Be a Seed for Change

A repost – it’s interesting and informative

10 Sustainable Buildings

Green building is no longer a thing of the future. Find out how architects and builders use solar panels, plastic bottles and straw bale insulation for ten environmentally friendly structures.

10 Things You Can Do to Help Save the Earth

It’s a lot easier than you think to “go green” — many of these suggestions require little effort, yet can make a big difference for the environmental. Watch a video and read more about saving the earth.

5 Amazing Green Cities

Sure, the Emerald City looked green, but you won’t need green-tinted glasses to see how environmentally friendly the cities on this list are. What makes a city amazingly green?

5 Green Cities of the Future

Sustainable urbanism is no longer a futuristic dream. Welcome to five cities around the world that will be turning a radical shade of green in the coming decades.

5 Myths About Renewable Energy

We’re currently suspended between two ages: a time dependent on fossil fuels and a future dominated by renewable energy sources. Yet not everyone is sold on this vision, so a number of myths about renewable energy persist.

5 Wacky Forms of Alternative Energy

For those who reduce, reuse and recycle to the beat of their own drum, here are some of the wackier ways to help better the environment and lessen your carbon footprint.

5 Walkable Cities

What makes a city walkable? It’s not just sidewalks. You have to be able to access jobs, stores and places of entertainment while feeling comfortable and safe. What are five cities in the United States that have risen to the challenge?

Are climate skeptics right?

It’s evident the debate over climate change is a heated one. Are skeptics clouding the public judgment for money? Are climate-change believers merely alarmists who risk the present for the future?

Are my bath habits destroying marine ecology?

After sloughing off your dead skin, what happens to those plastic microbeads that wash down the drain? Some make it all the way to the ocean and linger until they become a very unhealthy supper.

Are personal watercraft destroying the planet?

They may seem like a fun water sport or a noisy nuisance, but whatever your stance on personal watercraft, there’s no denying they pollute. So how bad are they?

Can air pollution affect heart health?

Everyone knows air pollution isn’t good for your lungs, but it turns out that it’s not doing your heart any favors either. Why do the particulates in the air we breathe interfere with our heart’s basic job: to keep things ticking?

Can baking soda save the environment?

One company’s SkyMine technology aims to capture industrial carbon dioxide emissions and turn them into an endlessly useful product: Baking soda. But how do pollutants become a household staple?

Can house music solve the energy crisis?

Electrifying dance moves might impress your friends, but they usually don’t help power the club you’re dancing in. What’s piezoelectricity, and how could it help twist the future of energy generation?

Can humans start an earthquake?

Earthquakes are “natural” disasters, right? Yes, but that doesn’t mean the shifting plates that cause them can’t be aggravated by human industry.

Can I travel without expanding my carbon footprint?

You’ve booked a safari with the environment in mind. There’s just one problem: Trans-Atlantic flights aren’t very green. Can green tags make your gas-guzzling trip carbon neutral?

Can my body generate power after I die?

Haunted by ideas of your body polluting the Earth after you’re gone? Microbial fuel cell technology could allow you to harness the energy of your own decomposition to power batteries.

Can we bury our CO2 problem in the ocean?

Carbon dioxide released from burning fossil fuels is a prime suspect in global warming. Could we mitigate the problem by burying the CO2 deep within the ocean?

Can we harness energy from outer space?

As alternative energy sources sputter to take off on Earth, scientists are turning an eye toward space. What are the most promising celestial options, and when could they be in use?

Can we plug the hole in the ozone layer?

The ozone layer prevents much of the sun’s ultraviolet light from reaching the Earth. But there’s a problem: a gaping hole the size of Antarctica. What can we do about it?

Just a few days ago, I signed the NDRC’s Fair Districts pledge — and I want to tell you why you should

Some issues are so clear they don’t need more than a few words to describe them. That’s why we had a phrase in my gubernatorial campaign in Michigan last year: “Fix the damn roads.” Gerrymandering is the same way. It’s wrong. No one supports it except special interests and politicians who want to guarantee re-election. And it’s time we put an end to it.

Here in Michigan, we lived through a decade of manipulated maps — ones that the GOP pushed through in 2011 when I was in the state Senate. And if Republicans had their way last fall, they would have gerrymandered all over again in 2021 for another decade.

But they didn’t. The NDRC, All On The Line’s affiliate, invested here. We won the governor’s race. Michiganders overwhelmingly supported the creation of an independent redistricting commission. Now, we’re one of the first states in the country to take redistricting out of politicians’ hands and have an independent, non-partisan group draw fair districts.

With the help of All On The Line, that kind of change can happen everywhere. Manipulated, partisan districts are an insult to anyone who thinks their vote should count. They’re why people start to believe their voices don’t really matter. And they’re how we end up with politicians pushing extreme policies instead of actually listening to their constituents.

Manipulated maps are at the core of so much that’s wrong with our democracy. With All On The Line leading the way, we’re going to do everything we can to fix it.

Sign All On The Line’s Citizen Commitment today to stand against gerrymandering: