When Craig Benson started working on reusing industrial waste to rebuild infrastructure 20 years ago, he says, “I didn’t even know the word sustainable.” He just knew that there were valuable materials going into landfill from places like the paper industry and the coal-burning power plants. “Trying to find ways […]
I recently did a short piece for ON WISCONSIN about research into spending and happiness. A lot of studies have been done about how much money it takes to be happy, and the findings often seem to point to some upper limit of money after which more money does not […]
When Doug and I think about how we use power on our land and how we will power our house and farm there, we haven’t really considered wind power. It doesn’t suit the site. But on a national scale, the answer (or 10 to 20 percent of it, anyhow) is […]
How are you feeling today? Good? Glad to hear it! How is the wildlife in your area feeling? The U.S.Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center needs to know, and they have created two new programs to find out. “Avian influenza, SARS, West Nile virus, and rabies are just a few […]
A dishwasher insinuated itself into our lives when we bought a house that came with one in 1986. With a family of four, a job and grad school, I was grateful for every minute of kitchen work saved. Our next house had one too, and it was again a great […]
The US Federal Trade Commission estimates that there are 9 million cases of identity theft per year in the USA and recommends that individuals defend themselves by shredding financial documents before disposal. Whipped up into worrying about important papers falling into the wrong hands, we got caught up in the […]
Everyone who takes care of land from square foot gardeners to those of us trying to manage multiple acres has their most wanted list of invasives plants. The lists are getting longer. According to James Reinartz of the Southeastern Wisconsin Invasive Species Consortium , the cost to the U.S. economy […]
Here is another way to stay out of the malls on Black Friday while finding some nifty gifties which which you can give those you love an easy way to do something green. Last time I posted about green clothing from Fair Indigo. This time I’m going to focus on […]
Black Friday is just a week away. That’s the day when many retail operations finally make it into the black for the year as our culture goes into a shopping frenzy. At least that’s how it used to work. Perhaps the economic downturn is sobering shoppers just a bit. If […]
When Doug was a freshman in college, one of his roommates brought home a puppy, then quickly lost interest. Doug found himself in a human/canine partnership with an amazing mongrel. Raised in a household of male college students in the 70s, Yama was given free rein to explore his inner […]
Digging in the Driftless 