Articles by Grist staff

Varmint Cong

Organic farmers in Colorado ask state to blast rodents out of their holes They say life imitates art, but until now, life had stubbornly refused to imitate Caddyshack. Behold! Organic farmers in Colorado have asked the state Division of Wildlife to look into controlling prairie dogs and other burrowing critters by … blowing them up. […]

Lawn Gone

Homeowners rethink their water-sucking lawns A “delawning” movement is sprouting up around the U.S., as a handful of homeowners switch from resource-intensive grassy green expanses to drought-tolerant, native, and/or edible gardens. “It’s about shifting ideas of what’s beautiful,” says Fritz Haeg, an L.A. architect whose Edible Estates project transforms front yards into fruit and vegetable […]

Big Brother Knows Best

House bill would keep states from setting tough toxics rules House Republicans are pushing legislation that would keep states from setting standards for pesticides and health-threatening industrial chemicals that are more stringent than federal regulations. If passed, the bill could nullify a California ban on brominated fire retardants, for example, and restrictions in San Francisco […]

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness — Well, One Out of Three Ain’t Bad

The happiest nations are not the high-consuming ones, survey says A new Happy Planet Index supports the cliché that money can’t buy happiness. The New Economics Foundation, a British think tank, looked at 178 countries’ consumption levels, life expectancy, and happiness, and concluded that people can live long, happy lives without sucking up large quantities […]