Artist as Public Servant

by Terry O'Day, Forest Grove, Oregon

An artist redirects her creative energy toward new community-building projects.

Fluid Values: Battles Over Water Rights

by Matt Jenkins

When our understanding of a river's "purposes" shifts, what happens to those left high and dry?

Reclaiming a Toxic Legacy Through Art and Science

by Erik Reece

It takes more than science to reclaim a toxic coal field and a sense of pride in an Appalachian town.

Don Berto’s Garden

by David G. Campbell
Illustrations by Molly Bang

The plants of the ancient Maya whisper their secrets to those who speak a shared language.

Self-Portrait as Revealed by Trash

For 365 days, every time Tim Gaudreau threw something away, he photographed it.

The Rabies Principle

by Sandra Steingraber

Why there is no number for the Cancer Prevention Hotline in the front of the phone book.

Lessons from the New World

by Gina Cassidy

The successors of the settlers who starved among America's abundance have yet to learn the true art of survival.

Land, Farmer, Community: A Sacred Trust

Photograph and text by Lisa M. Hamilton

Japanese families join with farmers in a spiritual practice whose goal is nothing short of world peace.

Low-Cost Conservation

by Dave Colavito, Rock Hill, NY

An important initiative toward sustainable development

Condo Picchu

by Robert Michael Pyle

Are those cozy coastal clusters of condos signs of social cohesion or extreme maladaptive behavior?

Everybody’s Doing It

by Michelle Nijhuis

Motivations to save the planet differ; apparently, even your credit card has something to say about it. A short piece about human nature and incentive.

Ricekeepers

by Winona LaDuke

Poling their canoes through the murky waters of patent claims and genetic contamination, the Ojibwe strive to protect the Creator's gift from corporate agriculture.

Energy Co-op, Sabbath Sustainability, Localvores in Vermont…

by Lynn Benander, Jenny Holmes, Janisse Ray

Motivated by peak oil and climate change, as well as good common sense, Orion readers envision a better future and move toward it. Read their stories in Orion's newest department, Making Other Arrangements.

Burgers à la Thomas Jefferson

An interview with Tod Murphy

A Vermont diner embodies one farmer's faith in the nexus of food, democracy, and community.

Being on the Land

Photographs and text by Robert Semeniuk

By going out on the land, the Inuit enact archetypal connections that are more universal than they appear.

Housing, Sailing Vessels, Survival…

by Betsy Hands, Dmitry Orlov, and Hank Lentfer

Orion readers envision the future motivated by peak oil and climate change, as well as good common sense.

Making Other Arrangements

by James Howard Kunstler
photographs by David Maisel

James Howard Kunstler's plea: Get over the car and get real about living in an oil-scarce future. Read the article, then tell us (and everybody else) about your own "other arrangements" for a more sustainable life.

Limestone Cowboy

an interview with Robert Hughes

Spotlight: Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation

The Limits of Ethical Capitalism

by Jeff Goodell

Doing good by doing well isn't necessarily enough.

A Rare Bird

photographs and text by Jason Houston

An innovative strategy marries a U.S. conservation group with activist in a Nicaraguan rain forest.

The Leadership Imperative

An interview with Oren Lyons, by Barry Lopez

The roots of democracy extend further back than is commonly acknowledged, to a time when leadership, spirituality, and ecology were deeply intertwined.

When Green Is Brown

Kevin Anderson interviewed by Erik Hoffner

Interview with Kevin Anderson, Director of the Center for Environmental Research at Hornsby Bend

Whither Wind

by Charles Komanoff

An environmental Don Quixote goes, painfully, from tilting at windmills to believing in them.

Prairie Dreaming

by Hal Herring

To remake a prairie you need time, money, and a historic collision of events.

Winged Mercury and the Golden Calf

by Rebecca Solnit

The mythology of gold didn't end with the ancient Greeks, and the popular version of this element's story in America leaves out a glittering nemesis.