Climate Culture

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  • Ask Umbra on wasps, researching your own eco-questions, and energy vampires

    Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, Every time the weather gets warmer, it’s the same: the wasps! They insist on trying to make their home in my balcony! I tried many different things, like citronella candles, but some of them apparently attract instead of repelling wasps. I don’t want to kill them; I […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • Ask Umbra’s pearls of wisdom on biking

    Dearest readers, Ready to shed the chill of winter and dust off your 10-speed? (Yes, cold-weather bike warriors, I’m aware that your bike never collects dust.) We all know biking is better for the environment than jumping behind the wheel (not to mention less expensive and healthier, assuming you follow the rules of the road). […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • How do you argue against the growth juggernaut?

    I’ll be talking tomorrow to filmmaker Dave Gardner, who’s making a documentary called Hooked on Growth: Our Misguided Quest for Prosperity.  He wants to hear about my choice to be a GINK — green inclinations, no kids.  And I’ll be offering thoughts about growth in general.  Any suggestions about points to make or ideas to […]

    Lisa Hymas Culture

  • Ask Umbra dishes with Anna Lappé

    Photo by KalaLeaThe next time you bite into a burger, consider this: Livestock create more greenhouse gas emissions than all the cars, trucks, planes, and other fossil-fueled modes of transportation in the world. In fact, our current food system—from industrial farming to packaging to transporting—contributes as much as one-third of total greenhouse gas emissions. Food’s […]

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  • The Day When Breast Isn't Best

    A list of ghastly toxics known to be present in human breast milk—from pesticides and flame retardants to deodorizers and wood preservatives—is enough to make any new mom question the oft-heard refrain that “breast is best.” Still, most experts still agree that breast milk is the healthiest choice for both moms and babies. That’s probably […]

    Anna Fahey Culture

  • Sit, stay, recycle [VIDEO]

    Has “green” jumped the shark if even pugs are on board? They’re always late adopters. For Puglet’s next trick, he will push climate-change legislation forward. —————————————————————————————————————————————————– Like what you see? Sign up to receive The Grist List, our email roundup of pun-usual green news just like this, sent out every Friday.

    Jen Harper Culture

  • Jesus and climate change: The journey of evangelical leader Rich Cizik

    Rich Cizik Photo: National Association of Evangelicals As vice president for governmental affairs at the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), Rich Cizik represented 4,500 congregations serving 30 million members. Considering himself a “Reagan conservative” and a strong initial supporter of George W. Bush, Cizik had been with the organization since 1980, serving as its key […]

    Paul Rogat Loeb Culture

  • DIY cheap, green burial with dryer lint

    One bunny in a dryer yields three urns.Cleaning out the mass of lint, dog and human hair, dirt, and dust that collects in the dryer always makes me retch just a bit, but Oregon-based mortician Elizabeth Fournier, known as the Green Reaper, obviously has a stronger stomach than I do (from dealing with the dead […]

    Jen Harper Culture

  • Shape shifting bike trailer-cart-strollers.

    My 1994 Oregon-made Burley bike trailer-stroller (above) is still dear to my heart, but innovations in newer Burleys and in other companies’ offerings show that tools for human-powered urban mobility are developing at a rapid clip. The 31-year-old Eugene company Burley and four manufacturers outside the Northwest offer bike trailer-stroller-cart-jogger hybrids that convert into so […]

    Alan Durning Culture

  • Ask Umbra on fertility awareness, grilling, and Earth Day pledges

    Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, I’ve been following the discussion of GINKs and birth control on Grist the last week or so. In your most recent post, I thought there was a pretty big type of birth control missing: Fertility Awareness Method (FAM)—which is not to be confused with the “rhythm method” […]

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