Dear Grist readers,

Please give to Grist today. It's our last shot at $25K!

My staff has been struck by a curse:
We have to keep speaking in verse.
But a timely donation
Will offer salvation --
Give now, or this curse will get worse!

Grist readers, at the risk of incurring the wrath of the raven that put this curse upon us, I'm going to break from speaking in verse for just a moment so I can ask you, in all earnestness, to support Grist today with as little as $5.

We gotta get just a few more gifts by midnight to earn an additional $25,000 from a generous donor. We are so close to our goal of 3,000 gifts, and we don't want to leave that money on the table. Please help us meet our goal and capture the gold. We don’t want to be doomed to meetings like this:

Donate now to end this curse
that forces us to speak in verse.

Once upon a workday dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a serious tale of gloom 'n' doom 'n' eco-gore,
While I nodded nearly groaning, came a thought that seemed worth honing:
If we make this funny, we will surely get folks in the door.
And lo, green news won't be a bore.

Grist was born and, 12 years later, has 1 million fans or greater!
We’ve helped you and your friends explore climate news and views galore.
Carpools, bike lanes, urban gardens -- our punny fun we hope you’ll pardon.
At Grist.org you get the score, on what to praise and to abhor.
So now what am I rhyming for?

You see, there is this awful curse, that forces us to speak in verse.
But you can spring us from this chore!
Please give a buck, or three, or four!
Our fine nonprofit needs an offer, from your wallet or your coffer.
We need 3,000 gifts or more by May 15 or just before.
Please give now, we do implore.

Edgar Allen Poetically,

Chip Giller
President and Founder

P.S. Giving online give you the heebie-jeebies? You may also send an old-fashioned (but most welcome) check to: Grist, 710 Second Avenue, Suite 860, Seattle, WA 98104.

P.P.S. If we reach our goal by May 15, Grist will receive $25,000 from a generous donor.

If you notice our commas standing up a little straighter today, our links looking a little orangier, our photos a tad crisper, it must be because they've heard the news: Grist has a new top gun. It's a banner day, and even the banners want to look good. Scott Rosenberg joins our team as executive editor after many years as a journalist and online innovator. He was a co-founder of Salon.com, where he served as technology editor and managing editor and got people thinking -- and talking to each other -- in whole new ways. He's written two books, one …

This is Chip's fifth and final entry in the series "Grist dared me to make a change." Read the first, second, third, and fourth here. And support his dare with a gift to Grist. Well, that was a nice trip down memory lane, even if it got a little smelly toward the end -- especially when my Trashtivist garbage bag was merged with the other household garbage, the stuff that was just too gross to carry around with me for a week. And by that I mean the diapers. Just five (full, ahem) diapers weighed more than the rest of …

This is Chip's fourth entry in the series "Grist dared me to make a change." Read the first, second, third, and fifth here. And support his dare with a gift to Grist. Take-out lentil soup smells really good ... at first. Courtest of LA OC Foodventures via FlickrThe bag is about half-full and now it's starting to smell. Yesterday, keeping the family peace took priority over reducing our waste, and today you can really tell. Jenny had an errand to run, and we were too busy to make dinner at home, so we got take-out and ate outside at a …

This is Chip's third entry in the series "Grist dared me to make a change." Read the first, second, fourth, and fifth here. And support his dare with a gift to Grist. What on earth happened to Percy? He's shot. GristPerversely, I'm now taking some pleasure in creating garbage. I'm not sure that was the point of this dare, but there you have it. My trash bag has more stuff in it now, but not much more. The best thing in there is Percy. Percy, you may recall, is Thomas the Tank Engine's chum, the friendly green train. I'm not …

This is Chip's second entry in the series "Grist dared me to make a change." Read the first, third, fourth, and fifth here. And support his dare with a gift to Grist. This isn't my garbage. Not yet, anyway.Courtesy of pinguino via FlickrSo far, we haven't produced much garbage. I'm not bragging. Honestly, it's a little disappointing. I'm carrying around this white plastic Seventh Generation trash bag, and the bag itself is more garbage than what's in it. We started yesterday. It was chaos. My wife, Jenny, was supposed to get home at 5, and instead she got home around …

This is Chip's first entry in the series "Grist dared me to make a change." Read the second, third, fourth, and fifth here. And support his dare with a gift to Grist. Back in college, I carried around all the garbage I produced for a week to demonstrate the wastefulness of the average student. It wasn't a great way to meet women. Well, now I'm married, so I don't have to worry about that anymore. But I still worry about the environment, and I still want to call attention to garbage – my own and everybody else's. That's why, with …

Dear Grist readers, Would you give $5 to have a platter full of green news, astute advice, and tips for taking action at your fingertips? Today, ONE DAY ONLY, we're asking for your help. As the big cheese of Grist, I know there's plenty of stuff to scare the holes out of your Swiss when it comes to the state of the planet, like a nuclear crisis looming in Japan, fracking's effects on our water supplies, and the potential castration of the EPA. But at Grist, we see gouda things happening too. We've responded to your cries with stories of …

Set a course for adventure ...Photo: JemingwayOdd locations are not unusual for green-leaning conferences, but this one might take the cake. I'm en route to Miami for a conference aboard, ahem, a cruise ship. What better place to contemplate the fate of the Earth, ocean conservation, and ways to right the planet's social ills than on a giant diesel-powered city of excess? (Conference organizers, WTF?) Leaving aside the venue, the conference looks to be amazing in a Fast Company-, Wired-sort-of way -- lots of smart, highly successful, digitally wired superstars, all with an interest in making the world a better …