Climate Culture
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How to help victims of the Alabama tornadoes
Alabama's still reeling from severe tornadoes. Supporting the environment also means supporting humans when the environment f*cks them over, so we figure you're looking for a way to throw your shoulder in. Here are some ideas for how to do your part for people who may not be feeling so keen on Mother Nature right […]
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A very, very, very fine house: Ask Umbra on communal living
Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, How do I reduce my carbon footprint in a house full of people? Hannah HulsePort Orchard, Wash. A. Dearest Hannah, How best to keep it cool in a communal house?Photo: sheepwoolinsulation.ie You’re on one of those reality shows where they all live together, aren’t you? America’s Next […]
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Salt of the earth: Environmentalists and urbanists collide in San Francisco Bay [UPDATED]
In a collection of salt evaporation ponds tucked between a freeway, a sleepy little marina, and the headquarters of Dreamworks Animation, the San Francisco Bay’s ecological future hangs in the balance. The ponds themselves look deceptively blank: Vast flat rectangles of shallow water once used by Cargill to produce salt, the two-and-a-quarter square miles are […]
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Bad in the sack: Ask Umbra on neighborhood recycling deviants
Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, My neighbors do not recycle appropriately — they throw in frozen food boxes, bag their recyclables in plastic bags and who knows what else! Does that mean that all my efforts are in vain? Elizabeth Raley submitted via Facebook What can you do about a neighbor who […]
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Climate-change planning should include family planning
Women and their kids in Kunderpara, Bangladesh.The women of Kunderpara village are used to having water all around them. They live on an island in the middle of one of Bangladesh’s many large rivers. The women are even used to the occasional seasonal flood. But lately when the river floods, it takes on new, terrifying […]
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Celebrate Earth Day with free stuff that isn't just more crap
HuffPo and Re-Nest both have roundups of Earth Day free sh*t and deals, and the implication is clear: The best way to celebrate the Earth is to CONSUME, CONSUME, CONSUME. This is hella depressing. Some places are offering free shipping as their Earth Day deal, which … just go away, I will be over here […]
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Take a ride on a Barcelona streetcar in 1908 [VIDEO]
Sometimes, on a Friday, all you want is to look at something that is just plain wonderful. To that end, I submit this film, shot from a Barcelona streetcar back in 1908. It’s a delightful artifact of a time when streets functioned very differently than they do today — with bicycles, pedestrians, horsedrawn carriages, trams, […]
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Don’t spray it: Ask Umbra on air fresheners
Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, According to their new ads, Air Wick air fresheners now have 100 percent natural propellants. OK, so they got rid of the solvents, but what about the other horrible chemicals that are in the product? Isn’t this greenwashing? Brozafan Wynnewood, Penn. There’s no substitute for truly natural […]
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Stocking the Broke-Ass pantry, and the magical three-day chicken
Making great meals from bubkes is easy when you do it the Broke-Ass way!Broke-Ass has often been asked how she feeds her family of five on bubkes. The answer is: Shop as little as possible, and buy what only what you must, as cheaply as possible. Cutting down on marketing means you not only have […]
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Five ways to green your marijuana habit
Happy 4/20! Sorry to harsh your buzz, but indoor pot growing is a major bad trip for the environment. (All right, no more mixed drug metaphors. Maybe a couple.) Let’s be blunt (okay, one more): If marijuana ever becomes legal in the U.S., we'll have to start thinking about how to keep it from bogarting […]
