Articles by Grist staff

Toxin-laden e-waste dumped in West Africa

European Union laws prohibiting the export of hazardous materials aren’t keeping shipments of electronic waste out of West Africa, according to a new Greenpeace report. Traders obtain e-waste in the E.U. and ship it off “under the false label of ‘second-hand goods,'” says the report, adding, “Sending old electronic equipment to developing countries is often […]

Snippets from the news

• Wal-Mart lobbies against carbon-offset guidelines. • What’s the climate impact of junk mail? • Household PCs go on an energy diet. • California school buses will get cleaner. • Map shows how climate change affects biodiversity. • Cuba scales back ethanol plans.

Dell Inc. claims carbon neutrality

Dell Computer’s worldwide business operations are now carbon neutral, the company announced Wednesday. True carbon neutrality is, of course, a chimera for a giant IT company; notes business analyst Clive Longbottom, “You have to question whether they have taken all their workers’ commuting into consideration and the materials in making a computer, going all the […]

NYC officials fear natural-gas drilling would taint water supplies

New York City officials want to ban natural-gas drilling within a mile of six major upstate reservoirs for fear that the city’s drinking water could become contaminated. Extracting gas from the Marcellus Shale rock layer, as some state regulators and lawmakers are pushing to do, would require shooting millions of gallons of water and unidentified […]