Send your question to Umbra!

Q. Dear Umbra,

Why all the focus on green liberalism? We all know that if everybody dimmed their lights for 20 minutes every day all the whales would sing and dance, but ... everybody isn't going to do that. In fact, many people have at the core of their identity a deep hatred of environmentalism. So do we bring them on board? Go over their head and change the law? And how?

Hugs and kisses,
Kevin H.
Phoenix, Ariz.

A. Dearest Kevin,

You raise enough questions to fill a year’s worth of columns. But I am going to tackle them in the next few paragraphs, because I like a good end-of-year challenge. After that I am going to take a week off, knit myself some new snowshoes, and think about vermillion, violet … anything but green.

I appreciate the hugs and kisses, and I assume you are hyperbolizing in your letter to make a point. But two of your phrases give me pause: “green liberalism” and “deep hatred.” We live in a world that has become far too bifurcated, where we are filed in little boxes and stare suspiciously at each other through the cracks. If we can’t all get along, we can at least try to understand each other a little better. Herewith, Umbra’s Four-Point Guide to Combating Either-Or Thinking.

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Q. Dear Umbra,

It seems like I get one of those musical cards for my birthday every year. I hate the things, because I usually have to tear out the electronic guts, and put them into an electronics recycling box, which I will eventually take to Free Geek here in Portland. However, I'd rather not do that. Without sounding ungrateful, what's the best way to kindly remind family and friends not to buy me those cards?

Chris S.
Portland, Ore.

A. Dearest Chris,

Here at Grist we are working on ways to Shift the Gift. Should that include Shifting the Card? Let us ponder.

It’s quite something, the image of you disemboweling the cards your loved ones have so carefully chosen for you. Imagine how Aunt Ruth chuckled when she first found the polka-dotted giraffe dancing to “Call Me Maybe.” How she replayed it just a few more times before sticking it in the envelope. How she never imagined that the emotion she’d inspire in you would be wrath.

Or maybe she did imagine that. Maybe, Chris, you have such a reputation as a holier-than-thou grumpypants who can’t even enjoy a simple birthday card that your family takes bets on who can really get your goat. The musical greeting card: so small, but so powerful.

The greeting card industry is an interesting beast. Annual sales in the U.S. generate $7.5 billion, with birthday cards accounting for roughly a quarter of that and Christmas cards another quarter, according to the Greeting Card Association. Americans send more than 1.5 billion Christmas cards a year. But overall sales have been declining due to the popularity of e-cards and other options. Still, Hallmark and its ilk are putting on a cheery face: “Electronic communication is better for sharing information, but greeting cards are better for sharing emotion.” Cue soft hues and flowers.

Dearest readers,

This week, I write to you for help. We have less than 24 hours to dispatch a despicable plot.

Consider donating as little as $5 to help us reach our goal and keep Grist's green news flowing freely.

More than 1.5 million readers a month depend on us to illuminate perplexing eco-related conundrums. If something you read on Grist, like my deftly dealt advice, has made your brain less dizzy, your home less chemical-y, or your commute less carbon-y, pitch in what you can -- be it $1 or $100.

Grist readers, can we count on your help in our hour of need? Make a tax-deductible donation now!

Sleuthily,
Umbra Fisk
Senior Advice Agent

P.S. Did we mention that gifts of $50 or more will be matched by a generous, anonymous ally?

P.P.S. Rather not give online? You're also welcome to send a check: Grist, 710 Second Avenue, Suite 860, Seattle, WA 98104.

Send your question to Umbra!

Q. Dear Umbra,

I work in a film-related business in Los Angeles, and we have lots of old tape and film materials to dispose of. We recycle what we can, but much of this material cannot be recycled. Is there anybody making useful stuff out of old magnetic tape, like people do with old juice pouches and soda bottles? I wonder if there is any way to turn this waste stream into raw materials for other products.

CB
Los Angeles, Calif.

A. Dearest CB,

Before I answer your question, a note to all my dearest readers: Grist needs 2,500 donations by tomorrow to meet our winter fundraising goal -- could you give $5, $25, or even more to support my work? I would be ever so grateful, and even jocund.

Asking if anyone is making useful stuff out of a particular type of material is like asking if anyone is breathing. You name it, someone is doing something creative with it. While I must admit I am not much of a DIY-er, this craft fetish we are experiencing is good news for America’s waste problem.

The DIY craze is particularly welcome during the holidays, as it helps us reduce our consumption and buy less stuff. In fact, Grist is somewhat consumed by this theme at the moment -- read all about Greg Hanscom’s no-stuff adventures on prime-time TV, follow Claire Thompson as she avoids buying corporate for Christmas, and see how our resident Greenie Pig, Elizabeth Kwak-Hefferan, is making all her own gifts.

In the case of film, I am seeing evidence of all sorts of interesting projects. I’m not sure any of them are occurring at a scale that’s going to ease the solid-waste burden of your industry, which generates an estimated 18 million pounds of trash each year, and we’ll discuss the scale issue in a moment. But first let’s take a look at some of the creative things people are making:

• Lampshades and large-scale lighting fixtures

• Handy bags of all shapes and sizes

• Collapsible bookshelves

• Cute reusable gift bows

• Earrings and other accessories

• Portraits of cultural icons

• and at least one dress

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Q. Dear Umbra,

My husband often wears shirts that are non-iron. Do you know if the chemicals that are used in these shirts are toxic or carcinogenic?

Anne B.
Cambridge, Mass.

A. Dearest Anne,

While your husband might be natty, his shirts are rather naughty.

Hey, that feels like the beginning of a poem. But I’m having trouble coming up with a rhyme for “formaldehyde resin.” For that, dear Anne, is the magical substance that makes shirts, sheets, and other textiles emerge from the laundry wrinkle-free.

