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Green Living & the Environment

A new heat pump + insulation = max efficiency

(BPT) - Thinking about upgrading your home's HVAC system with a new heat pump? It's the perfect time to add or upgrade your home's insulation, too.These two projects not only work together to help …

A bot to mow your lawn? Yes, you can — and should. Here's why

(BPT) - For most homeowners, mowing the lawn is a necessary chore that eats up precious time on weekends and exposes those with allergies to the kinds of grasses and pollen they're trying to avoid. …

5 easy ways to make your bathroom more sustainable

(BPT) - The entire country has experienced its share of extreme weather lately. Record-breaking heat, torrential rain and drought — you name it, Mother Nature has been doling it out. It has …

Expert tips to save you money heating your home

(BPT) - As the days get shorter and cooler, it's the perfect time to turn your attention to your heating system. Before it gets too chilly, you'll want your HVAC system to be in great condition …

Why home insurance rates are rising so fast across the US – climate change plays a big role

Millions of Americans have been watching with growing alarm as their homeowners insurance premiums rise and their coverage shrinks. Nationwide, premiums rose 34% between 2017 and 2023, and they continued to rise in 2024 across much of the country.

5 tips for sustainably decorating your home

From upcycling to investing in quality materials, Made Trade rounded up five tips for sustainably decorating your home.

Keeping Your Community Clean: 4 ways to do your part for spotless public spaces

(Family Features) From a day spent in the office to evenings out and everywhere in between, there's one thing virtually everyone leaves behind now and again: a mess.

Inside fast fashion brands' love affair with uncomfortable, synthetic, and slow-to-biodegrade fabrics

The RealReal used data from Textile Exchange to explore the far-reaching prevalence of polyester, including in the fast fashion industry.
Environment matters
Ancient Rome had ways to counter the urban heat island effect – how history’s lessons apply to cities today
Trees are one way to cool down a city. Architects in ancient Rome also designed buildings with porticos for shade and air flow. Laszlo Szirtesi/Getty Images As intense heat breaks records around the …
New big storm is headed for the Caribbean: What meteorologists look for in early signs of a future hurricane
Disturbances in the Atlantic may be nothing, or they could be the seeds of a destructive hurricane. NOAA GOES When tropical meteorologists peer at satellite images , they often catch sight of subtle …
Hail the size of golf balls and even grapefruit? The science of how tiny ice crystals grow dangerously large
Hail the size of grapefruit shattered car windows in Johnson City, Texas, in May 2024. In June, a storm chaser found a hailstone almost as big as a pineapple . Even larger hailstones have been …
Hurricane Beryl’s rapid intensification to Category 5 is alarming: Here’s why more tropical storms are exploding in strength
Hurricane Beryl hit the island of Carriacou, Grenada, on July 1, 2024, with 150 mph sustained winds. NOAA Hurricane Beryl was the latest Atlantic storm to rapidly intensify, growing quickly from …
Is Earth really getting too hot for people to survive? A scientist explains extreme heat and the role of climate change
Many countries have seen extremely hot weather lately, but in most of the inhabited world, it’s never going to get “too hot for people to live here,” especially in relatively dry climates. Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If …

‘Just the Facts with Steve Ballmer’ Shares Government Data on Energy & the Environment, and Economy

(BPT) - USAFacts, a not-for-profit, nonpartisan civic organization founded by former Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, is launching the next set of PSAs in a six-part series — these will focus on …

3 Reasons to Ditch Your Laundry Detergent for Eco Strips

3 Reasons to Ditch Your Laundry Detergent for Eco Strips
(NewsUSA) - The laundry industry would have you believe that in order to get brilliant, clean laundry, you need to use powders, liquids and pods that are diluted with water, and come in bulky, …

What if your pets' steps could create renewable energy?

(BPT) - Does your dog run crazy-eights? Does your cat get midnight madness? Of course, any of your pets can get the zoomies, or, maybe they simply follow you around the house all day in hopes of a …
Lifestyle features
From PPO to HMO, what's the difference between the 5 most common types of health insurance plans?
To help consumers navigate their options, Doctors and Clinicians analyzed KFF data and other resources to break down common types of insurance plans.
How teen drug use compares by state
Substance Use Treatment Facilities examined data from SAMHSA and other sources to see how teen drug use varies by state and how much it's changed.
Landlines may seem obsolete, but people in these states pick up their home phones the most
Who still uses landlines? Spokeo used data from the National Center for Health Statistics to analyze which states have the most loyal landline users.
When Halloween became America’s most dangerous holiday
In the early 1970s, rumors about poisoned candy on Halloween led to mass paranoia. A historian explains why such fears emerge – and what, in reality, feeds them.
Day of the Dead is taking on Halloween traditions, but the sacred holiday is far more than a ‘Mexican Halloween’
Halloween’s influence is transforming popular festivities around Día de los Muertos and its ceremonial customs in rural and urban areas of Mexico in some fascinating ways.