Sustainability is making its way into mainstream periodicals. It seems like almost every magazine in the past year has featured a "green" issue, some credible, some not. My friend just gave me the green issue of a magazine targeted at the marketing industry. So it’s no surprise that Edutopia, an education magazine for teachers and administrators published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, used sustainability as a theme for their October issue.

Kudos to Edutopia; this issue ain’t no puff piece. Every teacher looking to go green, or those already greening their classroom, can find something of use to them in this jam-packed issue. The editor’s note in the issue is penned by guest editor Bill McKibben of Step It Up fame, who skillfully explains why all teachers should and can incorporate sustainability into their curriculum.

Edutopia listens to McKibben’s advice by provided several ideas for sustainability lesson plans and projects for all ages. Not only are there many useful ideas in the magazine, but there are more on the magazine’s website. There are also tips for teachers, by teachers, about how to green up their own classroom practices: some helpful, some fairly obvious.

Sara Bernard highlights Clackamas High School in Clackamas, Oregon, one of the first LEED-certified schools in the country. Not only is their building green, but their curriculum highlights sustainability, and students all participate in experiential learning. In teacher Rod Shroufe’s sustainable systems class, students do nothing but focus on making their school more sustainable. They run their own recycling center, investigate energy use and waste disposal, and analyze food waste. Shroufe then offers his own tips for making schools more eco-friendly.

Richard Rapaport reports on school gardens and playgrounds. I’ve written about schoolyard gardens before, but the nature-based "alternative playgrounds" highlighted here were new to me — and quite fascinating. For example, at the San Francisco School in the Bernal Heights District of San Francisco, the alternative playground has a dirt plot with a water pump that creates mud with the perfect consistency for mud castles and pies.

There are also articles on student environmental research, experiential learning, and environmental defense efforts. It struck me how much students can accomplish when they become passionate about something. These articles paired nicely with two pieces on the nuances of talking to kids about something as urgent and pressing as global warming. Edutopia also has Ann Cooper’s opinion on local eating, something often avoided in green magazine issues in favor of more benign lifestyle changes (like the ubiquitous CFL). Cooper not only explains the benefits of local eating, but provides the laundry list of local eating books for those looking for more information. And, of course, what green magazine issue would be complete without the seemingly-requisite interview with Ed Begley, Jr?

Edutopia’s green issue is legitimate and will hopefully bring the message of sustainability to a greater crowd who may just have more influence on the future than our politicians: our teachers. Of course, I’m biased, but climate change and environmental destruction will impact future generations more than they will impact us. Our children deserve to hear the message and feel empowered to make positive changes.

When I talk to people about thinking sustainably, they inevitably ask for books to read, and although there are several books I love about sustainability, they’re all very specific to one area of sustainability. Want to read about food? Try Michael Pollan, Peter Singer, or the new Barbara Kingsolver book. Climate Change? How about The Weather Makers? Looking for the classics? Rachel Carson and Aldo Leopold are a good starting place. But I haven’t yet found the primer, the comprehensive text that really gets into why humanity desperately needs to embrace a greener way of life.

The Future of Nature: Writing on a Human Ecology from Orion Magazine (Milkweed Editions, $18.00), just might be that book. A collection of thought-provoking essays selected and introduced by Barry Lopez, The Future of Nature includes writings by such heavy-hitters as Wendell Berry, Bill McKibben, and Derrick Jensen, all originally published in Orion, the seminal magazine covering the intersection of culture, nature, and the environment.

Released this past Thursday, the book is divided into six loosely-themed sections. Actions runs the gamut of activism, from small suburban grassroots efforts to stop construction on a SuperTarget store to bailing out direct-action activists in Appalachia. Refugees discusses those displaced by humanity’s interactions with the environment, giving a face to the faceless victims of climate change and the unending hunt for resources. Boundaries addresses the idea of the wilderness and our relationship with it. Reverence discusses how appreciation for nature, a love of and respect for it, is the essential guidepost for sustainable living. Monsters lays out just exactly what sorts of devastating things we’re doing to our only home, and Native leaves the reader with both hope and guidance for living in harmony with our ecosystem.

Highlighting both theory and practice of sustainable (and unsustainble) living, the causes of our ecological crises, and a vision for a lasting future, The Future of Nature provides a plethora of contexts for understanding just why we desperately need to change the way we live. Elegantly written and compiled, this book should be required reading for those interested in sustaining our future on Earth. The themes balance each other nicely; the reader understands the reality of the direness of humanity’s situation but is left with hope that good things are happening everywhere, those little pockets of positive change that will lead to a more balanced way of life. It immediately made me want to go read not only Orion, but every other piece of writing by this insightful group of writers.

