Climate Culture
All Stories
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Umbra on long, hot showers
Dear Umbra, The biggest waster of energy in our house right now is our 15-year-old daughter, whose never-ending daily showers must surely be responsible for warming the planet another half-degree. No matter how loudly we bang on the bathroom door and scream for her to stop, she showers on — 20, 30 minutes at a […]
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Maya Lin’s latest memorial will pay tribute to the planet
Maya Lin, an artist best known for designing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., is making plans for a tribute to what has passed from the earth — literally. Her planned memorial will list the names of animals, birds, and plants that have gone extinct. “The top 10 songbirds we grew up with are […]
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Rapper, rocker compete in eco-reality show
Rapper Ludacris and rocker Tommy Lee will be teaming up for a new eco-reality series called Battleground Earth. Together, the motley crew (!) will compete in various challenges aimed at highlighting green issues — though the show is actually “designed to emphasize entertainment over eco-preaching.” Hmm … ya think?
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E.O. Wilson calls for kids to be set free outside, scripted activities be damned
Renowned biologist and naturalist E.O. Wilson regaled the crowd at last week’s Aspen Environment Forum with his wit and wisdom during an on-stage interview. A choice segment: The worst thing you can do to a child, in my opinion, is take them on a hike through a botanical garden where there are the names of […]
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How to green your underwear drawer
Go on, green your drawers. Photo: jamelah e. Change your undies, change the world! OK, maybe that’s stretching things a bit — which can’t be good for those elastic waistbands. But think about all the times in recent history that underwear has shaped the culture: the 1960s bra-trashing by women’s libbers, the infamous 1994 “boxers […]
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Paper mags go green(ish) for one month
The third annual “Green Issue” of Vanity Fair has arrived: Vanity, all is VanityAlthough Madonna graces the cover, the story inside makes no mention of greenness … including her “eco-song” and headlining gig last summer at Live Earth. Altogether an interesting choice for the “green issue,” though I applaud the absence of sweater belts. The […]
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Chinese miners and our appetite for cheap crap
As the United States has outsourced its industrial base to China over the last two decades, millions of manufacturing jobs have disappeared. But the trend has also allowed us to shed a lot of unpleasantness: industrial waste, air pollution, etc. The move also eased the burden on our electrical grid. The energy needed to produce […]
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EPA announces new lead standards for renovation of older buildings
Contractors will have to train workers to follow “lead-safe work practice standards” when renovating or repairing older dwellings that house children or pregnant women, according to new standards introduced Monday by the U.S. EPA. The new requirements are an attempt to keep lead out of the bloodstreams of babes, as structures built before 1978 are […]
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Umbra on organic vs. natural foods
Dear Umbra, I’m trying to convince my sister that there is a difference between all-natural and organic products, and she doesn’t think there is. I’m pretty sure there is a difference, I just don’t know what it is. I look at the ingredients of some of the food she buys that she says are “natural” […]
