Dear Umbra, My wife and I have made great progress in simplifying our lives. We don't own a car (we take the bus, walk, bike, and occasionally rent a car), we have cut back on our use of water and power, and we are working on avoiding "more stuff." We're just wondering what we might give as wedding gifts to children of our friends in order to be in line with our goal yet not seem "weird." Any ideas on this subject? Peter Poulsen Murray, Utah Dear Peter, I am mulling over this dilemma as well. By the time 2003 …

Dear Umbra, On a link that I got from Grist's Do Good section, it says that taking baths instead of showers conserves water. What's the logic behind this? I measured how much water I use when I shower, and it's about a quarter of the amount that I use for baths. So it doesn't make much sense that bathing conserves more water than showering. Am I just weird or is there another reason? Jesse Ross-SilvermanNorthampton, Mass. Dearest Jesse, I'm not the best judge of your weirdness. First, I know next to nothing about you, and second, I'm a little weird …

Long before they joined the cast of "Saturday Night Live," before she played Elaine on "Seinfeld" and he became a writer/producer for shows ranging from "The Single Guy" to "Frasier," Julia Louis-Dreyfus and husband Brad Hall were devout environmentalists. Now they are key players in Hollywood's green vanguard. Over the past decade she has been actively involved with nearly a dozen environmental organizations, including Heal the Bay, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Trust for Public Land; he is helping lead the effort at the Environmental Media Association to get energy-guzzling Hollywood studios to reform their wasteful operations. Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Photo: …

Let water sit around for 24 hours -- stagnating in an old tire, say, or in a birdbath in the backyard -- and some pretty nasty things can start breeding in it. After Mt. St. Helen's erupted in Washington State in 1980, newly formed oxygen-deprived pools became breeding grounds for Legionnaires' disease. Then there's cholera, typhoid, dysentery, and other illnesses that can be contracted from untreated bathing and drinking water. Yet, while swimming in a bacteria- and pathogen-filled pool poses clear health threats, chlorine is not a risk-free solution. What lies beneath? Some very harmful substances -- dioxins and furans, …

The plastic five-gallon bucket is the most humdrum of containers, yet it's proved to be almost as versatile as duct tape. Creative sorts have turned buckets into toolboxes and ottomans, planters and panniers. And in recent years, some environmental activists have begun using the humble bucket for an even higher purpose: These days, five-gallon buckets may literally be saving lives. Buckets of fun. Back in 1994, several years before Erin Brockovich and her boss Edward Masry saw their life stories reenacted on the big screen, Masry was representing a group of citizens from Rodeo, Calif., on the eastern side of …

Dear Umbra, You are my only hope! I need help with trophies. Not trophy boyfriends or bass fishing trophies, but a large collection of wood and metal trophies that I have accrued due to a high school career rife with geeky accomplishment. My mom, who has graciously housed these trophies up 'til now, has finally wised up. Instead of looking upon the trophies and dreaming that her daughter will one day be a neurosurgeon, she now understands that the trophies are just gathering dust while I gallivant about the world, not performing any neurosurgery at all. She wants to throw …

Dear Umbra, I shudder at the triviality of the question, but so far nobody I've asked has been able to provide a satisfying answer. So here it is: Is chewing gum biodegradable? Can I spit it on the compost instead of sticking it under the chair? Would green stalks sprout from the gum-spot-riddled sidewalks if we didn't trod them down? I hope you can finally reveal the secret of what is the core of the matter, besides spearmint and sweetener. BirgitFrankfurt, Germany Dearest Birgit, Shudder only in repulsion. I can indeed reveal the secret: The answers to your questions are …

Dear Umbra, After many years of idealistic holdout, I have finally decided to own a cell phone; changes in my lifestyle have made the benefits too heavy to be outweighed by the detrimental effects. However, I would like to minimize the impact of my decision (brain tumors notwithstanding), so I am searching for the most long-lasting, recyclable, Earth-friendly cell phone I can find. Does such a thing exist? Where can I get one? Is "Earth-friendly cell phone" a contradiction in terms? DanSeattle, Wash. Dearest Dan, Your letter filled me with bittersweet camaraderie. I, too, am soon to enter the world …

As summer finally rolls in, most of us are eager to shed our layers and splash in the surf or hike through the woods. Along the way, we might slap on some SPF 30 sunscreen to ward off skin cancer and hose down our arms and necks with skeeter repellent. But rather than go wild with DEET and just any old high-SPF sunscreen, it's best to consider some potential health and environmental hazards first. Here follows a look at some of the more problematic products and their less-toxic alternatives. Bug Repellent The mosquito cost. Photo: Centers for Disease Control. Insect …