Climate Culture

The history of tree-hugging, and the future of name-calling

Anyone who ever sympathized with Eric Cartman‘s declaration, “I hate hippies! … I want to kick ’em in the nuts” probably finds the word “tree-hugger” useful — and plenty of other people dig the word, too. Maybe you’d rather be a vile SUV-cuddler? Photo: iStockphoto At this point, it’s hard to imagine the vocabulary of […]

Umbra on synthetic fabrics and kids

Dear Umbra, I have just recently learned about all these plastic-awareness issues and now wonder about polyester clothing, or any human-made fabric for that matter, on my children (three girls: 3, 5, and 7 years old). If plastics can leach out into their bodies, can clothing also affect them? Julie Roberts Nevada City, Calif. Dearest […]

A chat with Worldwatch’s Gary Gardner on faith and environmentalism

Gary Gardner. “It’s because I’m a religious person that I’m an environmentalist,” says Gary Gardner, director of research at the Worldwatch Institute. An expert on nuclear proliferation, population, and world hunger, Gardner returns to a subject close to his heart with his latest book: Inspiring Progress: Religions’ Contributions to Sustainable Development. I caught Gardner by […]

Polluting my bathroom

You know that little rubber duckie in your bathroom? I always thought the little fella was sorta cute, nestled there between the shampoo and the loofa.

Well, it turns out the little ducky's not so rubber after all -- it's plastic, namely the dreaded PVC. And it further turns out the bathroom is full of the stuff.

From Hatcher to Hogan

Trailer of beers We wouldn’t put it beyond Brit and K-Fed to shack up in a trailer park — have ya seen him not in a ‘beater? But we bring you a different desperate housewife altogether. Yes, it’s solar-powered. Yes, it’s set on an organic farm. But really, T-Hatch — a trailer? Photo: Jesse Grant […]

One of two individuals in DOE’s voluntary emissions program reports back

I’ll admit it: I’m different from most people. I have energy savings goals for my house and car. I usually shop at a local food co-op, paying more than I have to for organic items. I even work indirectly with renewable energy for a living. It wouldn’t be that hard to be labeled an environmentalist, […]

An interview with J. Matthew Sleeth, evangelical environmentalist and author

In 2000, a wealthy hospital chief of staff and evangelical Christian named J. Matthew Sleeth looked around at the life he’d built — suburban neighborhood, huge house, two cars, lots and lots of stuff — and decided it failed to properly honor God. J. Matthew Sleeth: listen to the heart.In what he describes as a […]

Umbra on kayak materials

Dear Umbra, I’m planning on kayaking the Inside Passage next summer and am having a hard time deciding what kind of boat to get. Are there any environmental reasons to choose a kayak material? Mostly I’m torn between plastic, which is cheaper and more durable, vs. fiberglass, which is lighter and faster, or Kevlar, which […]

Umbra on reducing consumption

Dear Umbra, If recycling requires energy to turn one’s discarded waste into usable products, and “climate solutions take precedence over garbage-production concerns,” as you wrote in June, why are we so focused on recycling and not on reducing our initial consumption? Surely this should be at the forefront of the individual consumer’s attempts to help […]

Harder than it looks

In the latest issue of Sierra Magazine, Seattleite Seth Zuckerman recounts the results of his personal experiment: