The Friday 5: Back To Basics Edition

The top stories of the week at EcoSalon.

Remember that thing people used to do with pens and paper? Managing Editor Amy DuFault ponders the joy of the written word.

If getting “back to basics” for you means “the shape you were in before the traditional Christmas bloat-fest,” here are 20 foods to skim that unwanted belly fat right off you.

For ex-prisoners keen to reconnect with the outside world, the California Reentry & Insight Garden Programs in San Quentin show how sustainability can lead the way for rehabilitation.

When water is an increasingly precious global commodity, how can the water-guzzling clothing industry respond? Writer Kestrel Jenkins looks at fashion outlets swimming against the mainstream current.

And if you’re waiting impatiently for spring to have sprung, feast your eyes on these 30 gorgeous photos of farming & agriculture.

Mike Sowden

Mike Sowden is a freelance writer based in the north of England, obsessed with travel, storytelling and terrifyingly strong coffee. He has written for online & offline publications including Mashable, Matador Network and the San Francisco Chronicle, and his work has been linked to by Lonely Planet, World Hum and Lifehacker. If all the world is a stage, he keeps tripping over scenery & getting tangled in the curtain - but he's just fine with that.