The past several decades have seen a growing interest among various social justice organizations into investigating the various origins or manufacturing processes used to create various products and their effects on the people who make these products. One such luxury item that has come under close scrutiny is the diamond. In May 2000, Southern African diamond producing states met in Kimberly,...

Anyone who has been on a roof on a hot day can attest to the difficulty of performing basic maintenance on that particular part of a building. Fortunately, this time-consuming process can be made simpler with this handy online guide to rehabbing a roof. Created by the PATH Group, this 99-page document covers major roofing systems, “…as well as protective strategies, energy and air filtration...

The Textile Museum in Washington, D.C. and its website offer a great look into an oft-ignored medium. Historic textiles, functional textiles, and art textiles can all be found on this museum's website, thanks to the collecting savvy of George Hewitt Myers, who founded the museum in 1925. Visitors will enjoy learning about the Textile of the Month when they go to the "Collections" link, found...

Summer certainly isn't a bad time to start a new home (or apartment) improvement project, whether it be a gut rehab or just fixing a wobbly toilet seat. Fortunately, the This Old House television program website is a good place to look for a wide range of information about just such endeavors. While the site certainly has a number of advertisements on it, there is still a good deal of very...

This Old House was arguably one of the first "reality shows," as it profiled celebrated craftsman Bob Vila's renovations of numerous old homes from Seattle to Sarasota. Today, the show has a cast of hosts, and this website brings together the latest episodes for viewing by DIY-lovers and those who just like to watch people passionate about home restoration. Currently there are over 50 episodes on...

Working as part of a joint venture, Carnegie Mellon University and the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety have created the Traffic Statistics on Travel Safety (TrafficSTATS) website and online database. As their homepage notes, the website "provides users with an interactive tool to query information about multiple dimensions of traffic-safety risks." Using information from the Fatality Analysis...

Admittedly, Dilbert and his fellow engineers haven't boosted the image of the engineering profession, but the website "TryEngineering" succeeds at making engineering seem a little cooler. Visitors will note that the site is sponsored by IBM, IEEE, and TryScience, and it provides information for parents, students, teachers and counselors. The "Lesson Plans" link "provides tips on how lessons can...

This important site contains a report which summarizes Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) geotechnical research and development activities over the past 25 years. The report's author is Al DiMillio, and it is divided into seven chapters, some concluding remarks, and four appendices. The chapters cover material related to road construction and detailed maintenance and strengthening projects....

Building "green" buildings is more than just a guideline for the U.S. Green Buildings Council; it's their primary goal and passion. With over 7500 member organizations, their number includes representatives from all sectors of the building industry who are dedicated to promoting buildings that are "environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work." While some of their...

The LEED certification is an internationally recognized green building certification which provides third-party verification that "a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most." These metrics include energy savings, C02 emissions reduction, and improved indoor environmental quality. On this site provided by...