Climate Culture
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Sinners, repent! How our natural self-bias got us into this mess
This interview originally appeared in the Last Word on Nothing. Dearest readers, we hope you had a gluttonous, slothful, greedy, and lustful holiday, with only the tiniest touches of wrath. My compatriots and I at the Last Word on Nothing are celebrating the season with a series of posts on the Seven Deadly Sins. I […]
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Dispatches from a no-wrap Christmas
Photo: plastic_batFor my mother, sweet vindication came as an early Christmas gift this year on page 59 of a lifestyle magazine. This particular magazine, which specializes in snappy home décor, delicious cookery, and other ways to make your life more fabulous than your neighbors’, ran a spread on stylish new ways to wrap presents. There, […]
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What are your green New Year’s resolutions?
What are your goals and plans for making 2012 the greatest, greenest year ever? Will you bike more? Cook more? Drive less? Go nuts with LEDs? Knit sweaters for penguins? Donate socks to weasels? Embrace the medium chill? Share your resolutions in the comments below, and we’ll round up the best of the bunch next […]
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Decor that helps you feel good about your power source
These adhesive decals stick to any flat surface and are even PVC-free! Why opt for green energy if you can't remind yourself and your guests about it every time you turn on the light? I'm serious. h/t CleanTechnica
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Critical List: Deaths rise in Philippines flooding; how to recycle your Christmas tree
The death toll for flooding in the Philippines is over 2,500. For the first time in six decades, harbor porpoises are hanging out in the San Francisco Bay. First Solar, a company that makes thin-film solar panels, has spent $2.2 million on D.C. lobbying in the past four years. That’s a pittance by Washington standards. […]
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Top five New Year’s resolutions for planet and profit
It’s that time of year when someone at a holiday gathering inevitably asks about your resolutions for 2012. Feel free to plagiarize mine: 5. Grow more of my own food. China’s biggest dairy admitted that some of its products contained a toxin commonly found in corn and wheat, transmitted to the milk of cows eating […]
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Mexico City cuts crime by banning cars
Banning cars from Mexico City's Centro Historico and replacing streets with pedestrian pathways has increased nighttime foot traffic and decreased crime, say local business owners. Before the street got pedestrianized, neighborhood business owners used to strike "unspoken" agreements with the local thieves, says Rogelio Murrieta, who owns a printing business on Regina. "The thieves who […]
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‘Evotourism’ is the new ecotourism
Why journey all over the planet visiting natural wonders that are sure to disappear by the time your grandchildren are old enough to curse your profligate ways, when you can journey into the past, which has already happened so you at least you can't screw it up? That's the premise of Evotourism, a the hot […]
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Driving has lost its cool for young Americans
I’d rather be texting.Amidst all the hand-wringing over distracted driving, a critical point is getting lost. The problem isn’t the texting — it’s the driving. Clive Thompson made this argument in Wired last year: When we worry about driving and texting, we assume that the most important thing the person is doing is piloting the […]
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Ask Umbra: Compost or recycle? Eco-UGGs? Kettle battle? And more
Let Umbra take a little weight off your shoulders.Dearest readers, Some people engage in spring cleaning, but I prefer to do a little winter cleaning. I take down the Gristmahanukwanzakah shrub, put away the nog, and tidy up ye olde inbox to prepare for the almost certain Onslaught of Angst in 2012. During this year’s […]
