Insights

When it rains heavily in a forest, the ground is able to soak up the water like a sponge. Though, in Houston, the asphalt and concrete grounds that cover the city stop rain water absorption and instead cause flooding. How can we fix this runoff problem without inhibiting city growth? Stormwater collecting in a drain after a period of rainfall There are two main types of infrastructure that come into play with stormwater: gray infrastructure and green infrastructure. Houston h

Right now, Houston spends a lot of money after a storm hits to repair damage. What can the city do to save that money and prevent such damage from happening in the first place? Flooding in the urban area of Houston after Hurricane Harvey There are two major types of spending used to address the destruction inextricably linked with the type of heavy storms that Houston is prone to: proactive and reactive. If you buy a phone case for $40 to prevent your screen shattering from a

Oftentimes when at the store, you notice that the products labelled as organic or fair trade cost much more than the regular ones. Why is that? Sapling rising from glass cup of pennies One of the primary reasons that environmentally-friendly goods are more costly is their inclusion of negative externalities into the total price. A negative externality is an unintended consequence of an economic activity on the environment that proves to be bad. For example, if a farm makes go

The Yangtze finless porpoise is the only freshwater porpoise in the world, and it's facing extinction seeing as only 1,400 individuals are left in the wild. What can we do to help preserve the species and its habitat? Yangtze finless porpoise in a research center in China Porpoises are close relatives of dolphins; they're both fully aquatic toothed whales that use echolocation. Though, this type of whale lacks the dolphin's signature elongated beak and instead has a very smal

As new environmental policies develop, they bring up a crucial question: does switching to these policies help or hurt economic growth, jobs, and businesses? Photograph depicting saplings growing To answer this question, let's first discover how adopting environmentally conscious practices helps the economy. One benefit of this action would be job creation, such as solar panel installation, wind turbine manufacturing, and electric vehicle production among many others. More im

As an effort to reduce factory-based pollution, carbon taxes are being implemented by the government, but what do they do and how effective are they really? Graphic illustrating the costly nature of nonrenewable energy resources To understand the real cost of large industries' activities, one needs to understand externalities and their wide-scale impact. In economics, an externality is an unintended side-effect of an activity that affects third parties not directly involved.

Though the idea of making the complete switch to renewable energy sounds enticing, there are many costs that come with implementation that make switching from fossil fuels very difficult. Wind turbines and solar panels work to capture energy Current oil reserves are predicted to reach depletion around 2070-2079, leaving us stripped of one of our most vital sources of energy. Similarly, natural gas, our dominant source, is predicted to last until 2060-2070. It is said that we

As New Year's rolls around, have you asked yourself what you can do to make a real impact? Instead of setting unrealistic goals for yourself, check out a few of these actionable resolutions to be the one who makes a true difference. 2026 Sustainability graphic highlighting net zero carbon emissions Try purchasing produce in bulk to avoid wasting the packaging of many products Consider buying fresh fruits and vegetables as opposed to canned ones; it's both better for you and f

As Thanksgiving rolls around each year, we prepare for a holiday filled with friends, family, laughter, and of course food. But as it turns out, all that overeating still leaves copious amounts of food that goes to waste. "Make meals, not waste this Thanksgiving." We Don't Waste, 18 Nov. 22, https://www.wedontwaste.org Chew on this: it's estimated that around 312 million pounds of food waste get thrown out on Thanksgiving day in America. That's about $550 million of lost mone