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education announced on Friday four Campus Sustainability Leadership Awards in four different categories. Two other schools were named honorable mention. The awards were given during the 7th biennial Greening of the Campus conference held at Ball State University.

Chandler-Gilbert Community College (Chandler, AZ) won in the community college and other two-year institutions category. Green Mountain College (Poultney, VT) won in the four-year and graduate institution (under 1,000 students) category. Middlebury College (Middlebury, VT) won in the four-year and graduate institution (1,000-7,500 students) category. Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI) won in the four-year and graduate institution (over 7,500 students) category.

Chandler-Gilbert’s president, Maria Hesse, was one of the first presidents to sign the American College & University President’s Climate Committment. The College is part of a city-wide system that uses reclaimed water for irrigation. Two of Chandler-Gilbert’s campuses use energy management systems to ensure energy efficiency, and all new buildings will be built according to LEED standards.

For Green Mountain College, the environment and sustainability are unifying themes on campus. Environmental awareness is infused into every aspect of the curriculum, and all students must take courses in sustainability. Students installed a wind turbine to power the campus greenhouse and solar panels on the student center. The remaining energy needs are met partially by electricity generated from methane from local dairy cow manure.

Middlebury College has pledged to become climate-neutral by the year 2016. Bill McKibben is a scholar-in-residence there, and Step It Up 2007 was largely organized by Middlebury alumni. 25% of Middlebury’s dining budget goes towards locally grown and produced food, and the college recycles 60% of its waste. The campus uses solar and wind-generated power for portions of its energy needs, and has an Environmental Council, a committee of students, staff, and faculty, that advises the president of the college on sustainability policies.

Michigan State University has been a leader in large campus sustainability by committing to a 2% annual reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, along with meeting LEED standards for all new buildings on campus. MSU has an extensive recycling program, sustainability speakers, and funds student-designed sustainability projects. It even hosts a green roofs research program. One look around their extensive "Ecofoot" website tells you that this is a campus that takes its sustainability seriously.

Honorable mentions were awarded to Evergreen State College (Olympia, WA) and University of California, Berkeley.

The college years are an exciting transitional time for young people. Many are off on their own for the first time, and they’re faced with responsibility for their own actions and their own well-being. For some teens, college is the first time they experience autonomy, and the variety of choices they’re faced with can be overwhelming, and the pressure of making green choices might just be too much to handle. There are, however, five simple choices they can make in their transition into adulthood that can easily lessen their footprint while in college.

• Walk. Almost all college campuses are designed to be walker-friendly. This might be the easiest time to get rid of your car. However, if being completely car-free isn’t an option, park it and leave it. Campus parking is notoriously frustrating, and keeping your car parked in a lot is a lot easier than futilely circling said lot. Use your feet, a bike, or campus transportation to get from your dorm to class to the library. If your school is in a larger city, most public transit systems offer student discounts on monthly, semester-long, or yearly passes.
• Eat greener. Dining halls have come a long way. Now, they’re catering to student demands, and the variety of food choices is endless. Choosing a diet based in whole-grains, fruits and vegetables, and lean proteins from plants sources, such as beans and nuts, will not only reduce your carbon footprint, but will help fight off the dreaded freshman 15. Many dining halls are getting with the program and offering a wider-variety of meat-free entrees, and partnering with local farms to offer organic and local produce. If yours doesn’t, take advantage of those student dining surveys to express a preference for local, organic, and fair-trade food choices.
• Choose green cleaning products. Hopefully, most college kids helped out around the house at home, but those same kids probably didn’t have a lot of input as to the cleaning products they used. When cleaning in their dorms, whether it be the bathroom, their room, or their laundry, choosing biodegradable cleaning products keeps petroleum use to a minimum and minimizes toxins in their environment. Check out products from Mrs. Meyer’s, Method, Seventh Generation, or make your own.
• Recycle. With the push in the higher-ed community to go green, recycling may be more convenient on college campuses than it is in the general community. "Trash rooms" in dorms, where students dispose of their garbage, almost always have recycling bins for cardboard, plastic, glass, cans, and paper. Furnishing a dorm room with two separate receptacles, one for trash and one for recyclables, makes disposal a breeze.
• Reuse. College students are notorious for tossing away perfectly good stuff. Ever driven by dorms and off-campus housing at the end of the semester? You’ll find furniture, lamps, and appliances that students just don’t want to move. Consider used items when looking for college gear. Check out Gigoit, Craigslist, or Freecycle for free-to-dirt-cheap dorm room essentials. Conversely, use those same networking sites if you absolutely, positively, have to get rid of your old futon. Keeping functional items in use by someone keeps them out of the landfill. The same goes for clothes. One of my favorite thrift spots is located near a college where seemingly-affluent young women sell their perfectly good jeans–at a fraction of what it would cost me retail.

