Climate Culture

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  • Umbra on wrapping paper

    Dear Umbra, Any suggestions on where to find recycled wrapping paper? I know the real environmental choice is to reuse stuff I have around the house, but sometimes newspaper, etc., just doesn’t have the right look. Any ideas where I can find recycled/tree-free wrapping paper for the holiday season? I’ve been looking around (both online […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • Lifestyles of the Rich, Famous, and Recycled

    Having dispensed with the good news, we can now move on to the goofy news: Danny Seo, the young fashion guru who has been featured in Grist’s pages before as the Martha Stewart of the environmental movement, is packing up his New York life and moving to Los Angeles to position himself as an “environmental […]

    Grist staff Culture

  • Washed Up

    400 — loads of laundry washed by a typical U.S. household in one year1 35 billion — loads of laundry washed every year in the U.S.2 74 — percentage of U.S. households with washers and dryers3 7 — percentage of washing machines replaced by U.S. consumers each year3 81,000 — annual electricity consumption, in gigawatt […]

    Kaitlin Gregg Culture

  • Drag Your Computer to the Recycle Bin

    In an abrupt departure from past policy, high-tech giant Hewlett-Packard has announced that it will support California legislation requiring computer manufacturers to pay for safe disposal of electronic waste. In October, HP used its considerable clout as the world’s largest maker of personal computers to persuade Gov. Gray Davis (D) to veto an e-waste measure. […]

    Grist staff Culture

  • Americans’ Waste Lines Expanding

    One mantra of the environmental movement in the U.S. has been “reduce, reuse, recycle,” but consumption patterns in the country reveal a nearly opposite trend: buy, use, discard. Disposable culture is on the rise across the country, and has been ever since single-use razors and disposable diapers hit the shelves in the 1960s. Now disposable […]

    Grist staff Culture

  • Umbra on organic food and farming

    Dear Umbra, I try to buy organic food where possible, but I notice that there is often a tradeoff with other factors. For example, organic food has often been shipped further and/or is more heavily packaged. How do I assess those tradeoffs? EllenWatertown, Mass. Dearest Ellen, As I’ve mentioned before, the USDA national organic standards […]

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  • Umbra on fruit sprays and organic food

    Dear Umbra, The tangerines I bought recently had this on the label: “Thiabendazole and/or orthopenylphenol and/or imazalil used as fungicides, and coated with food-grade shellac based wax or resin to maintain freshness.” Presumably the shellac stays on the skin and does not affect the fruit, but what about the other products? What are these products […]

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  • You Bet Your Borscht

    Suzy Becker Culture

  • The Roof Is on Fire

    By passing regulations to encourage developers to install green roofs, Portland, Ore., has become a pioneer in the growing worldwide ecoroof movement (what, you aren’t a part of it yet?). Rooftops planted with vegetation such as ferns and wildflowers can reduce runoff after rainstorms by up to 90 percent and diminish a building’s energy costs […]

    Grist staff Culture

  • Umbra on sustainable bunk beds

    Dear Umbra, I’ve been looking for a sustainably harvested bunk bed for my five-year-old son for quite some time now. I have found only one company, Pacific Rim, that makes such an item. It seems like a great company, but it doesn’t have exactly what I’m looking for. When I search online, all I read […]

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