Find me at CarrieMadren.com

Hi, You can find more recent articles at my new website: www.carriemadren.com

Spotlight profile (Washingtonian magazine)

Spotlight: Patterson Clark
Washingtonian

Patterson Clark finds creative uses for unwanted plants... MORE

A Wild, Weedy Scourge (Scientific American)

A Wild, Weedy Scourge
Scientific American

As a single plant, cogongrass is unassuming, bucolic even. But in dense stands, it is a powerful vegetative force that alters forests and forges monocultures... MORE

Planting for the Future (Interpreter magazine)

Planting for the Future: Fighting global hunger with solutions that last
Interpreter magazine

Outshining the Stars (E Magazine)

Outshining the Stars
E Magazine

Like climate change, light pollution is an eco-problem that’s tough to pinpoint and even tougher to control...MORE

Teaching Sustainability Has Benefits for Big Business (Miller-McCune.com)

Teaching Sustainability Has Benefits for Big Business
Miller-McCune.com

Bill Thomas used to be a climate change skeptic, not believing that humans could have influenced the dramatic atmospheric shift, but two weeks in the woods — and chats with scientists — changed his mind... MORE

Bringing words to Life: The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project (GW Magazine)

Bringing words to Life: The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project
GW Magazine

Over half a century ago, Eleanor Roosevelt publicly defended her strong stances on issues of the times: human rights, women's rights, and racial justice.

"If you look at the issues that she confronted in the last years of her life, they're the same issues we're dealing with today," says Allida Black, Ph.D. '93, GW research professor of history and international affairs and director of the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project. "She's the godmother of the modern human rights movement."

Yet the former first lady is largely an unsung heroine ... MORE

Alien Invasion (American Forests)

Alien Invasion
American Forests magazine

The mile-a-minute weed’s delicate, triangular leaves look bucolic
enough, but I’m snatching handfuls of it off scraggly bushes that
cower beneath...MORE

Bankers learn climate science (Washington Post)

Bankers learn climate science
Washington Post's Capital Business section

At the woods' edge, small groups of HSBC technology managers, armed with clipboards and measuring tapes, meticulously determine the circumference of specially tagged trees down to a tenth of an inch. They're wearing bright orange vests because it's deer-hunting season, and though field science isn't in their job descriptions, their employer, HSBC bank, wants them to understand climate change... MORE

Studio 4:40 on the Web (UMNS)

Webcast helps pastor build online church
United Methodist News Service

Slow the Flow (E Magazine)

Slow the Flow
Small Fixes in the Bathroom Can Save Water, Money and Resources
E Magazine

Treasure in Your Trash (Fresh Cup magazine)

Treasure in Your Trash
Fresh Cup magazine

Array of programs push composting and its business benefits to new heights...

Pick Up America (The Ecologist)

Pick Up America: a cross-country road trip to wipe out waste
The Ecologist

Five committed twentysomethings are making a 2,000-mile trek across the US, picking up litter and educating young people and communities about zero waste...more

Plug-In Electric Vehicles Gain Traction (Bay Journal)

Plug-In Electric Vehicles Gain Traction
Bay Journal News Service

Beekeeping business (Capital Business)

Educating Customers Sweetens Success for Honeymaker
Capital Business (Washington Post)


For Andrea Langworthy, the business of making honey involves more than tending to some 3.3 million honeybees over the summer -- about 60,000 bees in each of 50 60 organically maintained hives kept on farms in three counties... more

Grandview Trail in Backpacker magazine

Grandview Loop Trail
Backpacker magazine

Take this steep path to a rare, 11.9-mile inner-canyon loop hike, sublime views from Horseshoe Mesa, and a peek into the Canyon’s mining past...more

Creating a patchwork of mission moments (UMConnection)

Creating a patchwork of mission moments
published in UMConnection

I arrived with a heart to serve and work hard, looking forward to accomplishing big things on my mission trip to the Dominican Republic. As is usually the case, the trip that God planned turned out differently than the one I had expected... (more)

Oxygen in Oceans (The Ecologist.com)

Suffocating seas: how climate change is reducing ocean oxygen levels
TheEcologist.com

Climate change’s stealthy advance alters our oceans in two well-known ways: acidification and sea level rise. But our planet’s subtle warming has had another, under-the-radar effect: oxygen depletion...[more] **Email me for the full text as a PDF**

Buy Local, Buy Gourmet (Maryland Life Magazine)

The Banner Bee Company
Maryland Life magazine

Andrea and Chet Langworthy use only organic beekeeping practices to keep some 50 hives buzzing on organic farms...[more]

The Cosmic Bean
Maryland Life magazine

The Cosmic Bean’s owner, Rob Haroth, loved coffee so much that he bought his own one-pound roaster so he could have the freshest joe available...[more]

Eco-Travel in E Magazine

From Here to There
Creative Eco-Travel Options that Won’t Break the Bank

Travel offers the opportunity to see and experience amazing corners of the world. But the exorbitant cost of many eco-adventures can put them out of reach. Vacations within the U.S. alone can cost anywhere from $500 (drivable weekend trip) to more than $1,500. But with a little creativity, there are plenty of ways to experience nature’s wonders within your means... more

Second-Life Sandals in E Magazine

Second-Life Sandals
Summer’s Must-Have Eco-Sandals, Recycled Content Included

Summer means bare feet, or if you must wear shoes, bare toes. But many of the cheap flip-flops and sandals we slip on and kick off create excess waste in production or in landfills, or use animal products and toxic glues. To keep tootsies cool and eco-friendly, E has found the summer sandals—from strappy wedges to flip-flops—that reuse, reduce and recycle instead... more

