Climate Culture

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  • Don’t forget

    David Roberts Culture

  • Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree will be efficiently lit

    The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is up; once it’s lit on Nov. 28, we can no longer deny that The Holiday Season is in full swing. We can, however, ogle the tree guilt-free, as the towering evergreen will be lit by energy-efficient LED bulbs and powered in part by solar energy.

    Grist staff Culture

  • Umbra on reheating coffee

    Dear Umbra, As a web developer for a certain respectable online magazine somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, I drink a lot of coffee to keep me alert and my very demanding employers happy. However, in my constant imbibing of the dark elixir, I’m concerned about the energy use involved. Specifically, I can only drink coffee […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • NBC’s vast green wasteland

    What a dud NBC's Green Week turned out to be. I thought that:

    1. The shows would find clever ways to promote green themes.
    2. This would launch NBC on its way to becoming greener.

    Not! Indeed, the only good news is that the shows bombed across the board. Looks like viewers aren't suckered by greenwashing.

    As for No. 2, you can't even find a single reference to being green on nbc.com today (you have to click on the tiny "corporate info" item at the bottom, and then look for the "Green is Universal" link under Headlines). But, amazingly, what you will see on the NBC homepage are multiple ads for the Nissan Rogue, a crossover SUV that gets 23 or 24 mpg! I guess green isn't really that universal. (Incidentally, the TV writers are striking in part because greedy producers won't share this kind of online ad revenue with them.)

    The shows were very, very lame from a green perspective. The funniest was 30 Rock (click on David Schwimmer picture/Greenzo episode), but it was a brutal satire on corporate greenwashing. The only person who is genuinely green is Schwimmer, who is a stereotypically obnoxious about the environment. Al Gore has a funny cameo, but he is mainly spoofing himself.

    Scrubs is pretty funny, but the janitor's effort to green the hospital fails for lack of interest. Thanks NBC! (Katharine Wroth was similarly disappointed with the Thursday night line-up.)

    Deal or No Deal had the models saying things like "Recycling is Cool, America." Recycling? Seriously? That is, like, so 1980s. Even dumber, Kermit the Frog (or what sounded like a lame imitation of him) was on the show to green it up, although he didn't actually say any environmental things that I recall. But he was green-colored!

    las-vegas-2.jpgWhat really convinced me this was not just a meaningless but actually a counterproductive exercise was that I happened to catch Las Vegas. NBC should be embarrassed for calling this a "green" episode (you can watch the episode, titled "It's Not Easy Being Green" -- gosh, how original -- here):

    Joseph Romm Culture

  • Are you brave enough to say no to a high-stress holiday?

    The problem with Christmas is not the batteries. The problem isn’t even really the stuff. The problem with Christmas is that no one much likes it anymore. If you poll Americans this time of year, far more of them regard the approaching holidays with dread than anticipation. It has long since become too busy, too […]

    Bill McKibben Culture

  • 10 great ideas for “stuff-free” holiday gifts

    So you want to give … nothing to your loved ones this holiday season? Or at least nothing that’ll end up on a dusty shelf or in a landfill? Consider these stuff-free gift alternatives. Tangible gifts are so 20th century. Photo: iStockphoto Purchase carbon offsets Plane flights during the holidays can be packed with irritations: […]

    Grist staff Culture

  • California sues over lead-tainted toys

    The state of California, which never met an environmental fustercluck it didn’t want to litigate, has filed a lawsuit accusing 20 companies — including Mattel and Toys R Us — of making or selling products containing “unlawful quantities of lead.”

    Grist staff Culture

  • On organic Christmas trees

    Dear Umbra, Is there such a thing as an organic Christmas tree? How chemical-intensive is conventional Christmas-tree farming? If I want a Christmas tree, what’s the most eco-friendly way to go? Your fan, Lisa Seattle, Wash. Dearest Lisa, Since you are not only a fan but also my senior editor, who told me you are […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • A gift guide for eco-minded shoppers headed to big-box stores

    More Advice Looking for more holiday gift ideas? Check out our past gift guides: Gifts Recommended by Grist Staff and Readers Even More Gifts Recommended by Readers Gifts for Young Folk Gifts for Every Stereotype on Your List When it comes to gift-giving this holiday season, ‘twould be best to give nothing at all but […]

    Sarah K. Burkhalter Culture

  • In which we attempt to calculate how much an organic feast would cost

    There’s something about Thanksgiving that seems to prompt people to think about where their food comes from. Maybe it’s all the cornucopias and sheaves of wheat depicted in supermarket circulars, or maybe it’s the focus on the harvest. Visions of farmers bringing in the crops may lead people to think about how food gets to […]

    Roz Cummins Culture