It’s easy to forget that things come from places. At a glance, they just look like, well, things. But in fact, they’re full of hidden stories. Here’s one example: If you have a car, or a bicycle, or anything with tires, it’s very likely that a quarter or more of the rubber in those tires used to be sap in a rubber tree somewhere in Southeast Asia. That sap was cooked, transported, combined, processed, made into a tire, wrapped, shipped, sold, shipped, unwrapped, put on a whee

As you may or may not know, I am a writer (among other things). Professionally, I write about many aspects of the world around us. In particular, I write about sustainability, energy use, and the climate, frequently on behalf of large companies that care about managing their risks and complying with laws and regulations. I also write quite a lot about technology, mostly for industry and trade magazines. Just as importantly, I write things that nobody pays me for, almost alway