Climate Culture

From Poop to Pod

Forest dump If you drop some logs in a national park and no restroom cleaners are around to hear it, does it make a sound? We’ll soon find out, as budget crunches are forcing cutbacks on park luxuries … like clean bathrooms. Said one pooper of a Yosemite restroom, “It looked like nothing had been […]

Legendary music fest Bonnaroo urges fans to go green

Two’s company, 80,000’s a crowd. Photos: Sarah van Schagen.  For most of the year, this 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tenn., provides open, grassy pasture for a herd of cows. But for a short time each summer, the idyllic setting is taken over by a different kind of herd: the tens of thousands of fans who […]

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. […]