Climate Culture
All Stories
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The city speaks — and artist Candy Chang finds fresh ways to listen
Photo:Randal FordThe house was a nightmare. “It had been collecting dust and graffiti since Katrina and there was something very shabby and Brothers Grimm about it,” says Candy Chang, an artist and graphic designer who lives just a few blocks from the place in New Orleans. But where others saw blight, Chang saw an opportunity, […]
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Ask Umbra: Is silicone cookware safe?
Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, Can I recycle my silicone hotwater bottle? Also is it really OK cooking in silicone baking dishes? What IS it? Marcea C. Totnes, England Photo: Scorpions and CentaursA. Dearest Marcea, Something about your final question has caught my fancy — the wistful perplexity, the beseeching helplessness, the […]
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Green Christmas: Santa’s carbon footprint [INFOGRAPHIC]
We all know that with the end of December quickly approaching, Santa is busy getting everything set for his worldwide tour. Tim Allen’s, erm, Kris Kringle’s boots are mighty big, but the carbon footprint he leaves behind is even bigger. Ethical Ocean took a look at Santa’s environmental impact, and tried to see if they […]
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Critical List: Congress does everything it can to screw the environment; fabric cleaned by sunlight
Congress voted to put sanctions on Iran, which would make it harder for Iran to sell oil, but potentially make oil sales more profitable for the regime overall. After all the work that the anti-Keystone coalition did, Republicans are trying to tack a measure to approve the pipeline onto a bill that extends the payroll […]
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How bikes can solve America’s most pressing problems
(click to embiggen) Air quality, obesity, commute times, strained family budgets, unnecessary deaths, runaway health care expenses — is there anything that a mass shift to bicycles transportation wouldn't solve? And it's not like this is a fantasy — Europe has demonstrated that not only is this possible, it's the future.
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Ingenious origami cup eliminates plastic lids
Yes, yes, we should all bring our own mugs when we go to Starbucks. But failing that, wouldn't it be nice if we could eliminate plastic waste from the equation by leaving off the lid? Designer Peter Herman's Compleat cups have a clever folded design that provides cup and lid in one, giving you one […]
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Team Tupperware: Doing away with disposables for good — and loving it
Pig out: This week, the Greenie Pig opts out of disposable junk.Somewhere on the California coast, between redwood territory and the Bay Area, lies the world’s most self-righteous coffee shop. My boyfriend, Ted, and I stopped there two summers ago for some much-needed caffeine. But as we queued up to order, handwritten signs confronted us […]
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In praise of the humble pothole
Photo: Topsy Qur’etThis may be the “most wonderful time of the year” for holiday music fans, but it’s a terrible time to drive: Constant freezing and thawing and the pounding of holiday traffic create craters in the asphalt large enough to swallow a Cooper Mini, leaving us to pick our way through a minefield of […]
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The best sustainable Christmas tree ever
Book lovers can sidestep the eternal question of farmed versus PVC (they both suck) and opt for a holiday display that's a monument to reading … or bibliophilia, anyway, since trying to actually read any of the books in this display would be a holiday Jenga nightmare. You don't even have to celebrate Christmas to […]
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The most bare-chested grocery-bag video you’ll watch today
This is maybe not the most complex Tim Minchin song I've ever heard, but you have to admit it imbues canvas grocery bags with some much-needed rock star cachet. At least by the time the giant fan comes out. (Hat tip to Umbra reader Jake!)
