Climate Culture

Umbra on replacing light bulbs

Dear Umbra, I am reluctant to switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs because that means tossing out not only used-but-still-working incandescent bulbs, but also the brand-new bulbs I have waiting in the closet. Is it really a positive effect overall when we’re reducing our carbon emissions but adding to landfills? Julie Pittsburgh, Pa. Dearest Julie, […]

Umbra on farmers’ markets and food stamps

Dear Umbra, Do organic grocers take food stamps? Do farmers’ markets? If not, what do ecologically/health-minded people on fixed incomes do? David Burch South Bend, Ind. Dearest David, Did you know that in many states food stamps are no longer stamps? Plastic cards similar to ATM cards have replaced the paper coupons. Electronic Benefit Transfer, […]

Bonnaroo: Last words

Well, folks, my time here at Bonnaroo is coming to a close. Today, I got the chance to chat with head trash-picker-upper Anna of Clean Vibes, Atlanta-based band the Codetalkers, and a number of eco-booth staffers and everyman 'Roo goers. I also listened in as Bonnie Raitt chatted with Marc Ross of Rock the Earth about her work on social issues. She truly believes in using her music to inspire change -- and hopefully her hour-long interview on the Solar Stage will inspire 'Roo fans to make changes in their own personal lives.

I fly back to Seattle tomorrow, so this'll be my last night in a tent as well. For now, that is. I might be a convert, y'all! (Pardon the Southern ... this is Tennessee after all.)

Keep your eye out for a much more in-depth report from Bonnaroo later this week. 'Til then, rock on!

Bonnaroo: Lewis Black & Lyrics Born

More scoop from 'Roo: Funny man Lewis Black, laughin' it up at 'Roo's comedy tent, says he's on tour so much that he isn't in one place long enough to be harming any environment. Ha ha. But seriously, he's looking into biodiesel for his tour bus.

My interview with Lyrics Born went very well. Turns out he's very much into raising awareness about eco-issues. And he's psyched about 'Roo's eco-efforts because, he says, he knows how trashed a festival can get.

Bonnaroo: A breezy dispatch

Another dispatch from Bonnaroo: I've got scoop that Jon Gutwillig of The Disco Biscuits is a big supporter of wind power. He pays his energy company a few extra dollars per month for wind power because he knows it's a better deal in the long run, considering the true cost of our oil economy.

From Iowa to I Owe Ya

Sometimes a basin is just a basin Personally, we don’t see anything unusual about the shape of this Des Moines, Iowa, water detention basin. Nope, not a thing. But apparently, some locals have started saying it looks like — well, you know. That’s bollocks! Photo: Polk County Assessor’s Office. It’s not that easy being red […]

Blogging from Bonnaroo

By the time you read this, I'll be at a comfortable cruising altitude -- and spewing CO2 into the atmosphere at an alarming rate. (Calm down ... I've offset the flight. Thanks, Native Energy!) I'm on my way to the Bonnaroo music festival in Manchester, Tenn., and not for the reasons you think. The four-day, multi-stage festival is cleaning up its act -- like a number of music festivals this year -- and making a real effort to be as green as possible ... no, not that kind of green ...

Anyway, I'll be rockin' the scene all weekend: interviewing eco-minded bands, snooping through recycling bins, hitting on hottie musician-types, checking out the solar-powered stage, and in general being way cooler than you.

Oh, and did I mention I'll be camping there? Which is quite funny actually ... seeing as how I've never camped. Like, ever. But I'm sure it's not that big of a deal, right? I mean, you just stick the little tent-pole thingies into the tent-loop thingies and voilá: you're camping! I mean, right?

Thankfully (or perhaps not), assuming I can get wifi/cell service -- and barring any tent-pole related mishaps -- you'll be able to live vicariously through me as I update the blog throughout the festival. Stay tuned!

How my father taught me to leave cars behind

When my husband and I moved back to Montana three years ago, I fantasized about living far from town. We’d settle outside the city boundaries, where the Milky Way sparkles clear as a river and red-tailed hawks bank over bunchgrass meadows. My (imaginary) dogs could run over our five acres, frolicking in the ponderosa pines. […]

Wool and silk pass the test

Vindication is a strange animal (like unto a marmot, or maybe an echidna) creeping up where one least expects it. Such as the BBC yesterday.

A fan, nay, a necessary devotee of natural-fiber clothing (see: Multiple Chemical Sensitivities), I often get flak from fellow outdoorspeople for outdoorsifying in non-synthetics. Especially so on high-altitude peaks in Colorado. But, newsflash, people: natural fibers like wool and silk, when worn correctly in layers, can hold up to just about everything synthetics can, even on Everest.  Or on 14,000-foot peaks in the U.S. Or in the high Sierras.

Of course, no material is perfect -- super-wet conditions in bulky woolies, for example, often result in a seeming sheep's worth of extra weight -- but in mostly dryish mountain conditions, they're the mountain goat's pajamas.

Wearing replica gear made from gabardine, wool, cotton and silk, [mountaineer Graham Hoyland] wanted to disprove the common myth that the 1920s climbers were ill-equipped to reach the summit [of Mount Everest] ...

The three-year project, led by Professor Mary Rose and Mike Parsons, revealed that Mallory's clothing was highly effective at providing protection at high altitude.

The layered natural materials used to construct the garments were found to be excellent at trapping air next to the skin.

The outer layer of gabardine was hardwearing and water-resistant yet breathable. But the clothing was also lighter than modern gear -- the lightest ever to be used on Everest.

Could a wind-energy art exhibit shape public opinion?

As an artist, Mark Beesley is drawn to subjects that others might find repellant. Beesley lives only a few miles from the Sizewell nuclear power station in Britain, and has occasionally made the plant the subject of his work. Despite his opposition to nuclear power, Beesley admits to a fascination with the plant’s design. “When […]