Micro-plastics are already in New York City — As I walked with the realtor past the floor-to-ceiling accordion doors, I fell in love immediately: 400 feet of land, a large tree, three tall walls, and plenty of sunlight. This garden was what sold me. …

Feeling your feelings 101 — Much like body temperature and blood sugar, emotional state is one of those metrics that, if unregulated, wreaks serious havoc on your life. If you grew up without the tools to fully embrace and articulate your emotions, you may be carrying that baggage into adulthood. …

I’m a heckuva lot tougher than I knew. — It was June 2020 in New York City. In the months prior, perched on my balcony in western Queens, I spent sunsets clapping a chorus of thanks to essential workers, and nights awake listening to the blare of siren after siren, wailing deep into the dawn. My partner had lost…

My springtime sensation of loss is linked with birdsong and rain and unfolding tulips. — I am utterly destabilized by the month of April. To be more specific, it starts sometime in mid-March. Exactly the day when the afternoon sun hits just right and finally warms my shoulders. I stare up at a flowering tree in my Queens neighborhood and feel immense gratitude, then I…

and now I owe back to her. — My first poignant memory is outside. I run through the freshly cut grass, still pungent, in the summertime. Fireflies are flickering their magic in my hands. Nature at this moment is a soft friend, a gentle place to land. She offers me her comfort, her distraction, a home outside and…

And an interview with the girl who finds them — In New York City, we’ve been in lockdown since March and I’ve hardly ventured out to the surrounding boroughs, let alone new countries. I miss travel so much. But one thing that has kept me going are photos I’ve received from Tabea Hosmann, a dear travel friend living in Switzerland. …

That depends: Are you cool with leftover pasta jars? — My zero-waste “journey” coincided with a surprising layoff from my job in the middle of a pandemic and recession. What started as a hobby soon became a survival tactic. …

Entirely usable, this fruit is a metaphor for zero-waste living — I did not start my day expecting to be wowed by a coconut. I did not grow up in a place with palm trees waving in the wind, where coconut flavors and rituals laced my days. (Unless we count Almond Joys, which I always passed up at Halloween.) But my…

Saving and repurposing food scraps is simple — So you want to get started with compost? Even if you live in a small or shared space, you can compost easily (and smell-free) while reducing your personal trash output and helping gardens and crops to grow. Composting keeps literal tons of food from rotting in our landfills, preventing climate-harming…