Sustainability. Sexy. Two words you don't often see together. Sustainability is a serious word. It's about saving the world from ecological disaster. Getting humanity on track for survival. Heady stuff best left to academics, unions of concerned scientists, and earnest tree-huggers. Would you buy this? Photo: iStockphoto/Tyler Stalman. Sexy ... now that's a fun word. A word that implies pleasure. Tied to advertising, it's a hook that's been used to raise sales curves on everything from cars to cognac. A very big opportunity awaits if we -- marketers, producers, and media -- manage to somehow join these two words at …

Dear Umbra, OK, the kitty-litter thing pushed me over the edge. I know you are sick of writing about gross, yucky things, but I had to ask: if kitty litter is compostable, what about biodegradable maxipads and tampons? One of the leading natural feminine-care brands touts their stuff as being biodegradable and compostable. Can this actually be possible? Liz SchlegelWaterbury, Vt. Dearest Liz, I'm not sick of writing about gross, yucky things. I just got very sick of reading enthusiastic letters about picking up animal waste. I love animals (baby sheep are especially cute), but I don't have any pets …

Surely you've attended the Conference from Eco-Hell. Eco-hell, or just plain hell? Photo: iStockphoto/Elerium Studios. You know the one. It begins with an endless paper trail of direct-mail advertisements. It's held in some remote suburban locale, accessible only by car. At registration, you are issued a conference bag filled with promotional papers and doodads you'll never look at or use (most of which you'll conveniently "forget" in your hotel room). Meals appear unappetizingly on disposable plastic dishes, and single-serve bottles of water and soda are everywhere you look. Then there's that inch-thick pile of wasted paper known as the conference …

Over the past 20 years, Joel Salatin has emerged as a sort of guru of the sustainable-food movement. His 500-acre Polyface Farm in Swoope, Va., is legendary among a small circle of foodies for its robustly flavored beef, pork, chicken, and eggs. Among farmers, Salatin has won cult status for his innovations in multi-species, pasture-based animal husbandry. But readers of his new book, Holy Cows & Hog Heaven: The Food Buyer's Guide to Farm Friendly Food, won't be quite as impressed. Good moos. Photo: iStockphoto. Styled as a how-to guide for consumers, the book strives to "inform you, the food …

Dear Umbra, I live in an apartment. What can I do to reduce the amount of water that is flushed in the toilet? The landlord will not fix it. AudreyBrookline, Mass. Dearest Audrey, Ooh, more toilet talk. I quote USA Landlord, which supplies landlords and tenants with water-saving devices: "This really is a landlord no-brainer!" And I append, "Especially if he is paying the water bill." But even if your landlord won't help, you can adapt your own toilet, and it won't cost much -- maybe $12 max. (If you don't know how toilets work, go take the lid off …

Are you the type who puts off holiday shopping until the last minute, makes a guilt-ridden and miserable foray to the mega-mall, and comes home with bags full of junk that nobody wants? Well, this year, turn over a new bough. We've got suggestions of eco-gewgaws for everyone on your list.   The Trendy Clotheshorse Eco jeans. Expanding the jean pool. Vegan footwear. Natalie Portman is a fan. 'Nuff said. Clothing made from hemp, bamboo, or recycled materials. Cotton is tres 2005.   The Sports Fanatic Tickets to the 2006 World Cup or Winter Olympics. U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! Bottles of …

Last week's release of Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price -- not, for the most part, in movie theaters, but rather in "churches, family businesses, schools, living rooms, community centers, and parking lots," as the film's website puts it -- marks a high-water moment in leftist media-based organizing. Image: walmartmovie.com. Director/producer Robert Greenwald adopted a similar strategy last year with his Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism, but that work never scored the 7,000-plus play dates the new film claimed for its premiere week. The sort of distribution Greenwald has conceived and effected here is truly what's revolutionary about …

Green amenities catching on in new housing complexes In Chelsea, Mass., new condos in the Forbes Park development come with access to a fleet of DaimlerChrysler Smart cars -- two-seater mini-mobiles that get great mileage. Every unit at Buzz, a Dallas loft project, will include an eGo electric moped. They're more useful than the traditional new-home amenities, believes developer Zad Roumaya: "You can't drive your swimming pool to the market." Although such eco-sensitive features are included in only a small percentage of the total new-home market, industry insiders say green ideas are going mainstream, fueled by buyer demand, rising energy …

Dear Umbra, I'm attempting to "green" my home, room by room. I've heard of low-flow toilets, but someone just told me about composting toilets. Do they smell bad? Will my grandmother use it or ask for an outhouse? Thanks for your wisdom! MoiraProvidence, R.I. Dearest Moira, Excellent, manageable room-by-room plan. What in tarnation?! Composting toilets are basically the technology we should have adopted instead of the water closet. Although there's a wide range of models, all of them compost human waste into a humus-like end product that can go back into the earth whence it came. Essentially a compost pile …

Our cup punneth over Hot on the heels of Japan's "Cool Biz" program -- which let businessmen shed jackets and ties to save on AC -- comes "Warm Biz," which will let businesswomen ... wear furry, microwaveable bras with matching hot pants. Hello, Kitty. What's up Down Under? Our 'stralian mates are touting cool fuels -- odd for a country that refused to ratify Kyoto. First a giganto solar tower, then wave power, and now heat from ancient rocks. Crikey, you'd think they had a binding target to meet. Flights of fancy Megalomogulac Richard Branson says his Virgin Atlantic planes …