You've got to be carefully taught

To be a consumer in the US. You must always want more, faster, now. Start teaching the kids early:

The school district that approved McDonald's-sponsored report cards has a hot new partnership with Bus Radio, a friendly company that advertises to kids as they ride to school!

The company serves a sonorous mix of inoffensive music, public service announcements (buckle up, kids!) and a few harmless advertisements (maybe McDonald's?) to over 1 million children in 23 states. Bus Radio is based in Needham, Massachusetts, but lost its contract with the Needham school district after uppity parents objected to the crass commercialization of something as innocent as a bus ride.

There is no escape. You must consume! Or the terrorists have won!

A greenhouse sewage treatment center

Via Phila of Bouphonia's Friday Hope Blogging, look what the people of Weston, MA did:

In 1997, the businesses located in the town center of Weston, MA were required to upgrade their sewage treatment system. The majority of these businesses, including the Omni supermarket and 30 others, chose a solar aquatic system that was later constructed by the Ecological Engineering Group. The natural waste treatment plant had tremendous advantages over other, traditional options. Who could refuse a cheaper, cleaner, odorless, aesthetically pleasing system that could treat all your waste?

[snip]

When switching from the old waste treatment system, considerations included, cost, appearance and odor. The old waste treatment system cost 11 to 15 cents per gallon of waste treated, compared to the natural system, which costs merely 10 cents per gallon. This reduction in cost per gallon seems to be common after switching to natural systems. In Poughkeepsie, for instance, a newer reed bed operation costs 3 to 5 cents per a gallon, whereas the older mechanical systems cost 7 to 15 cents.

Weston’s solar aquatic system cost between $700,000 and $750,000 to build. Ten years after its construction, the treatment center is still in great shape; the pipes are going to be replaced for the first time in the near future.