Before I get cranky about formaldehyde, let us pause to appreciate it: It can act as a preservative, disinfectant, adhesive, and more. We embalm the dead with it, glue particleboard with it, use it in paint and auto parts and even products that smooth our hair. And it can make fabric stiffer and more stain-resistant. As one apparel expert put it to Consumer Reports a few years back, “The molecules line up like little soldiers and remember where they’re supposed to be.”

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Q. Dear Umbra,

I want to upgrade to new, more efficient LED Christmas lights, but what do I do with my old lights? It seems wrong to just trash them.

Lightly,
Maxwell E.
Bismarck, N.D.

A. Dearest Maxwell,

Do not throw your old lights away!

Much has changed since the last time I devoted a column to LED holiday lights, in the relatively dark ages of 2005. Back then, I thought the trash might be the only option for your twinkly cast-offs. I was tsk-tsked by several readers for suggesting as much, and am happy to report that you now have merrier options.

Send your question to Umbra!

Q. Oh, Umbra,

I am sharing this Thanksgiving with my boyfriend's family (read: future mother-in-law) and she wants to cook the turkey in a plastic bag. I have ordered from my local farm an organic, (truly) free-range turkey and will brine it in cider my kids and I pressed from our neighbor's apples. So I have two questions: 1) Is cooking in one of those enormous plastic bags as terrible as I imagine? I am having nightmares of BPA and phthalate giblet gravy. 2) Should I advocate for the traditional roasting pan or just focus on the pie? She is already making the green bean casserole -- yes, the one with cream of mushroom soup. Help.

Alyssa P.
Seattle, Wash.

A. Dearest Alyssa,

Somewhere out there, another advice columnist is reading your future mother-in-law’s letter: “My son is bringing his girlfriend to Thanksgiving dinner. She insisted on supplying her own organic, free-range turkey. Now she doesn’t approve of my cooking method. She seems nice enough, but I just want to do things the way I’ve always done them. Do I have to put up with this?”

Thanksgiving is a holiday when we are meant to put aside our differences and clasp hands around the groaning board. You and I might shudder at the idea of a turkey, or any other food, being shoved into a plastic bag and stuffed into the stove. But will it kill you to eat one slightly plasticized Thanksgiving dinner? Eh, probably not.

Oven bags, also known as roasting bags, are typically made of food-grade polyester or nylon. They are generally BPA-free, phthalate-free, and approved by the FDA for cooking.

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Q. Dear Umbra,

I replaced all my old single-pane windows with new windows. My utility told me to do it, and I should trust them. Right? But I had to take out a second mortgage to pay for my new windows and now I fear I can't afford to send my child to college. Should I have retrofit them instead?

Brad
Seattle, Wash.

A. Dearest Brad,

There you are, wandering deep in the wilds of Buyer’s Remorse -- which, if I’m remembering right, is somewhere on the map just beyond Voter’s Revenge -- and you managed to take a break from your lamentations to send me this message. I am touched.

You have done the right thing in being thoughtful about your home energy use. Residential buildings are responsible for 22 percent of energy use in this country, and much of that juice is wasted. In fact, up to 30 percent of the energy used to heat and cool our homes floats right out through our windows and doors. With the average homeowner paying $2,200 a year in energy bills, and heating and cooling accounting for nearly half of that, such a loss is nothing to sneeze at. Actually it’s about $300 a year to sneeze at, by my rough calculations. So we should do everything we can to make our windows tight.

You chose to replace yours, as many Americans do. So what if I tell you retrofitting was the better option?

Send your question to Umbra!

Q. Dear Umbra,

I have some 11,000 emails sitting in my inbox and about the same number of sent emails. Would it be better to delete some? I'm thinking of them all sitting on a server somewhere -- but perhaps their electronic cost is negligible? Related: What happens to people's email accounts when they die?

Catherine H.
Mamaroneck, N.Y.

A. Dearest Catherine,

I hope you’re doing OK there in Mamaroneck. This question of data storage is an important one for our information-addicted age, but it takes a back seat to superstorms any day of the week.

Your emails are not going to destroy the world. But they do have some impact when combined with all the data the rest of us are obsessively e-hoarding. Think of it: Every minute, we upload 60 hours of video to YouTube. Every day, we send 294 billion emails. In 2011, we created or replicated 1.8 zettabytes of data -- enough to fill 57.5 billion iPads -- and that number is expected to double every two years. So it’s no wonder our inboxes overflow and our brains feel like exploding.

Send your question to Umbra!

Q. Dear Umbra,

My husband and I make monthly trips to Target for family staples -- vacuum bags, dental floss, laundry detergent, etc. I loathe Target. Is there a good excuse, such as "it's better for the environment," to get such things sent to us from Amazon.com?

Heather
Arlington, Mass.

A. Dearest Heather,

Here we are, teetering on the brink of the annual holiday shopping frenzy. This year, Americans are expected to spend more than $586 billion, and retailers will make 20 to 40 percent of their annual sales. So your question is timely, though I assume you did not intend it as such. Unless of course you’re planning to give dental floss to your nearest and dearest.

Kudos to you and your husband for doing two smart things: You shop together, thus avoiding the wasteful Solo Car Trip, and you venture forth monthly for household supplies, instead of darting to the store as the floss runs out or the vacuum cleaner overflows. Bundling passengers and errands is efficient, and a good way to reduce your impact.

Would shopping online be even better? Yes. No. Maybe. The jury was out when I wrote about online shopping a few years ago (twice!), and it seems the jury has found a really good sandwich shop. This, it turns out, is a tough call.