Climate Culture

Umbra on eco-friendly birth control

Dear Umbra, I am wondering about the most environmentally safe form of birth control. From what I understand, women’s birth control pills put terrible amounts of hormones into the world’s waters and cause genetic mutations in fish. On the other hand, constantly using and discarding plastic condoms, including the packaging these come in, does not […]

Michelle Nijhuis reviews Entering the Stone by Barbara Hurd

On the fourth of July this year, I went underground -- under the Chihuahuan Desert, that is, and into the famous Carlsbad Caverns. Carlsbad Caverns National Park in southern New Mexico has been hosting tourists for the better part of a century, so it's got a lot of experience with showing itself off. The fabulous limestone decorations are subtly lit (a Hollywood lighting expert helped out with the placement of the bulbs), the paths are paved and protected by handrails, and large-capacity elevators whisk you up to the daylight.

Eco-friendly supplies and clothes for back to school and beyond

The beginning of the school year — already a stressful time for kids and parents — is often made even more difficult by all the purchasing pressure, from long lists of school supplies sent home by teachers to ads promoting fashionable new wardrobes for children. In 2003, Americans will spend $14.1 billion on back-to-school items, […]

Going Bananas

Philippine Journalists Arrested for Reporting on Illegal Pesticide Use Four journalists working in the Philippines, including a New York Times correspondent, have been arrested on libel charges because of articles and columns they wrote in 2000 about the use of illegal pesticides at a banana plantation. Also arrested was Romeo Quijano, a professor of medicine […]

I Love Trash

New Fuel Cell Uses Bacteria to Generate Power Maybe it’s not just a Back to the Future fantasy: If scientists at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst keep making progress in developing a “microbial fuel cell,” one day trash might be able to power any number of devices (though probably not a time-traveling DeLorean). In […]

Wood You Look at That?

Boise Cascade Praised for Eco-friendly Policies It’s not often that an environmental organization takes out a full-page ad in the New York Times to praise a forest-products company, so it’s safe to say that Boise Cascade Corp. has done something extraordinary. This week, the company reconfirmed its commitment to phasing out old-growth harvesting in the […]

Umbra on wedding presents

Dear Umbra, My wife and I have made great progress in simplifying our lives. We don’t own a car (we take the bus, walk, bike, and occasionally rent a car), we have cut back on our use of water and power, and we are working on avoiding “more stuff.” We’re just wondering what we might […]

Umbra on bathing

Dear Umbra, On a link that I got from Grist’s Do Good section, it says that taking baths instead of showers conserves water. What’s the logic behind this? I measured how much water I use when I shower, and it’s about a quarter of the amount that I use for baths. So it doesn’t make […]

Have You Tried Corn Fiber Clothes?

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and husband Brad Hall discuss their eco-friendly hideaway

Long before they joined the cast of “Saturday Night Live,” before she played Elaine on “Seinfeld” and he became a writer/producer for shows ranging from “The Single Guy” to “Frasier,” Julia Louis-Dreyfus and husband Brad Hall were devout environmentalists. Now they are key players in Hollywood’s green vanguard. Over the past decade she has been […]