Culture

Umbra on driving versus flying

Dear Umbra, My husband asked me this one the other day and I didn’t know the answer, so I thought I’d ask an expert. Which is the more environmentally friendly method of travel: 100 people driving their own cars (let’s assume non-hybrid vehicles) to a city three hours away, or 100 people flying in a […]

Ask Umbra® Culture

Everything you wanted to know about toxic shower curtains, in my dulcet tones

Here I am again on the Environment Report, this time chatting about toxic shower curtains. Everything you ever wanted to know on the subject, complete with Psycho shower-scene screeching, allusions to shower-curtain licking, and quips about exhibitionism.

Sarah K. Burkhalter Culture

Wall*E

I saw Wall•E the other day with my kids and I found it absolutely rapturous, particularly the first half-hour or so. I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up nominated for Best Picture. Not only is it a creative triumph, but it manages to convey “lessons” (ugh) about “environmental stewardship” (ugh) in a way that […]

David Roberts Culture

Umbra on fans versus AC

Dear Umbra, I’m a girl trying to make it in a big, hot, airless city — New York, that is. We’re in the middle of a heat wave that will soon end, but the longer heat wave we call summer will continue, so I wonder: when the interior of my apartment is up to 93 […]

Grist staff Culture

Should you add the latest green-living books to your library?

It’s easy writing green, or so this year’s deluge of eco-tippy books would indicate. But are any of the latest feel-good, change-a-light-bulb tomes decent? No doubt our own volume, Wake Up and Smell the Planet, is still No. 1 on your toilet tank — but we thought we’d take a look at how the recent […]

Grist staff Culture

How author Betsy Block convinced her finicky family to mend their dietary ways

In her new book The Dinner Diaries: Raising Whole Wheat Kids in a White Bread World, Betsy Block writes compellingly about trying to feed one’s family and oneself in a nutritious, sustainable, economical, and harmonious way — and dealing with various likes and dislikes within the family dining unit. Betsy Block Photo: Andrew Pockrose I […]

Roz Cummins Culture

Seven green leaders reveal their favorite reads

Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bad books bite. Photo: margolove Which books and magazines are tempting today’s environmental movers and shakers to keep the CFLs burning late into the night? Grist asked seven movement leaders for their recommended reads. (Been burning the night oil yourself? Add your own favorite reads in the comments […]

Michelle Nijhuis Culture

Well-Arrested

No, he didn’t ride a Trek to the premiere of his new movie (I can hear the cars-aren’t-green comments already!), but Jason Bateman did show up in a BMW Hydrogen 7 — billed as “the world’s first hydrogen-powered car for everyday use.” Um, maybe if your “everday” activities include winning a Golden Globe, playing an […]

Holly Richmond Culture

An interview with author Bruce Barcott

Bruce Barcott. In his new non-fiction book Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw, environmental journalist Bruce Barcott follows Sharon Matola — a former Air Force survival specialist and circus-tiger trainer turned zookeeper — as she fights the construction of a hydropower dam in her adopted country of Belize, and attempts to save the nesting site […]