Letters From The Earth
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Improving photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is the essence of life, in more than one way or another. In photosynthesis, plants use the energy of the sun to turn air and water into sugar, the food that plants use to build their tissue that feeds the world. When we emit carb…Calvin Frost 10.12.18
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Sustainable investing
Sally came to dinner the other evening. We don’t see her as much now that Bob is gone. She lives north in the summer, south in the winter and west in between. Who knows where she is or when? It was kind of fun to semi-listen to her update…Calvin Frost 09.10.18
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A monster of a problem
Folks, we have a problem. Neither the “love” potion as postulated at the royal wedding by the Most Right Reverend Michael Curry, the presiding head of the American Episcopal Church, nor the love messages from Bob Dylan and others of 50 ye…Calvin Frost 07.13.18
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Passing Gas, Keeping Score
First, apologies for that photo in the April issue. Suffice it to say, I had no idea our editor would connect it to my comments on California’s Cap & Trade scheme, as well as my admiration for Governor Jerry Brown. Nor had I looked closely…Calvin Frost 05.25.18
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Californication
There’s a wonderful article in Mother Jones called “Dreamers of the Golden Dream.” Mother Jones has always been one of my favorites: liberal, investigative, irreverent, and holds no hostages. In this case, however, Gabriel Kahn was…Calvin Frost 04.09.18
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Taking on a new life
In my last column I wrote about a study on the incredible growth of the plastics industry and a similar growth in plastics going to the landfill. The study concluded: “Thus without a well-designed and tailor-made management strategy for end…Calvin Frost 03.09.18
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Plastic parallels
In my last column I mentioned that “the current linear plastics system is broken.” Sadly, like so many other truly important contributors to our society (and let’s not debate the degree of importance), many of our developments since…Calvin Frost 01.26.18
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Poetry, waste and waxworm smoothies
I think it is more than appropriate to begin my last column of 2017 with a poem by Matthew Olzmann of Dartmouth College. It’s a cry for change and a voice we need to hear and heed. “Letter to Someone Living Fifty Years from Now” fir…Calvin Frost 11.17.17
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Green Chemistry, Continued...
“Give us all a reverence for the earth as your own creation, that we may use its resources rightly in the service of others.”Calvin Frost 10.06.17
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Biology and Balance
Earlier this year I mentioned that I would write a column on “bio” or green chemistry. It’s complicated and requires a chemistry primer. But, the real key, after you understand the chemistry, is that bio technology helps make life c…Calvin Frost 09.11.17
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Carbon tax: the political football
President Sean Decatur of Kenyon College joined the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment (i.e., the Paris Accord for colleges and universities) because he wanted his college to “work toward achieving a net zero c…Calvin Frost 05.30.17
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Learn from the twitterpated Tom Clarke
How many of you know what “twitterpated” means? I’m being serious. Twitterpated means “infatuated or obsessed, in a state of nervous excitement.” Look it up. Of course, you’ll need Frost’s New World Dictionar…Calvin Frost 04.07.17
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Making sense of the future with Sidely
I have a simple pattern that I follow when trying to write these columns. I sit at my writing desk, which looks out onto our backyard reflecting on the complexity of worldly issues while enjoying the peace and beauty of our gardens and back nature ar…Calvin Frost 03.13.17
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The Label Designer
How to engage a graphics professional to expand your services.Jack Kenny 01.20.17
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Patagonia’s wetsuit
Before I tell you the Patagonia story, I need to make a position statement about President-elect Donald Trump’s position on the environment. I won’t write about my view of the man, just that he embraces fossil fuels, has vowed to roll bac…Calvin Frost 01.20.17
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A circular economy, ‘a better future’
Thomas Jefferson said, “I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.” Anne Gaasbeek of Pré Consultancy in the Netherlands echoes much the same in an article in the Public Affairs section of a FINAT publicati…Calvin Frost 11.14.16
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The answer is blowin’ in the wind
Since my last column on Lester Brown’s The Great Transition, I’ve had a number of emails from readers reminding me that some of the transitions to renewables have slowed down because of availability of cheap natural gas. They’re abs…Calvin Frost 09.07.16
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Drivers wanted
Don’t be a passenger. Find something, it doesn’t make any difference what, and just get involved. Make a difference even if attitudes and behaviors of others overwhelm your idea or your focus. Don’t be a passenger. I was struck by t…Calvin Frost 04.08.16
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Sustainability
Capitalism combats pollution
I didn’t get invited to The Wall Street Journal’s ECO:nomics Conference in Santa Barbara, CA, USA in March and I can’t figure out why. I’m the only voice of reason in the ongoing debate on “Emissons vs. Efficiency”…Calvin Front 06.03.15
