Climate Culture

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  • It’s an electric bike

    electric hybrid bike I don't know what this guy's hang-up is with Deuce Bigalow, but high gas prices and the following comment by Odograph on the cost of plug-in electric hybrids got me thinking again. In lieu of paying $3-6K more for a plug-in hybrid electric car:

    What if you drive a prius and plant $3-10K worth of trees? What if you skip the prius, buy an echo and plant $13-20K worth of trees? What if you spend $1k and ride a really nice bike?

    I especially liked his last idea. I jumped on the net to see what was new for electric bikes and bought a conversion kit from a shop somewhere in California for $300. UPS dropped it off at my house last Monday and I had it on my bike an hour or so later.

    Biodiversivist Culture

  • Umbra on personal actions that make a real difference

    Dear Umbra, What are some everyday things I could do to protect the environment? Like choosing plastic or paper, that kind of thing. DominickSpokane, Wash. Dearest Dominick, Your good question has a surprising answer, and it’s one I’m happy to repeat as often as necessary: None of the important things has to do with paper […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • From Lubes to Lemurs

    Lube job Folks sometimes worry about sustainability during sex — just not the environmental kind. To make your pleasure greener there’s the Veg Sex Shop, a collection of vegan and eco-friendly sex toys, including a solar-powered vibrator and a dazzling variety of oils and lubes. Look on the bright side Global warming may result in […]

    David Roberts & Sarah van Schagen Culture

  • Better Off, Dead

    Eco-burials on the upswing We’re all gonna die! Eventually, anyway. If you’d like your demise to contribute to a greener planet, reserve a plot at Forever Fernwood, a northern California cemetery specializing in “eco-interments.” About half of Fernwood is devoted to burials that use environmentally friendly practices: hemp-silk blend shrouds, biodegradable coffins, low-key grave markers […]

    Grist staff Culture

  • This Is Why We Don’t Clean

    Bacteria-killing goods may threaten human health and environment Antimicrobial products — towels, sponges, cutting boards, and other household goods that promise to kill bacterial beasties and fungi — are now a $1 billion-a-year industry, but they may be harming human health and the environment. Triclosan, a popular microbe-icide, can combine with chlorine in tap water […]

    Grist staff Culture

  • Umbra on baking soda

    Dear Umbra, I liked your column about homemade cleaning products. I have a question, though: What’s up with baking soda? It’s frequently bandied about as an eco-friendly cleaner, but I have no idea what it is, where it comes from, or how it’s made. AmandaCharlottesville, Va. Dearest Amanda, Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, a naturally […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • From Panties to Pledges

    Eco-panties The world’s fascination with panties dates back to, oh, probably whenever panties were invented. At U.K.-based GreenKnickers.org, they make them from organic materials or oddball secondhand dresses. You got your eco, you got your panties — what’s not to like? Like Grizzly Adams, but crazy Photo: Timothy Treadwell. Self-proclaimed “kind warrior” Timothy Treadwell lived […]

    David Roberts & Sarah van Schagen Culture

  • Brits consider radical plan to measure personal emissions

    Credit or debit … or planet? What would you be willing to do to slow climate change? Oh sure, you might drive and fly less. You might already have, like me, signed up for a green-energy plan. But would you hand over an ID card every time you filled up your gas tank? Would you […]

    Mike Wendling Culture

  • Umbra on computer recycling

    Dear Umbra, Do you have any suggestions for locating a computer-recycling service in the Piedmont area of North Carolina? Janet Fortune Dearest Janet, Frankly, I couldn’t even have located the Piedmont area of North Carolina before you wrote. With today’s technology, however, such ignorance is no barrier to giving advice. The rest of you, listen […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • Eco-designer Clare Cunningham answers questions

    Clare Cunningham. What work do you do? I am an eco-designer. My specialty is in designs that are socially and environmentally responsible. How does it relate to the environment? “Products are the source of all environmental problems,” says Edwin Datschefski. Eco-design tries specifically to lead products and services away from overconsumption and environmental degradation, and […]

    Grist staff Culture