Climate Culture

Tiiiiiime Is on Our Side, Yes It Is

Time cover story propels global warming into the mainstream “Be worried. Be very worried.” So warns the latest issue of Time magazine, which focuses on every Johnny-come-lately’s favorite topic: global warming. The cover story — the contents of which will be old news for devotees of scrappy nonprofit environmental magazines that need and deserve your […]

From Rodents to Rainforests

I’d put my acorns in those cheeks Squirrel sex is hot. So hot, in fact, that Canadian researchers are studying the relationship between global warming and the mating habits of flying squirrels — small rodents that glide from bush to bush. And to think the government’s decision to fund this research was questioned. Nuts, we […]

This Is Your Train on Drugs

Environmental Defense and Ad Council debut edgy new climate ads You know what would really inspire us to turn off our thermostats, sell our cars, and fight global warming with all that we’ve got? Seeing a little girl almost get hit by a train. Or so seems to be the thinking of Environmental Defense and […]

Rabbi Michael Lerner calls on environmentalists to develop a spiritual vision

As we strolled through downtown Seattle in search of coffee, Rabbi Michael Lerner casually pointed over my shoulder and said, “That’s where I was in jail.” Rabbi Michael Lerner. Photo: Mark Werlin. He was referring to his membership in the Seattle Seven, a group of Vietnam War protesters whose 1970 arrest and trial sparked a […]

Umbra on baby nurseries

Dear Umbra, I am pregnant and wondering if you know of any websites or resources for setting up a nursery — for green furniture, bedding, and mattresses. We’re painting the nursery with low-VOC paint and looking for low-VOC carpeting, and we gratefully accept used toys and clothes from friends and family. Janine OlsenPine Brook, N.J. […]

From Portman to Polo

It’s better than Mickey Mouse Club Just when you think Natalie Portman can’t get any cuter without doing irreparable harm to the space-time continuum — she’s immune to bad hair days, we tell you! — it turns out she used to perform in the World Patrol Kids, which rocked such adorably memorable kiddy tunes as […]

Multiple Chemical Sensitivities can drive sufferers into poverty as well as ill health

Consider the trappings of modern life: Calvin Klein Eternity, gasoline, Gore-Tex, Aveda hairspray, paint, particle board, polyurethane iPod cases. Is this the face of the future? Photo: iStockphoto. Now imagine that you’re allergic to virtually all of them. Environmentalists usually think about chemical toxicity as either a dramatic local crisis (Bhopal, Love Canal) or the […]

What’s behind the boom in environmental film festivals?

On the final day of the Planet in Focus film festival in Toronto last fall, the packed house at the Royal Cinema felt every aching step of Jon Muir’s 2,500-kilometer trek in the documentary “Alone Across Australia.” When the death of Muir’s dog made his adventure truly a solo act, he quietly sobbed and rocked […]

Media Shower: An addendum

When I was asked to start writing this weekly column, I toyed around with the idea of having myself a slogan: "I watch TV so you don't have to." It is a good thing I didn't, because I'm failing miserably.

First, Brendon directs me to CBS's The Amazing Race, which is in its ninth season. I gave up watching the show a few seasons ago. But without Brendon's tip I wouldn't have realized that in episode two, which takes place in Brazil, the teams had to make their own ethanol:

In Brotas, Brazil, Teams needed to travel to Camping Bela Vista, an old plantation, and process raw sugar cane into juice. Then, Teams had to distill fermented juice to create 500 milliliters of ethanol, an alternative fuel source. After completing the task, Teams would have to pour the newly created ethanol into their gas tanks before continuing on. While the task wasn't demanding, completing the scientific process could take a long time. Dave & Lori, Wanda & Desiree and Lisa & Joni took the scientific route.

And then it takes New York-based blog Groovy Green to inform me that the King County government here in Washington State is running a progressive campaign called "EcoConsumer." From the website, you can watch a variety of television PSAs (airing on KOMO4, Seattle) on topics ranging from "remodelling" your home to reducing junk mail to efficiency.

Methinks I need a Tivo. (Could I write that off as a work-related expense? Hmm ...)

From Clubbin’ to Clubbing

Hellooo Kitty Looking for a bar where you can “strip down and drink in your undies” and save the earth? Say konnichiwa to Japan’s green sex clubs. Featuring recycled goods ranging from kink-wear and candles to an S&M rabbit, the clean-energy cathouses also serve organic food and beer. Domo arigato, indeed. Photo: iStockphoto. Speaking of […]