“Bagmonster” explains the woes of a plastic bag life | Image via nytimes.comTrash Talking
Three of the leading plastic bag manufacturers have filed a lawsuit in South Carolina against ChicoBag, a company that creates reusable bags, for over exaggerating the negative environmental impact of plastic bags. NY Times
Embrace the Invasives
More than $15 million is spent to control populations of invasive species in national wildlife refuges, with widely-held view that non-native plants and animals are capable of disturbing natural environmental balance. However, a number of conservation biologists are now claiming that due to our increasingly fractured environment, the perceived negative effect of non-native species is becoming artificial. TIME
Truck Stop Farmers Market
For ten years the Massachusetts Department of Transportation has offered free space at rest stops to local farmers and producers interested in selling their goods in an unconventional setting – think road-side off of a busy turnpike, rather than a quiet tree-lined market. So far, only a few farmers have taken advantage of the program, but those that do have found success in an untapped market where hungry commuters may favor a carton of strawberries over a Mickey D’s burger. GOOD
Overdue Clean Up Crew
Vietnam and the US team-up for the first time to tackle the contamination caused by wartime spraying of Agent Orange. Guardian
Fresh Eats and Big Easy Beats
Several New Orleans residents who returned to their hometown after Katrina have started urban gardens in the sea of vacant lots that litter the city. One of the featured farmers is a member of the Treme Bass Band, a world-famous jazz ensemble featured in the indie film about New Orleans’ unrivaled music scene, Brass Roots Movie. GRIST
