Green Options

MYTH: The United States Government considers ALL strains of hemp as marijuana.

Facts: Partially true, although things are changing. For in its more than 8000 years of cultivation, hemp and its psychoactive drug Cannabis Sativa have been inextricably linked. The name marijuana is a recent moniker. It was first called K(a)N(a)B(a) (cannibas) in early Sumeria and in is referred to as hashish in the Middle East.

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Monday's Daily Grist included the headline "I Believe the Children Are Our Lab Rats: Pesticides could make kids dumb, diesel emissions make them sick". After the recent news about BPA in baby bottles, lead in children's lunchboxes, jewelry, and baby bibs, as well as the information on pesticides affecting intelligence and noxious school bus emissions, the Daily Grist just may be right. Our children are not being protected, thus many families chose

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During our energy unit, I had a student tell me that her family was going to install compact fluorescent bulbs in their home, but they were worried about the mercury. Huh? I hadn't heard anything about this, and I had been using CFLs for years. I decided to investigate further.

Imagine my surprise when I learned that mercury exposure is a common misconception when it comes to CFLs. Fortunately, these

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GreenlandMYTH: When Eric the Red and his Viking buddies settled Greenland, it was a lush pastoral paradise fit for farming and raising animals.

Facts: As climate change skepticism has developed into a full-blown industry, a number of myths have filtered out about historical patterns of warming and cooling: just mention the "Little Ice Age" or the "Medieval Warm Period" to your favorite skeptic, and let 'em go…

As a history buff, I always found

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Recycling is probably one of the most widely-practiced, common-knowledge, things you can do to live a greener life. There are now over 9,000 curbside recycling programs nationwide. However, myths still surround the actual benefits of recycling and the rationale for the need for recycling in general.

Myth: We are already recycling what we can.
Fact: Hardly. Although recycling has grown tremendously in the past thirty years, we should be able to [...]

MTYH: Cold weather, especially unseasonably cold weather, undermines the concept of climate change.

FACTS: "Global warming" is a problematic phrase for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the belief that cold weather somehow invalidates the concept of a global climate crisis. Climate change skeptics are quick to suggest that instances of winter storms (especially when they coincide with activities aimed at addressing "global warming") are evidence that climate change science is

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Editor’s note: Our first installment of Green Myth-Busting comes from GO’s resident biofuels expert Clayton Bodie Cornell. As I’ve come to expect from Clayton, he’s covered the subject very thoroughly!

The poster-child for biofuels, biodiesel, is easily the most popular alternative fuel available. Despite the best efforts of biodiesel enthusiasts, the fuel is still engulfed in a morass of misinformation. This Myth-Buster is intended to dispel some of the most

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