the AP . The stunt—the latest in a series of similar actions —came amid protests by French farmers over several...

Jetliner Crosses Atlantic Without Using Fossil Fuels

Virgin Atlantic 787 used high-fat fuel instead

(Newser) - The first commercial airliner to cross the Atlantic on a purely high-fat, low-emissions fuel flew Tuesday from London to New York in a step toward achieving what supporters called "jet zero." The Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787 flight was powered without using fossil fuels, relying on so-called sustainable aviation...

Band Goes on Tour, Walks the Whole Way

Chris Roberts and Seth Bye of Filkin's Drift trekked nearly 900 miles in Wales over 2 months

(Newser) - Get Chris Roberts and Seth Bye a foot massage, stat. The two musicians, members of the folk band Filkin's Drift , on Tuesday wrapped up their latest tour through Wales, performing dozens of shows over two months. But it wasn't private jets, regular commercial aircraft, or even a van...

This Is the Most Sustainable City in America

San Francisco tops LawnStarter's list

(Newser) - Saturday is Earth Day, so LawnStarter compared the 200 biggest cities in America to find the most (and least) sustainable ones. The site looked at more than two dozen metrics in five main categories: policy, including incentives and policies that center on energy efficiency and renewables; sustainable development (think the...

Crows Trade Butts—the Cigarette Kind—for Food

Sweden testing litter cleanup program

(Newser) - Some crows in Sweden will literally work for food now. A company based in suburban Stockholm is testing a program that sees trained crows pick up cigarette butts in the city in exchange for food, the Guardian reports. For each butt a crow places into a special machine, the bird...

Where's the Beef? Not in This Popular Site's Recipes Anymore

Epicurious' move is in the name of sustainable cooking, but not everyone is happy about it

(Newser) - Food and cooking website Epicurious made a big announcement on Monday, with some critics saying it's a "drastic" one. "Epicurious is cutting out beef," the site, which falls under the Conde Nast umbrella, posted in a tweet , explaining that beef will no longer be included in...

Starbucks Just Made a Change It Hopes You Don't Notice

Company is testing greener coffee cup with biodegradable liner

(Newser) - Starbucks' paper coffee cups aren't as easy to recycle as you may think. That's because it's challenging to separate the outer paper part from the thin plastic liner used on the inside to keep any hot beverage from seeping through. The chain hopes to change all of...

McDonald's: We'll Serve Sustainable Beef ... Someday

First step: Define 'sustainable beef'

(Newser) - McDonald's hopes someday all its beef will come from sustainable sources—but there's a lot of work standing between it and that lofty goal, CNBC reports. One key step: figuring out just what sustainable beef is. "There hasn't been a universal definition," the company says...

Sustainable Farm Fuels the Left's Sheldon Adelson

Hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer pushes environmental issues

(Newser) - A hedge-fund billionaire and his wife, a community bank CEO, originally aimed to use their 1,800-acre California ranch to show off soil conservation techniques—but today, it's become a model sustainable farm, and apparently a highly profitable one. At TomKat Ranch, Tom Steyer and Kat Taylor raise grass-fed...

Sorry, Critics, Sustainable Farming Is Not a Myth
Sorry, Critics, Sustainable Farming Is Not a Myth
OPINION

Sorry, Critics, Sustainable Farming Is Not a Myth

Small-scale agriculture provides a path toward real solutions: Joel Salatin

(Newser) - In a recent New York Times op-ed , James McWilliams dismissed the movement toward smaller-scale, sustainable farming as ultimately unworkable in terms of logistics, and nowhere near as good for the environment as proponents suggest. In doing so, he called out one of the movement's leaders, Joel Salatin of Virginia'...

Sorry Locavores, Sustainable Meat Is a Myth
Sorry Locavores, Sustainable Meat Is a Myth
OPINION

Sorry Locavores, Sustainable Meat Is a Myth

Smaller 'natural' farms won't work: James McWilliams

(Newser) - Lots of people these days are turning away from large-scale meat farms and toward smaller, organic farms. It's better for the animals and for the environment, right? Not nearly as much as most locavores think, writes James McWilliams in the New York Times . He's not defending factory farms—...

