The extreme weather we've been experiencing lately has it roots in climate change according to most scientists. Intense heat, extreme storms that bring damaging winds and hail and that result in flooding, or raging wildfires all have human costs, but they also have powerful economic costs. Property losses have ripple effects. Who will bear the cost…

Humans have created millions of miles of roads all over the planet. Roads are useful to move goods and people, but they are also intrusions into what were once wild places, where animals roamed free. The millions of vehicles that drive on roads spew polluting gases and assault our ears with noise. To animals big and small, who try to cross roads, c…

Insects have superpowers and unique ways of communicating with each other, without the use of cell phones. They have ways of settling disputes, no United Nations required. If you don’t believe this, listen as Dr. Scott Solomon, provides the details in this edition of Mothering Earth.Dr. Solomon is a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at …

Insects, bugs, pests, whatever you may call them, and whether you love or hate them, they are vital to our planet and by extension to us humans. They provide important ecosystem services by recycling dead things, by pollinating our food crops, by planting seeds, and even just by being food for other creatures, like birds.In this program, we take a …

In our second show with Amy Ziff of MADE SAFE®, a nonprofit organization that provides certification for nontoxic products, we examine the process companies must go through in order to have their products certified as safe.Ziff also provides practical advice on eliminating as many toxins as possible from your everyday life. We find out what might b…

The numbers vary, but we can safely say that there are at least forty-thousand chemicals used in consumer products in the United States. They are found in everything from food and water to furniture, household and personal care products, clothing, appliances, cars, houses, pretty much in everything! An article in the Guardian online, states that fe…

Billions of pounds of food go to waste every year in the United States and in other parts of the world. It is an astounding number, especially when you consider all the precious resources, like water, that goes into producing that food. Then there are all the greenhouse gases going up into our air, from farm machinery, and from vehicles used to tra…

The world’s oceans are suffering from pollution by everything from plastics to dangerous chemicals and oil spills, and from industrial overfishing. Fish populations are being depleted almost to extinction. Plastics and their progeny, microplastics, are in the ocean water and in seafood, but also in us humans, in our blood, our lungs, even our brain…

When you think of perennial crops, you may think of fruit or nut trees, not plants like wheat or rice, which are traditionally planted every year. An organization called The Land Institute, based in Salina, Kansas is hoping to change that. They have been at work developing perennial grain and legume crops. You may wonder why? Perennial crops have m…

People who live in cities in marginalized neighborhoods rarely own land on which they can grow their own food. Generally, their food comes from corner stores which may not stock fresh fruits and vegetables. They may not own a car, and so cannot drive to a full-service grocery store. All these factors combine to make access to fresh fruits and veget…

Most people may not think much about where the wood they use in building projects comes from, but Jordan Zettle aims to change that. Zettle is the Green Markets Manager at an organization called Sustainable Northwest and their focus is in sourcing wood from forestlands that are sustainably managed. They work with tribal communities and other landow…

Like many other creatures, populations of frogs, toads and salamanders, which are classified as amphibians, are in decline. Amphibians have many important functions in the environment. For example, their permeable skin which is affected by drought and toxic substances, makes them excellent indicators of the health of valuable ecosystems like forest…

What if you knew that a particular industry was polluting our waterways, land and air, yet nothing was being done about it? The industry is animal agriculture, specifically CAFOs, concentrated animal feeding operations, with cows, chickens, and pigs. The dangerous pollution, which comes from the tons of excrement produced each day by these animals,…

If you are curious about nature and would enjoy observing and reporting your observations, this is the show for you! Citizen scientists are needed in many different fields of science. Citizen science is when people who aren’t trained scientists participate in scientific research, by collecting data that will be analyzed and used by scientists. In t…

Water is essential to life in so many ways, and water is the focus of the Wyland Foundation. You may know of the artist named Wyland, who has spent years creating enormous murals featuring whales and other marine life on the walls of buildings all over the world. His foundation promotes stewardship of marine resources and water conservation through…

Pollution of the Earth’s waterways and oceans by discarded plastic products and by microplastics that soak up toxic chemicals is a growing problem that is harmful to ocean and river life and to humans. It is not going away soon. In fact, the manufacture of plastic products is on the increase.So what can we do? Each of us can take responsibility for…

Alleys have a reputation for being places to avoid. We may think of them as dangerous, dark, uninviting, places where you do not want to linger for long, if at all.But alleys are experiencing a dramatic makeover, turning them into environmentally friendly places with permeable hard surfaces replacing solid asphalt, and with greenery, places to sit …

