advice

How to green your kids this summer

Once more unto the beach! Photo: Tom Twigg Child-rearing may be the ultimate eco-conundrum: If you have a child, you’re adding to a population that’s already burdening the planet. And as you raise that child, you may be too tired and burdened yourself to care whether all your choices are green. On the other hand, […]

Reflecting on his daughter’s future, a father says the green movement must diversify

The face of America is changing — is the environmental movement ready to face change too? “Kyra, do you know this is yours?” I ask, looking down at the skinny little girl with big, curly, dark brown locks. Her hair to body proportion resembles Thing One and Thing Two from Dr. Seuss’ Cat in the […]

This summer, form a family nature club

Don’t miss another sunset. In past decades, when summer rolled around, parents told their children, “Go outside, and don’t come home ’til the street lights come on.” In most neighborhoods, those days are unlikely to return anytime soon. Today, parents fear strangers and strange lawyers and nature itself. Though some of this trepidation is warranted, […]

Umbra on kiddie pools

Dear Umbra, Regarding your obsession with vinyl, as pertains to summer parenting: Greenpeace’s thorough Vinyl Alternatives list indicates that no good alternatives to vinyl kiddie pools exist. Do you think it is worth it to put a huge effort into manufacturing or finding a vinyl-free backyard wading experience? I can’t stop thinking about this, and […]

Two resources to get you started

Hello, future green enterprise owners. Following my column on being a green entrepreneur, some of you have emailed me for more advice on getting a green biz going. There are so many great websites with resources. Here are a couple you might want to check out: I like Green VC quite a bit. It’s updated […]

Umbra on carbon calculators

Dearest Umbra, I recently heard an interesting interview on NPR, and the speaker was talking about how, to stop global warming, all humans would have to limit their carbon emissions to just one ton of carbon per person, per year. I’ve never weighed my carbon emissions, but I’m going to guess that I throw a […]

A tired pregnant chick “tests” six green baby books

Which baby book covers the gamut of green issues? Back in the old days, I used to do active product testing for Grist. Things like lotions and paper towels and CFLs — stuff that really got the heart pounding. But that was before a 30-pound orb attached itself to my front, slowing me down significantly. […]

Ten entrepreneurial lessons to get your green biz going

Is it your career ambition to start your own green business or nonprofit endeavor? Join the club, my friends. Among recent college graduates and late-Boomer career-changers, “starting my own enterprise” is high on the list of preferred careers. And why not? When I turn on NPR in the morning, I’m often greeted by an ad […]

Umbra on the impacts of biking

Dear Umbra, A couple of your recent columns have been about this novel idea of biking as the end-all in green transportation, but how green is biking, especially when you go out to buy a new one? If you switch to biking as the main source of transportation, you will be rewarded with the fantastic […]