Environmental Well-Being

Does GMO Corn Really Cause Tumors in Rats
- Environmental Well-Being
- September 26, 2012
This week, a French research team published a paper in a peer-reviewed US journal showing that rats exposed to low doses of both genetically modified corn and the widely used herbicide Roundup had negative health effects. The results, already generating plenty of debate, are not as clear-cut as they seem at first glance. But they do shine
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Where Cows Are Happy and Food Is Healthy
- Environmental Well-Being
- September 12, 2012
The Op-Ed columnist Nicholas D. Kristof recently visited the dairy of his childhood friend Bob Bansen, who has names for every cow in his herd and treats “his girls” like co-workers. Bob says, "if a cow is at her maximum health and maximum contentedness, she's profitable. I don't manage my farm so much from a
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Fifth-Grader’s Petition Prompts Jamba Juice to Ditch Styrofoam
- Environmental Well-Being
- August 31, 2012
10-year-old Mia Hansen was visiting a Jamba Juice when she noticed the abundance of Styrofoam cups doled out with every drink order. She started a petition on Change.org saying "Styrofoam takes so long to break down into the Earth. In the ocean, several animals think that this product is food, so when they go to
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Rain Garden Helps Spruce Up Suffolk County Parking Lot
- Environmental Well-Being
- August 3, 2012
Funded mostly by the New York State Soil and Water Conservation Committee, a Riverhead office building recently added a rain garden, the first one on Long Island, to its parking lot. The garden soaks up rain — as much as 3 inches of it — to help stop the flooding that used to happen. Now
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‘Green’ homes sell for 9 percent more, study says
- Environmental Well-Being
- July 24, 2012
According to a new report, California homes that meet environmental standards, such as energy efficiency and proximity to public transportation, are selling at higher prices than homes that don't meet those environmental standards. A green label increased the selling price of a single-family home by an average of 9 percent compared with nongreen label homes.
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Green gyms focus on high-power workouts, low-power usage
- Environmental Well-Being
- July 12, 2012
Los Angeles Times. 7/7/2012
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Infant Formula Can Be a Major Source of BPA: Experts
- Environmental Well-Being
- July 6, 2012
Bisphenol A (BPA), a common chemical in plastics often added to the material that lines food cans, including infant formula packaging, has been a source of concern because it is a "hormone disrupter" associated with changes in child growth and development. The American Medical Association wants BPA alternatives to be developed for infant-formula containers. Representatives
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As waves of Japanese tsunami debris reach Northwest coast, who will pay for cleanup?
- Environmental Well-Being
- June 27, 2012
With tons of debris from last March's tsunami in Japan washing ashore along the Northwest coast of the US, no one knows yet how they're going to collect it all, dispose of it, or pay for the cleanup. Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is paying $84,000 to have a 66-foot Japanese dock that washed ashore
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Wary of Plastic, and Waste, Some Consumers Turn to Glass
- Environmental Well-Being
- June 21, 2012
More consumers these days are choosing reusable glass bottles. The New York Times, 6/21/2012
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The Gas Station of the Future Just Opened
- Environmental Well-Being
- June 9, 2012
Last month, Propel Fuels opened the country’s first station where drivers can pump gasoline, ethanol, and biodiesel; cyclists can get tune-ups; and commuters can find public transit schedules. Bloomberg Businessweek, 6/5/2012
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Battle Brewing Over Labeling of Genetically Modified Food
- Environmental Well-Being
- May 26, 2012
For more than a decade, almost all processed foods in the United States have contained ingredients from plants whose DNA was manipulated in a laboratory. Regulators and many scientists say these pose no danger. But as Americans ask more pointed questions about what they are eating, popular suspicions about the health and environmental effects of
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Study: 9/11 WTC dust sickened residents years later
- Environmental Well-Being
- May 24, 2012
A study blames long-term sickness on 9/11 dust from the World Trade Center. "It will also be important to use the results to improve guidance about returning to residences and other locations after a major terrorist or natural event," said an e-mail from Paul Lioy, an environmental health expert and deputy director at Rutgers University's Environmental
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High School Students Sign No-Tanning Pledges for Prom
- Environmental Well-Being
- May 15, 2012
High school senior Allison Bosse took it upon herself to help her classmates pledge to skip the tannning bed for prom this year. Those pledges, taken at Maynard High School in Maynard, Mass., are part of a growing trend at high schools around the U.S., aimed at educating students about the connection between tanning and
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Sunburns, Indoor Tanning Still Pose Cancer Risk for Young Adults, CDC Warns
- Environmental Well-Being
- May 15, 2012
Just days after a federal task force urged doctors to counsel young people about the dangers of UV rays, the government is warning that roughly the same number of young adults gets sunburned as did a decade ago. The risk for skin cancer rises each time a person burns, and just one bad, blistering burn
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CDC: Helmets during tornadoes might help, but no substitute for shelter
- Environmental Well-Being
- May 8, 2012
During a tornado, the most common cause of death is a head injury. Researchers have thus suggested that a helmet would be helpful to have available in the event of or threat of tornadic activity. The CDC warns that there might not be much time to react in an emergency, so people should have helmets
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