Mothering Earth Podcast

Humans have created millions of miles of roads all over the planet. Roads are useful to move goods and people, but they are also intrusions into what were once wild places, where animals roamed free. The millions of vehicles that drive on roads spew polluting gases and assault our ears with noise. To animals big and small, who try to cross roads, cars and trucks bring death and destruction. In thi...

Insects have superpowers and unique ways of communicating with each other, without the use of cell phones. They have ways of settling disputes, no United Nations required. If you don’t believe this, listen as Dr. Scott Solomon, provides the details in this edition of Mothering Earth. Dr. Solomon is a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Rice University, and author of one The Great Cour...

Insects, bugs, pests, whatever you may call them, and whether you love or hate them, they are vital to our planet and by extension to us humans. They provide important ecosystem services by recycling dead things, by pollinating our food crops, by planting seeds, and even just by being food for other creatures, like birds. In this program, we take a deep dive into the remarkable world of insects, t...

In our second show with Amy Ziff of MADE SAFE®, a nonprofit organization that provides certification for nontoxic products, we examine the process companies must go through in order to have their products certified as safe. Ziff also provides practical advice on eliminating as many toxins as possible from your everyday life. We find out what might be hiding behind the term fragrance, why microfibe...

The numbers vary, but we can safely say that there are at least forty-thousand chemicals used in consumer products in the United States. They are found in everything from food and water to furniture, household and personal care products, clothing, appliances, cars, houses, pretty much in everything! An article in the Guardian online, states that fewer than one percent of those chemicals have been...

Billions of pounds of food go to waste every year in the United States and in other parts of the world. It is an astounding number, especially when you consider all the precious resources, like water, that goes into producing that food. Then there are all the greenhouse gases going up into our air, from farm machinery, and from vehicles used to transport the food to factories and stores. And all t...

The world’s oceans are suffering from pollution by everything from plastics to dangerous chemicals and oil spills, and from industrial overfishing. Fish populations are being depleted almost to extinction. Plastics and their progeny, microplastics, are in the ocean water and in seafood, but also in us humans, in our blood, our lungs, even our brains. It's not a pretty picture, but there are people...

When you think of perennial crops, you may think of fruit or nut trees, not plants like wheat or rice, which are traditionally planted every year. An organization called The Land Institute, based in Salina, Kansas is hoping to change that. They have been at work developing perennial grain and legume crops. You may wonder why? Perennial crops have many advantages. They have economic and environment...

People who live in cities in marginalized neighborhoods rarely own land on which they can grow their own food. Generally, their food comes from corner stores which may not stock fresh fruits and vegetables. They may not own a car, and so cannot drive to a full-service grocery store. All these factors combine to make access to fresh fruits and vegetables almost impossible for many people. In this p...

Most people may not think much about where the wood they use in building projects comes from, but Jordan Zettle aims to change that. Zettle is the Green Markets Manager at an organization called Sustainable Northwest and their focus is in sourcing wood from forestlands that are sustainably managed. They work with tribal communities and other landowners who care deeply about all of nature contained...

Like many other creatures, populations of frogs, toads and salamanders, which are classified as amphibians, are in decline. Amphibians have many important functions in the environment. For example, their permeable skin which is affected by drought and toxic substances, makes them excellent indicators of the health of valuable ecosystems like forests and wetlands. Research scientists are monitoring...

What if you knew that a particular industry was polluting our waterways, land and air, yet nothing was being done about it? The industry is animal agriculture, specifically CAFOs, concentrated animal feeding operations, with cows, chickens, and pigs. The dangerous pollution, which comes from the tons of excrement produced each day by these animals, has been happening for years, yet the Environment...

If you are curious about nature and would enjoy observing and reporting your observations, this is the show for you! Citizen scientists are needed in many different fields of science. Citizen science is when people who aren’t trained scientists participate in scientific research, by collecting data that will be analyzed and used by scientists. In this edition of Mothering Earth, we will learn how...

Water is essential to life in so many ways, and water is the focus of the Wyland Foundation. You may know of the artist named Wyland, who has spent years creating enormous murals featuring whales and other marine life on the walls of buildings all over the world. His foundation promotes stewardship of marine resources and water conservation through several programs including the National Mayor's C...

Pollution of the Earth’s waterways and oceans by discarded plastic products and by microplastics that soak up toxic chemicals is a growing problem that is harmful to ocean and river life and to humans. It is not going away soon. In fact, the manufacture of plastic products is on the increase. So what can we do? Each of us can take responsibility for our own use of plastic products, and find ways t...

Alleys have a reputation for being places to avoid. We may think of them as dangerous, dark, uninviting, places where you do not want to linger for long, if at all. But alleys are experiencing a dramatic makeover, turning them into environmentally friendly places with permeable hard surfaces replacing solid asphalt, and with greenery, places to sit and artwork on the walls. Instead of avoiding the...

Compared to meat-based diets, plant-based diets are significantly less harmful to the environment in terms of greenhouse gases produced, and air, soil and water pollution, and use far fewer natural resources such as soil and water. With the world’s population growing every day, there is simply no way our planet can sustain an increased demand for meat. Plant-based diets are also far healthier, con...

We all need a place to live, but the type of housing we choose has an effect on the environment. Ideally, our housing choices have minimal impact on the environment, on the land, the quality of the air and water and on the wildlife that are our neighbors. That’s the topic of discussion with my guest Sarah Simpson, who is an architect and co-founder of Color Space Architecture and Urban Design. Her...

Imagine if everyone who has a garden area, whether vast or tiny, decided to reduce or eliminate their lawn, and planted plants that are native to their part of the world. The result would be a greater sequestration of carbon by those plants, and increased support for all forms of life, including birds, insects, pollinators and other animals. In addition, we would use less water and our water would...

We count on them to guard our homes, to play our music and television shows, to entertain us with games, to call and chat with friends, relatives and colleagues, to clean our clothes, to keep our food cold, to pay our bills, to get our work done and even to drive us home. Think of all the electronic devices you use every day! But what happens when we make the choice to "upgrade" to the latest vers...

Native plants are local plants. They have been growing in a particular region for possibly thousands of years. They grow well without much “care” because they are well adapted to the habitat. They like the type of soil in that region. They do perfectly well with the amount of sunlight they receive there, and are quite happy with the climate, which includes the normal temperatures and the usual amo...

When large populations of grasshoppers and crickets appear in western rangelands in the U.S., the government sprays those areas with pesticides to kill the targeted insects. The spraying program also kills many non-target species. The areas that are sprayed include wilderness, national forest lands and wildlife refuges, and areas used by ranchers for livestock. The Center for Biological Diversity...

As we all know, there are far too many plastics in our world and unlike most materials, plastics do not readily break down. It is estimated that plastic takes 500 to 1000 years to decompose. Only about nine percent of plastic in the United States is recycled. These horrifying facts were a driving force behind a project envisioned and carried out by students at Texas State University in San Marcos,...

Land stewardship is about taking care of the soil, of native grasses, trees and shrubs, and of sources of water, such as rivers, lakes, creeks and streams. The aim is to preserve and maintain the biodiversity and health of natural ecosystems, which benefits humans, soil creatures, birds and other wildlife. The HELM program in central Texas works with landowners to educate and encourage them to bec...

Putting a tax on carbon emissions from fossil fuels isn’t a new idea. Many governments worldwide now implement either direct taxes on fossil fuels, or have set up cap-and-trade programs. This includes Canada, Mexico, many European countries, and the United Kingdom. The United States does not have a carbon tax, although nine northeastern states now cap emissions from the power industry. A grassroot...