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Aaron Brough and James E.B. Wilkie led a study that examines why men are less likely than women to engage in so-called green behaviors. Brough, Wilkie hypothesize that men are more likely to avoid green behavior "in order to safeguard their gender identity." They designed seven experiments to gauge whether male behaviors can be changed. Women's greater concerns about the environment — an effect that has been documented across age groups and countries — may be because women have been associated with more concern with the future and health. more »

Ferida Wolff writes: Three years ago I noticed a couple of geese outside of a shopping center. I wondered if they were lost. They seemed to be scouting around looking for something, which I thought might be the rest of their flock. After a few days they had settled onto a garden display and it looked as if they were making a nest. The landscapers delayed planting until the geese left. more »

Julia Sneden wrote: There was one neighbor of ours who was a lawn fanatic. I think she manicured the edges of her lawn with nail scissors. When she called me on October 20th to suggest that she knew a nice man who would rake our leaves (in this part of the world, the leaves begin to fall about Oct. 15th), I told her that we usually let them all fall before taking on the project. “Yes, but they're blowing over onto my lawn!” she snapped. For some reason, we didn't live in that house very long. more »

Is it a myth that plants respond to human/plant interaction? Years ago my friend and I heard that talking to plants help them grow so we each prepared pots with the same soil and the same plants. We watered them equally. Then we talked to one plant but not to the other. After a month we noticed that the plants we spoke to flourished while the other plants were not as vibrant. Science now shows that plants interact with each other. We seem to be part of a universal communication system even if we don’t all speak the same language. more »