Articles by Grist staff

The Cradle-to-Cradle Will Rock

Smart, eco-friendly design making inroads in the business community The seminal 2002 book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, by architect William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart, inspired a slogan for 21st century designers: “Pollution is a symbol of design failure.” They proposed that every material used in manufacturing should be capable […]

AAA for Effort

Legislation would force EPA to get realistic about fuel-efficiency stats A bill debuting in Congress today would require the U.S. EPA to revamp its gas-mileage tests to more accurately reflect real-world driving conditions. Currently the EPA determines mileage ratings for vehicles by using 30-year-old tests that allow vehicle engines to get warm, never push the […]

You Say Tomato, I Say Hidden Costs of Transport

Locally grown food greener than organic, British study says Though organic farming is relatively easy on the environment, buying locally grown food, even the pesticide-sprayed variety, is usually more earth-friendly than buying organic, a new study contends. Published in the journal Food Policy, the study found that the transportation of food over long distances — […]

Consider this

Oft-villified sneaker behemoth Nike has introduced five new styles that tread a little lighter on the earth. Part of a new line called Nike Considered, the casual shoes and boots are part of the company's effort to examine ways to reduce waste, eliminate toxic substances, and follow their image consultants' advice to atone for that whole small-children-working-in-sweatshops-in-foreign-countries thing:

Among other changes, the Nike Considered shoes are largely made with materials found within 200 miles of the factory, to cut down on fuel consumption in transporting them. The leather comes from a tannery that recycles wastewater to ensure that no toxins are released into the environment, and it is pigmented using vegetable dyes. Hemp and polyester are used to make the shoe's woven upper and shoelaces. The midsole is cut to lock into the outer sole, lessening the need for adhesives in constructing the shoe. The shoe's outer sole includes recycled rubber.