Articles by Ask Umbra®
The New York Times calls Umbra Fisk "a trailblazer in the field of eco-advice columnists" and "the arch online sage of the new green age." Her latest passion: kale smoothies ... no, sorry, civic engagement, because getting political is the only way we'll get a planet that doesn't burn and a future that doesn't suck. Ask Umbra a question here.
All Articles
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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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Umbra on garbage disposals
Dear Umbra: When my garbage disposal died recently, I replaced it with a clever new design that uses no electricity (just water pressure), but it led me to wonder which is really kinder to the environment: putting kitchen waste in the disposal or just trashing it? I compost whenever possible, of course, but there are […]
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Umbra on paper towels vs. hand dryers
Dear Umbra, As an environmental science instructor, I’m often asked which is the better choice when drying one’s hands in a public restroom, assuming both options are available: paper towels, with their associated disposal issues, or hand dryers, with their use of electricity, much of which is wasted. What’s the answer? Curious in Iowa,Dawn Dearest […]
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Umbra on what to call anti-environmentalists
Dear Umbra, I am having a problem with the word anti-environmentalists. It seems to me to make these people out to be the good guys for opposing environmentalists. Don’t we need a term that better describes people who trash the environment for profit? Say, enviro-rapist? Maybe something a little more civil? JimDeerwood, Minn. Dearest Jim, […]
