The Real Oil Crisis You Haven’t Thought of Yet

Even if all forms of fossil fuel were no longer used and we switched entirely over to sustainable energy, we would STILL have an oil crisis on our hands, and here’s why: Over the past year, automobile drivers all over the country have seen gasoline prices plummet. Gasoline that had been over $4 a gallon is now…

Pittsburgh’s Air Quality

Just this morning I walked into  The Anderson Dining Hall at Chatham University  for lunch, and  two volunteers from PennEnvironment were seated at a table asking  students to write letters to Governor Wolf about Pennsylvania’s contribution to climate change. The representatives and I got to talking about what makes Pennsylvania “the nation’s third largest emitter…

Black, Yellow, and Green?

There is no doubt that Pittsburgh is notorious for its sports’ fans and the ultimate passion found throughout the city limits and beyond. A simple drive through the ‘burgh is sure to provide arguably obnoxious flashes of black and yellow memorabilia of some sort, flags waving in the yards of most Pittsburghers’, and one simply can’t walk down…

The Significance of the Honey Bee

    Honey bee populations have been in serious decline over the last few years. This is one of the most significant problems that we are facing as a society today. Without the honey bee, and other native pollinators, we are headed for an agricultural disaster that could seriously effect life as we know it. Colony…

Thinking in Connections: A Systems Perspective In Everyday Life

What is Systems Thinking? A system is an interconnected set of elements that is coherently organized around some purpose. Attributes of a System: elements  interconnections  purpose Systems thinking is a way of perceiving, describing and understanding, the forces and interrelationships that shape the behavior of systems. This method of thinking helps us to see how…

Self Sufficiency Through Home Gardens

Studying at Chatham and the Eden Hall campus I have learned many different approaches on approaches to incorporate sustainability into our society but also in my personal life. Small-scale home farming operations are an economical way to have access to fresh foods, and practice self-sufficiency. Many of us don’t have access to large amounts of…

No more receipts, please.

I have never been to an ATM machine that did not have a trash can directly beside it. This was something I noticed ten years ago in High School when I opened up a checking account and got my first debit card. I can recall being annoyed that I was forced to take a receipt…

Beetles and Invasive Plants

                                                                                                    (http://www.nyis.info/) Non-native plant species are invading new regions at an unprecedented rate, exerting strong impacts on ecosystems and human welfare. When non-native plant species reach a high abundance, they have the potential to dominate an ecosystem, impacting not only individual resident species, but also entire population dynamics. Invasive plants are responsible for the degradation…