Climate Culture

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  • How to green your pet

    Without pets, the world would be such a pale, less playful version of itself. No Wallace and Gromit videos. No Fluffy purring in our laps or Fido fetching his Frisbee. No cheerful creatures welcoming us home and adoring us unconditionally. (OK, we’d still have mom.) So we love them, there’s no getting around it. But […]

    Grist staff Culture

  • Global warming could thaw relations between enviros and those who live closest to ‘the environment’

    I wasn't particularly planning to continue on the culture war beat, but then, I wasn't expecting Orion Magazine to publish exactly the type of article of which I'd like to see more. In "One Nation Under Elvis," author and environmentalist Rebecca Solnit uses music -- specifically country music -- as a jumping off point to examine the cultural and class markers that divide a movement from itself.

    It's become a bit trite to say that climate change isn't (or shouldn't be) a left-right issue. But political coalitions in the U.S. really did once look quite different than they do now. In the '30s, the progressive movement "saw farmers, loggers, fisheries workers, and miners as its central constituency along with longshoremen and factory workers." According to Solnit, this constituency frayed in the postwar period, and blasted apart in the 1960s:

    Adam Stein Culture

  • Some Easter trinkets test high for lead in small study

    If you’re the Easter-trinket-buying type, beware: some pastel gewgaws may have high levels of lead, according to testing done by students at Ohio’s Ashland University. Of 45 Easter-themed spinning tops, hair clips, sippy cups, and plastic eggs purchased at the fun-to-say Hobby Lobby, 13 exceeded the federal standards for lead in paint. But that shouldn’t […]

    Grist staff Culture

  • Saab commercial features Lolita the killer whale

    On the heels of my short mention of the campaign to free Lolita, producer (and campaign spokesperson) Raul Julia-Levy called today to point me to a Saab commercial that features video of Lolita in “her stinky little tank.” It’s a tear-jerker; break out the hankies:

    Grist staff Culture

  • An insanely clever bike-advocacy ad from the U.K.

    This is awesome:

    Sarah K. Burkhalter Culture

  • Umbra on transporting coffee by bike

    Dear Umbra, Now that there are promises that the snow will melt someday, I’m dreaming about biking again — to work, to the farmers’ market, to church, etc. However, my sweet husband loves to make me coffee and send it with me when I leave the house. I have wonderful reusable coffee cups for the […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • From P-I-M-P to Pimp

    Say hello to Lolita’s friend Hey Miami Seaquarium: We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. So why don’t you just hand over the whale, and we’ll make sure you avoid a run-in with 50 Cent’s finger gunz, Johnny Depp’s crazy-eye, and Harrison Ford’s killer smile. Photo: Johnny Nunez / Wireimage Four14een […]

    Sarah K. Burkhalter & Sarah van Schagen Culture

  • Some ‘green’ products test positive for nasty chemical

    Nearly half of 100 consumer products claiming to be “natural” or “organic” tested positive for a carcinogenic petrochemical manufacturing byproduct, according to the Organic Consumers Association. The products tainted with scary-sounding 1,4-dioxane came from various well-known brands, including Alba, Jasön, Kiss My Face, Method, Nature’s Gate, and Seventh Generation. Some of the companies said they […]

    Grist staff Culture

  • The SOZEV/train combo commute

    Pete has the coolest-looking SOZEV (Single-Occupant Zero-Carbon Emission Vehicle) in Seattle. (Click the photo to the right for a larger view.) It has turned a sweat-inducing, 45-minute slog up a killer hill into a comfortable 10-minute cruise. He rides to the Sounder commuter train station from his house and then from downtown to his office east of Seattle. Surfing the net while commuting by train is a concept that appeals to me. I wonder how well the free wi-fi concept is actually working out ...

    Pete said he would let me test-ride it, so I jumped at the chance and met him downtown. A hybrid bike's top speed, like its weight, is not a very relevant indicator of overall performance. This one can go a lot faster than it should, but I suppose that's true for every motorcycle and car in the world as well. The windscreen (which reminds me of the canopy on an F-16) makes it a little too aerodynamically clean, especially when going downhill.

    Some bike seats can be, ah, "sucky for your sex organs," but this one feels like you're sitting in a BarcaLounger, and a laptop fits nicely behind it. If there were such things as protected bike lanes, we would all be riding rigs similar to this, replete with over-the-head fairings, turn signals, and electrically heated clothing. Entrepreneurs have not realized it yet, but with that much battery power, all kinds of things become feasible. Heated clothing could keep you warm and toasty in the coldest weather, negating the need to bundle up for the start of a ride and strip down toward the end of it. Turn signals would negate the need to take a hand off your brakes to signal (as cars race toward you from behind). With this much power, you can also light a bike up like a Christmas tree.

    Biodiversivist Culture

  • Drive a stake into winter’s cold heart with a creamy, dreamy noodle dish

    Goodbye winter, hello primavera. Photo: iStockphoto I love March. Why? Because I hate winter. I hate shoveling, I hate walking on ice, and I especially hate always having to look at the ground when I’m walking, instead of at all the people and things around me. With the exception of cross-country skiing and being able […]

    Roz Cummins Culture