Students make big changes when they take the step from high school to college. That makes this transition the perfect time to take small steps for a greener life.

If you are a brown-bagger (or stylish, reusable bagger), you know that sometimes packing your lunch can be a pain. It’s hard enough for me to make it out the door each morning fully dressed, let alone with a decent meal for later on. It’s easy to fall into a culinary rut that leaves you bored with the same old sandwich. How can you pack an eco-friendly, tasty lunch that is healthy and affordable? It’s easier than you would think. Here are some tips for lunches that will keep both kids and adults happy.

1. Avoid individually-packaged foods. You pay more for the convenience, create more packaging, and, unless you’re eating little packets of carrots or apple slices, are probably eating something processed. Invest in a variety of reusable containers in different sizes so you can buy in bulk, which eliminates packaging waste and saves you money. Do I have to tell you to avoid these?
2. I can’t stress this enough: farmers markets. Raw fruits and veggies, particularly locally-grown, in-season produce, is usually a zero-waste choice that’s completely healthy. Carrots and celery are old standbys, but what about sugar-snap peas, radishes, edamame, cucumber rounds, jicama, cherry potatoes, or bell pepper rings? Peaches, plums, kiwis, cherries, and berries are a sweet treat, and frozen grapes are an awesome twist. Add a dip, such as peanut butter, marshmallow fluff, salsa, hummus, or low-fat dressing, to keep things interesting. Kids love dipping things. Why, I do not know.
3. Put it on a pita. Or a tortilla. Or naan. Tortillas keep longer than regular bread, and can break up the monotony of a normal PB&J or ham and cheese. Wait, what about mini-bagels? Or flatbread? There’s a whole world of bread-like possibilities.
4. What about chips? There are low-fat, whole grain tortilla chips and pita chips, or you can make your own. Hummus, salsa, baba ghanoush, bean dip, or tapenade all work with chips in a lunch.
5. I love salads, but I hate how the dressing gets the lettuce soggy by lunch time. Check out this bad boy, that keeps the dressing separate from the salad in one container. Speaking of salad, translate your favorite salad into a wrap. Try chicken caesar, caprese, or spinach and walnuts.
6. For adults with access to a microwave, soup is a sometimes-forgotten lunchtime food that can provide an almost-endless variety of flavors. Trader Joe’s has a particularly wide selection, and I have yet to be disappointed by any of their concoctions (Roasted Red Pepper is my favorite). Add some crusty bread leftover from last night’s dinner and a piece of fruit, and you have a pretty tempting spread. Your local deli probably sells pints or quarts of soup to take home if you’ve got a local favorite.

Bottom line: lunch doesn’t have to be monotonous, unhealthy, or trash-producing. With little thought before your grocery shopping, you can have delicious, nutritious meals that leave a lighter footprint.

What do you think? What are your favorite packable lunches? Leave your comment below.

I’m a vegetarian, and cook for myself and my husband, who is not a vegetarian. Despite the fact that he’s Italian, sometimes, we get sick of regular pasta. I was excited to I found an awesome Israeli couscous recipe on Smitten Kitchen, one of my favorite food blogs, and modified it to fit our tastes and what herbs we had on hand. If you’ve never had it, Israeli couscous, sometimes called pearl couscous, or Middle Eastern couscous as it was labeled in Whole Foods’ bulk aisle, are like little pearls of pasta usually made of semolina. You can add whatever veggies you like, but who can argue with the cherry sungolds at the farmers’ market right now? This dish can also be served warm or room temp, though, to be honest, I couldn’t wait for it to cool down before chowing down.

Israeli Coucous With Roasted Tomatoes

Serves Six

For the roasted tomatoes and dressing

2 pts grape or cherry tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs)

3 large garlic cloves, left unpeeled

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup warm water

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

For the couscous

2 3/4 cups vegetable broth

2 1/4 cups Israeli couscous

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

handful chopped parsley

handful chopped basil

Roast tomatoes and make dressing:

Preheat oven to 250°F.

Halve tomatoes through stem ends and place, cut sides up, in 1 layer on a baking sheet. Add garlic to pan and roast in middle of oven until tomatoes are slightly shriveled around edges, about 1 hour. Cool in pan on a rack 30 minutes.

Peel garlic and purée with oil, water, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and 1/2 cup roasted tomatoes in a blender until dressing is very smooth.

