Climate Culture
All Stories
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Soiled diapers can now end up as roof tiles
Babies! They use so much energy that the best thing you could do to save the human race from climate change might be to avoid having one altogether. But if you choose the reproductive path, at least the 6,000 poopy diapers that your offspring will produce in the course of his or her early years could have a second life as part of your house -- specifically, as the shingles tiling your roof.
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Will more attention to climate change bring back ‘population control’?
I'm afraid that attention to climate will revive alarmist debates on population. And as a woman of color, I'm worried that the specter of population control will rear its ugly head again.
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Climate change is the reason kids don't go outside anymore
Only one in 10 kids goes outside every day. It's hard to see how this is possible, unless the other 90 percent are Morlocks, but maybe shuttling between the front door and the air-conditioned interior of mom and dad's SUV doesn't count.
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Ask Umbra: What's up with plastic made from plants?
Grist's new head honcho can't get his head around compostable, plant-based plastic. Umbra breaks it down.
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Where’s the contraceptive for overconsumption? [VIDEO]
"What we need to really find for the future is the contraceptive for overconsumption," says Mother Jones reporter Julia Whitty in this PBS video.
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This amazing off-grid hobbit house cost less than $5,000 to build
Self-taught builder Simon Dale constructed this straight-out-of-a-fantasy-novel house in four months for less than $5,000. The house is designed for low-impact building and low-impact living: it was made from reclaimed lumber and salvaged materials, and the Dales live off the grid, with a compost toilet, a green roof, spring-sourced water, and natural heating and cooling. […]
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International family planning saves lives. So why is the GOP cutting it?
The GOP is committed to rolling back women's health rights that have made families and societies stronger across the developing world.
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Tolkien parody turns recycling into an epic journey
What I know about Lord of the Rings can basically be summed up in a single Flight of the Conchords song, but someone clearly had a terrifically good time making this recycling-based parody, so I still think it's pretty super. I haven't yet stayed awake through an entire Lord of the Rings movie but I […]
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If you want a green building, make it out of wood
The third little pig might have staved off disaster, but the second little pig was the greenest, according to the USDA. The agency looked at dozens of studies comparing wood to concrete and steel and declared wood the winner when it comes to emissions. Attempts to use materials other than wood in construction yield, on average, 2.1 tons more greenhouse gases per ton of material.
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Can you raise chickens in a one-bedroom apartment?
Well, it's not a good idea, but you can, according to the New York Daily News. They've got a story about Robert McMinn and Jules Corkery, who are raising three hens in their one bedroom in Queens.
