Meet the legend, the mannequin, the most kissed of all time. I was the kind of child who, had I known the whole story, would have thought myself fully capable of resuscitating the long dead L’Inconnue de la Seine. The story traces back to the turn of the 20th century, when sociologist Émile Durkheim, and subsequently the French Surrealists, pondered suicide as a fin de siècle phenomenon and an important philosophical question. Ever more curious about such deaths, the public was particularly entranced by a young woman drowned in the River Seine, convinced her demise was a lovesick suicide.

Bodies pulled out from the river were not so uncommon, but the lady’s beauty, it is said, was just that. A Parisian morgue worker, captivated by her delicate, Mona Lisa-like smile or simply hoping to identify her, cast a death mask later copied and circulated about the city.

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Pleading with my pen to yield some exegetic jewel in response to Shaun Tan’s The Arrival, I realize I’ve just proved my case. On a late-night train to NYC, a duck egg dinner in my stomach, all’s become quite clear. You’ll see.

Born in 1974 and raised in a suburb of Perth, Tan was keenly aware of the migrant narrative. His Chinese father had emigrated from Malaysia to Australia, expressing permutations of belonging, and Australia’s Aboriginal history marked by colonization and assimilation also embodied such shifting identities. The book artist, prolific and celebrated, has since explored his abiding curiosity-questioning the nature of alienation, wondering exactly what it takes to belong. Unsurprisingly, this is a theme in much of his work, and he often situates characters in liminal lands uniquely invented for otherness.

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It’s great that eco-design is on the rise, and green business, too. But I think it quite important to recognize those companies long dedicated to socially and environmentally responsible practices-as opposed to the trendy ventures.

Roots Canada Ltd. is in it for the long haul. Co-founded in 1973 by Michael Budman and Don Green, Roots emerged just a little more than a decade after the publishing of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring-a book that heralded a new ecological awareness. Thus, the company was age mate with the environmental movement, and it held priorities accordingly.

A leading retailer of apparel and accessories (from athletic to fun casual dress), Roots has grown with the times and our changing concerns. For example, in 1989 they began to incorporate organic cotton into their Nowadays product line, and their new Roots Green collection features sustainable fibers such as bamboo, hemp, and soy.

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What is illegal in Manhattan, good for human health, and a possible solution to an agricultural crisis? Since the profound population decline of the honeybee in late 2006 and early 2007, the popularity of urban apiculture has surged among hobbyists and professionals alike. London, Paris, San Francisco, and Chicago support growing networks of rooftop hives, and while the urban beekeeper may generally go undetected, these apiaries exist in cities worldwide. So why haven’t you spotted one yet? Those overseeing such operations, however small in size, are wary of public concern. What the neighbors may not realize is that rooftop apiaries actually reduce swarming. Bees fly in straight paths, so keeping hives high above ground means they won’t often travel at street level.

But this is just one of the many benefits of raising city bees. An urban environment’s warmer climate lets bees produce honey at a tripled rate, and because the bees collect local pollen, consumers of their honey are exposed to all the plant life of the immediate area. Some say this can help allergy sufferers build up a resistance to the pollen, easing histamine reactions. You might be wondering if the bees suffer at all for their downtown surroundings. Well, pollen collection tends to take place within a three-mile radius of the hive, so abundant vegetation is not necessary. And while country bees encounter dangerous chemicals in pesticides and fertilizers, other pollutants seem not to harm them.

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With the recent panic that plastic water bottles may leach potentially dangerous chemicals such as Bisphenol A (BPA), we can’t help but worry that the good-faith practice of reusing these containers will have negative health effects. But with innovative designs now upcycling and repurposing old trash, I think us plenty capable of scheming past the tired conservation requiring simply that we use the product this way, use it this way again, yes, this way till it falls apart and is poison to us all.

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