Make couscous:

Bring broth to a boil in a saucepan and stir in couscous, then simmer, uncovered, 6 minutes. Cover pan and remove from heat. Let stand 10 minutes.

Spread couscous in 1 layer on a baking sheet and cool 15 minutes.

Transfer couscous to a serving bowl and stir in remaining ingredients, dressing, roasted tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste.

I’m not ashamed to admit it: I’ve got food on the brain these days. Who can blame me? The farmers markets are teeming with a variety produce at the height of their flavor. I wrote Tuesday on some of my favorite food blogs where I glean recipes to test out in my kitchen. But what about those days when I don’t feel like cooking, when it’s too hot to fire up the stove, when I just don’t have much in the fridge? What about special occasions? Going out to eat, particularly for a special meal with good wine and a group of friends, is a treat I look forward to. But how to find greener options? In a word: local.

Local restaurants are more likely to use local ingredients (read: less food miles), cook seasonally (again, less food miles), and invest in the local community. In fact, local restaurants often partner with farmers markets for cooking demos or classes. I see one of the chefs of my favorite local restaurant at a farmers market every Saturday, checking out produce and talking to farmers.

Here in St Louis, along with several other cities in the US, there’s another incentive to dine locally: the DineOriginals program. Started by independent restauranteurs looking to promote their restaurants in the face of expanding chains, DineOriginals offers a rewards program for diners, and a fairly decent one at that: for every $150 you spend at DineOriginals restaurants, you earn a $10 credit. For my husband and I, it’s not hard to earn credits, particularly since our, ahem, local microbrewery participates. It’s free to join, you can sign up at any participating restaurant, and a no-brainer for those of us who try to eat local anyway. See if your city participates, and find a list of restaurants, here.

America is becoming a land of foodies. From the popularity of the Food Network and shows like Bravo’s Top Chef, to the popularity of cooking gear stores like Sur La Table and Williams Sonoma, more and more of us are finding out how sublime and satisfying preparing and eating dishes at home can be. Just yesterday I lingered over a bowl of perfectly-ripe tomatoes from the farmers market, dressed simply with extra-virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, purple basil from my garden, and a little bit of grated parmesano-reggiano cheese.

My favorite part of the foodie-fueled kitchen craze? Food blogs. I love the democracy of blogging, the connecting with people passionate about cooking, the recipes tested by real! live! people!, and the sumptuous photos of prepared dishes. There’s a ton of food blogs out there, so many that it can be quite overwhelming. For those of us in the know about how our diets impact our environment, there is a thriving community of online bloggers focusing on vegetarian, vegan, organic, seasonal, and local foods. We’ve got great recipes coming from our writers every weekend, but if you’re looking to expand, check out my favorite in greener-eating blogs.

Mighty Foods
According to their site, Mighty Foods is about "natural foods, organic ingredients, fair-trade products, veg-friendly recipes, sustainable farming, whole grains, organic wines, ingredient spotlights, news, profiles, reviews, gift ideas, new product information, culinary travel ideas, studies and trends - information and inspiration, all wrapped up in one food-loving bundle." It’s a mouthful, but it’s a comprehensive blog with information about all areas. A great starting point for food blogs that is updated often.

What The Hell Does A Vegan Eat Anyway
These are the gourmands of the vegan world. If you’re really into food, here’s where you get vegan ideas. Full of gorgeous photos, the recipes can be skeleton, but this is a great site to be inspired by vegan cuisine.

VeganYumYum
Again with the mouth-watering photos! Lolo’s blog features recipes for a variety of vegan dishes from a wide range of cuisines.

Vegetarian Cookster
Chronicling the life of a vegetarian who is trying to experiment more with vegan and vegetarian cooking, this candid blog highlights quality food that amateurs can prepare without fear.

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World
Finally, if anyone needs any convicing that vegan foods, particularly vegan baking, can be devastatingly, addictively tasty, look no further than Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero’s Vegan Cupcakes blog. I can’t say enough good things about the recipes from the authors of a cookbook of the same name, and I had no idea that there were so many different kinds of cupcakes. Great links, too.

Image courtesy of the Wakarusa Music Festival

More and more buzz is being generated in the music industry about artists greening up concerts and venues greening their practices. I was able to see some of this first hand while spending four days at the Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival in Lawrence, KS, this past weekend.

Lured by the temptation of such acts as Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Son Volt, Yonder Mountain String Band, Widespread Panic, and my personal favorite, the John Butler Trio, my husband and I set out for an extended weekend of camping and concerts approximately 45 minutes west of Kansas City at Clinton Lake State Park. We were pleased to find multiple efforts at sustainability from the moment we got to the venue.

