Climate Culture

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  • Umbra on candles

    Dear Umbra, Recently, nature-conscious religions such as Paganism and Wicca are getting a lot of attention. This is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, such religions inspire love for the environment and have spawned many eco-nuts (myself included, I admit). However, although most of the common practices seem to be eco-friendly enough, I’m concerned […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • Students compete to build the house of the future

    At midnight one late-September evening, a convoy of 18-wheeler flatbed trucks carting 14 houses (some whole, some in parts) and thousands of square feet of solar panels rolled past the Washington Monument, drove along the National Mall, and headed up to the front lawn of the Capitol building. Upon arriving, the first truck in line […]

    Amanda Little Culture

  • Happy Halloweenie

    Suzy Becker Culture

  • Empire State Green Building

    A landmark sustainable building project in lower Manhattan is back on track after being delayed due to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. Construction resumed recently on 20 River Terrace, one of the world’s first green residential skyscrapers, which will be located in Battery Park City a stone’s throw from Ground Zero. The 27-story tower, […]

    Grist staff Culture

  • Umbra on water conservation

    Dearest Umbra, How can I convince friends to conserve water? I write a column for my church newsletter to encourage responsible environmental practices by church members. One member said recently that he doesn’t see any need to conserve water personally; given that our area has plenty of water, why should he turn off the tap […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • Advice on converting to biodiesel

    Umbra, I own a diesel VW Golf, which I bought thinking it was a better choice for the environment than a gasoline engine. Therefore, I was disappointed to read your message that diesel is probably a worse choice. However, you didn’t talk at all about biodiesel. Can you give us a rundown on this fuel […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • Plugging developing nations into renewable energy

    The groaning has largely subsided over last month’s World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, but one of the biggest disappointments of the event still deserves scrutiny: the failure to create a strategy to disseminate renewable energy throughout the developing world. “The Johannesburg summit’s plan for renewable energy has two fundamental flaws — […]

    Amanda Little Culture

  • Threatened sea turtles find allies in Baja

    To be an endangered sea turtle near Punta Abreojos on Mexico’s Baja Peninsula is to be a lucky animal. In this remote fishing village, the local fishing cooperative cracks down on any member caught with a turtle. For the first offense, you lose fishing privileges for three months, and must instead don a hairnet and […]

    Deborah Knight Culture

  • You Can Judge a Food By Its Label

    In a big step for the organic food industry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is poised to roll out an official “USDA Organic” seal and launch a long-awaited national standard to replace the existing hodgepodge of state and private certification systems. Food will have to contain 95 percent organic ingredients to be eligible for the […]

    Grist staff Culture

  • My Big Fat Greek Survey

    Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou now knows what we’ve known all along: An online poll conducted for a private foundation he chairs found that there’s no better place for environmental news than on the Internet. The poll on the environment, involving more than 25,000 respondents in 175 countries, was launched at last month’s World Summit […]

    Grist staff Culture