Climate Culture

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  • Global warming could mean disease and dehydration for pets

    Maybe you've been wondering about how rapid climate destabilization will effect pets. No? Well, maybe you should. This article in the latest issue of City Tails magazine broke the story recently, and according to them, it's not just the long-hairs that face a sweaty future. All domestic animals will be facing off against more disease vectors than ever before. So, if you know someone who can't countenance any so-called "sacrifice" to do their part, just bring their beloved Fido into the frame. Why fight fair?

    Erik Hoffner Culture

  • Umbra on hauling goods by bike

    Hi Umbra, Love your column. I’m a daily bicycle commuter and coffee achiever. Here’s a cool mug and handlebar mount [for the reader who asked about transporting coffee]. Cheers, John Denver, Colo. Dearest John, Thank you. Take a look at the Soma coffee mount John suggests, everyone — it got rave reviews from beaucoup readers. […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • Live Earth is back, so get ready to rock

    Mark your calendars for Oct. 5: Live Earth is back and ready to rock. Kevin Wall, founder of last summer’s international concert extravaganza, says that the October shows will be held on U.S. college campuses, and the focus will be on pushing the presidential candidates to address environmental issues. Locations, bands, and all other specifics […]

    Grist staff Culture

  • Are you a vegetarian?

    Tell us how you eat -- and then read an argument in favor of vegetarianism and heated reader responses.

    Poll under the fold:

    Grist staff Culture

  • From Burnin’ Love to Burnin’ Bras

    Goodness graceland Eco Elvis lives, and he’s gyrating those hips to hits like “Viva Las Vegans,” “A Hunk, A Hunk of Burnin’ Globe,” and “Compost Hotel.” Just call him The King … of recycling. Courtesy of Eco Elvis Cansei de ser sustainable Brazilian band CSS (of iPod commercial fame) has lost bass player Ira Trevisan. […]

    Sarah K. Burkhalter & Sarah van Schagen Culture

  • Harrison Ford bares chest for deforestation

    Looking for the best way to "showcase the pain involved in deforestation"? Harrison Ford suggests a nice wax. 

    Grist staff Culture

  • Kate Hudson launches eco-friendly haircare line

    Kate Hudson’s no fool … her new haircare line, David Babaii For Wildaid, is free of sulfates, parabens, and animal products. The products were tested on Kate, not on animals — and proceeds will benefit Wildaid, a wildlife conservation org. So jealous that she gets to hang out with these guys!

    Grist staff Culture

  • The Betty Crocker’s Cookbook of low-carbon living

    Betty Crocker CookbookWhen I got to college, the best book I bought was a 3-ring notebook-style Betty Crocker's Cookbook. Not adventurous food, but for someone who knew very little about anything concerning food, it was a great first book. It assumes that you are reading a cookbook because you want to know what to do, step-by-step -- instead of just hinting, it lays it out, with pictures and plain language. Great stuff. A couple times a year my wife and I still will ask one another, "What does Betty say to do with these?"

    I always think of Betty (and the old How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive) as the epitome of good technical instruction books. They are all about practical information first, with a minimum of wasted words.

    Today I found a new one for that list.

    JMG Culture

  • Jay Leno Earth Day videos

    Because I’m a video hu-a and will basically embed anything anybody sends me, I give you this from NBC:

    David Roberts Culture

  • Spendy mercury-free LED bulb supposedly lasts 50,000 hours

    Somewhere, in school or on the job, every engineer learns about tradeoffs -- that there is no free lunch, and that, once a design is at all reasonable, gains in one dimension come at the cost of compromises in others.

    The shorthand statement of this is the pithy evergreen in design classes: "Good, fast, and cheap. Pick two!"

    There's a new bulb out: a 13-watt LED array bulb with an integral diffuser, so you don't see the annoying space-craft look of little tiny rows of LEDs like the first-generation LED lamps offer. It has no mercury, a boon, and lasts about five times longer than its 13-watt compact-florescent competitors, while being much faster-acting and producing a warmer light.

    It costs a boatload, at least now ($90). But I still have my first compact florescent bulbs from 1989: huge, heavy ballasts, barely "compact" at all. I'll buy one of these whenever I need a new bulb and gradually switch over all the hard-to-reach spots.

    An interesting video comparison with 100-watt incandescent bulbs and 13-watt compact florescent bulbs is available at the link.

    JMG Culture