Hawaii is made up of chain of volcanic islands. The islands are geologically unique, and also home to many unusual birds, as Michael Stein reports.

EcoManor, Laura Turner Seydel’s super efficient house in Atlanta, Georgia, showcases green technologies and design. Turner Seydel tells Living on Earth’s Steve Curwood that others, too, can take steps to save energy, water and, ultimately, money, by making small and big changes to their homes.

It’s summer and that means it’s the season for farmers’ markets. In city parking lots and along back roads, green thumb growers are showing off the fruits of their labors, local produce grown with care and pride. It’s a season New Englanders cherish, especially writer Bill McKibben.

Ten days after the Macondo oil well was capped on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico in July 2010, a pipeline in Michigan cracked open, leading to the biggest pipeline spill since records have been kept. Lisa Song, a reporter for Inside Climate News, tells host Bruce Gellerman that the pipeline carried Canadian tar sands crude and that has seriously hampered the cleanup.

Research shows that adults who are strong environmental stewards were allowed to explore nature unfettered as kids. Host Bruce Gellerman talks with author David Sobel about environmental education today. Sobel says educators are too focused on rules and making sure that students learn correct scientific terms instead letting kids be kids.

Home weatherization and energy efficiency are supposed to be the “low hanging fruit” in the effort to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But at the ground level in Boston, Massachusetts, insulating homes and installing efficient lighting and appliances wasn’t always so easy. Living on Earth’s Jeff Young reports on how one of the country’s greenest cities is working to overcome language barriers, layers of bureaucracy and other complications that get in the way of efficiency efforts.

London is getting ready to host the summer Olympics. City officials want Londoners to find alternative work spaces to reduce traffic in the congested city. Linda Chandler is co-author of the White Paper, which outlines the “Anywhere Working City” concept. She tells host Bruce Gellerman this new workplace strategy will continue after the Olympics are over.