Articles by Grist staff

A guide for greener back-to-school shopping

Back-to-school shopping doesn’t have to be an exercise in conspicuously ungreen consumption. Eco-friendly school supplies made of recycled and organic materials are easier than ever to find. One great place to start shopping is TheGreenOffice.com. And the Center for Health, Environment, and Justice has a handy back-to-school shopping guide that helps you avoid products containing […]

Take note, everyone: Oil is not energy

Should business-section newspaper articles about tobacco companies ritually include statements such as, “The company’s profits and future existence, of course, wholly depend on its ability to externalize the health effects of its products”? Probably not. The newspaper article is a genre narrowly focused on one item — perhaps that’s why newspaper articles are sometimes called […]

California bill aims to curb sprawl

Hopes are high that a bill aimed at curbing California sprawl will pass the state legislature and be signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The bill, SB 375, would channel transportation funding toward projects that encourage smart growth. Each of California’s 17 metropolitan regions would create a “sustainable community strategy” to encourage compact development; […]

Nasty chemicals used in oil and gas drilling go largely unregulated

Toxic chemicals pumped underground to break up seams of rock and increase oil and gas production have a fun nickname: fracking fluids, short for fracturing. (Go on, say it: frack!) But the fun stops there. Fracking fluids go largely unregulated, despite millions of gallons of use and hundreds of reported spills each year. Thanks to […]