Articles by Grist staff

Data Dumping

Think the U.S. EPA is keeping tabs on water pollution around the country? Think again. The agency’s computer system for tracking and controlling water pollution is outmoded, riddled with bad data, and lacks information on thousands of sources of serious pollution, according to a report released last week by the EPA’s inspector general. Efforts to […]

Double Trouble

The number of animal species in Brazil known to be endangered has nearly doubled since 1989, reaching 398, according to a three-year study conducted by the Brazilian government and released last week. Tropical wolves, rare parrots, and exotic frogs and turtles are among the many threatened creatures. The comprehensive survey of animal and plant life […]

Self-Destructive Behavior

It sounds like a bad movie. Wait, it IS a bad movie. A bad DVD, to be precise — at least from an environmental standpoint. A division of Walt Disney this August will begin selling DVDs that self-destruct after 48 hours, dubbed EZ-Ds. After an EZ-D’s plastic packaging is opened and it’s exposed to oxygen, […]

Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut …

Macadamia-nut shells will soon be the source of electricity for more than 1,200 Australian homes. Construction began this week on a biomass cogeneration plant in the northern Australian state of Queensland that will produce renewable energy by burning more than 5,000 tons of shells generated by the nation’s native macadamia nut industry. “This project … […]