EcoMyths TeamWhy pledge allegiance to bees? For starters, they’re among the most important pollinators we’ve got. Check out the latest installment of The Bee Chronicles, to see Chicago Botanic Garden bee expert Becky Tonietto school EcoMyths’ own inimitably inquisitive Cliff Miller on pollination. Pollination Nation from ecomyths alliance on Vimeo. This is the second of three … Read more
Food for Thought: Is Organic Produce Overrated? Welcome to the fall harvest, ground zero for comfort food obsessions. Visions of gourd-laden tables, steaming pots of soup, and fresh-baked apple pie are already dancing in our collective heads. So in celebration of the national treasure that is our produce supply, let’s take a moment to reflect…on … Read more
Power Play: What’s the Deal With Vampire Power? It may seem like a no-brainer: You turn off your TV, your iPod player, your phone charger, and they’re done using electricity, right? Nope. Turns out, plenty of products still suck power even when they’re not on. Standby loss, more popularly known as vampire power or phantom … Read more
No, “Vampire Power!” is not a rallying cry created by Twi-hards camping out at premier of the new Twilight movie. It’s not even a blood-red energy drink. But if you use electricity at home, vampire power is a phenomenon lurking in your household at this very minute. According to energy expert, Eric Masanet, staff scientist … Read more
No, “Vampire Power!” is not a rallying cry created by Twi-hards camping out at premier of the new Twilight movie. It’s not even a blood-red energy drink. But if you use electricity at home, vampire power is a phenomenon lurking in your household at this very minute. According to energy expert, Eric Masanet, staff scientist … Read more
As the mid-winter chill sets in, a tangy tasting ripe tomato with sweet fresh basil leaves can easily bring summer to mind. But often, grocery-store tomatoes don’t taste good at all times of year and fresh basil is expensive. So how do we find and choose good produce year-round? In this month’s EcoMyths Worldview segment, … Read more
Fishing for the Facts: Is It Safe to Flush Old Meds? What to do when it comes time to ditch old and unused medicine? Flushing old pharmaceuticals down the toilet may seem like a better option than simply trashing them. After all, the FDA recommends flushing some drugs in order to keep them from being … Read more
Over the years, you may have heard that the recommended way to dispose of unused pharmaceuticals is to flush them down the toilet or pour them down the drain—not anymore. The EPA and FDA backed off this recommendation for almost all drugs (exceptions are listed on the FDA website). Medicines are among the thousands of … Read more
The Bright Stuff: Keeping Your Cool in the Lightbulb Aisle These days, walking into the lightbulb section at a home goods store is like entering an alternate reality, one filled with strange futuristic shapes and a head-reeling supply of options. How do you navigate the extreme selection without mental overload? Allow us to light the … Read more
Hunger Games: Bird Feeding Edition We all know we’re not supposed to feed wild animals (for those who don’t, here’s why)…but do the same rules apply to birds in our backyards? We chatted with a couple of Chicagoland’s foremost ornithologists for their take on using bird feeders, and turns out, they both give them a … Read more
