Articles by Grist staff

Kipchoge Spencer of Xtracycle and Worldbike answers questions

Kipchoge Spencer. What work do you do? I’m president of Xtracycle Inc. and cofounder of Worldbike. I’m also lead singer of the Ginger Ninjas. What does your organization do? Xtracycle invented and makes car-trip-replacing, life-enhancing, sport-utility bicycles, long bikes, and the FreeRadical Hitchless Trailer — for toting your kids to school, loading up with groceries, […]

The Mod Quad

Green buildings, sustainability studies going mainstream on campus More than 110 colleges and universities around the U.S. have or are building eco-friendly structures, saving on energy costs and attracting students who want to go to a school that “gets” being green. At Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, for example, students designed a green roof that […]

Northern Blights

Flame retardants are yet another toxic threat to polar bears New research confirms that polar bears — for years known to be victims of northward-spreading toxic substances — are accumulating in their bodies worrying levels of flame retardants called polybrominated diphenyl ethers. The effects of this PBDE contamination are unknown, but similar chemicals are believed […]

Where There’s Smokescreen There’s Ire

U.S. and Asia-Pacific countries gear up for not-Kyoto climate meeting The first meeting of the Asia-Pacific climate partnership will kick off this Wednesday in Australia. The six participating nations — Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, and the U.S. — will emphasize the transfer of clean technologies to developing countries, instead of Kyoto-style emissions caps. […]