Climate 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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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.

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 […]

Wal-Mart discontinues selling green PC in stores

Remember the gPC? It's Everex's $199 "green" Linux computer, the one Wal-Mart stocked up on during the last holiday season. Well, it seems the "experiment" is over, with an unsatisfied Wal-Mart putting those famous price-cutting scissors on their plan to sell the cheap PC in their stores.

According to the AP, Wal-Mart concluded that their middle-American consumer base was not hip to the gPC's Linux-based operating system. However, seeing the appeal of the computer to a more geeky clientele, Wal-Mart will continue to sell it on their website.

Why should anyone care? Far as I know, this was the first mass production of consumer electronics with some green features (low power consumption -- not enough to make it completely green, but a start).

I know what you're thinking: "If it's just the OS they didn't like, why not slap Microsoft Windows on it?" Trust me on this: putting Windows on a green computer is not a good idea.

This is what happens when Hollywood saves the whales

50 Cent. A motley crew of Hollywood homeboys may be banding together for a benefit concert to free Lolita, a killer whale who’s lived in captivity for four decades performing at the Miami Seaquarium. Efforts to return Lolita to her Pacific Northwest home have been underway for years, but it hasn’t gotten much press until […]

Umbra on tap water

Umbra, I was wondering where the H2O from the tap comes from, and where it goes to. Beth Swarthmore, Pa. Dearest Beth, It comes from and goes back to the water cycle, which I’ve been reading a lot about in Richard Scarry’s classic work What Do People Do All Day? The book answers the “where […]

Do Not Mail Registry campaign launches

Image: donotmail.org Just about five years after the opening of the Do Not Call Registry, ForestEthics has signed, sealed, and delivered on a campaign for a Do Not Mail Registry, aimed at eliminating that other annoying way marketers try to reach their grubby little hands into our personal lives: junk mail. According to ForestEthics, some […]

Concerned about air, world-record holder will not run Olympic marathon

Marathon world-record holder Haile Gebrselassie will not compete in his favored event at the Beijing Olympics this summer over fears that polluted air will damage his health. The Ethiopian runner, who has exercise-induced asthma, will try to qualify for the Games in the 10,000-meter race instead. Other athletes have expressed similar concerns about the breathability […]