Latest Articles

Umbra on fabric softening

Dear Umbra, With winter upon us, I’m thinking about a serious matter: fabric softener. During the summer, I don’t use any. However, with snow looming, static cling is on my mind. Long story short, which is better: liquid fabric softener or dryer sheets? AllieShippensburg, Penn. Dearest Allie, Your home will be a happier, healthier place […]

Umbra on composting paper

Dear Umbra, Two questions: Does the colored ink in newspapers still contain chemicals bad for a compost pile? Also, what about the colored ink printed on cardboard boxes? I want to have a safe compost pile to use in a garden. Anonymous Dearest Mysterious Reader, Some readers may find gardening questions in February a bit […]

Umbra on diaperless parenting

Dear Umbra, I have a baby on the way. Due to prodding by my wife, I have begun to think about things such as diapers. Babies make a lot of boom-boom, and wrapping it all up in a bundle of plastic diaperness, tossing that in a plastic sack, and then tossing the lot in a […]

With feds slow to tackle mercury pollution, state leaders step up

The Mercury Mutiny is gaining force on the state level, galvanizing some unlikely rebels. Eastern states including Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and New York were the first to jump into the fray, launching local efforts to reduce mercury pollution in response to the Bush administration’s widely criticized plan for dealing with mercury. Then last […]

Shape Up or Ship Out

Texas Ship-Inspection Company Implicated in Prestige Tanker Disaster Negligence on the part of the Texas-based American Bureau of Shipping — a company that conducts safety inspections of ships — could be to blame for the notorious Prestige tanker disaster, which spilled millions of gallons of oil off the coast of Spain 15 months ago and […]

Nativity Scene

Native Peoples Speak Up for Their Lands Indigenous peoples are rallying for their lands and their rights this week in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where a major U.N. convention on biodiversity is taking place. Representatives of native peoples are demanding the right to reject development projects on their ancestral lands, saying that multinational companies should not […]

Got to Admit It’s Getting Bettors

Bettors Will Get a Chance to Help Save Albatrosses A well-known bookie is teaming up with enviros in a creative effort to help save albatrosses, sea birds that are increasingly threatened by a fishing technique called longlining, which involves the use of tens of thousands of baited hooks dragged behind trawlers for 60 miles or […]

An improbable plan would use Arctic Refuge drilling proceeds to fund transportation projects

Beltway insiders waited with bated breath yesterday to see if Sen. Peter Domenici (R-N.M.) would succeed in tacking his stalled-out energy bill onto the huge highway transportation bill now wending its way through Congress. The consensus from his Senate Republican colleagues? No deal. In need of refuge. Photo: FWS. But another cockamamie plan that would […]

Snowmobefuddlement

Judge Issues Yet Another Reversal of Yellowstone Snowmobile Ban An already-confusing winter for tourists and tour operators in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks got more muddled yesterday, when a federal judge overturned severe restrictions on snowmobiling in the parks. For those of you keeping score at home, a quick rundown of the story so […]

Ballast Off!

Invasive Species in Ballast Water Messing With World’s Oceans Ships that carry ballast water — used to balance and stabilize the vessels — also carry thousands of aquatic species across the globe to foreign habitats, where they can have environmentally catastrophic effects. Recognizing this as one of the top four environmental problems facing the world’s […]