Climate Culture

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  • Umbra on being an energy-efficient renter

    Dear Umbra, I’m an apartment dweller in the San Francisco Bay Area, where it doesn’t get too cold or too hot. Still, my energy bill is much too high for my liking and I’m wondering what I can do to bring down the cost and the waste. Any suggestions for non-homeowners? Sarah J. Oakland, Calif. […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • Transportation stuff

    Still catching up with stuff I missed. On the public transportation front, check out this article about the rare prospect of having an Amtrak fan (Biden) in the White House, a cool chart from Brookings comparing Obama and McCain on a range of important transportation issues, and this happy AP story about transit ridership skyrocketing.

    David Roberts Culture

  • Just the third R, thanks

    When the city of London, Ontario, banned bottled water, Refreshments Canada ("voice of the non-alcoholic beverages industry") lamented "a real missed opportunity to do something positive for the environment." Come again? It seems London passed up "a chance to expand recycling." Really. Awesome.

    David Roberts Culture

  • Slower

    Kent A. Sepkowitz doesn’t mention it in this op-ed about lowering auto speeds, but it would save a heck of a lot of gas too. I’m sure politicians will be eager to propose it!

    David Roberts Culture

  • Eleven organic breakfast cereals get put to the spoon

    The scene was surreal … I mean, cereal. I awoke from deadline-anxiety dreams one Sunday morning, and crept down to the kitchen at the farmhouse where I work. There I found a dozen people chomping breakfast cereal, scribbling down notes, and trading bon mots. Coincidentally, the farmhouse had been packed with guests that weekend, including […]

    Grist staff Culture

  • Umbra on bedbugs

    Dear Umbra, I desperately need your help. My house has become infested with bedbugs! I’m trying to find an environmentally friendly way to get rid of them. I’ve tried a thorough cleaning and tried using diatomaceous earth (fossil shell flour) to no avail. The local exterminator is looking more and more appealing. Please stop me […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • Slow Food Nation was magnificent in many ways, but overshot its mandate

    Photo: karmacamilleeon Slow Food Nation — that grand, sprawling culinary event that seemed to permeate San Francisco over Labor Day weekend — has passed. Now we can ask: What was it? A brazen display of foodie elitism, as some critics charge? A transformative moment in an ongoing effort to overthrow the industrial food system, as […]

    Tom Philpott Culture

  • From Drink to Drive

    No beefeater allowed Is it bad that veg-friendly rehab only makes us want to drink more? Hairy spotter Unable to bear it any more, the British army is looking to find a substitute material for its tall, fuzzy hats. Paging Devendra Banhart! Photo: Ella Mullins Stranger than friction If Smencils are smelly pencils, then Sliquid […]

    Sarah K. Burkhalter & Sarah van Schagen Culture

  • A few thoughts on an amazing event — and a recipe for a delectably slow-cooked pasta sauce

    Say cheese: a sample of Slow Food Nation’s Taste Pavilion. Photo: Russ Walker It’s going to take me more than just a few days to fully understand the effects and implications of the first Slow Food Nation, held in San Francisco over Labor Day weekend. The brain power on display was impressive enough: Wendell Berry, […]

    Kurt Michael Friese Culture

  • Under pressure from Big Canned Tuna, FDA lax in mercury regulation

    Under strong pressure from Big Canned Tuna, the Food and Drug Administration is crazily lax in regulating mercury in tuna. Among many examples: In 2000, a draft advisory to pregnant women listed canned tuna as a product highly contaminated with mercury; after FDA officials met with the three largest tuna companies, the final advisory left […]

    Grist staff Culture