The United States dedicates more land to growing grass than any single food crop. Lawns occupy 45 Million acres of land in the US according to NASA and NOAA figures. In fact, the combined area of US lawns is larger than 65% of the nations on Earth. Fortunately, all of […]
Santa Barbara, CA, goes all out for Earth Day. Every year since 1970 — the year that Earth Day was created — the local Community Environmental Council has held the Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival. The 2017 edition of the festival (April 21 and 22) will feature live music, speeches, […]
By Jennifer Riner Trulia During tax season, maximizing tax refunds or minimizing taxes owed is on the minds of many. For homeowners, the mortgage interest deduction is a must-do, but fewer understand the tax benefits of sustainable home upgrades. Green home improvements deliver three-fold benefits. First, your household’s carbon footprint […]
Residents of Omaha, NE, were a little hotter under the collar than usual in 2016. A LawnStarter study of data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Omaha ranked No. 1 among the 50 largest U.S. cities for warmer-than-normal weather in 2016. Last year, Omaha recorded an average […]
The U.S. solar market enjoyed its best year ever in 2016, nearly doubling the solar power capacity that was installed nationwide in 2015, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. “It would be hard to overstate how impressive 2016 was for the solar industry,” says Abigail Ross Hopper, president and […]
In the summer of 2012, the lightning-sparked Dahl Fire in central Montana scorched more than 22,000 acres, leading to the destruction of 74 homes and 149 other buildings. Sadly, residents of Montana are all too familiar with tragedies like the Dahl Fire, with wildfires roaring across thousands of acres every […]
In the 2016 presidential election, we’ve already heard lots of buzz about the candidates wooing voters in “swing states” — the states where the balloting easily could swing toward the Democratic or Republican challenger. While Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump see eye-to-eye on pretty much nothing, they probably could agree […]
On many college campuses, outdoor fountains serve as backdrops for photo-worthy memories: checking out the school with Mom and Dad before you’ve enrolled, skipping class with your dormmates or — finally! — getting that diploma. Perhaps no place is the college fountain more iconic and beautiful than at the University […]
If you’ve been bitten by the Pokémon GO bug, then no doubt you’ve been racing around Austin in a frenzied attempt to nab as many Pokémon characters as you can. The developer says this über-popular, location-based augmented reality game, available via app on iOS and Android devices, “allows you to find […]
As described in one research study, the Monarch butterfly is “an iconic North American insect.” An earlier research study went even further, hailing the monarch as “one of the world’s most well-known insects, being easily identifiable by its bright orange and black wing colors.” Indeed, kids and adults around the […]