The circular economy is a proposed alternative to our traditional ‘take, make, waste’ model of production and consumption – one that offers hope in the face of environmental catastrophes from climate change to ocean plastic. Designing out of waste and pollution, keeping materials and products in use, and regenerating our natural environment is so important to a contemporary design that we wanted to create a dedicated space for the projects bringing these ideas to life. Circular by Design, a new weekly column by longtime contributor Katie Treggiden will start by exploring the potential of ..read more

Over 30,000 plants and 5 miles of hornbeam hedges cover the newly completed Kö-Bogen II commercial and office building by German architecture firm Ingenhoven Architects. Located in Düsseldorf, the verdant structure features Europe’s largest green façade. Photo via Dezeen Ingenhoven Architects is a practice known as one of the pioneers of sustainable architecture. Their Kö-Bogen II marks the completion of an extensive urban renewal project on the Gustaf-Gründgens-Platz in the Hofgarten district of Düsseldorf. It sits where there was once an elevated motorway. According to Ingenhoven Archit ..read more

For those worried about social distancing, but still wondering how to deal with groceries, there’s never been a better time to sign up for a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) box. CSA boxes can be a wonderful way to support small farms while getting a box of local, seasonal produce dropped off in your neighborhood or even to your doorstep every week. Some CSAs even go beyond freshly-picked asparagus and berries, folding in fruit, nuts, and freshly milled flour, awhile others offer up fresh meat and fish. Here’s a running list of CSA boxes currently offering delivery in San Francisco, as we ..read more

Inflammation refers to your body’s natural process of fending off things that could be harmful—injuries, infections, or toxins—in an attempt to heal itself. When something hurts our cells, we release chemicals that trigger a response from our immune system, which includes antibodies, proteins, and increased blood flow to the damaged area. In the case of acute inflammation (like a bruise or swelling from an injury), this doesn’t linger for longer than a few days. Chronic inflammation, on the other hand, is what happens when our body’s “fending off” response lasts and leaves us in a constant sta ..read more

The Marianas Trench is the deepest trench in the world, at 11,034 meters (36,201 feet) deep. If placed in the trench, Mount Everest’s peak would still come up 2,000 meters short of reaching the ocean’s surface. Though the Marianas Trench was established as a Marine National Monument, plastic pollution has managed to find its way to the bottom of the trench, where explorers have found it littering the ocean floor. As part of an expedition to the Marianas Trench in 2014, a team of scientists discovered a new species. Located about 6,900 meters below the ocean surface, one particular new spec ..read more

From the late 1970s, we started going to the bottle bank to deposit (smash) our red, green and clear bottles in the appropriate recycling bin. And in 2003, the Household Waste Recycling Act was passed. This meant that by 2010, local authorities in the UK had to provide every household with recycling services, making the job of caring for the environment more convenient and ingraining it into our routines. Putting items into the recycling bin rather than the waste bin, makes many of us feel better about consuming. We’re conforming to society’s expectations. But with what we now know about d ..read more

As the COVID-19 crisis spreads, social media platforms are faced with a reckoning. They were founded on a business model that does not account for the cost of risk mitigation. Simply put, the companies that have launched these platforms over the years do not train, support, cultivate and pension off professional reporters who are responsible for content. Now, they are literally facing life-or-death consequences. When the dust settles and the crisis has passed, it will be difficult to return to business as usual. The lethal consequences of social media Human rights advocates have fought t ..read more

The top 10 percent consumes 20 times more energy than the bottom 10 percent. Commenters often complain that the root of our problem is overpopulation, and we keep responding with data from a 2015 Oxfam report that concluded that 10 percent of the world’s population is responsible for 50 percent of total lifestyle carbon emissions. CC BY 2.0 Paul Sableman on Flickr Now a new study confirms it, finding “extreme disparity in the use of energy among richer and poorer people – both within countries and between them.” Much of the inequality is due to transportation; researchers found that ..read more

The coronavirus and this administration’s response to it are really going to impact our economy, but the climate crisis will be a worse impact on our economy. Scientists like me have been trying to warn politicians and businesses about how a stable climate and the economy are interdependent for decades, but the fossil fuel industry created a fake debate about science. Now that the impacts are being felt around the world, can we finally get some reasonable climate action to move the world away from the fossil fuels that are polluting our air? (Francisco Kjolseth | Tribune file photo) Friday ..read more

The spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has shaken daily habits around the world. In China, the virus lockdown led to a dramatic decrease in pollution from commuting and manufacturing. Can we use this emerging pandemic to do some good and reset daily habits to be more sustainable? Even as Americans heard that the disease is a hoax, it shut down schools and company offices on the West Coast. A week after the appearance of COVID-19, reports of infections started doubling every few days. The impact on daily life is still taking shape. Looking to the example of China, where 750 milli ..read more