Still chilly in your neck of the woods? We just learned about a new company offering super-soft woolies that'll warm the cockles of your sustainable heart. Ramblers Way Farm, created by Tom's of Maine founders Kate and Tom Chappell, uses Rambouillet wool from sheep farms in Maine and ranches in Colorado, Montana, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas and Utah. The standard? Superfine softness stemming from sustainable farming practices.
 
Sustainable American farms

• organic, no-till and best management practices
• protecting wildlife habitat and preserve critical ecosystems

Sustainable sheep

• breeding and lambing naturally
• rotational grazing practices
• shearing and sorting with gentle combs and humane handling systems
• protecting and moving flocks with trained animals

Sustainable manufacturing

• partnered with Rambouillet sheep farmers only in America
• environmentally-sensitive enzyme wash—a chlorine-free, patented treatment
• minimal packaging made from reclaimed materials that are compostable and recyclable
• generate their own solar and geothermal renewable energy
• use biofuels in their trucks and tractors

Sustainable community

• donate 10% of profits and 5% of paid time back to the community
• invigorate local economies by connecting connect American farms with American manufacturing
• preserve open space, farmland, and working landscapes
• web-based, connecting with customers with a small environmental footprint

Not convinced yet? We're always glad to turn readers on to a sustainable company, so feel for yourself: request a free sample to see how soft sustainable worsted wool can feel next to your skin.

(Photo credit:Ramblers Way Farms)

Could this be one more strike against the struggling honeybees? Scientists at the University of Kebangsaan Malaysia have observed that some bees don't seem to be pollinating flower seeds, possibly because of a missing "scent trail" caused by a weaker scent in flowers growing in areas affected by global warming. "The aroma producing chemical compounds in flowers dry up faster now compared with before," noted Dr. Abdul Latif Mohamad.

Flowers in colder climates are able to hold onto their essential oils longer. But in Malaysia, scientists noted, insects and butterflies are travelling farther than ever to reach hilly ars and deeper into the jungles, where the weather is cooler, for their fair share of nectar.

You can give the bees a place to pollinate by planting your own backyard bee garden. Hosting a haven for bees not only boosts your own garden but also helps take the sting out of the world's troubled bee population.

(Photo credit:P.J. McAdie, Super Eco flickr)

It's a week of provocative news, insightful opinion and fresh thought about the eco-sphere. Super Eco's Thinking Thursday post rounds up recent points worth pondering.

• Japan is aiming to collect solar power in space and zap it down to Earth using laser beams or microwaves.
• Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have been awarded nearly $1 million from the National Science Foundation to create a whole new kind of robot—or rather, robots ... Lots of little robots that will collect lots of location-specific data that will help scientists learn more about marine ecosystems. 
• The 10th annual Global Green Sustainable Design Awards honor advancements in the fields of industry, building, media, nonprofit organizations and public policy that design a more sustainable future.
• In the wee hours of Sunday morning, Spain set quite a record: The country got more than half its electricity from wind farms, a first for a country long invested in renewable energy.
• This is the consequence of failure at Copenhagen: A marked shift in scientific effort from solving global warming to adapting to its consequences, a hodge-podge of uncoordinated local efforts to trim emissions—none of which deliver the necessary cuts—and an altered climate.
• What's it like to install a solar array at home?
• Climate scientists reporting more record highs, fewer lows.

(Photo credit:dimitri c, SXC)

What happens when highways and manmade construction slice through wildlife migration routes and home ranges? The consequences are not happy for either the cars or the animals. Beyond the inevitable toll to animals and drivers from highway accidents, ecosystems are thrown into disarray when wildlife can't maintain normal roaming and migratory patterns.

Remote cameras maintained by local citizens in areas slated for development show a constant stream of animal travel. Peek at these shots of the secret world behind the trees in an area of Washington state endangered by development:

Wildlife advocates in areas where highways and development threaten the natural movement patterns of the native wildlife are asking legislators to consider the animals' needs when planning for the future. Wildlife safety fences keep animals away from busy stretches of highway. Overpasses allow larger animals to cross safely above the highway, while tiny critters can use tunnels to scurry to safety.