When driving into the park, after receiving our wristbands from festival organizers, volunteers handed us two plastic bags: a clear bag for trash and a green bag for recyclables. Dubbed "Recycalusa" Wakarusa's recycling efforts extended to glass, aluminum, cardboard, and plastic. Wakarusa even urged festival-goers to bring canned beverages, not bottled, because the market for glass recycling was far smaller in Lawrence than for aluminum. There was a Recycalusa booth where festival-goers could take their green bags, sort their recycling, and win prizes such as band merch.

For those who didn't want to head to the booth (like us), campers could place both green and clear bags on the "corner" of their respective campgrounds, and Waka volunteers would pick up both recycling and trash. There were also recycling bins everywhere in the venue: 240, according to festival organizers, clearly marked for trash, plastic, aluminum, and glass. New Belgium Brewery, sustainability leaders in the beer industry, and sponsors of the festival, exclusively sold beer at the venue, and encouraged drinkers to reuse the plastic cups the beer was sold in.

Waka organizers began offsetting the energy costs of the festival in 2006 through the Bonneville Environmental Foundation's partnership with Zephyr Energy, which features a mix of low-impact hydro and wind power projects ( I know some of you are already shaking your head at the idea of offsets–keep reading). This year, organizers were able to eliminate about 40% of their total energy costs by eliminating one of the main stages. Festival patrons could also offset their travel to Lawrence by purchasing wind tags offered by Zephyr Energy.

Food vendors offered more veggie options than any other event like this that I have been to. There was an amazing Lawrence restaurant, Local Burger, that had veggie burgers, beef, buffalo, and elk burgers, and numerous other outstandingly delicious meals all locally sourced, yet reasonably priced (best veggie burger of my life, if you must know). Indian, Chinese, and Mexican-themed vendors all provided numerous meat-free meals. Most vendors made a special effort to use packaging that could be recycled at the festival.

Perhaps my favorite part of the sustainability efforts at Wakarusa was the Sustainability Symposium. Featuring such individuals as Big Coal author Jeff Goodell, Land Institute president Dr. Wes Jackson, and Director of Sustainability for New Belgium Nic Theisen, we spent almost three hours listening to six individuals discuss energy and sustainability, policy and ecology, music and beer. I'll be writing about this at-length on Thursday.

There were a few disappointments over the weekend (other than Saturday night's rain). Despite the obvious efforts of Waka organizers to make recycling just as convenient as regular trash, I was heartbroken to see how few patrons took advantage of recycling. There was also some confusion on the location and time of the different sustainability speakers, some of whom only spoke for a few minutes. I was also under the impression (from Waka's website) that all packaging from Waka food vendors had to be either recyclable or compostable, but that was not the case. All in all, though, the disappointment I had was mainly because people weren't taking advantage of the sustainability efforts of the concert. And the music, most definitely, was well worth the drive.

Eaten in a school cafeteria lately? Chances are you'll be dining on processed, reheated food that helps tiny school lunch budgets stretch their pennies. In an attempt to make lunches healthier and more sustainable, the state of Oregon is taking significant steps towards increasing the amount of local food that goes into public school lunches.

One legislative bill, awaiting Gov. Ted Kulongoski's signature, that will limit caloric, sugar, and fat content of foods sold in vending machines and school stores. Three more bills currently being debated that would promote, among other things, utilizing food from Oregon farmers, bakeries, and other processors. HB 3476 allocates seven cents per meal served in Oregon public schools to incorporate Oregon agricultural products. HB 3307 creates a Farm to School program within the Oregon Deparment of Agriculture, and HB 3185 awards mini-grants to schools creating gardens and other agriculture/food-based learning. The three bills would cost the state approximately $10 million.

Because public school cafeteria budgets are often strained (at best), many cafeterias rely on fatty, salty, and sugary products that students will pay a premium for to boost their budgets. This is particularly true in Oregon, which is one of a handful of states that does not supplement the National School Lunch and Breakfast program with state dollars. Incorporating local food puts less-processed foods on the table for students, promoting a healthier diet than chicken nuggets and pizza.

Utilizing local producers also cuts down on fuel use/costs, provides fresher, better tasting produce, and boosts local economies by forging steady partnerships between school districts and local agriculture. For example, in the Bend-La Pine School District, students eat blueberries, strawberries and cantaloupe from the local 25-acre Happy Harvest Farms. In Gresham, blueberries, broccoli and milk come from Portland-area farms.

There are downsides. Using local produce can cost more, and that cost will likely be passed onto the students despite the state's possible additional funding. And the amount of local food being used in only a fraction of the food being fed to schoolchildren. But it's a step in the right direction for healthier kids and creating a more sustainable food system.

The Oregonian