Includes "Cover", "Table of Contents", and "Letter from the Editor".

The EPA has declared that indoor air can actually be more toxic than outdoor air–but one Des Moines company is trying to change that. Naked Binder, which celebrated its second anniversary in November 2010, specializes in binders, folders, and labels made from 100 percent post-consumer waste (mainly newspapers and magazines), which are more environmentally friendly both to produce and to have in homes and offices. “Vinyl is really toxic. It’s off-gassing–that ‘new binder smell,” says Savannah Herr, who calls herself the Director of Awesome on the Naked Binder team.

Remember that horrible feeling you got in the pit of your stomach when you first saw that Facebook friend request from your mom? How about when your dad, who had previously criticized you for your incessant, “senseless” text messaging, started texting you about his bowel movements? All of a sudden, two worlds are beginning to merge: your family life and your social life. And as hard as you try to resist the inexplicable force pulling these worlds together, in the end you’ll probably be fruitless. Mom’s request might remain untouched in the corner of your Facebook page for a while, but eventually somehow she’ll guilt you into accepting (she did, after all, bring you into this world).

A question-and-answer column with Jordan Tuerler, a stand-up comedian, writer and sketch artist.

Imagine taking a mud hut and glamorizing it—transforming what used to be a simple, one-room dwelling into a multi-story home with modern appliances and decorations. That’s what companies such as Earth Block, Inc. and Midwest Earth Builders aim to do. In keeping with the sustainability trend that is spreading across the United States, these companies build houses, barns, storage buildings and other structures out of Compressed Earth Blocks (CEBs). The blocks are composed of the clay and sand in the surrounding area where the structure is being built, according to Midwest Earth Builders’ website