Compared to meat-based diets, plant-based diets are significantly less harmful to the environment in terms of greenhouse gases produced, and air, soil and water pollution, and use far fewer natural resources such as soil and water. With the world’s population growing every day, there is simply no way our planet can sustain an increased demand for m…

We all need a place to live, but the type of housing we choose has an effect on the environment. Ideally, our housing choices have minimal impact on the environment, on the land, the quality of the air and water and on the wildlife that are our neighbors. That’s the topic of discussion with my guest Sarah Simpson, who is an architect and co-founder…

Imagine if everyone who has a garden area, whether vast or tiny, decided to reduce or eliminate their lawn, and planted plants that are native to their part of the world. The result would be a greater sequestration of carbon by those plants, and increased support for all forms of life, including birds, insects, pollinators and other animals. In add…

We count on them to guard our homes, to play our music and television shows, to entertain us with games, to call and chat with friends, relatives and colleagues, to clean our clothes, to keep our food cold, to pay our bills, to get our work done and even to drive us home. Think of all the electronic devices you use every day! But what happens when …

Native plants are local plants. They have been growing in a particular region for possibly thousands of years. They grow well without much “care” because they are well adapted to the habitat. They like the type of soil in that region. They do perfectly well with the amount of sunlight they receive there, and are quite happy with the climate, which …

When large populations of grasshoppers and crickets appear in western rangelands in the U.S., the government sprays those areas with pesticides to kill the targeted insects. The spraying program also kills many non-target species. The areas that are sprayed include wilderness, national forest lands and wildlife refuges, and areas used by ranchers f…

As we all know, there are far too many plastics in our world and unlike most materials, plastics do not readily break down. It is estimated that plastic takes 500 to 1000 years to decompose. Only about nine percent of plastic in the United States is recycled.These horrifying facts were a driving force behind a project envisioned and carried out by …

Land stewardship is about taking care of the soil, of native grasses, trees and shrubs, and of sources of water, such as rivers, lakes, creeks and streams. The aim is to preserve and maintain the biodiversity and health of natural ecosystems, which benefits humans, soil creatures, birds and other wildlife. The HELM program in central Texas works wi…

Putting a tax on carbon emissions from fossil fuels isn’t a new idea. Many governments worldwide now implement either direct taxes on fossil fuels, or have set up cap-and-trade programs. This includes Canada, Mexico, many European countries, and the United Kingdom. The United States does not have a carbon tax, although nine northeastern states now …

Most of the animal food products you buy come from what are called factory farms. That includes your beef, chicken, turkey, and pork, as well as eggs and dairy products. The animals in these “farms” live miserable lives in horrible conditions and have a one-way ticket to the slaughterhouse. Compassion in World Farming is an organization dedicated t…

Food is clearly an essential item for all of us, but for some people buying food, especially things like fresh fruits and vegetables, is an impossibility. That's where places like food pantries and organizations like the Sustainable Food Center, come in. We're hearing today from Alex Mace who manages a program at the Sustainable Food Center, in Aus…

In part two of our exploration of food forests, our guides Nathan Hunter of the Bronx River Foodway and Umair Khakoo, of the Festival Beach Food Forest in Austin, TX, focus on biodiversity, ecosystem services, and habitat for birds and other wildlife. We also discuss how you can start a food forest in your own neighborhood.…

A food forest is a public green space where anyone can come, and not only enjoy relaxing among the trees and flowers, but where anyone can pick and eat the fruit from the trees, and harvest herbs, flowers and other fresh produce. Food forests require people in a caring community, who are willing to put in the hard work of creating the space, and ma…

Water is a blessing to all living things. But water also can be dangerous and deadly, in the form of catastrophic flooding. When there is very little water, resulting droughts lead to loss of life. These types of events have been occurring with increasing frequency in recent years.For these reasons, and many more, managing water resources, includin…

Herbicide-Free Campus is an organization that provides students with the tools and resources to eliminate synthetic herbicide use on their school or college campuses. It is a movement that began in 2017, with two students at the University of California at Berkeley, and has spread to campuses around the U.S. Their aim is to push for change to organ…

Enjoying that salad, or anticipating that yummy apple? Thank a pollinator! Almost all the fruits and vegetables and legumes we eat every day require pollination, and that requires pollinators. Pollinators come in a variety of sizes, colors, and species, but in general they are insects of one kind or another. We think of bees as pollinators, but the…

