The New Environmentalist Online Magazine Launches

Posted on April 1, 2002

The New Environmentalist is a new online magazine and resource center launched this month. The new magazine aims to unite environmentalism, common sense and savings. The magazine provides simple ways for people to reduce waste and related expenses without compromising overall comfort and safety.

"Science and technology have advanced tremendously in recent years, and the notion that you have to radically overhaul your lifestyle to improve our environment is misleading," said Ray Rasmussen, founder and publisher of The New Environmentalist. "Today, it's so easy to adopt a few of the many behavioral and material solutions that can measurably benefit both your checking account and your backyard. We've captured these innovations and presented them in a way that is entertaining, educational and relevant to just about everybody."

One simple modification, Rasmussen said, is to replace 10 incandescent lights with compact fluorescent bulbs. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, doing so can save a single household approximately $860 in a five-year period. Applying this change to all households nationwide would save approximately $103 billion and reduce airborne-carbon emissions from fossil fuel-burning electric power plants by more than 300 million tons -- about the same amount generated by 225 million autos.

The New Environmentalist website includes simple tips for reducing energy consumption and pollution, calculators for assessing actual energy use, and links to other useful sites, as well as a monthly magazine. The online magazine also covers the latest developments in renewable and alternative energies; government policies; new technologies and product developments; and environmental changes occurring regionally, nationally and globally.

An annual subscription for the magazine is $12, $1 for each monthly issue. In an effort to accelerate environmental improvements, The New Environmentalist will fund the planting of a new tree with every subscription. Each new tree will eventually absorb more than 600 lbs. of air pollution annually. This action is in cooperation with American Forests, a nonprofit organization dedicated to planting trees for environmental restoration.

"Learning more about how to apply common sense, simple technology and good science at the local level -- one person, one family, one community, at a time -- is the right thing to do, whether your motivation is environmental or financial. You'll create even greater abundance in your life and in the lives of your children," said Rasmussen.