Image credit: Pablo Päster

Dear Pablo: What is the environmental impact of importing tropical fruit? Should I eat only what is grown in the US?

In our globalized world, products travel halfway around the world all the time. Water is shipped from Fiji and Italy, wine comes from Australia and Chile, shoes and electronics come from China, and beer is imported from just about anywhere that produces it. Unless we take the extreme stance that nothing should be transported (in which case we can go back to subsistence farming, making our own clothes, and walking everywhere), we should instead focus on minimizing the negative impacts of our contribution to the global economy.

Global trade is also filled with interesting paradoxes that are worth examining. Here we take a closer look at a commodity shipped all over the globe — tropical fruits. … Read the full story on TreeHugger

Image credit: Anatoli Axelrod, used under Creative Commons license.

Dear Pablo: Is it true that a hacked Hummer H3 could achieve 60 miles per gallon?

There are plenty of claims out there from people promising amazing fuel economy. Some of these claims are based on technology, while others are based on behavioral changes like “hypermiling“. Let’s take a look at where this particular claim comes from and then figure out if it is even theoretically possible without attaching a sail to the roof or installing pedals…. Read the full story on TreeHugger