Mother Nature Network

Dear friend of Mother Nature, Here's an amazing story: More than 30,000 folks in Japan are growing sunflowers to revive the radioactive soil around the Fukushima nuclear plant. Now that's flower-power! :) Other stories we're tracking this week: This astonished us, but the military is spending $20 billion annually to air-condition troops in Iraq and Afghanistan (that's more than the total budget of NASA, to cite one comparison). What city's residents buy the most cars made in America? (Hint: Most of them get a friends and family discount.) As 4th of July travel looms, a new report says our National Parks are underfunded, overused, and need a course correction. If you loved "Marley and Me," check out the 1830s farmhouse where the movie was filmed (yours for only $1.25 million :) Most folks think of slow cookers only for winter stews but here are 10 slow cooker recipes for the summer (great way to keep a cooler kitchen). Well, it wasn't marked on our calendar :) but July 3 is "declare your independence from plastic bags" day and we have tips on plastic-free living. Looking to lose weight? Harvard researchers discover that tiny changes make a big difference in pounds. With summer officially upon us, our No-AC Challenge is heating up. Up for trying a bit less air-conditioning this summer? Join us! Looking forward to your visit, The team at MNN Follow us at Twitter | Like us at Facebook