In almost every area of our lives, today’s economy has made a major shift towards the world of ecology, going green and eco-friendly. Consumers are emphasizing an eco-lifestyle and companies are investing in everything from renewable sources of energy to completely ecologically safe products. Cities, counties, and entire states in the U.S. and around the globe are focused on reversing global warming. In this environment it comes as no surprise that there is a walk-of-shame for states in the U.S. that are listed as the ‘least green’. In 2011, the organization 24/7 Wallstreet analyzed each of the states in the United States to evaluate their levels of pollution. The term pollution covers a lot of territory including air, water, earth, recycling efforts, fossil fuel energy use, etc.. The variables that exist can be state-specific as well. Some states have large tracts of land but no real industrial base, therefore they don’t have a need for high level industry requirements. With that said, those same states may rank high in wind turbine but may have the largest quantity of power plants that are coal-fired. 24/7 Wallstreet used an evaluation scale for 49 metric areas. The metric information was gleaned from just about every organization possible, both Federal and not-for-profit. The data used for the analysis was based on 2009-2010, and included thousands of data input information.
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In almost every area of our lives, today’s economy has made a major shift towards the world of ecology, going green and eco-friendly. Consumers are emphasizing an eco-lifestyle and companies are investing in everything from renewable sources of energy to completely ecologically safe products. Cities, counties, and entire states in the U.S. and around the globe are focused on reversing global warming. In this environment it comes as no surprise that there is a walk-of-shame for states in the U.S. that are listed as the ‘least green’.
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There are a surprising number of companies cropping up all over the world that are taking advantage of reclaimed wood. A reclaimed wood product is finding incredible popularity becauseit is not taken from a living tree and therefore no forests are harmed in the process.
Reclaimed is one of the ecology hot key terms these days. Reclaiming, in its simplest explanation means reusing. There are specific certifications that are required; however it’s not a norm as a requirement in the decorative wood industry. Reclaiming wood can come from a number of sources: existing homes or buildings as well as fallen trees in the forests and even floating logs in lakes and rivers. Artists that specialize in wood working are now seeking out companies that offer reclaimed wood and home builders looking to keep their new house ecologically balanced are using reclaimed wood for both structural supports as well as internal esthetics.Reclaimed wood that has been previously used in construction will often have a used look. Some areas may appear where nails were hammered into the wood; some may have remnants of glue. A more worn or used look has become popular for its esthetics.
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The topic of sustainability has been bantered around in the last few years, but very few people actually know what it means. Most understand that it is something that is good for the earth and our environment, but can’t quite wrap their arms around how they can adapt to sustainability in their own lives.
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The word pesticide has become a nasty term, and rightly so. While one or two generations enjoyed attractive fruits and vegetables they were closer to the apple from the story of Sleeping Beauty. Laced with toxins that harm the body, the pesticide chemicals that were at one time freely sprayed are frowned upon today. If you think that we are pesticide free, you are wrong, the chemicals are still there and the caution remains the same.

If you use a lawn company and they put a sign on your lawn to caution animals and children after they spray. You might want to get a list of the chemicals they are dumping on your grass. According to the EPA there are about twenty eight pesticides used for home, food and general pest control. Of these, approximately forty percent are listed in the category of concern for health of humans including probably or possible carcinogens.
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I first became aware of the topic of drugs in the water system about six years ago. One of the local students had submitted a school science project for the science fair which examined the amount of estrogen that was contained in the city water. The project was conducted so well that the county used her information to create their own analysis of all pharmaceuticals contained in the water. The final statistics of the study was pretty astounding. Yes, there are drugs in the water system.

Many counties and states have created their own research teams to continue the direction of finding out exactly what pharmaceuticals are in drinking water and why. The Associated Press also started their own individual study and found a surprising amount of drugs in a variety of drinking sources. One might envision people simply dumping their medication down the drain, but a vast majority of the pharmaceuticals are simply from people taking their medication and having it leave their bodies naturally. When the toilet is flushed, it includes left over meds from the body. Since most areas are accomplishing the cleaning of reclaimed water, not all of those drugs are being removed.
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Part of my early years was spent in a small Southern Missouri town, where everything was pretty basic. I lived with my grandparents in a no frills little farm style home. All of the houses were a lot alike in functionality, including the fact that they had rain water collection systems. “Rain water, my Grandmother said is the purest water that you can have”. We don’t live in those simpler times, but there are a lot of people that are returning to some of the common sense roots methods, which includes the harvesting of rain water.

Ever get caught in a rain storm and get soaking wet? Did you notice how soft your hair and clothes became after they dried? That’s because there aren’t any minerals or chemicals in rain water. It is precisely this reason that rain water is coveted for so many uses. Since almost every area of the habited world gets some level of fresh rain, it is a common sense topic to collect and use the rain that normally would just run off.
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The primary source of energy in the United States is currently fossil fuels. These include oil, coal, and natural gas, and they account for 85 percent of the total energy sources used in the country. The consequences of burning these fossil fuels are dire to say the least, and in this article we will attempt to answer the questions ‘why are fossil fuels bad for human health’ and ‘why are fossil fuels bad for the environment’.

The first effect of burning fossil fuels is to the health of our population. The fact is that we need clean air for good health. The main reason why fossil fuels are bad for our health is because burning them releases a number of extremely harmful gases, such as carbon dioxide and monoxide, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and hydrocarbons. Their combination released into the atmosphere creates a nasty overhang we commonly refer to as smog, the harmful effects of which have been brought up by medical professionals numerous times.
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The Big Shift

The UN is calling for a green paradigm shift, which includes a complete rethink of how our environment is affected by market forces. According to a report by UNEP – the UN Environment Program – an investment of about US$1.3 trillion (which is equivalent to roughly 2 percent of the global GDP) into key commercial sectors will make a significant contribution to a resource-efficient, low-carbon, green world economy.

This green shift being called for by the UN is due to transform the green investment scheme of things quite radically for the decades to come. Billions of dollars in investment will be pumped into various ‘green’ projects around the world. The majority of the global capital used to be poured into fossil fuels and property, but very little was put into energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, public transportation, water and land conservation, and ecosystem protection. The new green paradigm proposed by the UN is set to change all this.
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Everyone already knows about the pending doom of the global water crisis, but where exactly will it take the biggest toll? Here are 5 regions of the world that will be the most affected by the global water stress:

1) The Ogallala Aquifer, US
The biggest Aquifer in the United States is getting depleted rapidly. The Ogallala Aquifer, which stretches from South Dakota down to Texas, is losing 12 billion BCM (cubic meters) every year. The total amount the aquifer has already lost is equivalent 18 Colorado Rivers. Many High Plains farmers have already begun to stop using irrigated agriculture, because they realized that there won’t be an endless supply of water to rely on.
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