Americans are as addicted to caffeine as ever, reports CNN today. Does this have anything to do with recent industry efforts to label coffee a “health food”? After all, it’s the number one source of antioxidants for most Americans—a sad statement, akin to the fact that potatoes are still by far the number one “vegetable” we consume! Or maybe because recent studies have given the thumbs up to caffeine’s brain benefits? more

The International Civil Aviation Organization has developed yet another tool for calculating your carbon footprint. The ICAO Carbon Emissions Calculator allows you to estimate how much carbon is spewed into the air thanks to your air travel. For instance, my family and I are traveling to Milwaukee, Wisconsin this weekend for a friend’s wedding. Four passengers flying from Denver to Milwaukee in economy will generate about 655.15 kg (or 407 miles). (I admit I feel guilty.) Nothing works as well as reducing travel or energy usage altogether, but at least I’ll be able to easily offset my travel using Live Neutral, TerraPass, or Carbon Fund.

I’m in the process of moving, and before I threw out my stores of unused (yet expired) medications, I figured that maybe pitching a bunch of powerful drugs into my neighborhood trash bin to get hauled off to my city’s municipal dump may not be the best way to go. So I went online and checked out the FDA’s recommended guidelines for proper, safe disposal of prescription drugs. Although most prescription drugs are safe to toss in household trash, there are some precautions you should take beforehand. more

As the locavore movement and talk of national food security heats up, urban agriculture is gaining more ground, literally. Today, Slow Food Nation announced the planting of its Victory Garden near San Francisco’s City Hall. more