Beth Carruthers's Blog – May 2012 Archive (5)

Crime & Fear

There are two conflicting outlooks towards city trees and vegetation. On one hand, a natural landscape is believed to promote healing and renewal. On the other hand, the presence of vegetation is implicated as a screen for criminal activity. This article addresses the second perspective and summarizes the research findings on the relationship between urban vegetation and crimes, aggressive behavior, and safety. The science findings are not conclusive and even may…

Welcome to the Nature Language Project

We love nature, fear it, play in it – but we’re losing it, and we’re losing the language to speak of it. This website is a place where you can join in a community by reading stories, sharing a story, and commenting on stories about meaningful interactions with nature. It’s also a place where you can contribute to research. If you choose, your story will be used by a research group at the University of Washington interested in the ways people…

Nifty little article of self-help advice from Grist Magazine

Why do we love our lawns when they don’t love us back? We pay a gardener or mow every week. We weed, edge, and blow. We aerate and add chemicals that pollute our waterways. And still, our lawns need more—often a lot more.

What’s more, a tremendous amount potable water is used to irrigate our landscapes. And because grass and the soil under it are often severely compacted, many lawns act like a paved surface that water…

This story is part of AlertNet’s special report Solutions For A Hungry World

By Katie Nguyen

LONDON (AlertNet) - It was designed to increase production and exports of vegetable oil, a commodity in short supply after World War Two, and foster growth in post-war Britain and Tanganyika.

Instead, Britain's scheme to carve out million-acre plantations for growing groundnuts in what is now Tanzania ended in disaster - scuppered by the thick bush that rendered machines to clear…

(Reuters) - Disillusioned by the unfulfilled promise of the cities and feeling stifled by tough austerity measures aimed at coping with an economic downturn, some Portuguese are opting out and returning to the land.

More:
Portuguese plant seeds to cope with crisis