By SALLY DENEEN

If you haven't covered recycling for a while, you – and your audience – might be surprised by how things have changed and the variety of new angles to explore.

The number of curbside recycling programs now surpasses 9,000. Yet, a greater percentage of recyclable plastic bottles and aluminum cans are landing in the garbage.

Researchers with EPA's Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation has found that residential development in some metro areas has moved from suburbs and exurbs to infill development within urban areas.

Areas lacking easy access to affordable staple foods can signal larger long-term problems, including environmental ones. Simple interactive maps can play a key role in engaging your community.

Although the US food supply remains among the safest in the world, it also remains a point of vulnerability to terrorist attack.

The Senate passed a five-year Farm Bill Dec. 14, 2007, that softened a provision imposing draconian penalties for publication of information from a federal database for tracking food animals.

Eco-friendly wine isn't just about what's in the bottle. It also IS the bottle — or, increasingly the box — plus the cork (or, increasingly screwtop), and more.

Neither EPA nor the American public know very much about the possible health effects of tens of thousands of chemicals used in commerce and consumer products every day.

As roller-coaster gas prices continue to make the news, your audience will likely be interested in the latest fuel economy stats, released Oct. 15, 2008, by EPA and DOE.

"Net metering" for selling excess wind or solar energy to utilities shows great variability among states.