Latest Articles
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Trash becomes treasure at Seattle fashion show
Photo: Doug BulgerFrugal is fashionable in this economy, and the creative minds behind Haute Trash have discovered the cheapest (and chicest) way to dress in a depression is to put junk on your trunk. From pop-top chain mail to yogurt-cup lids, any dumpster-dive find can become a design inspiration. See all the fab runway garb(age) […]
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Simplify your cleaning routine
Tip #4: Simplify your cleaning routine by tossing out toxic stuff and sticking to the (very cheap) basics. Do you really need a different spray or scrub for every surface in your home? Marketing mavens want you to think so. But the dirty truth is that many mainstream cleaners are major contributors to indoor air […]
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Umbra advises on gardens and kids
Q. Dear Umbra, I am constructing a garden bed for a local preschool and am considering the various materials I could use. The beds need to be raised and protected by a rigid border. This has aroused two main concerns: the safety of the children and the durability of the materials. I feel the best […]
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Running out the climate clock
The “Countdown to Copenhagen” clock was front and center at the Bonn climate talks last month.Courtesy UNFCC I suppose what happened to the ticking clock says all we need to know about the state of the make-or-break international negotiations on combating climate change. The bright red digital timepiece was affixed to the podium for the […]
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Why Obama’s bank bailout could be bad for the environment
Back to the future?Photo: Julep67The Obama administration’s plan for reviving the banks is predicated on the idea that the “toxic assets” weighing down balance sheets aren’t really all that toxic at all; that the banks, in other words, aren’t actually insolvent, but just the victims of temporary investor panic. If that logic proves true, then […]
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Report: Mediterranean bluefin tuna on verge of collapse
Bye-bye, big fishPhoto: Tom PuchnerOh-oh. From The Times of London: The fishing season opens today in the Mediterranean spawning grounds of the “king of sushi” — the bluefin tuna — with a grim warning that current catch rates mean it will die out in as little as three years. In my recent exchange with the […]
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Indiana bill would define clean coal and nuclear energy as ‘renewable’
Indiana’s statehouse.Flickr: mattindy77The Indiana lawmakers are considering legislation that would define “clean coal” and nuclear-generated electricity as renewable energy. They’re also mulling bills that would define John “Cougar” Mellencamp as a jazz musician and categorize the pork tenderloin sandwich as a vegetable. Seriously, the energy change, being debated as part of a set of changes […]
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Greenpeace’s new leader talks up need for a green grassroots
Phil RadfordPhoto: Kate SheppardGreenpeace USA’s announcement on Tuesday that the group is elevating its grassroots director to serve as the next executive director sends a clear signal that the 38-year-old environmental organization is focused on growing its membership and playing a lead role in rallying public support for big changes in U.S. energy and climate […]
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Myth: Climate policy must be simple
Among the weird memes that has grown up around the cap-and-trade debate, one of the most puzzling to me is that C&T is fatally flawed because it is complex. Americans don’t “get it.” They’ll only support a climate policy that is so “simple and transparent” that you can explain it on a napkin. (Like a […]
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Towards the Copenhagen climate change agreement: Round One
The international global warming negotiations in Bonn, Germany have just wrapped up. They began with a loud applause as U.S. Special Climate Envoy Todd Stern announced that the U.S. is back. And they ended with the reality of the work that needs to be done over the next 8 months to ensure a strong agreement […]
