Climate Culture

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  • More on Catalog Choice and the Do Not Mail registry

    Yesterday's Washington Post had a fascinating article by Lyndsey Layton about how the U.S. Postal Service is teaming up with the junk mail lobby to stamp out (heh heh) efforts to create state or national "Do Not Mail" lists that would allow people to opt out of receiving commercial solicitations. That's no surprise: junk mail is big business, and the postal service, the paper companies, and the junk mailers don't want anything that would interfere with their cash flow, no matter how many forests are destroyed to make the paper.

    But inside the article was the bizarre revelation that some environmental groups "are cool to the idea of a registry that prohibits marketers from sending mail to those enrolled and that fines violators. One reason may be that most environmental groups are themselves junk mailers."

    Indeed, Laura Hickey of the National Wildlife Federation -- a member of the Direct Marketing Association -- claimed that the national registry "would affect anybody who mails ... I don't think it would be any different whether you were for-profit or non-profit."

    Actually, no: all of the proposals for a Do Not Mail registry would include free-speech protections for non-profit and political groups. And, according to Todd Paglia, executive director of ForestEthics, the organization behind the Do Not Mail campaign, Hickey herself was told that on three occasions.

    Glenn Hurowitz Culture

  • Umbra on burning paper

    Dear Umbra, We heat our house primarily by wood, in an efficient, EPA-rated woodstove. My question is this: We recycle all of our paper, paperboard, cardboard, etc., but would it be better to burn it? As it is, we drive it to the recycle center, they ship it off somewhere, it is then processed, then […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • 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