A recent study suggests that people often choose green products mainly as a status symbol. People living in “green buildings” improve their image along with the environment.

The Greek and European financial crisis has significantly affected U.S. stores. While two years ago, European tourists descended in droves on their favorite retailers, today, with the exchange rate dropped from $1.60 to $1.33 per euro, they are much pickier.

Groups promoting rights for childless adults are on the rise in the United States, asking for the same benefits that working parents have fought for, including paid leave. The recent Oscar-winning author Elinor Burkett is one of the most prominent voices of the childfree movement.

Beginning next July, California dry cleaners will be forced to ban chemicals solvents, joining many dry cleaners who have already done so. But environmentalists and experts question the real definition of organic dry cleaning.