Alexis Petru

Journalist & Communications Consultant

San Francisco, California

Freelance writer and communications consultant specializing in sustainability and environmental issues

Alexis Petru

Journalist & Communications Consultant

San Francisco, California

Freelance writer and communications consultant specializing in sustainability and environmental issues

Meet the Zero Waste Family
The average American throws out about 1,000 pounds of garbage every year, according to the U.S. The Johnson family in California has created only one handful of trash in six months. This family of four aims to reach zero ...
Earth911.com
Green Building Questions To Ask Your Contractor
Planning a home improvement project this spring? Whether you’re simply painting a room or undertaking an entire kitchen remodel, here are 10 questions to ask your contractor to make sure your project is good for the planet, your family’s health and your budget. For more tips on greening your home remodeling projects, visit nonprofit Build It Green’s website.
The Huffington Post
World Vasectomy Day Pushes Men's Role in Family Planning
Last year, 100 physicians in 26 countries performed nearly 100 vasectomies on Oct. 18. The occasion? The first-ever World Vasectomy Day, an idea dreamed up by documentary filmmaker Jonathan Stack and urologist Doug Stein to bring more attention to – and to dispel myths around – this permanent form of birth control.
Triple Pundit
A Greener Way to Dry Clean
You’ve seen the signs at the local dry cleaners boasting “earth-friendly” or “organic” dry cleaning. But just like the questionable food labels “all natural” and “fat free” at the grocery store, those signs that make grand, green claims can often be misleading.
Patch.com
Edible Garden Tips For The Beginning Gardener
There’s nothing quite as rewarding as stepping into your garden to snip a few fresh herbs or harvest homegrown vegetables to add to that evening’s dinner. That connection to your food – and commitment to sustainability – is a feeling Patricia Larenas enjoys as she tends to her own edible garden at her suburban home in the heart of Silicon Valley, Calif. The former techie is now an aspiring edible landscaping consultant and sustainable gardening writer/blogger with Urban Artichoke and Eat Drink Better.
The Huffington Post
The Buzz About Beekeeping
“Honeybees are a lot gentler than people give them credit for,” Rick Baxter said. “Most people get stung by wasps, but they blame it on bees.” He should know: Baxter is a full-time beekeeper – or apiarist, if you want to get fancy – as well as the president of the Beekeepers Guild of San Mateo County, a club for local hobbyist beekeepers to share tips and resources and educate newbies.
Patch.com
Can Companies Restore Consumer Confidence After a Data Breach?
The fallout from the retail giant’s data breach was dramatic: As of February, Target had spent $61 million to pay for legal fees, software updates, customer reimbursement and credit monitoring, and other costs due to the failure in cyber security, the Washington Post reported. The company has also been hit with more than 140 lawsuits, according to the St.
Triple Pundit
The Business Case for Seafood Traceability
The environmental benefits of seafood traceability are obvious: By tracking a fish through the entire supply chain – from capture to plate – you can ensure the fish wasn’t caught using illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing practices. But many companies, like Norpac Fisheries Export, are discovering that traceability is also good for their bottom lines.
Triple Pundit
Guide to Eco-Friendly Wines
Whether you’re a self-professed oenophile or just enjoy an occasional glass of red table wine with dinner, navigating the labels of wines that purport to be eco-friendly can be confusing: “100-percent organic,” “made with organic ingredients,” “natural” or “vegan-friendly.”. But before you give up on finding a greener glass of wine, check out Earth911’s guide to wines that aim to please your palate and seek to reduce their impact on the planet.
The Huffington Post
Philadelphia More Than Doubles Recycling Rate
Just in time for last week’s America Recycles Day, the city of Philadelphia announced an impressive achievement in waste reduction: The City of Brotherly Love has increased the amount of materials it recycles by 155 percent over the past six years. The city collected a record amount of recyclables – 128,000 tons – through its residential curbside recycling program, as well as from city buildings and public spaces during the latest fiscal year, according to the city’s recycling office and mayor’s office of sustainability.
Triple Pundit
Former BP CEO Makes the Business Case for LGBT Equality
A few years before Tony Hayward resigned as head of BP after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the previous BP CEO, John Browne, was forced to bow out from the company over a much different scandal: He was outed as gay by a British tabloid. Now the former executive has written a book about his experience, “The Glass Closet: Why Coming Out Is Good Business,” and is advocating for the rights of gays and lesbians in the workplace.
Triple Pundit
Stress and Anxiety: The Lesser-Known Effects of Climate Change
We now know all too well the effects that climate change will have on the environment and society: from making weather events more severe to damaging infrastructure, displacing populations and threatening our food and water supply. Rather than being simply another “doom-and-gloom” study intended to scare unconvinced Americans into acknowledging that climate change is real, the report’s authors hope their findings can help people better understand the phenomenon of climate change, as well as motivate them to take action.
Triple Pundit

About

Alexis Petru

WordPress

AP Style

Environmental Outreach

Local Government PR

Sustainability

Editing

Writing

I've always had two passions - writing and sustainability.

Prior to working as a freelance writer, I was a staff reporter for the environmental website Earth911 and wrote a regular column on local environmental issues for 11 Patch.com news websites in the San Francisco Peninsula area. My work has also appeared at Huffington Post, TriplePundit, Parent.Co, Scary Mommy and Offbeat Families.

Before I was an environmental reporter and communications consultant, I coordinated environmental programs and conducted outreach campaigns for various Bay Area cities and counties for seven years. I have a degree in cultural anthropology from UC Berkeley.

While sustainability is my area of expertise, I am equally comfortable writing about other topics: Throughout my career, I have learned to explain complicated environmental problems in simple, easy-to-digest language – a skill that I harness when approaching non-environmental issues.