Climate Culture
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Obama’s budget proposal serves up thin gruel for school lunch reform
Twenty of these won’t even get you an apple a day to keep the doctor away. As most readers of the Grist food section know by now, school lunches draw a meager share of the national budget. The federal government reimburses school cafeterias at a rate of up to $2.68 per student per day–a level […]
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A teacher’s blog takes a withering look at school lunches
Where does your food come from? In this Illinois public school, the answer is: plastic. Photo: Fed Up: School Lunch Project blogI normally don’t have much time for blog stunts–you know, I’m going to cook my way through such-and-such famous cookbook in a year, or stop using toilet paper, and then roll out a book […]
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Ask Umbra on sustainable manufacturing jobs, sexless fish, and matches
Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, I am wondering if you can help me with this question: What makes jobs in sustainable manufacturing “sustainable” (as opposed to just “manufacturing” jobs), and what do employers look for in determining whether a candidate is right for a “sustainable” or “green” job? And while we’re thinking […]
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The best green films at Sundance
The Sundance Film Festival has long been a celebrated venue for environmental documentaries, due in part to Sundance founder Robert Redford‘s green sensibilities. An Inconvenient Truth, The Cove, and Who Killed the Electric Car? all attracted critical buzz at Sundance before they made their way into theaters around the country. The festival’s 2010 lineup continues […]
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A Seussical retort to a “Green Coal” company claiming the Lorax name
A new coal-gasification company has named itself LoraxAg, after the consummate Seussical eco-hero, The Lorax. It’s admittedly part of a move to brand the company as advancing the mythical-sounding “Green Coal Technology.” (That’s trademarked, naturally.) “Green Coal” doesn’t sound musical to the Seussical.Photo: Chris1051 via Flickr “The Lorax is the protector of the truffula trees,” […]
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Ask Umbra’s pearls of wisdom on apartment dwelling
Dearest readers, Sometimes when I’m down in the stacks researching answers to your latest dilemmas, I enjoy taking a stroll down Ask Umbra archives lane. Here are some shiny tidbits I culled from my past advice on making the most of renting a small urban abode. Have any of your own sustainable apartment living tips […]
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Would you trade a bigger house for more happiness?
In New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof’s column on Sunday, he recounts the story of then-14-year-old Hannah Salwen and her dad Kevin, and how a chance encounter with a homeless man catapulted their family into swapping their high-end home for a more modest abode and donating half of the proceeds to charity. Just reading that […]
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Ask Umbra on toilet paper, dryer balls, and Twitter
Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, Is it more environmentally sound to throw tissue paper in the toilet or in the trash? I’m disturbed by how much toilet paper is used by one family alone and wonder just what it takes to remove all that paper from the sewage system and from the […]
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Why you should go see ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’
“I’ve got an idea”: Mr. Fox and friends fight the power. I’m writing a post that I shouldn’t have to write: a plea to get you, political-minded foodie that you are, to go to whatever lengths necessary to see Fantastic Mr. Fox. How do I know you haven’t? Because the box-office numbers stink: the film […]
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Ask Umbra on perfume bottles, wax paper, and alternative beverage bottles
Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, I am a child of the consumer age, but I try to live by “reuse, recycle.” I have a lot of fancy perfume bottles that are now empty. They are very heavy glass, and it seems I read that the return on the energy spent to melt […]
