Climate Culture
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Grass That’s Truly Greener
One good thing about snow is that it makes your lawn look as nice as your neighbor’s. But with most of the snow across the nation now melted away and lawn mowers emerging from their annual hibernation beneath rusting lawn furniture and pieces of an above ground pool in the garage, there’s one sure-fire way […]
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Birth-control opponents greenwash their message
Even opponents of birth control are “going green” these days. The uber-right-wing American Life League, founded by Catholic activists in 1979, launched a “The Pill Kills” campaign in 2008, and this year shifted its message to “The Pill Kills the Environment.” “Study after study has shown how the chemicals from the pill discharge into our […]
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Ask Umbra’s Book Club: Local or organic?
Dearest readers, Great discussion yesterday in the comments section and on Grist’s Facebook page about meat-eating environmentalists and gross corporate greenwashing campaigns (apparently, kids who are hopped up on sugary cereals in the morning do better in school than kids who have no breakfast at all!). Here’s another batch of questions inspired by Anna Lappé’s […]
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Eco-bricks made from pee take number one
This kid is pissing all over a good idea.Clav via Creative CommonsSometimes it feels like climate change has us all up against a brick wall. Then some innovator pisses all over those fears by cooking up a formula for eco-bricks that don’t need cooking — thus, saving millions of tons of CO2 each year. And […]
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Ask Umbra’s Book Club: WTFood?
Dearest readers, Thank you to all who attended yesterday’s live chat with author Anna Lappé, who doled out informative answers to your most vexing food–climate change questions. (If you missed it, you can catch the replay.) But now it’s time to offer up some of your own insights on Lappé’s tome Diet for a Hot […]
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Ask Umbra’s DIY shampoo and conditioner video
Shampoo and conditioner are things you’ve likely never questioned. But did you know they weren’t used until the 20th century? These packaged products are often expensive and contain toxins that are dangerous to our health. You can be well coiffed and conscientious. Umbra shows you how to make DIY shampoo and conditioner with baking soda, […]
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People who eat organic junk food don’t know what organic means
Organic Oreos? Don’t bite the hype.EricSkiff via Creative Commons Atkins. South Beach. Master Cleanse. Each of these diets is supposed to help you lose weight (and feel great!). “Organic,” on the other hand, does not belong in quite the same category. According to a new study, however, there appears to be an organic-cookie-eating portion of […]
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How to make cities more foot-friendly
Walking in heelsPhoto courtesy loungerie via FlickrOf all the commuting options available, perhaps the most overlooked is also the cleanest, healthiest, most affordable, and given to us by our mamas — feet. In a weekend column for The Washington Post, architect Roger K. Lewis outlined various steps that cities can take to make their streets […]
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For the agrichemical industry, organic cotton is a pest
Like the food you eat, the clothes on your back come from somewhere. If you wear cotton, that “somewhere” is ultimately a farm (with detours at a textile mill, a clothes factory, etc). Growing vast monocrops of cotton, it turns out, is a dirty business. Globally, cotton occupies 2.4 percent of cropland — and burns […]
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Ask Umbra’s Book Club: Live chat with author Anna Lappé
Editor’s note: The chat’s now over, but you can replay it in full. Anna Lappé, author of Diet for a Hot Planet:The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It, chats live with readers about the food system–climate change connection. Join the conversation!
