consumerism
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Ask Umbra Book Club: Is minimalism just for the rich?
Is a streamlined life something only a privileged elite can afford? Ask Umbra explores.
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Ask Umbra Book Club: How sustainable is minimalism?
Welcome to the first day of discussing Ask Umbra's July book club pick, The Joy of Less: A Minimalist Living Guide.
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When it comes to green, what you buy matters more than where you live
Get off your high horse, New Yorkers! City dwellers might do some environmental good by driving less and living in smaller spaces. But living in a city doesn't affect a person's carbon footprint as much as the amount that he or she buys.
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The medium chill
Step off the aspirational treadmill and forego some material opportunities in exchange for more time to spend enjoying the things that make for a good life.
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Buy new sunglasses, save someone’s sight in the developing world
Men and women probably do make passes at people who use their sunglasses purchase to provide someone in the developing world with vision surgery, eye care, or glasses. Okay, the scansion needs a little work, but the point is that buy-one-give-one shoe company TOMS is expanding into eyewear, and the concept's pretty sexy, and so […]
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Hoofin’ it: Ask Umbra on faux-leather Birkenstocks
Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, I love Birkenstocks, but what’s the deal with Birko-Flor? A leather alternative, sure. But they’re vinyl, and I believe vinyl is a four-letter word in Grist world. Would I be better off just sticking to traditional leather-upper Birks? JenniferBrooklyn, N.Y. Heart and sole. Photo: pi?A. Dearest Jennifer, […]
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Say Earthalujah! Reverend Billy preaches the green gospel
The Reverend wants you to believe the Earth can be saved! Amen.Photo: Brennan CavanaughThe Reverend preaches: “It’s not easy for Americans to slow down their consumption. No, it ain’t! We’ve got to help each other out. Give each other the power. Yes we do! To back away from the product. To turn. To escape the […]
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Amazon says America is buying green
We can learn two things from this map, based on Amazon.com's purchasing data: One, many parts of the country are at least buying green products and books about sustainability and conservation, which is a start. Two, Amazon needs a proofreader. There are more charts, too, breaking down who's buying books and products for water conservation, […]
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How we can save environmentalism — and ourselves
Can somebody throw a line?Photo: AKZOphotoThis is part two of a two-part series, cross-posted from New Deal 2.0. You can read part one here. In my first post, I started to discuss a speech by the founders of the Breakthrough Institute, Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger (N and S). In this post, I will discuss their presentation […]