Crossing projects are currently under way in Banff, British Columbia; on Interstate-93 in Montana; and an innovative, six-lane interstate project on Interstate-90 in Washington. "It is one of the most novel and progressive highway-mitigation projects probably in the world," said Tony Clevenger, a Montana State University expert who has consulted with the latter project, in an article for The Seattle Times. "It's much broader than just reducing collisions with wildlife. There is terrestrial connectivity for everything from snails and slugs all the up to black bear and lynx."

(Photo credit:donjd2, flickr)

Endless parking lots are the devil—not just because they're wearisome to schlep through in the rain as you struggle fruitlessly to remember where you parked, but because they're actually one of the worst contributors to runoff and waterway pollution. That's why we're optimistic about a new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) effort to test environmentally friendly, permeable pavements at its own facility.

Stormwater picks up oil and gas drippings, chemicals, sediment and debris as it washes across paved surfaces, all of which swirl inexorably into local waterways every time it rains. Soil erosion alters local ecosystems and magnifies runoff problems.

The EPA is testing three different types of permeable pavement in a 43,000-square-foot section of its Edison, N.J., parking lot. Over the next decade, the agency plans to observe how each permeable surface filters some pollutants from stormwater runoff and allows water to seeps through the pavement back into the ground.

"Runoff from parking lots and driveways is a significant source of water pollution in the United States and puts undo stress on our water infrastructure, especially in densely-populated urban areas," said EPA Acting Regional Administrator George Pavlou. "By evaluating different designs and materials, this study will help us develop strategies to lessen the environmental impacts of parking lots across the country and make our communities more sustainable."

Miles and miles of paved parking lots may be the leading offender among environmental pavement offenders, but sidewalks play their part as well. Check out this sustainable innovation: interlocking sidewalk segments made from recycled tires are pervious to rainwater, reduce heat island effects within cities and resist damage from tree roots and shifting ground. Now that's walking the walk!

(Photo credit:Cholin, SXC)

If you caught our climate change news roundup yesterday, we know you'll understand how very desperately we need to send an SOS to the world to control global warming. Rock star Sting is doing exactly that, lending his undeniably infectious "Message in a Bottle" song to Prince Charles’ Rainforests Project. Sting's message urges fans to text their own rainforest SOS messages advocating an end to deforestation of vital rainforest ecosystems and an increase in efforts to combat global warming.

“Thirty years ago, I wrote ‘Message in a Bottle,’” he notes in the video below. “Today, I’m joining forces with His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales and many others supporting The Prince’s Rainforests Project to send an SOS to the world. Sending your SOS is easy, and can help create the climate for change. If there is one thing you do today, make it this.”

Sting has also created his own Rainforest Foundation, which aims to protect the environment and indigenous peoples of the Amazon rainforest.

Prince Charles himself has also released a video urging support for his project, in preparation of the upcoming United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen this coming December. He may not capture our hearts and imaginations in the same manner as Sting, but his eloquence is undeniable: “Rainforests are utterly essential in our fight against climate change. They absorb nearly a fifth of all our carbon emissions and yet they are being destroyed at the rate of a football pitch every four seconds. To solve the problem, we have to find ways to ensure the trees become more valuable alive than dead so there is no incentive to cut them down.”

(Photo credit:YouTube)

If you were hoping that your allergies or asthma might improve after assiduous dosing with local honey and good, old-fashioned tincture of time, you may find yourself instead locked in a race with global warming. As it turns out, climate change is nothing to sneeze at. Experts say global warming is extending pollen seasons, dumping more ozone into the air and attracting more bugs and bees.

From Health Day at Yahoo News:

"Climate change will cause impacts in every area. Wet areas will get wetter, and drier climates are getting drier," said Dr. Jeffrey Demain, director of the Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Center of Alaska, and a clinical associate professor at the University of Washington.

Those changes will mean more people with allergies and asthma will suffer. In wet areas, mold allergies will spike, while in drier areas pollens and other airborne irritants will become more of a problem, he said.

Last month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it believes carbon dioxide and five additional greenhouse gases are dangerous to human health. This finding may eventually lead to environmentally friendly changes, such as regulations for cleaner energy and more fuel-efficient cars.

But, right now, problems caused by climate change are already evident, especially in Alaska, Demain said.

