<img alt="Frank Water Team at WOMAD photo" src="http://www.latros.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/a142d_Frank-Water-Team.jpg" width="468" height="342" All photos by author – taken at WOMAD 2010 festival

Here’s a frequent question asked by people wanting to create positive sustainable changes in the world: Is it more effective to work as a change agent from inside the current system or is it better to be an agitator shaking things up on the outside? Katie Alcott, founder of Frank Water, has wrestled with this question in her mission to raise awareness about the importance of safe drinking water and sanitation. Her decision to infiltrate t… Read the full story on TreeHugger

Image from trendhunter.com: Osterley Park

What could be nicer: a big green grass sofa, out in the sun, in front of a gorgeous country house. Leave it to the National Trust to arrange it. They have grown and installed ten couches in different countryside locales and towns to get people lazing around outside instead of in.

It’s a good thing too because according to a study that they carried out, Brit’s spend an average of 43 hours a week sitting around on their sofa, even in summer. It gets worse: in some places it’s 50 t… Read the full story on TreeHugger

all photos: Matthew McDermott

If you’re a New Yorker or just a fan of community gardening no matter where you live, pay attention: Under newly proposed rules from the New York City Parks and Recreation Department and Department of Housing Preservation and Development, many of the Big Apple’s thriving community gardens are again under threat of being turned over to private developers. Here’s why:… Read the full story on TreeHugger

Image credit: The Guardian

The connection between beef and climate change is already well documented. And while some may tout grass-fed cattle as a partial solution to cattle-related greenhouse gas emissions, there’s no doubt that the laws of entropy, combined with the inevitable methane emissions from ruminants, make truly sustainable meat rearing a tricky issue indeed. But here’s a somewhat su… Read the full story on TreeHugger

Image Source: red5standingby

Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, DC, has discovered that many cash register receipts contain levels of Bisphenol-A (BPA) hundreds of times higher than those found in hard plastic water bottles, baby … Read the full story on TreeHugger

Image from School of Fish Foundation

If you are anywhere near Vancouver, B.C. and you have a strong stomach, come on down to the Plastic Dining Room. You will need good sea legs because the “restaurant” is a raft made out of 1,700 plastic bottles. And you will be eating bottom feeder fish that are normally not considered haute cuisine.

The very elegant looking raft is moored at a dock at False Creek Yacht Club and holds a table for 12 hardy souls every night. They are serving a six-course sustainable seafood dinner with… Read the full story on TreeHugger

Today findings from a recent Anderson Analytics market research study were released that examined the underlying reasons for success of common methods used to stop smoking versus a new online approach…

AP – Master Sgt. Todd Nelson lost his right eye and ear in a flash when a car bomb in Afghanistan exploded, sending fire up his arm and over his head.

AP – Facing surgery? You could receive blood that’s been stored for a week, or three weeks, or nearly six — and there’s growing concern that people who get the older blood might not fare as well.

AP – Japanese women are expected to live almost 86 1/2 years, topping the world longevity ratings for the 25th straight year, the government reported Monday.

AP – A Spanish man who underwent the world’s first full face transplant appeared before TV cameras Monday for the first time since his surgery, thanking his doctors and the family of the donor.

The organization urged the leaders at summit under the them: “Maternal, Infant and Child Health and Development in Africa” to recognize that investing in maternal and child health is critical to economic development of their countries.

Over 900 delegates including first ladies from across Africa were participating in the conference, which also serve as a platform to improve advocacy for the disease which kills a woman in every two minutes globally.

Negative attitudes to breastfeeding may have contributed to a rise in chronic disease in Australia, particularly among disadvantaged families, new research showed on Tuesday.