This short film doesn’t provide groundbreaking information, but it does something many others have failed to do: Offers a succinct, simplified explanation of our consumer-driven economy, the interconnectedness of the entire process, and our place in it.

Paper or Plastic? Manufacturing of plastic bags produces less air pollution and industrial waste than paper, but paper is made from a renewable resource, trees.

Doesn’t an expansion of nuclear power facilities, without a concrete plan for waste handling, seem like putting the cart before the horse? Again? Maybe not.

Tell your favorite take-out place to ditch the Styrofoam packaging. Ask them to use cardboard or corn starch items instead, and without the plastic bag, too.

About one quarter of commercial printers in the United States operate using soy ink. Ask about soy ink for your next project.

If you’ve gone digital, your old camera should be recycled with products containing mercury. Better yet, check with your local school or college to see if their art/journalism departments might use it.

When making coffee use a reusable filter rather than paper filters. White paper filters pollute water with chlorine and other harmful chemicals. Unbleached filters waste vast mounts of paper.

This was a year that saw major environmental shifts, in both directions. Here are just a few of the high (and low) lights, as we see them…

Sometime soon we might be able to suck in a huge breath of coastal air and feel refreshed again. Not sick. California regulations and a new push by the EPA are hoping to turn the tide on airborne particulates.

Want to reduce the amount of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions? According to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), we can save about 1.5 million tons of carbon dioxide annually by using public transportation. Only 14 million Americans use public transportation and 88% of the other commuters are single occupant drivers.