Clearing the air
From The Optimist Magazine Summer 2014 Forget the airpocalypse—the skies are getting cleaner. Hopeful signs from Mexico City, no longer the world’s dirtiest. On a cool Saturday morning, I check the air quality report on Twitter before putting on my running shoes. “Good,” the tweet says—as Read More...
How dangerous is my mobile?
A growing body of research suggests that radiation from cellphones and other electronic devices may harm our health. How worried should we be and what can we do about it? Kim Ridley | December 2006 issue Perhaps more than any other technology, wireless communication is incredibly seductive and Read More...
Green China
Could the world's fastest-growing economic power become a model for environmental protection? Craig Cox | June 2006 Read More...
The recycled technology of Ranjana Mitra
Ranjana Mitra founded Share-IT, which keeps used computers out of the waste stream by refurbishing them and donating them to poor families. Launched in Toronto in 2004, Share-IT has so far given away more than 75 complete computer systems and kept 23,000 pounds of electronic waste out of landfills, Read More...
Where did the night go?
Light pollution is more than an aesthetic problem Carolyn Steel | March 2006 Read More...
Water, water everywhere
New technology lowers the cost of making salt water drinkable Tijn Touber | April 2006 issue It sounds strange, but even with 70 percent of the Earth’s surface covered by water, our blue planet is in the grip of a drinking-water shortage. The reason: only 2.5 percent of all that water is fresh, Read More...
This little light of mine
A revolutionary new light bulb uses so little energy it can last decades Tijn Touber | Jan/Feb 2007 issue If Anton Philips, the man who co-founded the global electronics firm bearing his name in 1891, could see his great-grandsons today, he would surely be proud. His direct descendents, Frans Otten Read More...
Fly the sustainable skies
Air travel produces a large--and growing--share of greenhouse gases. Is there any way to see the world without harming it? Jay Walljasper | November 2006 issue Global warming is now at the top of world concerns as scientists, politicians and everyday citizens ponder how to take immediate action Read More...
Blowing against the wind
Five myths that threaten the future of wind power Tijn Touber | September 2006 issue Wind energy is taking off. Production increased fourfold between 1996 and 2004, according to Yes! (Spring 2006). The American Wind Energy Association, U.S. Department of Energy and National Renewable Energy Read More...
Argument 1: Clean air
Every dollar invested to limit air pollution saves US$10 in healthcare costs. A car powered by hydrogen only emits water vapour: no pollution. | August 2003 issue Air pollution is the argument for the hydrogen economy. Air pollution generated by exhaust from factories and cars kills thousands of Read More...