Americans spend approximately $40 billion a year to maintain more than 32 million acres of lawn — an area roughly the size of Pennsylvania. We pour 270 billion gallons of water per week on our lawns. We apply 10 times more fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides than farmers do to their crops. Making meadows is a green alternative.

Teatown Lake Reservation in New York is all about connecting people with nature, but a language barrier keeps getting in the way. In some parts of its region, north of New York City, more than 40% of people speak Spanish as their first language.

While the challenge of making permanent the enhanced tax benefits for donations of conservation easements can seem never ending, its land trust backers never quit. In fact, while Congress takes its summer recess, there is reason for optimism.

There’s a Zits comic my boss simultaneously loves and loathes.

Deb Neeley, an office manager and urban farmer who lives in Denver, collects water in a rain barrel from a gutter off her greenhouse — illegally!

What do skateboarding, sourdough and air quality standards for pollution have in common? In the United States, these and many other popular trends all started in California.