Why We Stopped Being Vegetarians
 Why We Stopped 
 Being Vegetarians 
OPINION

Why We Stopped Being Vegetarians

A butcher, hunter, and rancher discuss the ethics of eating animals

(Newser) - For long stretches of their lives, Nicolette Niman, Tovar Cerulli and Joshua Applestone were all vegetarians or vegans. Now, they’re a rancher, a hunter, and a butcher, respectively, who “firmly believe food from animals can be healthful, environmentally appropriate, and ethical,” they write in the Atlantic . Their...

Willie Nelson Covers Coldplay in Chipotle Video

Animated short makes case against factory farming

(Newser) - An animated video featuring Willie Nelson covering a Coldplay song is getting some buzz for its message against industrial farming, notes AdWeek . Nelson sings "The Scientist" as the video—commissioned by the Chipotle restaurant chain—shows a farmer inflicting the evils of large-scale agriculture on his pigs before returning...

Prince Charles Pushes Woolen Coffins

It's a greener way to go!

(Newser) - Prince Charles—who recently stressed the value of woolen clothes for sustainable living —believes the material is perfect for sustainable dying as well. The prince asked for a selection of woolen coffins, which are reinforced with recycled cardboard and can feature a personalized embroidered nameplate, to be displayed prominently...

Eco-Kosher Jews Aim for Sustainable Sabbath

Culinary consciousness 'gives taste to the text we study': advocate

(Newser) - A new wave of “eco-kosher” Jews treats environmentalism as law, the Los Angeles Times reports. To strengthen their ties to their faith, culinarily conscious believers are hosting sustainable Sabbath dinners using homemade, locally grown foods. “Jewish tradition should heighten our awareness of the choices we’re making,”...

Old Days—Good and Bad—Are Back: Noonan
Old Days—Good and Bad—Are Back: Noonan
OPINION

Old Days—Good and Bad—Are Back: Noonan

In slump, simple pleasures are chic as traditional values gain

(Newser) - Reading about a Michigan family that shed modern excess in favor of a self-sufficient farm life didn't strike Peggy Noonan as shocking in these economic times. Her fellow New Yorkers have already begun responding to the same forces, causing Noonan to predict the rise of "a certain authenticity chic,...

How Green Is Too Green?
 How Green 
 Is Too Green? 

How Green Is Too Green?

Is unplugging the fridge and fueling up on vegetable oil eco-friendly or just nuts?

(Newser) - How far would you go to reduce your ecological footprint? Would you run your car on waste vegetable oil? Use your lawn as a bathroom to save water? Huddle for body heat? Unplug the fridge? Some 7% of the population is “dark green,” the New York Times reports,...

Contest Offers $25K for Best 'Crazy Green' Scheme

X Prize proposals to be posted on YouTube

(Newser) - The X Prize Foundation is at it again, this time with a new eco-challenge offering $25,000 for the best “crazy green idea” to stop global warming, reports CNET. The organization, famous for its high-stakes engineering contests, is looking for breakthrough ideas in energy and housing. Proposals must be...

Green Housing: From Good Idea to Good Business

Architects, not automakers, have the power to halt global warming

(Newser) - With US homes on average twice as large as they were 50 years ago—and, of course, dwarfing those in all other developed countries—rethinking our idea of "home" is as crucial to cutting global warming as switching to a smaller car, says architect Edward Mazria in Fast Company....

A Different Kind of Apple for iPhone Waiters

Sustainable agriculture group heads queue for new phone release

(Newser) - The countdown is on ahead of Friday's release of the iPhone 3G, and a handful of buyers are waiting outside Apple's flagship New York store. But they’re not diehard fans—they’re activists hoping to promote sustainable agriculture by breaking a world record. The Waiting for Apples group queued...

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