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The Return of the Bicycle
The bicycle has many attractions as a form of personal transportation. It alleviates congestion, lowers air pollution, reduces obesity, increases physical fitness, does not emit climate-disrupting carbon dioxide, and is priced within the reach of the billions of people who cannot afford a car. Bicycles increase mobility while reducing congestion and the area of land […]
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Philly’s Greensgrow farm: An unconventional hybrid that works
Mary Seton Corboy sweating in her bee suit on the living roof of the Greensgrow farm’s storage trailer.(Photos ©Michael Hanson) It’s sunny and 94 degrees, and the pavement’s steaming after a thunderstorm rolled sideways through north Philly. Mary Seton Corboy wears a full-body, white bee suit. She stands atop a small trailer’s grassy roof on […]
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Friday music blogging: Sarah Harmer
In 1999, I jumped ship from a PhD program in philosophy and moved to Seattle to live with a girl I’d been seeing on and off for years. Having no practical skills of any kind and no employment history to speak of, I was working in customer service at Amazon.com and wondering what I’d do […]
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Delegation from oil-afflicted Amazon visits Louisiana tribes hit by BP disaster
A delegation of indigenous and community leaders from Ecuador is visiting Louisiana this week at the invitation of the United Houma Nation, a tribe in coastal Lafourche and Terrebone parishes that has been hit hard by the BP oil catastrophe. The Ecuadoreans have come to share lessons they’ve learned dealing with another oil disaster: U.S. […]
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Friday music blogging: Phosphorescent again [UNFORTUNATE UPDATE]
UPDATE: I’m bumping this old FMB back to the top because this excellent band just ran into some truly cruddy circumstances. After the very first show on a planned six-week tour, their van and equipment were stolen from in front of an apartment in N.Y.C. They’re estimating their losses at around $40,000 but many of […]
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Ask Umbra’s Book Club: Dive into the big blue
Greetings readers, As you all know, I am a bookworm of the highest order. In fact, I’m such a bookworm that my compost worms have their own library. I think it’s important to surround them with good literature, but they just keep eating the pages. And so must we all surround ourselves with good matter […]
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Raising water productivity to increase food security
Drip irrigation is a simple and easy way to reduce water use.Photo courtesy of photofarmer via flickr With water shortages constraining food production growth, the world needs an effort to raise water productivity similar to the one that nearly tripled land productivity over the last half-century. Since it takes 1,000 tons of water to produce […]
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Big Oil Shakes Down US Taxpayers
Last week, oil company executives testified to Congress about energy policy in the wake of BP’s ongoing disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. A casual observer may have thought we were transported to an alternate universe. At one session, Representative Joe Barton of Texas apologized to BP for what he called a White House “shakedown” […]
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World Cup open thread
I'm enjoying the World Cup, blind refs, vuvuzelas, flops and all. But my friend Matthew -- who actually plays the game -- not so much. He argues that the game needs updating. He's got a point. Sports constantly change and innovate to increase dynamism and broaden appeal. Basketball, for example, adopted the 3-point line; football, the forward pass; baseball, steroids. Why not soccer, indeed?
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Featured Friend: Marcia Rutan
Each month, we showcase one of our beloved Friends with Benefits — folks who have donated to support our work. Want to take your relationship with Grist to the next level? Just donate any amount to join the fun. Marcia Rutan “Garbage has been my game for 20 years this June: recycling, waste prevention, and compost. Plus […]
