In many cities, childhood unfolds amid concrete, traffic, and persistent dirt and noise, conditions that shape the emotional and physical well-being of young people growing up in dense, underprivileged urban environments.

Anna Heringer, architect, author, teacher, and winner of multiple awards, has discovered a secret to beautiful and sustainable building: Form follows love.

Mick McEvoy, manager of the Upper Hamlet Happy Farm in Plum Village in France, is telling The Earth & I about the connection between mindfulness and farming when he uses this somewhat enigmatic expression. It was coined by the Buddhist monk who helped establish Plum Village, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.

Children don’t protect what they don’t love. Environmental education at its best cultivates a felt connection to living systems—wonder at a bee’s flight, delight in a sprouting seed, awe under a night sky. And those feelings can be further solidified by developing a spiritual connection in which to root them.

A team of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) engineers has unveiled a deceptively simple process that extracts hydrogen—one of the cleanest fuels on earth—by mixing seawater, coffee grounds, and scrap aluminum.