Every Day is Earth Day: 50 Easy Ways to Help the Planet

Listen To This Story

Every Day is Earth Day: 50 Easy Ways to Help the Planet (Maria)

The author writes, “Every day is Earth Day. Small actions, taken consistently, create real change. Here are 50 ways to make a difference [before and after April 22]. Share your act of green to inspire your community.”

Navy Secretary Leaving the Pentagon, ‘Effective Immediately’ (Sean)

From Defense One: “Navy Secretary John Phelan, the service’s top civilian leader, is leaving his role, the Pentagon announced Wednesday. His departure was announced as the Navy takes part in an unprecedented blockade of Iranian ports, and the day after Phelan spoke at the nation’s largest naval-themed conference. ‘Secretary of the Navy John C. Phelan is departing the administration, effective immediately,’ Sean Parnell, the chief Pentagon spokesman, said in a post on X. … Undersecretary Hung Cao, a former Navy diver and prior Republican congressional candidate, will serve as the acting Navy Secretary, Parnell said. Phelan, a businessman with no prior naval experience, was in the role for just over a year.”

Southern Poverty Law Center Indicted on Charges That It Fraudulently Paid Informants in Extremist Groups (Reader Jim)

From NBC News: “Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Tuesday announced an indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center, alleging the civil rights organization has engaged in financial crimes. Blanche said at a news conference that the Justice Department’s investigation found the organization had been ‘manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred,’ and then hiding those payments. The 11-count indictment from a federal grand jury consists of six counts of wire fraud, four counts of false statements to a federally insured bank and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.”

You Paid to Have Old Clothes Recycled. Here’s What That Really Means (Russ)

The author writes, “It’s springtime and a lot of us are refreshing our wardrobes, retiring old clothes and picking up new ones for the warmer weather. But can we get rid of the used stuff responsibly? While it’s possible, it’s not as easy as a growing number of companies would have you believe. Just drop the used clothes into a collection bin or a prepaid mailer, they say, and they’ll recycle your textiles, keeping them out of landfills. It’s an admirable goal, but those companies talk more about collecting clothes than about where they end up. Often, that’s because they have little or no idea. And that raises major concerns. Chief among them: When a company doesn’t track the full journey of a garment, it has no way to know where the item really ends up.”

Some American Farmers Bet on Solar. Then Trump Changed the Rules (Reader Steve)

The authors write, “Over the past few years, Kentucky sheep farmer Daniel Bell has been expanding his flock, and that meant he needed to build a new barn. His land is far from the power lines he would need to heat it, so he figured rooftop solar would be ideal. To help pay for it, he wanted to apply for a renewable-energy grant through the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America Program, or REAP — only to find that the Trump administration had effectively halted grants through the program. Bell said that made it impossible to proceed with the idea on his land. ‘For me, it’s just been about freedom. Freedom to lower bills, freedom to control my own assets,’ he said.”

The Short and Ridiculous Trial of a Protester Arrested in an Inflatable Penis Costume (DonkeyHotey)

From The Intercept: “The trial of Renea Gamble had been underway for almost two hours when Marcus McDowell, the city attorney of Fairhope, Alabama, called a surprise witness. ‘I call the gentleman in the red shirt,’ he said, pointing toward a long-haired man in the second row. It took a moment to realize that he was referring to Gamble’s husband, 63-year-old Larry Fletcher. Gamble’s defense attorney objected. He’d received no advance notice. But Fletcher shrugged and made his way forward. Fletcher was with his wife when she was arrested at a No Kings protest in October 2025. She was wearing a 7-foot-tall inflatable penis costume and holding a sign that read “No Dick Tator.” Video of the incident went viral, turning Gamble into a minor celebrity and local free speech icon. Most people assumed the city would eventually drop the misdemeanor charges filed against her. Instead, McDowell added more.”

Who Killed the Florida Orange? (Dana)

From Slate: “Quiet fell over the room, which was neither full nor very loud to begin with, and the 2026 Florida Citrus Show began. … There was no need to say that things were bad. Everyone knew it. The mood wasn’t sour — citrus farmers could handle sour. It was something else. Postapocalyptic. Florida is in the midst of its worst drought in 25 years, but the dry spell actually ranked far down on the list of challenges these bedraggled growers were facing. In 2003, the mighty Florida orange industry produced 242 million boxes of fruit, with 90 pounds of oranges per box, most of which went on to become orange juice. Now, not even 25 years later, the United States Department of Agriculture was forecasting a pitiful 12 million boxes of oranges, the least in more than 100 years, the worst year since last. A decline of more than 95 percent.”