Climate Culture
All Stories
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Umbra on engineered soy products
Dear Umbra, I don’t know if you’ll have time to answer this question, but while purchasing 8th Continent soymilk my husband noticed that there was Solae in it. After some research on the Internet, we discovered that Solae is made by DuPont and is a genetically engineered soybean, but we were unable to find anything […]
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Umbra on milk cartons
Hi Umbra, I don’t know if the same thing has happened in the U.S, but here in Canada the milk industry has undergone a massive shift to using different containers. Once, you could get plastic jugs or cardboard cartons with fold-back lids or plastic bags. But now, the most commonly available container is a revised […]
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Can You Recycle Me Now?
Cell phone users now have a way to recycle their old phones and support the Sierra Club in the process. About a million mobile phones are tossed out each week in the U.S. as consumers upgrade or switch to different phone service providers, and those old phones leak a bunch of toxic substances, including mercury, […]
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How to marry your sweetheart and love the planet
When high-school sweethearts Alicia Gomer and Mark Wittink got engaged in December 2001, they pledged that their wedding would reflect their commitment to ecological issues. Gomer, who is working on an M.S. in environmental science policy, and Wittink, a project director at the Resource Conservation Alliance in Washington, D.C., were “shocked at the lack of […]
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We’re All Ears
Everyone knows you can eat corn — but can you eat using plates, cups, and forks made from corn? Absolutely, and doing so can help reduce both waste and oil consumption, say advocates of biodegradable corn products. Although it’s not quite true that “anything that can be made from a barrel of crude oil can […]
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Umbra on keeping compost rat-free
Hi Umbra, I live in Providence, R.I., and I have a basic composting bin; it’s about three feet tall, made of black plastic with ventilation shafts on all four sides and on top, but it has no bottom. I want to set this up in my tiny side yard for my neighbors and me to […]
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Umbra on composting toilets
I would think that outhouses would be a lot better for the environment than a toilet. You don't have to use water in them and when one fills up (like the ones made now do after 15 or so years, depending on how deep your original hole is), you just fill it
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Umbra on anti-environmentalists
Dear Sequin-Wearing Award Ceremony Audience, Folks, we have a winnah! That’s right: The results are in from the first annual and perhaps only “Cheer Us Up the Weather Is Godawful and We’re at War” contest. We know the weather is beyond our control, but let us all work fervently to limit the possibility that we […]
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Looting is as American as apple pie
Note: You’ll need Flash Player to watch the movie. If you don’t have it, download it now.
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Earth Angelina
Actress Angelina Jolie, who played a tough-chick adventurer in the movie “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” is taking on a new role: eco-crusader. She has pledged to donate at least $1.3 million over the next few years to establish a wildlife sanctuary in northwest Cambodia, a region that until five years ago was controlled by remnants […]