UMW News

Maryland Women Journey with Navajo Widows
UMW News

When a group of Navajo Native Americans from New Mexico needed a ride to the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., Maryland United Methodist Women not only gave them a lift, but also joined them on a historic journey in search of justice... [more]

Cheers! Here’s to Green Drinks and Other Eco-Friendly Groups that Can Boost Your Business

Cheers! Here’s to Green Drinks and Other Eco-Friendly Groups that Can Boost Your Business
Self-Employed Magazine

Micro-businesses prosper in communities where they’re known and recommended by word of mouth. In contrast to Chamber of Commerce gatherings or city business networking hours, being a member of a community with a common interest—such as environmental sustainability—can set your micro-business apart from the competition... more

Mt. Zion creates ‘church with jeans on’

Mt. Zion creates ‘church with jeans on’
UMConnection

On a recent Sunday afternoon, Jason Chaillou is alone in the Tent, prepping for the evening’s Firewall young adult service at Mt. Zion UMC in Bel Air. He’s sipping Jolt because of the weekend’s two big worship events in the Tent plus an all-night paper-writing session, but he’s glad to see a couple volunteers trickle in for setup and he’s eager to welcome a newcomer...

Area man serves poorest of poor

Area man serves poorest of poor
Westminster layman answers God's call
UMConnection


“What are you going to do about it?” That wasn’t the pilot speaking through Steve Hull’s airplane earphones — it was God...

Launching a Ready-Made Green Business

Follow the Green Model
Launching a Ready-Made Green Business
E Magazine

Becoming a green entrepreneur doesn’t necessarily mean you have to build a business from scratch. Environmental companies across the country offer opportunities—from direct-selling gigs to owning franchises—that can help you grow a new enterprise quickly...

Emerge from Hibernation

Emerge From Hibernation
Bay Journal News Service

Raise a Glass to Green

Raise a Glass to Green
Maryland Life magazine

In nearly a dozen Maryland bars and pubs from Easton to Hagerstown—as well as some 600 locations worldwide—stewardship-minded folks are weaving strong local networks through Green Drinks...

Risky Business

Risky Business
Self-Employed magazine

Micro-business owners inevitably assume risks in their pursuit of rewards. To slash the odds of a setback—or worse, a crisis—it’s wise to prevent accidents before they happen.

The Rooster Wrangling Pastor

Pastor Blooms Where Planted
UMConnection
Raising chickens wasn't on the horizon in 2005 when the Rev. Byron E. Brought learned of his new assignment as senior pastor at Friendship UMC in southern Anne Arundel County. But the pastor embraced his new rural lifestyle - wrangling roosters, feeding hens, gathering eggs, tilling farmland, growing heirloom pumpkins - and now finds the slower, friendlier pace of life suits him...

ROCK the House

ROCK Casts God's Light on Youth
UMConnection

Mother Nature Network: Froglogs Save Amphibians

Froglog helps critters escape the pool
Concern over chlorine poisoning moves wildlife biologist to create contraption
Mother Nature Network

Mother Nature Network: Wisen Up to Smart Meters

Wise up your energy usage with smart meters
Mother Nature Network

Solar Tubes Let the Sunshine In

Solar tubes help milk daylight
MNN.com (Mother Nature Network)

Bay Journal: Which Tree is the Greenest of Them All?

Oh, Tannenbaum, Which evergreen is the greenest Christmas tree of all?
Bay Journal News Service

I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas

I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas
Spread glad tidings with sustainable gifts

This is a column I wrote last December, but I think it's relevant this year, too!

UMConnection: Gleaning Wisdom from Strawbridge Country

Gleaning Wisdom from Strawbridge Country
UMConnection

My coverage of DC's Int'l Day of Climate Action

Follow this link to see my blog entry and Flickr photo stream from D.C.'s International Day of Climate Action on 10/24, for Grist.org. http://www.grist.org/article/2009-10-24-climate-action-in-the-shadow-of-the-white-house/

UMConnection: The Stratavarius of Pipe Organs

Leap of faith restores historic pipe organ
UMConnection

Bay Journal: Pumpkins, Food You Can Play With

Pumpkins: Food You Can Play With
Bay Journal News Service

MNN.com: How Do You Like Them Apples?

How do you like them apples?
MNN.com (Mother Nature Network)

Bay Journal: Should Uncle Sam Make Us Green Up?

Should Uncle Sam Make Us Green Up?
Bay Journal News Service

GW Magazine: Branching Out From Deep Roots

Branching Out from Deep Roots
GW Magazine

Church called to help local sex traffic victims

Church called to help local sex-traffic victims
UMConnection
(Scroll down to last story on page 8)

Maryland Life magazine: CSAs, Community Supported Agriculture

CSAs: Community Supported Agriculture
Half the fun is not knowing what you're getting
Maryland Life magazine

Stretching Our Green Wallets Thin

Stretching Our Green Wallets Thin
Bay Journal News Service

Destination of the Week: Annapolis
MNN.com (Mother Nature Network)

St. Matthews Youth Scatter Seeds of Faith
(Scroll to last story on page 8)
UMConnection

Young Adult Seeks Peace as he Works for Justice
(Scroll to last story on page 8)
UMConnection

On the Radio

On June 2, 2009, I was interviewed by Sheila Kast on Maryland Morning, a Baltimore NPR radio show, about a series I wrote on energy efficiency for Maryland Commons. Listen here

Writing Clips

Samples of my work can be read at these sites:

Bay Journal News Service
Fresh Air
Taking Out the Trash

Maryland Commons.com
Making Low-Income Households Energy Efficient
Will Electricity Surcharges Save Customers Money?
For Smart Growth Legislation, Is the Devil in the Details?

UMConnection
Men labor to restore historic cemetery
Church delivers hope in brown paper bags

Bay Weekly
Listening to Her Muse
Putting the Wind to Work