EcoPlum Green Living Blog
Pay Up, Millennials
by Samantha Jakuboski, September 07 2016, 0 Comments
Ask a handful of college students and recent graduates to name their biggest financial concerns, and I can guarantee you ‘student debt’ will be a top answer. After all, over 70% of undergraduate students take out loans for school, total...
The Ocean Cleanup
by Samantha Jakuboski, July 20 2016, 3 Comments
As a city girl, I am, sadly, used to seeing plastic bags hanging from tree branches, gum and cigarette butts stamped into the sidewalk, and crushed soda bottles stuck between the grates of the gutters. Yet, I must remind myself...
Fashion and Globalization: The Girls All Look the Same
by Michelle Blanco, July 07 2016, 2 Comments
As a teenager, I spent the summers in Spain. I remember being just as excited to eat paella and see distant cousins as I was to discover the latest trends. In 1998, blogs didn’t exist and the fashion industry still...
Millennials & Sustainability: Slow Food, Fast Fashion
by Michelle Blanco, May 20 2016, 99 Comments
It’s no secret that the latest trend is saving the earth. From the proliferation of organic food available everywhere to Beyoncé’s 2015 decision to go vegan, more and more people are jumping on the pesticide-free bandwagon. Whether by educated efforts...
The Last Five—Who's Ready to Combat Climate Change?
by Samantha Jakuboski, April 13 2016, 1 Comment
What do the 5 remaining presidential candidates have to say, and do, about climate change.
Milk a Cow, Travel the World
by Samantha Jakuboski, February 17 2016, 4 Comments
Ask anybody to name his or her top bucket list goals, and I can assure you that “to travel the world” is one of them. After all, everybody wants to be a part of New York, New York, spend an...
Top Five Environmental Achievements of 2015
by Samantha Jakuboski, January 06 2016, 1 Comment
Although we are already a week into the New Year, it is worthwhile to look back at some notable environmental achievements of 2015. 1) June 18: The Tree-Hugging Pope This past summer, Pope Francis addressed climate change in his encyclical,...
Battle of the Sexes: Are Gender Stereotypes Hindering Greening Efforts?
by Samantha Jakuboski, November 11 2015, 0 Comments
As unfortunate as it may be, stereotypes are very much a part of our society. By categorizing people based on their culture, race, gender, religion, occupation, school, age, body type, neighborhood, clothing, and even hairstyle, humans frequently make judgments about...
Das Auto Collides Head-On with the EPA
by Samantha Jakuboski, October 07 2015, 1 Comment
After eight years of cheating on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fuel emission tests, Volkswagen’s dishonesty spell has come to a screeching halt. Yes, in an attempt to attract a greater consumer base in America and increase sales (what an unusual...
What's In Your Air? A Smartphone App Has the Answer!
by Samantha Jakuboski, September 09 2015, 0 Comments
Thanks to smartphone apps, tracking the trains and buses, hailing a taxi, tuning a piano, managing stock portfolios, viewing patients’ X-rays and ultrasounds on the go, and lip-syncing one-liners from the Real Housewives have never been easier. Today, it seems...
Students Think Outside the Dumpster
by Samantha Jakuboski, August 05 2015, 2 Comments
One man’s trash is…. well, you know how it goes! And, for a group of students at the University of New Hampshire (UNH), this maxim is the cornerstone of their campus program, Trash 2 Treasure (T2T), and the national non-profit...
The Millennial's Pope Acknowledges Climate Change
by Samantha Jakuboski, July 01 2015, 0 Comments
Although he has been in office less than three years, Pope Francis has already earned the reputation as being the “People’s Pope.” His compassionate and down-to-earth nature is evident when he drives through crowds in an open vehicle absent of...
The Millennial Generation’s Hunger for Organic Food
by Samantha Jakuboski, May 20 2015, 0 Comments
Every Sunday for the past nine months while away at college, I would cross Broadway and walk to the farmers’ market set up in front of Columbia University’s main gates, where the smell of fresh lavender and baked bread filled...
Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement
by Samantha Jakuboski, March 25 2015, 2 Comments
Looking back to the late 1900s, college campuses always seemed to be at the forefront of social justice and activism. From the anti-Vietnam War protests in the 1960s to the pro-democracy Tiananmen Square Protest-turned-Massacre in China in 1989, students and...
Climate Change and the Millennial Generation
by Samantha Jakuboski, February 26 2015, 0 Comments
Growing up in the 21st century is a whole lot different than growing up in the 1960-70s—my parents' generation. For one thing, thanks to Netflix and Hulu, there is no need to race back home after school to tune into...