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Umbra on composting paper

Dear Umbra, Two questions: Does the colored ink in newspapers still contain chemicals bad for a compost pile? Also, what about the colored ink printed on cardboard boxes? I want to have a safe compost pile to use in a garden. Anonymous Dearest Mysterious Reader, Some readers may find gardening questions in February a bit […]

Got to Admit It’s Getting Bettors

Bettors Will Get a Chance to Help Save Albatrosses A well-known bookie is teaming up with enviros in a creative effort to help save albatrosses, sea birds that are increasingly threatened by a fishing technique called longlining, which involves the use of tens of thousands of baited hooks dragged behind trawlers for 60 miles or […]

Snoop Doggy Doggs

Robotic Dogs Sniff Out Environmental Toxins Engineers at Yale have developed robotic dogs that can sniff out environmental toxins at contaminated sites. The mechanical critters were originally designed and marketed as toys by Sony and other companies, but an intrepid crew at Yale modified the robo-puppies with sensors that detect environmentally damaging chemical compounds and […]

Mining watchdog Radhika Sarin answers questions

What environmental organization are you affiliated with? What does it do? I work for Earthworks, a new partnership designed by the Mineral Policy Center, which seeks to protect communities and the environment from irresponsible mining. We bring together activists, organizers, scientists, engineers, and community leaders in an effort to change mining policies and practices. What’s […]

Keep the Forest Fires Burning

Critics Charge Forest Service With Overzealous Fire Fighting A growing cadre of critics charge the U.S. Forest Service with fighting too many fires, saying that the cost — in money, lives, and ecological damage — is too high. As logging in national forests has declined by 80 percent over the last decade, fighting fires has […]

George W. Jetson

Bush’s Hydrogen-Economy Pipe Dreams Bump Into Reality The hydrogen-powered cars and “hydrogen economy” touted by President Bush in last year’s State of the Union address are several decades from viability, says a report released Wednesday by the National Academy of Sciences. Until hydrogen lives up to its promise, “the government should keep a balanced portfolio […]

Readers sound off on John Kerry, mad cow, and more

  Oh, Now We’re Blushing Re: Just Stick to Tofu Dear Editor: I read the Daily Grist of Jan. 9 and laughed out loud, was outraged, and laughed again. I was moved to finally contribute. I’ve been getting your newsletter for a couple of years and recommend it all the time. I’m a professional tree […]

The Otter Limits

DOI Proposes Adding Sea Otters to Endangered Species List The U.S. Department of the Interior yesterday proposed adding southwest Alaska’s sea otters to the government’s threatened species list, which would offer them protections under the Endangered Species Act. The sea otter population in southwest Alaska was robust as late as 1980, but since then has […]

The Sludge Retort

Microbiologist and former U.S. EPA employee David Lewis testified to Congress yesterday that the agency had knowingly used unreliable data when denying a petition to stop the use of sewage sludge as fertilizer. The petition, from 73 labor, environmental, and farm groups, was denied last December based on data from two Georgia dairy farms that […]

I’d Like to Buy the World a … Juice?

Soft drinks made in India by PepsiCo Inc. and Coca-Cola Co. contain levels of toxic pesticides — including lindane, DDT, malathion, and chlorpyrifos — high enough to cause cancer or immune-system failure over time. Such was the conclusion of an Indian parliamentary report released yesterday, confirming similar findings by the Delhi-based Center for Science and […]