These are a few stories we found this week that may be of interest to institute regulars. If you have a news tip, please send it to lowtechinstitute@gmail.com.
Low Tech News
How a climate-friendly flour company built a flourishing market – Grist
1707 – Plant Buddies and Open Education – Permaculture Podcast
Rain Roofs for Water Collection – Natural Building Blog
Get ready for zero waste shopping with these great reusables – TreeHugger
Passive House is not just for houses – TreeHugger
Propagating shiitake mushrooms for free: Full-size logs – Walden Effect
How Fancy Cheese May Save Some Small-Scale Dairies – NPR
Forest Garden Shelterbelts: Investment Strategy for Restoring Degraded Land – Natural Building Blog
Are you a Busy Gardener? Grow these Low Maintenance Crops – Tenth Acre Farm
What Students Can Learn By Writing For Wikipedia – NPR
Before air conditioning, people kept cool with vernacular architecture – TreeHugger
It’s a bike lane, not a construction loading area – TreeHugger
The Night Breathes Us In – Dark Mountain Project
No-till preparation in heavily weedy beds – Walden Effect
How a 1/2 acre urban garden became a hub for many more – TreeHugger
Man Lives Inside $150 Bicycle ‘Stealth’ Camper – Natural Building Blog
Farms Are Turning to Solar as Electricity Prices Soar – Vice: Motherboard
[Episode #37] – Corporate Buyers of Renewables – Energy Transition Show
10 plastic items you can give up right now – TreeHuggr
Environmental News
Mexico City, Parched and Sinking, Faces a Water Crisis – New York Times
We’re Trashing the Arctic. Literally. – Mother Jones
For Islanders In Lake Superior, Warmer Winters Mean They Can’t Drive – NPR
Research News
A new model of climate change for the anthropocene epoch – TreeHugger
New Research Shows How ‘Atmospheric Rivers’ Wreak Havoc Around The Globe – NPR
When Their Food Ran Out, These Reindeer Kept Digging – NPR
Getting down and dirty about the hygiene hypothesis – TreeHugger
Scarcity of resources led to violence in prehistoric central California – Science Daily
Welcome Back, Woolly Mammoth? – Archaeology
Crop-Protecting Fungicides May Be Hurting The Honey Bees – NPR
In-depth: The whole system costs of renewables – Carbon Brief
Biomass subsidies ‘not fit for purpose’, says Chatham House – Carbon Brief
Astronomers discovered 7 nearby exoplanets that could support life – Vice
Op-Ed¹
The future will be battery-powered – Grist
Where is ‘rural America,’ and what does it look like? – The Conversation
Bill Gates Warns of Bioterror Doomsday – Vice: Motherboard
One Recipe for a More Equal World: Mass Death – Vice
Beast of Contention: The Polar Bear as National Symbol and Emblem of Conservation – Savage Minds
Disclaimer: The news stories and posts linked above are not meant as an endorsement of the information presented. They are provided as they may be of interest to our readers and further our aims of solutions for a post-fossil-fuel world. We strive to provide fact-based information. If you feel that political views are being presented in a partisan fashion, we are happy to provide equal time to opposing view points as long as they are derived from verifiable data and facts.
¹Opinion pieces represent the independent thought of their authors and may or may not represent the position of the Low Technology Institute.