• Go Ride a Bike

    Automobiles are a major cause of air pollution and contribute to climate change. Hybrid and electric vehicles, while better, still have a significant carbon footprint (unless you use your own solar to power your EV – now that’s green!). If you care about the climate, try walking or bicycling as an alternative way to get […]

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  • The Last Straw

    Americans use an average of 1.6 straws per day. In the U.S. alone, that adds up to 500 million plastic straws that are thrown out each day. That’s a lot of plastic, much of which ends up as litter on our streets and in our waters. And plastic straws are made from oil. It seems […]

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  • Single Use Plastics

    I was recently challenged to look up the environmental impact of a plastic grocery bag versus reusable bags and what I learned has got me adding two more ‘R’s to the familiar Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.  Though not all reusable grocery bags are created equal—some are made from PVC, or use harsh dyes, or are shipped […]

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  • Our Night Lights

    Tonight at 8:30pm local time the world celebrates Earth Hour – a chance to turn off lights and enjoy the night sky. It’s also a reminder that we can fight light pollution every night. According to the International Dark-Sky Association, 30 percent of all outdoor lighting in the U.S. is wasted. That adds up to […]

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  • Water Bottle Challenge!

    Today’s post is from Finely’s dear friend, and ‘other’ big sister, Emily Dunn.  Thanks for the post Emily, Finley would be so impressed! I used to have an unhealthy obsession with bottled water. In college, my best friend and I would go to a specific grocery store because they had a “great water selection.” We would […]

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  • World Water Day – Can’t Flush This!

    March 22nd is World Water Day, which makes it a great day for potty talk. While most of Finley’s readers live where water and sanitation are taken as a given, the professionals who keep it going have a request for you. Our toilets, pipes and pumps are built to handle water and natural, biological waste […]

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  • Water wars and water waste 

    Water Wars and Water Waste This post is written by one of Finley’s best friends in middle and high school, Sarah.  Sarah is completing her degree in Russian Studies and Politics and is currently working on a dissertation on the hydro-politics of the Kura-Araks River Basin that is shared by Armenia and Azerbaijan. Before I […]

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  • Staying Green in the Brown Desert – Tip #1

    Staying Green in a Brown Desert – Tip #1   Today’s post is first in a series from Evan Gorelick (Finley’s cousin) and his fiancé Katie O’Connell who moved to Phoenix, AZ in 2017. Staying green in the brown desert — known for its lack of natural water — hasn’t been easy. But they’ve found […]

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  • Bird’s Eye View

    With spring coming, migratory birds will soon arrive in our backyards. A native garden, feeders and birdbaths are great ways to host our feathered friends but we can also help by limiting hazards. One of the main causes of bird fatalities is window collision. Birds see the reflection of trees or sky in windows and […]

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  • Crush, Don’t Flush

    Is your bathroom cabinet full of small orange-brown bottles with leftover medicines from your last bout of the flu or dentist visit?  Especially now, with so much worry about misuse of opioids, people want to get rid of these old pills safely.  Many experts advise flushing them down the toilet to avoid the potential for […]

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