"There's been a significant shift in the ecosystem because of the rises in winter temperatures," he said. "On average, Alaska's temp has risen 6.4 degrees in winter and 3.4 degrees overall. And, the earlier the snow melts, the earlier the pollen cycle begins."

Allergies and asthma: two more reasons to take immediate steps to counteract climate change. We won't sniff at that.

(Photo credit:slafko, stock.xchng)

"A perfection of means, and confusion of aims, seems to be our main problem"
Albert Einstein

"An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it."
Mohandas Gandhi

"Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals."
Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The kind of spirituality I value is one in which you get great joy out of contributing to life, not just sitting & meditating, although meditation is certainly valuable. But from the meditation, from the resulting consciousness, I would like to see people in action creating the world that they want to live in."
Marshall Rosenberg

This how to is full of questions:

Is pollution a reflection of our own self-loathing?

Could the imbalance in Earth's ecosystems stem from our collectively unmet emotional needs played out on a grand scale?

Are mindfulness and self-fulfillment the road to eco-altruism?

Can living a happy life possibly green the world?

Could it really be as simple as:

1. Leading a truly fulfilling life, the sort of a life where we do not judge "our insides by other people's outsides". The kind of a life where we connect with our genuine selves, identify and listen to our feelings and begin to meet our own personal needs in a caring, non-violent and responsible way.
2. Grounding our emotions in our bodies—noticing the mind/body connection, breathing into feeling and honoring ourselves, will fill us to the point we can deeply and deliberately honor each other and our earth. It's not just a pipe dream.
3. It makes sense that, just as philanthropy relies on fortune, if we build compassion for ourselves vigorously, it would become increasingly difficult to disrespect the earth we walk, the air we breathe, and our fellow beings.
4. The premise is, that by deepening our emotional intelligence and social conscience, we will vastly improve our solid bandwidth for living an environmentally responsible life.
   
5. Here's hoping, that it is as simple as this...

(Photo credit:ms.lume on flickr)

Each week, Super Eco rolls out new how-tos on topics ranging from pet care, to happiness, to saving water in your yard. 

So if you haven't yet availed yourself of this wonderful resource now is your chance.  

Here are our top 5 inspired, simple, helpful how-tos on gardening, just in time for Spring and Summer:

1. If you want to attract more songbirds to your garden (we also show you how to attract butterflies and bees)

2. If you want to grow herbs

3. If you want to start plants from seed

4. If you want to start a vegetable garden

5. If you want to know which gardening tools you'll need most

Stay tuned as our gardening experts share more of their experience and tips with you and please feel free to share yours with us.

And don't forget to join in our beautiful Spring Fling photo fun on Super Eco's flickr group.

(Photo credit:P.J. McAdie, flickr)

"Our ecosystems are not just getting warmer or colder or wetter or drier. They're disappearing," Brendan Borrell observes in a Slate essay this week. He makes a pretty good case for taking a hard look at what we do to fight climate change before we destroy any more ecosystems than we already have in this struggle.

One example of what he's talking about: Conservationists now blame European climate change legislation for the loss of Indonesian rain forests. The EU policies that promoted biofuels such as palm oil were directly related to the habitat depletion caused by clear-cutting rain forests and replacing them with palm plantations. The result? A monoculture woodland that may be carbon neutral in itself, but which has replaced the wildly diverse habitat of all the jungly birds and beasts, flowers and hardwoods that once grew where the palm trees now stand.

Certainly the effects of climate change have an impact on species. The golden toad of the Costa Rica cloud forests is now extinct and the likely culprit is a subtle shift in weather patterns. The mist now settles higher on the mountain due to atmospheric warming. The toad's moist habitat dries a little, he falls prey to some deadly toad disease, and pretty soon it's buh-bye Mr. Toad.

But species lost due to climate change take a backseat to the horrible effects on biodiversity that clear cutting rain forests has in the wild ride of habitat destruction.

Taking a long look back to the Vietnam war, I'm reminded of the unfortunate Air Force Major whose mouth ran ahead of his mind when he said, "We had to destroy the village in order to save it." Something like that may be happening today. How many ecosystems have we had to destroy in fight against global warming? 

Continue reading Destroying habitat to fight climate change ›

(Photo credit:willem!, Flickr)