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BRO’S Honor Roll of the Region’s Greenest Colleges and Universities
We did our homework for this assignment. Blue Ridge Outdoors researched, interviewed, and examined all of the region’s colleges and universities to determine which schools are not just teaching about a better world but also are actually doing something about it. Over the past year, [...]

Elite Ultra Runner Jeremy Ramsey sheds pounds to chase a legend
“In all things, I try to practice moderation,” says Lynchburg ultra marathon runner Jeremy Ramsey, who during his peak training will log over one hundred miles a week. After finishing fifth at this year’s Mount Masochist 50 Mile Trail Run, Ramsey and I sat down [...]

Text, photos, and video by Eric Crews
The wintry precipitation that fell across the High Country over the weekend was a nuisance for most area residents, but for the participants in the Red Bull Buttercup at Appalachian Ski Mountain on Saturday, the snowy weather provided an extra incentive to come out and compete for a chance [...]

Eric Crews is a Boone local who spends most of his free time exploring the beautiful forests of the High Country—documenting the area’s endless climbing, mountain biking, paddling, and hiking for his public television show High Country Adventures. This month’s Outside Insider lists his favorite play spots.
SWEETEST SUMMIT
Calloway Peak on Grandfather Mountain. Often shrouded in [...]

Appalachian Trail icon Warren Doyle attempts his 16th thru hike in 2010.  Speed record holder Jennifer Davis reflects on Doyle’s influence and inspiration.
December 2004
Lees McRae College. Banner Elk, North Carolina
I didn’t know who Warren Doyle was when I signed up for his four-day Appalachian Trail Institute. All I knew was that I wanted to thru-hike [...]

Dear EarthTalk: I’ve been following reports about President Obama’s stimulus package and what it may mean for creating green jobs. Beyond that, are there programs in place to help businesses switch to greener raw materials and/or to green up operations overall?                        — Diane, via e-mail
Even though the push to create green jobs is [...]

Dear EarthTalk: What do organizers hope to accomplish at the upcoming (December 7-18, 2009) United Nations Climate Change Conference being held in Copenhagen? — F. Rojas, Oakland, CA
The upcoming COP15 meeting in Denmark—so named because it is the 15th such international gathering of the Conference of the Parties (COP) under the United Nations Framework Convention [...]

Dear EarthTalk: Can you enlighten on the environmental impact of the fashion industry? As I understand it, the industry overall is no friend to the environment. – Tan Cheng Li, Malaysia
According to the non-profit Earth Pledge, today some 8,000 synthetic chemicals are used throughout the world to turn raw [...]

Dear EarthTalk: Celebrities and billionaires are shelling out big bucks for cutting edge green-friendly cars like the Tesla Roadster. But what are the rest of us—who live in the budget-constrained real world—to do about buying a new car that does right by the environment?
– M.G., Stroudsburg, PA
With so many new energy efficient cars in [...]

Dear EarthTalk: Has anyone ever studied the environmental impact of discarded cigarettes? I’m constantly appalled at the number of drivers I see pitching their butts out their car windows.
– Ned Jordan, via email

It’s true that littered cigarette butts are a public nuisance, and not just for aesthetic reasons. The filters on cigarettes—four fifths [...]

Dear EarthTalk: How are heating, cooling and electricity produced by geothermal energy? I don’t understand how it works. — Delano Stewart, Wyandanch, NY
The term “geothermal” is derived from the Greek words for Earth (geo) and heat (therme). In essence geothermal energy is power harnessed from the Earth itself. Heat from the Earth’s core, which [...]

Dear EarthTalk: I recently saw a reference to “Enertia houses” that require little in the way of external sources for heating or cooling.  Do you have any information on this housing design?
— Alan Marshfield, via e-mail
Enertia is a brand name for homes designed and sold in kits by North Carolina-based Enertia Building Systems (EBS). [...]

Dear EarthTalk: Why are bed bugs a big issue right now? Where do they come from and what real harm do they do? Are there non-toxic ways of dealing with them? – Harper H., Newburyport, MA
Bed bugs, tiny little rust-colored insects of the Cimicidae family, live by feeding on the blood of humans and other [...]

Dear EarthTalk: Not long ago there were concerns about honey bees disappearing. Are the bees still disappearing, and if so do we know why and do we have a solution? – David, Grand Rapids, MI
The topic of disappearing honey bees first cropped up in 2004 and by the spring of 2007 was all over the [...]

Dear EarthTalk: Is it true that environmental non-profits have been hit hard by the economic downturn, and has this had an impact on their effectiveness? – Bridget W., Bainbridge Island, WA
Non-profits of every stripe have been suffering from the economic downturn. In a recent survey of 800 U.S.-based non-profits, 75 percent reported feeling the effects [...]