Chris LaRoche
SwatchJunkies
SwatchJunkies
The Dive! Test: Food Waste in Cascadia
The dumpster-diving documentary Dive! is part of a slew of books and exposés highlighting a disturbing fact: North Americans waste a staggering amount food. But what about us in the Pacific Northwest? Are we any different?
Tristam Stuart puts it in perspective in Waste, “There are nearly one billion malnourished people in the world, but the approximately 40 million tons (80 billion pounds) of food wasted by US households, retailers and food services each year would be enough to satisfy the hunger of every one of them.”
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The Rain-barrel Connection
Call me a dreamer. I want to flush with rainwater. Rain barrels already anchor my downspouts. I want to hitch ...
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Legalize Used Pickle Jars
You’ve heard about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and seen Chris Jordan’s shocking photos. Maybe you have even heard that ...
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Legalize Couchsurfing
Tight budgets and the internet have given rise to the hottest new thing in travel accommodations. Web-based company Airbnb has received a lot of press recently for its for-profit service that matches travelers with spare bedrooms, such as mine (pictured above). It’s already growing like moss in the Northwest winter, but the potential is much bigger than most have considered. Airbnb and other companies that create a market for guest rooms could fundamentally change the hotel industry, boost income for thousands of householders (including Sightline interns like me!), and slash the ecological footprint of travel.
That is, unless an existing thicket of rules and regulations on the operation of hotels strangles the emerging eBay of empty bedrooms.
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