Latest Articles

What are we made of? One word: Plastics

This story originally appeared in Urbanite. In What’s Gotten Into Us? Staying Healthy in a Toxic World, McKay Jenkins sounds an alarm on the chemicals that we unknowingly ingest and inhale daily.Photo: J.M. GiordanoAfter the discovery of a tumor near his hip, McKay Jenkins, married, father of two, began investigating the manufacturing and consumer use […]

Justin Maxson: An Appalachian trailblazer for sustainability

Grist is proud to present the Change Gang — profiles of people who are leading change on the ground toward a more sustainable society and a greener planet. Some we’ve written about before; some are new to our pages. Some you’ll have heard of; most you probably won’t. Know someone we should add to the […]

Durban dispatch: Fear of Kyoto commitment

An activist shows support for the Kyoto Protocol in Durban.Photo: Hollywood NorthCross-posted from ThinkProgress Green. “Even if others are not, we are ready to take a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol,” said European commissioner for climate action Connie Hedegaard. Australia and New Zealand, which sponsor the most developed carbon markets outside Europe, say […]

Samsung’s new Zombocalypse-proof appliances

Samsung's new line of energy-efficient, even solar-powered appliances that are robust in the face of power fluctuations and outages were built for Africa (that’s why they’re called “Built for Africa”), but they have “catastrophist stocking stuffer” written all over them. And Samsung knows it — how else can we explain their promo shots? This girl […]

Potato chip advertising is a perfect metaphor for income inequality, says science

A study just published in Gastronomica proves that appealing to our tribal identifications is hardly the sole domain of liquor and cigarettes. The authors use "the language of food to examine the representation of socioeconomic class identity in contemporary America by comparing the advertising language on expensive bags of potato chips with that on inexpensive […]

Eating rice raises risk of arsenic exposure

Sometimes it just feels like we should give up eating, particularly if "we" are "pregnant women." A new study links rice consumption with higher levels of arsenic in the bloodstream, which can increase the risks of infant mortality and low birth weight. Most arsenic exposure comes from water, and the study found that 10 percent […]

Clean energy investment tops $1 trillion

Somewhere, sometime in the past few weeks, the trilionth dollar to be invested in clean energy made its way into the budget of some co-generation plant, wind farm, solar company, or electric vehicle innovator. To be more specific, this is the trillionth dollar to be invested since Bloomberg New Energy Finance started counting in 2004. […]

Jon Huntsman, how could you?

Dear Jon Huntsman, You were the only Republican candidate to stand up for a truth that will have an immeasurable impact on every generation of humans from now until the earth crashes into the sun and the universe forgets what love even was. When you cravenly reversed yourself on climate change, you broke my heart. […]

Critical List: Huntsman goes right on climate change; the Mob goes green

Among Republican presidential candidates, denouncing climate science is like a bug. They all have it now. Even Jon Huntsman. Ban Ki-Moon is not particularly hopeful about the prospects of success at Durban. Justifiably. Britain is losing three-quarters of its butterfly species. Katharine Hayhoe is a climatologist and evangelical Christian, which means she spends a lot […]

Fleeced again: How microplastic causes macro problems for the ocean

On Black Friday, outdoor retailer Patagonia took out a full-page ad in The New York Times asking readers to “buy less and to reflect before you spend a dime.” Beside a photo of their iconic fleece jacket, the headline read: “Don’t Buy This Jacket.” And, while their message about retail consumption undoubtedly made a splash, […]