I resisted buying a pellet stove for a long time for a number of reasons. First, I would be tied to a fuel source that I don't have control over--and whose price might go up if demand exceeds supply.

Second, pellet stoves don't work without electricity, and I didn't want to risk freezing pipes in the event of a power outage. Third, I don't really like the noise of the fan and the blowtorch-like flame. Fourth, I had heard about technical problems with early pellet stoves. And fifth, good pellet stoves cost a lot.

Alex Wilson founded BuildingGreen in 1985, when the green building movement was in its infancy. As executive editor of Environmental Building News, the bible of green building, Wilson has provided the information that has formed the building blocks of the movement.

They found Greg, and his car, yesterday — a month after he mysteriously disappeared. According to the Denver Post, he had slipped off the road and rolled into a ravine. Daily Camera has a more detailed article.

Over the past few weeks, we've been looking at wood burning--a popular and affordable heating option in rural New England. Ten or 15 years ago, a new option started showing up. Driving along country roads, we began to see shed-like structures with smoke billowing from smokestacks. These are outdoor wood boilers (sometimes called outdoor wood furnaces), and they have been the focus of considerable attention and debate in recent years, mostly over the pollution they generate.

From photographer Kevin Bauman's website. See them all.

The toilet from St. Thomas Creations in the video below doesn't qualify for GreenSpec — it's a 1.6gpf toilet (the federal minimum), and GreenSpec requires 1.28gpf or less — but it sure is fun to watch it flush stuff. (More fun than miso in condoms, anyway.) What do I mean by "flush stuff"?

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Wood is a renewable fuel and, assuming that new trees grow up to replace those cut for firewood, it is carbon-neutral, meaning that it doesn't have a net contribution to global warming.

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world.