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 children are taught to stop loving and start eating animals – TH
Students move in to the world’s tallest timber tower – TH
A Simple Solar Light to Light Up Your Life – PRI
Could co-living help solve our urban housing crisis? – TH
Happy news: Free-range parenting is fiercely defended by Canadian newspaper – TH
Are backyard eggs really that dangerous? – TH
The problem with Mason jars – TH
So Your Kitchen Sponge Is A Bacteria Hotbed. Here’s What To Do – NPR
The House That 100k Built – Medieval Timber Frame Home – NBB
1725 – Joel Salatin on Farming, Experience, and Mastery – Permaculture Podcast
Overwintering Nucs in Wisconsin with Ethan Hogan – Episode 56 – Treatment-Free Beekeeping Podcast
Permaculture Fruit Forest of Incredible Abundance in Ireland! – NBB
What to do with old cooking oil – TH
Environmental News
Into the Trenches: Pipeline Sabotage in Hamilton, ON – EF!
Looking for Answers, Times Reporters Tested the Water in Houston – NYT
Activists Build Tiny Houses To Defend Against Oil Pipeline – NBB
Top White House Official to Discuss Climate Change at U.N. – NYT
Harvey and Irma Aren’t Natural Disasters. They’re Climate Change Disasters. – MJ
Good News For Snow Leopards, Bad News For Ash Trees – NPR
California Lawmakers Debate 100 Percent Clean Energy Mandate – NPR
We’re Eating Plastics From Our Own Dirty Laundry – VM
Chocolate lust is ruining West African rainforests – TH
Research News
Evolutionary geneticists spot natural selection happening now in people – C
Coffee, Bees and Climate Change Are Linked In Ways You May Not Have Expected – NPR
Are Earth’s oldest trees losing the race in a warming climate? – TH
Even when it’s sitting in storage, coal threatens human health – C
Op-Ed¹
Lessons From The Stars: How To Live On A Climate-Changed World – NPR
Want to fix America’s health care? First, focus on food – C
Small fridges don’t make good cities; it’s more accurate to say that good cities make small fridges – TH
In praise of big fridges, freezers, & pantries (for some) – TH
Tree reasons why ancient oaks survived the felling of ancient forests in Britain – E
We’ll always Have the Sun: Solar Energy and the Future of Humankind – Resilience
What Permaculture Should Mean to Homesteaders – PRI
Don’t buy Apple’s new iPhone. Fix your old one – G
How (Not) to Run a Modern Society on Solar and Wind Power Alone – Low Tech Magazine
Source Abbreviations
C – The Conversation
E – The Ecologist
EF! – Earth First! Newswire
G – Grist
MJ – Mother Jones
NBB — Natural Building Blog
NPR – National Public Radio
NYT – New York Times
PRI – Permaculture Research Institute
TH – TreeHugger
V – Vice
VM – Vice: Motherboard
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.