News resources

By now everyone has probably spotted the clocks at the top of the page and the environmental news tickers, by way of explanation. The first job I ever had that involved media was at KSTP TV in Minneapolis, I was in college at U of M down the street. Nights, 3 days a week, my job was to attend the bank of news tickers, called "Rip and Read." Every hour I'd cull the teletype machines for local, national and international headlines, rip them into categories and hand them over to the announcers who read the news right off the wire.

My constant and only companions in the basement of that 4-story building were the bank of clocks on the newsroom wall that marked the simultaneous procession of hours around the world. I looked for time stamps on the news wires and tried to match them up in order of last first and by time zone. I had a clipboard marked for region: London, Rome, New York, etc. and this was my file system.

Since then I have rarely seen a newsroom which could be fairly called a "real" news center unless it had that ubiquitous set of clocks on the wall. When I found these clocks, it just seemed a natural fit for our space and a reminder that we truly are a global group. We may be scattered around the world, as is our audience, but what brings us together in the end is a desire to write about the environmental challenges which affect everyone on a globe that grows smaller every day.

Here's a list I'll throw out for inspiration:

• First HN51 virus death in Iraq where a "hot" war currently wages.
• Hemp clothing - cost, mfg process
• Whale beaching
• Women's heart disease
• Veggie food mfgs - Green investing
• Florida panthers ( the animal, not the team)
• Eco friendly shampoo - people and pets
• Hair dyes: content,recurring dermatitis if beauticians,alternatives
• Deoderant: Green alternatives, mineral salts, "Toms" brand
• Recycling
• Olive oil as a moisturizer
• Biodiesel
• Salt water desal plants
• Hybrid autos - Ford Motor
• Adobe HQ goes green
• Bamboo floors, clothing, work out cloths, towels
• Sustainable housing for disaster relief areas
• Synthetic reefs
• Dole pineapple leaving Hawaii - organic vs bio engineering on the island
• Synthetic drugs vs herbal remedies - research, cost
• Paper or plastic?
• Disposal of electronics, batteries
• Walmart going green follow-up
• Environmental impact of disaster clean up NO, Pakistan, Banda Aceh, California
• Rebuilding a greener New Orleans
• Disposable society and the disappearing landfill
• Bono
• Synthetic corks replace organic cork in wine
• NASA - global warming
• Messaging history: Pony express, Western Union, Internet
• Rain water collection
• Plastic packaging and a tool to open
• Sunscreen products
• X-blade wars