Green: Eco-Friendly Living

RUTLEDGE, Mo. — In the late 1990s, Alline Anderson was a customer service manager for Clif Bar, a California company that makes all-natural and organic energy bars.

After a year of living with no indoor shower, dishwasher or central air-conditioning, an east Orange County, Fla., couple calls it an off-the-grid paradise.

SunCore is a little known Irvine, Calif.-based company that's on the cusp of shipping some potentially revolutionary technology.

WASHINGTON — The small village on the National Mall looks like something out of a science fiction story. Dozens of solar panels project from the rooftops of unusually shaped buildings, most of which have at least one face dominated by large glass windows or metal.

Years before an economic crisis taught everyone the risks of runaway growth, marine fishermen and fishery managers were already getting a crash course.

Green living in a down economy has become a concern for many Americans, but while adopting eco-conscious practices may seem challenging at first, it's simple to make an impact.

Should a city that's committed to environmentally friendly construction pay $825,000 for a job that was expected to cost $248,000?

A Lehigh Valley, Pa., environmentalist is pushing ahead with plans to power vehicles not with gasoline or diesel, but with the moldy bread, banana peels and rotten meats that would otherwise be dumped in area trash heaps.

In the words of President Obama "don't be alarmed, be prepared" for the swine flu (or, officially, the H1N1 virus). But what if the preparation is more alarming than the flu?

As summer days sizzle in Seattle, the electric meter at one home runs backward.

The fire broke out around 3 a.m., and thanks to a neighbor's warning, real estate broker Scott Tracy and his family escaped without harm.

ROCK SPRINGS — Jeff Mowrer has water and 100 beef cattle on his Perry County farm.

Walking up to the roof of the Fairmont Hotel in Washington, D.C., is not a jaw-dropping experience. Exit the door and you are confronted with a sea of roof tiles and empty space — there is nothing about this rooftop that really captures the eye. But walk around the corner, and you will discover something that a handful of other D.C. rooftops have in common — a faint buzzing.

The Princeton Review recently released its second annual "green ratings" — a measure of the environmental friendliness of colleges and universities.

In the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, residents buy about 350,000 new mattresses each year, according to the International Sleep Products Association. Of the old ones they replace, about half are reused or given away.

As warmer temperatures threaten to devastate plant species across the globe, scientists are taking the lead by relocating plants to safer grounds, according to a recent New York Times article.

Adding just one of these suggestions to your holiday celebration can make a difference.

Dear EarthTalk: I don't understand why many people oppose wind power just because they have to look at the turbines. If you ask me, wind turbines are much nicer-looking than coal-fired, waste-to-energy or nuclear power plants.

— Michael Hart, via e-mail

AKRON, Ohio — Home builder Lance Schmidt hears it all the time: Green building costs more. But he and his colleagues are out to prove otherwise.

Most people use disinfectants to keep from getting sick.

A report recently released by the national environmental health group, Women's Voices for the Earth, contends they may actually make you sick.

Did you know that cranberries are one of the few fruits native to North America? And only five states grow the majority of cranberries in our country — Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Oregon, Washington and New Jersey?

Q: What's the deal with cloth diapers and should I use them?

— Anonymous

Dear EarthTalk: I'm a travel agent and our firm has several clients wanting to go with green vendors, including for travel (airline or rental car) and lodging. Our company is supportive so would like to know which airlines, hotels and car rental agencies are going affordably green?

— Carol Biggar, via e-mail

My reusable Built wine bottle carrier's always gotten me compliments — while saving those rather useless little brown paper bags grocery store baggers like to put bottles in. But I just watched a video that now makes my reusable wine bag seem rather shabby.