In researching the carbon impact of concrete, I was surprised to learn that the cement industry releases 3 times as much CO2 as the aviation industry. Do other materials have this kind of impact? Of course, steel production involves high heat, of produced by fossil fuels. Beef has a high greenhouse effect due to methane released by cattle (mostly via belches).  We can't avoid these items totally but can reduce their use while science finds ways to produce them with less impact. I'm not ready to give up beef completely, but we've been trying to have it as an very occasional treat rather than a regular part of our diet.

My husband has had good experiences with lending through Kiva (kiva.org).

More than half of our Honduran scholarship students (some shown here) are girls, and over the years, I've seen with my own eyes how girls with more education delay childbearing, while dropouts often become pregnant. Excuse me talking about Honduras again, but it's my direct line to supporting girls' education.

Something I learned: Bamboo is not a tree, but a type of grass. It grows super fast (some as fast as a couple of feet a day!) and doesn't require much water or care. I bought for the first time, a reuseable personal care item made from bamboo! It helped that it was on sale, but I'm hoping I'll like it and can continue to research and buy more products made from bamboo.

Our communities in Honduras cook exclusively on wood stoves. The U of R Global Health group with substantial

help from our church has supported the reconstruction of many of these stoves to be more efficient, reducing the need for wood, reducing smoke, and venting the smoke outside rather than blackening the lungs of the traditional indoors stoves. (Photo actually shows a larger version of the improved stove that's located in the community building.)

Now I just wish I could stop those annoying weekly automatic mailers that come with all the coupons and advertisements. Does anyone know how to stop them from coming?