Latest Articles
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Ask Umbra’s DIY shampoo and conditioner video
Shampoo and conditioner are things you’ve likely never questioned. But did you know they weren’t used until the 20th century? These packaged products are often expensive and contain toxins that are dangerous to our health. You can be well coiffed and conscientious. Umbra shows you how to make DIY shampoo and conditioner with baking soda, […]
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People who eat organic junk food don’t know what organic means
Organic Oreos? Don’t bite the hype.EricSkiff via Creative Commons Atkins. South Beach. Master Cleanse. Each of these diets is supposed to help you lose weight (and feel great!). “Organic,” on the other hand, does not belong in quite the same category. According to a new study, however, there appears to be an organic-cookie-eating portion of […]
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Bingaman rebukes Lieberman’s oil disaster excuse that ‘accidents happen’
Cross-posted from the Wonk Room. Last week, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) defended the inclusion of expanded offshore drilling in the climate bill he will unveil tomorrow, brushing off the deadly Gulf disaster by saying that “accidents happen:” There were good reasons for us to put in offshore drilling, and this terrible accident is very rare […]
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Disaster contingency plans are ‘fantasy documents’ when it comes to big oil spills
Lee Clarke.Am I the only one mystified — and, OK, horrified — by British Petroleum’s apparent failure to have a contingency plan in place for just the kind of worst-case scenario that happened in the Gulf on April 20? Thankfully not. “Fantasy documents” is how author and sociologist Lee Clarke describes most corporate contingency plans […]
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A three-way blame game at oil-spill hearing
Here’s your 30-second wrap of the first congressional hearing on the BP Gulf oil disaster: The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hauled in executives from BP America, which leased the Deepwater Horizon rig; Transocean, which owned the rig; and America’s favorite, Halliburton, which laid cement for the rig. Executives from the three companies — […]
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How to make cities more foot-friendly
Walking in heelsPhoto courtesy loungerie via FlickrOf all the commuting options available, perhaps the most overlooked is also the cleanest, healthiest, most affordable, and given to us by our mamas — feet. In a weekend column for The Washington Post, architect Roger K. Lewis outlined various steps that cities can take to make their streets […]
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For the agrichemical industry, organic cotton is a pest
Like the food you eat, the clothes on your back come from somewhere. If you wear cotton, that “somewhere” is ultimately a farm (with detours at a textile mill, a clothes factory, etc). Growing vast monocrops of cotton, it turns out, is a dirty business. Globally, cotton occupies 2.4 percent of cropland — and burns […]
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White flight and the urban-suburban switcheroo
Suburban ChicagoCourtesy Scorpians and Centaurs via FlickrThe idea of racially diverse American cities ringed by mostly white suburbs is essentially flip-flopping, according to the Brookings Institution’s big new demographic report, “The State of Metropolitan America.” The report draws on 2002-2008 census data to find that young, educated whites are moving into cities in record numbers. […]
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The Yes Men send an intern to the Bolivia Climate Summit
Yes Man Andy Bichlbaum was in no shape for a trip to Bolivia, so a new guy made the trip.ScreengrabPrankster duo the The Yes Men sent an intern to the “people’s” climate summit in Bolivia last month, and he made a pretty entertaining video. The alternative conference, led by Bolivian President Evo Morales, skewed toward […]
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The farmstead creamery advisor is IN
Gianaclis Caldwell makes aged cheese from the milk of her Nigerian Dwarf goats. She lives in Oregon, on a 23-acre, off-the-grid farm. She has critically acclaimed cheeses, a whole lot to say about the business of making and selling your own cheese, and a new book called The Farmstead Creamery Advisor. And there’s never been […]
