Dear Umbra, As an environmental science instructor, I'm often asked which is the better choice when drying one's hands in a public restroom, assuming both options are available: paper towels, with their associated disposal issues, or hand dryers, with their use of electricity, much of which is wasted. What's the answer? Curious in Iowa,Dawn Dearest Dawn, Patient multitudes have written repeatedly with the insistent query: "Hand Dryer or Paper Towels???" Who can sleep at night while this haunting question goes unresolved? The public restroom has become a place of agony and indecision for many Gristers, and I'm sorry that I've …

Dear Umbra, I am having a problem with the word anti-environmentalists. It seems to me to make these people out to be the good guys for opposing environmentalists. Don't we need a term that better describes people who trash the environment for profit? Say, enviro-rapist? Maybe something a little more civil? JimDeerwood, Minn. Dearest Jim, Congratulations! Your question has been chosen for the First Annual and Perhaps Only "Cheer Us Up the Weather Is Godawful and We're at War" Grist Slang Invention Contest. Fill in the blank. Put your thinking caps on, readers. Your task is to coin a new …

Some stars toned down the glitz at last night's Academy Awards ceremony in acknowledgement of the war in Iraq, while others toned down their energy consumption, arriving at the event in gas-electric hybrid cars instead of gas-guzzling stretch limos. Actress Cameron Diaz was chauffeured to the Oscars in her own Toyota Prius. "I drive it every day," she told reporters. Harrison Ford, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, and Robin Williams also made the trip in Priuses, courtesy of Global Green USA.

An environmental ethicist has won the coveted Templeton Prize, a $1 million award for raising awareness about how science can lead to discoveries about spirituality. Holmes Rolston III, a philosophy professor at Colorado State University and the man known as the father of environmental ethics, won the prize for his explorations of the relationships among religion, ethics, genetics, and evolutionary biology. Rolston, a self-described radical environmentalist, has criticized the Bush administration for focusing on Iraq at the expense of what he says is the larger problem of global warming, and he has called for an international effort "to figure out …

If you think of your home as a haven from pollution, we've got some bummer news. Levels of pollutants in indoor air can be from two to more than 100 times higher than outdoors, according to the U.S. EPA. That indoor pollution is due in large part to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that evaporate, or "offgas," from home decorating and cleaning products. Make your home clean and green. Photo: iStockphoto So if the weather cooperates, step one for green cleaners is: Open a window and let those pollutants out! Yet even in the spring and summer, when a vase of …

Dear Umbra, I am a teenager and so I live with my parents. We recycle paper and some other products (mostly milk containers), but I don't think our house as a whole is very eco-friendly. Since I'm not in charge, I can't really go out and buy new appliances or anything like that. Should I try to convince my parents to do things like switch the type of light bulb we use, or are there other things I can do to help without overstepping my authority? Thanks! LindsayLiberty, Mo. Dearest Lindsay, Whatever you do to improve the eco-friendliness of the …

Dear Wonderful Umbra, I truly love your column. You should give humor lessons to the rest of the Grist staff. My question concerns the environmental consequences of the decision to reproduce or not to reproduce. Your answer to Genevieve pointed out that the two biggest actions we can take to support a healthy environment relate to transportation and housing. Why do you not consider reproduction the biggest action we take that affects the environment? After all, a new person will use plenty of resources throughout his or her life. DanNorman, Okla. Dearest Dan, Thank you for the compliment, but I …

Hey there, Umbra! I have a kind of gross-yet-pressing question for you: Are sanitary products (pads, etc.) environmentally friendly? I would think no, but what do you say? And what can I do about it? Thanks, JessicaTelford, Tenn. Hey there, dearest Jessica, How is it possible that we live in a country where diapers are table conversation and menstruation is considered gross? But no worries, there are many nice flowery euphemisms for us to wield while treading gently around this delicate topic. Environmentally, there are two issues here: First, what are the impacts of tampon and pad production, and second, …

As Grist reported Monday, discarded electronic equipment poses a serious environmental and health hazard in the developing world, where obsolete computers and other products are stripped and recycled. Now, we have some good news to add; 16 electronics recyclers in the U.S. and Canada have committed to keeping monitors, cables, and motherboards out of the hands of impoverished Third World workers, who enjoy few if any labor protections. In addition, the recyclers said they would keep track of recycled parts, do business with environmentally conscious companies, and keep toxic products out of landfills, incinerators, and prisons, where inmates are paid …

Oh Wise Umbra, We'll be replacing our carpeting with wood flooring, probably from one of the major home stores (Home Depot or Lowe's). Are wood floors a really bad environmental choice if they are made from unsustainably harvested wood? Would I be better off going with a (probably petroleum-based) fake wood floor? Also, is there any environmentally responsible way to dispose of my old carpet? If the nice garbage collectors pick it up, I'm sure it will sit in a landfill till long after I've made it to the spirit world. Also, I've got loads of things in the house …