Dear Umbra, How does one begin to gather a group of people to live in a modern city commune? My dream is to own in common an energy-efficient and sustainable house or apartment building inhabited by 10 or so people who are neighbors but also share the duties of the house (cooking, laundry, gardening), much like an extended family. I think this setup would be far superior to the current situation, where my spouse and I live in a large apartment building completely isolated from our neighbors, and I suspect there are other people living in relative isolation who have …

Syriana, written and directed by Traffic screenwriter Stephen Gaghan, is a brave and daunting piece of filmmaking. It plunges without apology into hot-button territory few U.S. news outlets, much less Hollywood productions, have dared explore, and does very little to smooth the rough edges for a moviegoing audience accustomed to frictionless entertainment. In a pop-culture landscape dominated by the aesthetics of adolescents, it is the rare film for adults. The least explosive scene in Gaghan's new movie. Photo: Warner Bros./Glen Wilson.   When I first heard about the "oil movie," I figured it would be about oil the same way …

Beyond eye shadow of a doubt Courtney Corvan may be the only Makeup Artist to the Stars who makes a point of using vegan, cruelty-free products. Funny, we thought being cruelty-free just meant not telling Rachel Hunter her pores are the size of planets. (Oh, Rachel, we kid.) Well, that's ironicalicious Mazda recently announced that it would pay employees to walk to work instead of driving, offering an "eco-walk commutation allowance" of roughly $12.50 a month. In related news, we walked to work today and got bupkis. Photo: iStockphoto. Habla polución? A new ruling in Texas requires companies planning nefarious, …

Seems "Mother Nature" is likely to be TIME Magazine's Person of the Year for 2005.

Dear Umbra, Suppose I replace all my many old, tangled, not-so-efficient holiday lights with the newer LED lights. These are supposed to be better for the environment. What is the best way to dispose of my old lights? R-MOttawa, Canada Dearest R-M, The LED lights are indeed better for the environment, and, since I'm frankly running out of winter holiday-related questions (see my previous work on Christmas trees, gift wrap, candles, consumption, leftovers, and snow removal), I'm going to dwell on just how much better they are. Glow forth and multiply. Photo: iStockphoto. A lot better, people. We all know …

Leonardo DiCaprio to produce documentary about global warming Eco-minded actor Leonardo DiCaprio -- who tools around L.A. in a Prius and has been outspoken about issues like worldwide access to potable water -- is now bringing a tree-hugging message to film. According to spokesdude Ken "Walkin' on" Sunshine (we made that middle part up), DiCaprio has started work on 11th Hour, a full-length documentary about global warming. The multi-talented DiCaprio will produce, co-write, and narrate the film, scheduled to hit the big screen in fall 2006. "Global warming is not only the No. 1 environmental challenge we face today, but …

So you're an Enlightened Green Consumer. You buy organic food and carry it home from the local market in string bags. Your coffee is shade-grown and fair-trade, your water's solar-heated, and your car is a hybrid. But what about the playthings you're using for grown-up fun between those organic cotton sheets -- how healthy and environmentally sensitive are they? Peace and coital unto you. Photo: Lise Gagne/iStockphoto. Few eco-conscious shoppers consider the chemicals used to create their intimate devices. Yes, those things -- from vibrators resembling long-eared bunny rabbits to sleeves and rings in shapes ranging from faux female to …

Dear Umbra, Our garage is in need of a new roof. We would like to build a "living roof" and are wondering where to start. Our long-term plan is to convert the space into an art studio, complete with insulation, electricity, and finished walls and floor. Do you have any pithy suggestions for us to consider while planning our roof, considering it will cover a finished room eventually? LesleyVictoria, B.C. Dearest Lesley, Not only pithy suggestions, but perhaps the very cambium of your living-roof planning. Aim high, like Chicago City Hall. Photo: Katrin Scholz-Barth/NREL. Background for other readers: a "living" …

Heart your engines Tired of pretty-boy actors flashing their newfangled wheels? Here's something grittier: hybrids may be coming to a Formula One track near you. It makes sense, says one rep, since "Formula One is all about efficiency." Well, that and the fiery crashes. Photo: iStockphoto. All the smews that's fit to print Some words are just fun to say, like "dungarees" and "besmirch." Now you can add "smencils" to that list. (Go on, say it out loud.) As if their 10 "gourmet scents" aren't giddifying enough, these pimp-lements are made from recycled newspaper. Smencils! Image: The Smencil Co. That …

Click here to see Tümer's photos. Photo: Laurie Tümer. In a segment this fall, Good Morning America simulated pesticide exposure in a New York City classroom. Using a powder visible only under black light, the program showed how far chemicals could spread through an activity as simple as child's play. The eye-opening exercise wasn't news to Laurie Tümer. The photographer has been making images that expose the presence of synthetic pesticides since 1998, when she suffered near-fatal poisoning after her New Mexico home was sprayed. While recovering, Tümer discovered a muse in the work of Richard Fenske, an environmental scientist …