Articles by Sarah K. Burkhalter

Building green while sitting on your couch

In case you have forgotten -- it's been a long week, with a holiday, hooray! -- last week's Dig This claimed that I will use my weekly soapbox here to promote house-related stuff that's affordable to the average human being.

Well, today's column is aimed at the average human being that owns a TV. If you are one of these lucky folk, you too can tune in to PBS this summer for the first-of-its-kind Building Green:

Send your pic to the UCS HybridCenter!

I am an impostor. Here I am writing a weekly car column, and I don't even have a car. I don't really know anything about cars. I can't even be trusted on car color: I consistently refer to my parents' "green Honda" despite unanimous opinion from all other viewers that it is, in fact, gray. You will be getting no in-depth analysis of hybrid technology from me, no this-engine-will-kick-that-engine's-ass. Nope, this column will focus on, well, whatever car-related item tickles my fancy on Thursdays as I'm desperately throwing together putting the finishing touches on the Wheel Deal.

Today's Wheel Deal is about community and love. Because even if you're ambivalent about cars, you gotta love love.

HybridCenter.org, a project of the Union of Concerned Scientists, has launched the Earth Day Challenge -- because what the environmental community needs is more challenges. Just kidding. Anyway, as concerned scientist Scott Nathanson says, "Ford might have Kermit to plug its Escape Hybrid, but we've got Bill Nye the Science Guy!" And he ain't lyin'. Bill Nye is plugging the plug-ins like only an overdramatic science guy in a powder-blue coat can.

By the way, my brother's friend's mom used to clean Bill Nye the Science Guy's house. True story. Would you like my autograph?

Anyway, the Earth Day Challenge is cool. They're trying to get 1,000 hybrid owners to send pictures and/or testimonials to the site by Earth Day (April 22). Hybrid-less individuals can participate as "hybrid enthusiasts." Aww ... feel the love!

Coming up next week: I don't know yet, but you know it'll be, um, super-duper awesome. If you've got a super-duper awesome idea, send me an email: emailE=('skraybill@' + 'grist.org') document.write('' + emailE + '') . I'll take "totally wicked" ideas too, but if your idea is merely "rad," perhaps you should keep it to yourself.

EcoLogical Home Ideas debuts.

Welcome, welcome to Dig This, the cleverly-titled weekly column on digs -- or, for those of you not up on the lingo, houses. Or, eco-stuff for houses. Or, eco-stuff vaguely related to houses. We'll see how it goes. I'm not above making obscure connections.

Today's (very digs-related) spotlight: the brand spankin' new magazine ecoLogical Home Ideas. You can check out the site, but I currently hold in my hands -- well, my lap, since I'm typing -- a glossy copy of the premier issue. I know, you've grown so accustomed to Grist that you've forgotten they made magazines out of paper. Me too.

The magazine shown on the ecoLogical Home Ideas website doesn't have the same cover as the actual hard copy, so consider this a sneak preview. Lucky you! The biggest headline on the actual copy is "If Money Were No Object."

Facts and figures on poverty in the United States

$35,000 — basic-needs budget for a U.S. family of four (two adults, two children), as calculated in An Atlas of Poverty in America 1 $19,157 — poverty line for a family of four (two adults, two children) in the U.S. in 2004, as established by the U.S. Census Bureau 2 $19,000 — amount spent by […]