Climate Culture
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Ask Umbra on ungreen roommates
Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, I would like to reduce the amount of energy that my household uses as much as possible. But I have a problem with my roommate. She refuses to use CFLs. She gets upset when I turn off phantom loads, like the power supply for her laptop computer, […]
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13 badass greens
Think people who love the planet are all wimps and weenies? Think again. Here are thirteen who are giving green a bad reputation — in a good way. Read on to learn more about these Mother-lovers — and leave your own nominations in the comments section below. Training day.Beige Luciano-Adams/ELLA13. Homeboy Industries. With the tagline […]
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Burning Embers design contest seeks new ways to illustrate climate change
Photo courtesy spike55151 via FlickrNow here’s a great idea: The student-driven not-for-profit Artist as Citizen has a new Burning Embers design competition, inviting student artists to find new ways to portray climate change trends, causes, and effects. The contest, open to undergraduate and graduate art students and recent graduates, invites work in any medium that […]
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‘The End of the Line’ is a compelling indictment of industrial fishing
If scientists are correct, 2048 will be a terrible year for sushi restaurants. And diners selling tuna melts, too. The End of the Line isn’t going to make you feel so good about hitting the neighborhood sushi bar.In fact, if I had any money to invest in a seafood venture, Carl Safina’s suggestion to “consider […]
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‘Sea Change’ documentary highlights threat of ocean acidification
Sven Huseby and his grandson Elias during production of the film A Sea Change.Photo: Daniel de La Calle If you’ve ever doubted the power of the printed word, strike up a conversation with one Sven Huseby, whose entire life was changed by one article in the New Yorker. The retired history teacher found himself […]
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Ask Umbra on license plates
Q. Dear Umbra, Today I obtained a Wisconsin driver’s license and plates, after nearly a year of denying my residency in America’s Dairyland due to my pride in my home state (which has produced gems such as Rod Blagojevich, and his hair). But instead of accepting my olive branch, the DMV issued me license plates […]
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Snap, son! Baseballer Ryan Howard gets White House garden tour
Here’s some good stuff, via Obama Foodorama: While a camera rolls, White House chef/gardener Sam Kass shows baseball star Ryan Howard around the White House garden. They have some great dialogue, climaxing with Howard’s reaction to the garden beehive: “Oh snap, son!” Kass hips Howard to the genius of composting–food scraps go from the White […]
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Climate-news poem: plagiarism edition!
Each time I set out to pen one of my climate-news poems, I try really hard not to make it bouncy and rhyming. But terrible bouncy rhymes seem to flow in my veins. It’s a curse, to write such verse! So this week I promised myself I’d experiment with blank verse — and hey, why […]
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Beyond the compost heap: what to do with fruit and veggie seeds?
So many seeds … so many uses? In Checkout Line, Lou Bendrick cooks up answers to reader questions about how to green their food choices and other diet-related quandaries. Lettuce know what food worries keep you up at night. Dear Lou,At Halloween we look forward to the pumpkin seeds as much as anything, but lots […]
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Mercury bill clears major hurdle
Great news – we’re one giant step closer to ending needless mercury pollution from chlorine plants in the United States. On Wednesday, the Mercury Pollution Reduction Act (HR 2190) passed a subcommittee vote that allows it to now be considered by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce committee. The majority of bills die, […]
