Climate Culture

Umbra on lawn and garden pesticides

Dearest Umbra, Goddess of Green Knowledge, A few years ago, a farmer friend of mine argued that more pesticides and chemical fertilizers are applied to suburban lawns and gardens than are used in commercial agriculture. I can see how this might be the case, given the massive size of the lawn and garden chemical industry, […]

Umbra on clothing

Dear Umbra, My nephew says that new clothes and other apparel that come from foreign countries are treated with toxic chemicals to avoid various types of fungal or insect contamination, and upon arriving at the loading dock of your favorite wanker-mart, they are ripe to toxify the air, your skin, your eyes. He worked on […]

A review of Cradle to Cradle

The idea that growth can be good is anathema to most environmentalists. Yet that's exactly the argument made by William McDonough and Michael Braungart in Cradle to Cradle. Take a look at nature, the pair says, and you'll see that growth is not only good, but necessary -- that nature's very abundance is what environmentalists (and the rest of us) depend on and celebrate. The key is the right kind of growth -- and the key to that is better design.

If It’s Monday, This Must Be Mars

Thinking Inside the Box

Packaging for food products is a $12 billion industry dominated by variations on paper and plastic foam products. For 10 years, the company EarthShell has been trying to green the industry and get a lucrative piece of the pie. In place of Styrofoam containers or cardboard egg cartons, EarthShell sells products made of a mixture […]

Gross Out

If Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) has his way, a part of his state’s share of the national tobacco settlement will be used to fund alternative energy projects. On Wednesday, Vilsack suggested spending $50 million of the $438 million settlement to help cities in Iowa build renewable energy plants such as wind turbines. The governor […]

Jonna Higgins-Freese reviews Small Wonder by Barbara Kingsolver

Several friends of mine, all of them environmentalists, have told me they picked up Small Wonder, Barbara Kingsolver's most recent collection of essays, but speedily put it down because the book just didn't pull them in. At first, I had the same reaction. And then I realized: small wonder. This book wasn't written for environmentalists. Yet because of Kingsolver's fame and her ability to talk about complex issues in a compelling way, Small Wonder may be more successful at communicating an environmental message to a lay audience than any other book published in recent years.

Teaching Our Children Well

The three Rs could soon include “renewable” if Massachusetts has its way. Concerned about rising energy costs and student health, the state is offering financial incentives to districts to build environmentally friendly, health-conscious “green schools.” Through a partnership with the Renewable Energy Trust, districts are being encouraged to make use of technologies, such as solar […]

A Thousand Acres … Well, Make That 4.7

Global standards of living will plummet by mid-century unless human beings drastically decrease their use of natural resources, according to a report issued yesterday by the World Wildlife Fund. The main culprits in the overuse of resources are the world’s richest countries: the U.S., Canada, Japan, and most of Western Europe, according to “Living Planet […]

Umbra on recycling beer bottles with lime wedges

Most Honorable Umbra, Knower of All Green Things: Am I unwittingly hampering the recycling process by twisting that lime wedge into my bottle of beer? The dang things are tough to get back out! Humbly yours,Jill Brooks Dearest Jill, Please be assured that I thoroughly investigated your problem. I started with Personal Solutions. I have […]