Climate Culture

Complaints Choir looking for members

Got good chords? Got stuff to bitch about? The first official U.S.-based Complaints Choir is forming in Chicago, and they’ll be debuting on Nov. 3. The Complaints Choir is performance art — people send in their complaints about life, the world, the environment, whatever’s pissing them off, and then everyone gets together and makes a […]

Current TV wants to know

Current TV wants to know. Tell them here.

And while you're at it, check out the :60 Seconds to Save the Earth Ecospot Contest on the Current site. The best short video message crafted to inspire action against climate change will win a Toyota hybrid, plus exposure on Current TV, MySpace's Impact Channel, and more. The contest is sponsored by Current TV and the Alliance for Climate Protection, in partnership with Grist.

Lead, Swallow, or Get Out of the Play

Mattel adds to recall of millions of lead-painted toys In yet another blow to Big Toy, Mattel Inc. yesterday recalled some 9 million China-made playthings. While most were sets containing potentially swallowable magnets, the toymaker also pulled 253,000 lead-painted die-cast cars. Earlier this month, Mattel pulled an additional 1.5 million toys thought to be colored […]

You know what they say about enviros with big feet …

Each of these pairs of shoes represents a different (real) woman in a new feature at Marie Claire: "Whose Carbon Footprint Is the Smallest?" See if you can guess: THE URBAN HIPSTER “I eat out way too much. I drink bottled water. I do the club scene a lot. Am I busted?” –Nikea, 29, public […]

Comin’ ’round the bend

Coming to a showroom near you: a $30,000 all-electric sedan with a top speed of 80mph and a range of 120 miles per charge. Why the low price? It’s made in China, with cheap labor and advanced lithium ion batteries that came out of government-funded research. There’s competition: Phoenix Motors has a four-door utility truck […]

It Only Hertz a Little

Rental and car-share companies get hip to hybrids Fueled by consumers’ green interests, rental, car-service, and car-sharing companies are increasingly turning to hybrids. (Hear the collective sigh of relief from guilt-prone enviros who cringe with every tap on the rental accelerator.) Big renters Enterprise, Hertz, and Avis have all recently added several thousand Toyota Priuses […]

Sign me up

This is the true story of seven strangers, picked to live in an energy-efficient house, work together, and have their lives taped to find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting green. From the press release [PDF]: The Real World house will include everything from solar energy solutions to bamboo flooring, […]

A green band that’s really green

Last week, headed to the Lanesplitter for a Tune-Up, quite by accident I ended up seeing the Ditty Bops at the Freight and Salvage.

I'm glad I did. The music was sweet and smart and catchy. But music aside, the show was eye-opening. Bono, step aside: Here's the new standard for what it means for musicians to engage in activism.

At Vote Solar, we are periodically invited to table at shows where big name acts have decided to incorporate an activism component to their tour. It's kind of them to do -- but unless the artist is willing to talk about your issue from the stage, we've found that we might as well set up in front of a supermarket. People come to shows to get drunk and have a good time -- they are not generally interested in talking about, say, the importance of net metering policies.

And not to dis themed benefit concerts like Farm Aid, Live Aid, Live Earth, Tibet Freedom Concert, etc. Raising money and awareness is a good thing, irrespective of whether the bands that participate live what they preach.

But the Ditty Bops take it to a whole new level:

A linky post

Oy vey. A “vacation” (read: four-state, four-family, Midwestern extravaganza) has left me decidedly off the ball. Prepare for heavy linkiness, and my apologies that much of this is not terribly current. There’s a Dead Meat Olympics? Who knew? Steve Nash (heart!) is opening an environmental gym in Vancouver. London Olympics 2012 update: Amphibians are being […]

And then you die

According to a new report released this week by the Natural Resources Defense Council, there were 25,000 beach closings or “swimming advisory days” in 2006. That’s 28 percent more than in 2005, and the highest number since they started keeping records on that sort of thing. Some 1,300 days of closings were attributed to sewage […]