Climate Culture

I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas

Low-impact gifts can make holidays more eco-friendly This year, holiday sales in the U.S. are projected to hit $219 billion — up 4 to 6 percent from last year. That’s a lot of ties and trinkets. And while that might be good news for some retailers, it’s anything but a holiday for the earth; between […]

Kevin Doyle, environmental-career guru, answers questions

Kevin Doyle. With what environmental organization are you affiliated? I’m one of two national program directors at The Environmental Careers Organization (authors of the new book The ECO Guide to Careers That Make a Difference — see below). At least, that’s my current title. I’ve worked for ECO since 1984, and in that time I’ve […]

O Conserve All Ye Faithful

London’s big Christmas tree powered by fuel cell This year, Christmas is getting an eco-friendly boost in London. All 648 energy-efficient light bulbs on the massive Christmas tree bedecking Trafalgar Square will be powered by a hydrogen fuel-cell generator in lieu of the traditional fossil-fuel-powered beasts used in years past. Roughly the size of a […]

Umbra on Christmas trees

Dear Umbra, Please settle our office dispute. Which is better for the environment: real or fake Christmas trees? Some believe that cutting down juvenile trees, displaying them for two weeks, then throwing them in the garbage is destructive, wasteful, and highly unfriendly to the environment. Others say that the Christmas-tree business keeps land that would […]

Mongo and Found uncover the hidden pleasures of reduce-reuse-recycle

Flo and Channing, a pair of occasionally employed, twentysomething hipsters in lower Manhattan, live well. At least, they eat well. They favor sushi and vegetarian pizza and soy milk and artisan bread, and they also like to indulge in custard pastries, chocolate-covered strawberries, chocolate croissants, and Krispy Kreme doughnuts. They're especially fond of waffles. And they eat it all for free. All they have to do is spend a few hours each night lurking outside restaurants, rescuing their favorite menu items from the trash. "Sometimes, people see what we're doing and say, eee-yew, how gross," says Flo. "Other times they offer to buy us a meal. We just say, no thanks, we have plenty of food here."

Reindeer Power

Umbra on cat-pee stains and dry cleaning

Dear Umbra, I am aware of how polluting regular dry cleaners can be and therefore make a point to wash clothes at home. Recently, however, my charming cat peed on my comforter. I was wondering if you knew of any environmentally friendly ways to clean “dry clean only” clothes or, in this case, comforters. HeidiFalls […]

Cap’n Crunchy

Earthships offer a model for green housing of the future Looking to build an eco-friendly dwelling? An “earthship” could be just the ticket, says Mike Reynolds. Inexpensive to construct and even less expensive to run, these houses are built into hillsides, utilizing passive solar design and the thermal properties of the earth to provide natural […]

Umbra on doggie-doo bags

Dear Umbra, For years, I faithfully brought my canvas bags to the grocery store, leaving plastic bags for the environmentally uninformed. A few months ago, though, I adopted a dog, and I now find myself with a dilemma. I need to pick up all of his solid excrement, and having no compost or any other […]

Much Ado About Nothing

Celebrate Buy Nothing Day by sitting on your derriere Traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year, the Friday after Thanksgiving sends millions of Americans, drone-like, to the malls to kick-start the holiday consumption orgy. But before you foil-wrap the roast beast and stash the organic cranberry dressing in the fridge, consider celebrating another holiday: […]