Most people enjoy listening to birdsong, or watching birds in an outdoor space, as they go about finding food and water, and making nests where they will raise their babies. There are things you can provide for birds which will make them more likely to hang around in your yard or even your apartment balcony. That’s what we learn in this program wit…

Power generation and transportation are huge contributors to climate change, but did you know that what we eat every day is also a big contributor to damaging carbon emissions? Yet this problematic area is seldom talked about. There is plenty of scientific evidence that shows the damaging effects on human health and on the environment, of a diet he…

Imagine a day when your trash contains only a few items. Instead of a large, heavy, bursting bag that you carry out to the curb, your bag is small and lightweight. That’s a goal we can all work toward, because landfills are full, and the ocean is polluted with plastics and other human produced trash. Our atmosphere is polluted with the gases from l…

As cities grow, people in them yearn for parkland and green spaces where they can connect with nature. In the city of San Marcos, Texas, citizens got together and formed a group with a mission of creating a belt of green spaces around the city, a greenbelt. Their story is both powerful and inspirational.…

Permaculture is a way of growing food that works with nature, to minimize waste and to use energy, water and human labor efficiently. It requires careful observation of the natural landscape, to determine how to best use the available water, land, sunlight and climate to achieve abundant harvests. In this program you’ll meet a remarkable woman, Ros…

Hemp is a plant that can be grown sustainably, and that has a wide variety of uses from food to clothing, to car parts. and even walls for your house. Despite many positives, hemp's reputation remains clouded by years of incorrectly regarding hemp as the same plant as marijuana. It is a cannabis plant, but it does not contain high levels of THC, wh…

Don't kill those weeds. Eat them! That's what foragers do. You'll be amazed at the number of plants we call weeds, that are tasty and nutritious. Learn how to start foraging for wild edible plants, maybe in your own backyard. Of course, there are cautions, such as being sure about the safety of the plants you eat. My guest, Dr. Mark "Merriwether" V…

Have you thought about how many plastic items you use every day? It is quite a staggering amount, from our toothbrushes, to the plastic bags in which we carry home our groceries, to the water bottles we may buy by the dozens and so much more. In this program, my guest Rebecca Prince-Ruiz challenges us to eliminate single-use plastics from our lives…

Most environmental policy experts and environmental organizations have largely ignored one of the major contributors to environmental destruction, namely the production of animal flesh for food. They focus on fossil fuels and the transportation sector, while giving a pass to animal-based agriculture. In this program, we take a hard look at what mea…

The production of meat pollutes land, water and air. It is a major contributor to climate change, although it remains largely unacknowledged, even by most environmental organizations. Why can't we face the fact that meat-based diets harm not just human health, but also the environment? Timothy Thorpe of the U.K. based Vegan Society lays out the fac…

Most of the water we use is used outdoors. A lot of it goes to watering lawns. Water conservation outside the house means designing gardens that use less water, and using more efficient ways of watering plants.This program provides practical advice that you can put to use immediately, to become a wise user of one of our most precious resources, nam…

Along with the air we breathe, water is another absolute essential for life. As the world's population has grown, so has the demand for water. But there is only a limited supply of water on earth, which is why it is important for all of us to conserve this precious natural resource. We'll talk about practical ways to conserve water, with Dr. Robert…

Creating and maintaining a food forest in the middle of a city is a major undertaking. In this program, you will meet two people who are doing just that, in Austin, Texas. the Festival Beach Food Forest is now six years in the making. This public park provides fruit, nuts, and herbs for anyone who walks there, as well as for wildlife, and is a rema…

Fungi are fascinating organisms that come in many forms and sizes, from almost invisible to the naked eye, to giant mushrooms. Scientifically speaking, fungi are a kingdom of spore-producing organisms that include mushrooms, yeasts and molds. They are different from other living things in that their cell walls are made of a compound called “chitin”…

Open your mind and your heart to a new way of thinking about gardens! Garden spaces are not just for humans, but for all the creatures that live there, including animals, insects and birds. In this program, my guest, author and garden designer Benjamin Vogt, introduces us to gardens that are designed ethically, and which are therefore good for our …

Wildscapes are places you can create anywhere there is a bit of space, combined with a desire to be closer to wildlife. Many people like to attract birds, in order to observe them more closely. In this program wildscape expert Kelly Simon provides the dos and don'ts for your bird-friendly wildscape.By Dr. Salwa Khan

What is something you can create in a backyard, an apartment balcony, or on a patio? A wildscape! A wildscape is an area that you and your family and friends can enjoy, that also provides food, water and shelter for wildlife.By Dr. Salwa Khan