Lifestyle

Study Results on Agricultural Pesticides and ADHD in Children

Study Results on Agricultural Pesticides and ADHD in Children

Analysis There’s a lot of attention being paid to a new study from the University of Montreal that suggests a link between pesticides (specifically organophosphates) used on fruits and vegetables and ADHD in children.  So, I’d like to point out some key issues the study finds and some comments on it from other scientists. This [...]

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Home Solar Power or Changing Habits: Which One Has the Largest Home Energy Savings?

Home Solar Power or Changing Habits: Which One Has the Largest Home Energy Savings?

For many, the idea of buying solar panels as a way to generate electricity and reduce energy bills seems pretty straightforward. But upon deeper reflection, and experience, it’s not so simple. But first let’s start with the great news – our suburban family of four just received its April electricity bill. It was 11 dollars, [...]

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Have a Time Out

Numbers and nature – Enjoy! Hat tip: gogerty.com Share on Facebook var button = document.getElementById(‘facebook_share_link_496′) || document.getElementById(‘facebook_share_icon_496′) || document.getElementById(‘facebook_share_both_496′) || document.getElementById(‘facebook_share_button_496′); if (button) { button.onclick = function(e) { var url = this.href.replace(/share\.php/, ‘sharer.php’); window.open(url,’sharer’,'toolbar=0,status=0,width=626,height=436′); return false; } if (button.id === ‘facebook_share_button_496′) { button.onmouseover = function(){ this.style.color=’#fff’; this.style.borderColor = ‘#295582′; this.style.backgroundColor = ‘#3b5998′; } button.onmouseout = [...]

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How To Cut Your Carbon Footprint by 50%: What We Can Learn From Ramit Sethi and Personal Finance – Part 1

How To Cut Your Carbon Footprint by 50%: What We Can Learn From Ramit Sethi and Personal Finance – Part 1

This is the first part of a long post, but worth it.  Go grab a cup of coffee. Our choices and actions aren’t always rational, like lifestyle choices.  This is what science, experience and economists show us again and again.  To make smarter choices we need a path that accounts for that, otherwise, we’ll miss [...]

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What's the Best Car for the Environment?  Maybe Not What You Think

What’s the Best Car for the Environment? Maybe Not What You Think

The pending arrival of the Nissan Leaf got me thinking about cars and the environment again.  (BTW my previous post on the Prius vs. the Hummer is here). Considering that for many of us an automobile is a necessity, we have a new range of choices in automobile purchases to minimize the impact. High efficiency [...]

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Dr. Andrew Weil Video Recommends Organic Food Shopping Guide

Dr. Andrew Weil Video Recommends Organic Food Shopping Guide

Organic food is worthwhile buying, especially because it’s pesticide free.  But, organic food is expensive.  Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to know which organic food contained the most pesticides?  And which the least?  So that you could spend your money where it really mattered? The folks at the Environmental Working Group [...]

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Another Nail in the Coffin of “Tips for Going Green” and The Pursuit of Honest Green Residential Building

As the readers of this blog know, I am highly suspicious of the well meaning, yet misleading and short sighted green home and lifestyle tips peddled at other websites and in books.  That’s why I write in the Lifestyle and Green Hacking parts of this site that you must target the big wins first and [...]

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David Foster Wallace on American Culture and Choices

David Foster Wallace on American Culture and Choices

The following is an excerpt from a 2003 interview that was just released with David Foster Wallace.  I made the transcript myself, but the interview can be found here, in ten parts. I include this as part of Smarter Context as a way to understand why we make the choices we do as a culture.  [...]

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