By David Goldstein “Keep it clean in bed,” urges an advertising campaign by a major retail chain of mattress stores, trying to coax consumers into buying a new mattress at least every eight years. The television ad features a comically scowling actor dressed in a dust mite costume and another actor feigning disgust at the…
July 17, 2022 By David Goldstein As local gardeners and farmers look for ways to keep their fruit trees alive while meeting water conservation goals, they can consider the water savings gained by applying organic mulch, as documented in an influential 1999 University of California study. The study’s findings and recommendations have gained relevance today…
July 9, 2022 By David Goldstein It’s fairly clear by now that Americans living in arid regions have not adequately planned for water shortages. In the current drought, local governments and water purveyors in the local region have responded with a new set of measures, including restrictions on outdoor watering. In areas with the hottest…
July 6, 2022 by David Goldstein Last week, on a nationally televised show, news-based comedian John Oliver criticized a local response to drought. Oliver’s diatribe, viewed on YouTube over 2,760,000 times as of last Tuesday, called study of a suggestion to tow an “iceberg in a diaper” to Ventura County “monumentally stupid” and an example…
EYE ON THE ENVIRONMENT | JULY 4 BARBECUES: GAS VERSUS CHARCOAL June 29th, 2022 by David Goldstein As you prepare to celebrate Independence Day with Fourth of July barbecues, consider the example of Ali Ghasemi, the executive officer at the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District. “I have two gas barbecues,” he told me. “One…
Eco-tip: Fighting planned obsolescence with extended warranties, right to repair By David Goldstein Special to Ventura County Star Are extended warranties worth the cost? For cars, the question becomes complicated by a wide variety of options, prices and incentives. For other items, such as appliances and cell phones, the choices are simpler. Some people need…
Eco-tip: Recycling promoters target kids — how insidious! By David Goldstein Special to Ventura County Star “You’re insidious!” my neighbor, Jim Polisini, said with a laugh. Insidiousness got a bad reputation after the Star Wars franchise named The Emperor Darth Sidious in the original trilogy. But even before then, I had never heard environmental outreach…
Water and Sanitation – Heroes At Work in the Mud Can you be called a hero if you just do your job? Workers who respond to main line water breaks are heroic because water shoots out of these pipes at up to 10,000 gallons per minute, threatening anyone or anything nearby with submersion or ground…
Eco-tip: Sunflowers at Museum of Ventura County bring message of beauty from compost David Goldstein Special to Ventura County Star Local artist Paul Lindhard usually works with stone and produces installations on a monumental scale, but his latest vision, coming into formation during the next few weeks at the Museum of Ventura County, involves the…
Eco-tip: Students can dig into Public Works Week with tons of online material by David Goldstein, PWA – IWMD Special to Ventura County Star This week is Public Works Week, and the American Public Works Association’s 2021 theme, “Stronger Together,” fits well with the way local educators are working. Despite the pandemic, they are collaborating…