Latest Articles

Lunchroom drama, nanotech follies, and other tasty bites

When my info-larder gets too packed, it’s time to serve up some choice nuggets from around the Web. —————- Get ’em while they’re hot.  • Remember Fed Up with Lunch,  my favorite stunt blog ever? In it, an anonymous teacher in the midwest does something that few adults would volunteer to do–not even ones who […]

Debunking the “you’d be a great green parent” argument

A number of commenters on my “I’m childfree and I’m proud” post, both here and on Facebook, argued that I’m just the sort of smart, eco-groovy person who should be having kids, to ensure that there’s a new generation of thoughtful and active citizens to carry on the good fight.  Thanks for the compliment!  But […]

Al Gore wants Earth Day volunteer videos

Al Gore is calling on volunteer videographers to create short videos about their favorite organization working on climate-change solutions. Three of them will appear on YouTube’s homepage on Earth Day, April 22. Then millions of YouTube viewers will have their climate awarenesses raised. For one whole day … Can’t hurt, right? “This year on Earth […]

Me, on Grit.tv, talking about Obama’s drilling plan

Yesterday I went on Grit.tv with Laura Flanders to discuss Obama’s new drilling plan. Watching it now, I think the main lesson is that I desperately need more sleep, or at least a professional make-up artist to hide the bags under my eyes. Here it is: One quick follow-up note: I think my focus on […]

Louisiana environmental racism case gets hearing from Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

For the first time in history, an international human rights body has agreed to review a case involving allegations of environmental racism in the United States. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) will hear a complaint filed by the New Orleans-based Advocates for Environmental Human Rights (AEHR) on behalf of the people of Mossville, […]

Obama was against offshore drilling before he was for it

While blogger Adam Bink is correct to point out that then-candidate Obama pivoted on offshore drilling in the final months of the presidential campaign, he misses a few important points.

A view into the U.S. diet

The above chart, created by the USDA, compares the food consumed by the average U.S. citizen (using “loss-adjusted food availability” data as a proxy for consumption) to Federal dietary recommendations. In other words, what Americans eat vs. what the federal government thinks we should be eating. According to this analysis, we eat something like 30 […]

Ask Umbra on Babeland’s boinking for bucks

Birds do it. Bees do it. You know what I’m buzzing about. And as long as you’re doing it, why not do it for Grist? For the entire month of April, Babeland will be donating 20 percent of sales of all their eco-friendly sex toys to Grist. You might remember this video about breaking up […]

Ask Umbra’s pearls of wisdom on spring cleaning

Dearest readers, Ah, spring is on the calendar and in the air. Birds are singing, bees are buzzing, flowers are making me sneeze—or perhaps it’s this dust that’s been building up all winter. Time for the annual washing, scrubbing, wiping, sweeping, and general expunging of stuff known as spring cleaning. I scoured the archives for […]

How much renewable juice does it take to power an Apple iPad?

With Apple fans’ fingers itching for the newest glossy touchscreen machine to hit the market this Saturday — the legendary iPad — it only makes sense to ask how the latest gee-whiz gizmo will impact the environment. Even with ten to twelve hours of battery time, they’ll have to recharge the wunder gadget sometime. So […]