Climate Culture

Umbra on rooftop gardening

Dear Umbra, Growing your own vegetables is supposed to be healthy and good for the environment, but I live on a heavily trafficked avenue in Manhattan and my plants stay on my roof. Should I be worried that dirt from car and truck exhaust is contaminating my buckets of soil? Could I be poisoning myself? […]

Higher food prices mean crappier cafeteria fare for kids

As food prices rise, who gets hit first and hardest? Clearly, urban dwellers in the global south, where people spend upwards of half of their incomes on food. According to the Wall Street Journal, here‘s the ever-growing list of nations that have experienced food-price riots: Rioting in response to soaring food prices recently has broken […]

Bag Monsters to educate shoppers on evils of plastic bags

Lunchtime shoppers, beware: if you’re toting your purchases in a plastic bag in one of twelve cities tomorrow, you might encounter a Bag Monster. From your worst shopping-related nightmares the “you can’t make this stuff up” file comes a creation of cosmetics company Lush to support the ban of plastic bags and to raise awareness […]

New and improved ecological footprint calculator from Redefining Progress

Redefining Progress, which had one of the original and most influential "ecological footprint" calculators, has rebuilt their ecological footprint quiz from the ground up. Check it out, and report your results here. What’s your footprint?

What people in malls really want

Eco-conscious gizmos for the enviro to lust after

Dedicated enviros shun consumption, and for good reason. But some consumer items aren’t all bad, and might even (gasp!) be good, particularly if they replace more harmful products or encourage greener living. We’ve rounded up 10 gadgets that a loyal greenie can covet in good conscience. Bike Friday This kick-ass bicycle doesn’t just fold up […]

and other things I learned at Hahvahd

I just spent a couple of days at a journalists’ forum at Harvard whose topic was climate change and cities. The basic premise being that — as our Mayor Nickels and his climate-fighting compatriots well know — cities contribute a hell of a lot of carbon to the world, but are also in the best […]

Umbra on Earth Day office parties

Dear Umbra, Earth Day seems like a good opportunity to raise environmental awareness in the office. Do you have any ideas for an Earth Day office party? The best I can come up with is vegan cupcakes in the park and an inter-department “use less paper” competition. I work for a publishing company that is […]

As nonstop flights between the U.S. and E.U. increase, what will be the effect on climate?

Throw open the skies and get your passports ready! You may have heard by now that the proverbial jump across the pond is about to get much easier and, perhaps, cheaper. As of March 30, an “open skies” agreement between the United States and the European Union has gone into effect, opening up more possibilities […]

From Ruslana to Russia (With Love)

Ukraine’s world Meet Ruslana: the pre-shears Spears of Eastern Europe — and a vocal supporter of clean, green energy. We can’t quite make out all those lyrics, but we’re pretty sure her skimpy outfits are a commentary on the effects of global warming. Photo: Ruslana.ua Trying to rubber the right way Hard up for ways […]