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  • MTV-approved advice on reaching those who aren’t paying attention

    He seems cool.Courtesy Energy Action CoalitionPete Griffin spent three years working at Think MTV, the “social issues” and volunteering arm of the entertainment behemoth. He helped run its Choose or Lose election campaign and its Break the Addiction environmental series. He knew these do-gooder campaigns were far from MTV’s sexiest offerings. “Social issues weren’t why […]

    Jonathan Hiskes Culture

  • Ask Umbra on giving advice

    Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, This fall, as part of an environmental ethics course, I would like to create a class blog somewhat along the lines of your column, with students posting questions and answers to environmental quandaries specific to our campus. I wonder if you have any words of wisdom. What […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • PARK(ing) Day puts people and greenery, not cars, in transformed parking spaces [SLIDESHOW]

    I think you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who thinks parking spaces are prettier and more fun to relax in than public parks. Which is one reason you may see people parallel parking themselves instead of their cars on pavement for PARK(ing) Day 2009, which is September 18. Across the world artists and citizens are […]

    Ashley Braun Culture

  • Climate doomsday film ‘The Age of Stupid’ still hopeful, says director in video interview

    We can’t believe what’s going on today either, Pete.Courtesy of The Age of Stupid “Why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?” asks the main character of Franny Armstrong’s new film, The Age of Stupid. Living in a world of climate catastrophe, this solitary character, played by Oscar-nominee Pete Postlethwaite, serves as […]

    Ashley Braun Culture
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    Climate-news poem: Shush edition

    As our throngs of loyal poetry readers no doubt noticed, the weekly climate poem took a bit of a breather after its last appearance. Apparently it has senatorial aspirations and was just “trying on the whole multi-week break thing for size.” But it’s now back in session. Like students overwhelmed by back to school, Our […]

    Katharine Wroth Culture

  • Can we protect kids from the toxic trappings of modern life?

    From Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring to current headlines in the news, there’s long been mounting evidence that we’re being poisoned by everyday items in our lives. I was crushed by the revelation that my trusty Nalgene bottle was leaching bisphenol A into my Brita-filtered water. The first time I had to purchase my own housecleaning […]

    Vanessa Kerr Culture

  • White House hosts farmers market

    Michelle Obama at White House Farmer’s MarketPhoto: Obama Foodorama Cross-posted from Obama Foodorama. Despite rain and cold temperatures, today’s opening of the new White House Farmers Market drew quite a crowd. “I’ve never seen so many people so excited about fruits and vegetables!” First Lady Michelle Obama told the crowd gathered a few blocks from […]

    Eddie Gehman Kohan Culture

  • Burning Embers climate design contest has a winner [UPDATED]

    Update! The people have spoken; we have have a winner. Presenting the nifty Tracing Emissions mobile (and a gallery of entries). Photo courtesy spike55151 via FlickStory: In June I wrote about Burning Embers, an art and design competition that invited students to create illustrations that reflected the causes and effects of climate change. The idea […]

    Jonathan Hiskes Culture

  • Plastic bags are the enemy of the ocean

    Courtesy Save the BayListen up all you Gristers who live along the California coast: This Saturday is Coastal Cleanup Day. Join your friends, neighbors, frenemies and complete strangers in a community-wide effort to get the plastic crap out of the ocean. Plastic isn’t just a problem way out in the Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch. For […]

    Grist staff Culture

  • An interview with solar activist Anya Schoolman

    This interview is part of a series on people who are making their communities smarter, greener places to live. Got a nomination? Leave it in the comments section or send it along to us. All signs point to solar for Schoolman and her neighbors.For a while, things were looking gloomy. The founders of Washington, D.C.’s […]

    Katharine Wroth Culture