green living
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Secondhand style: Wearing clothes dropped off in garbage bags
Accepting Grist's dare, I vow to wear only secondhand clothes for a week. Goodbye, Bloomingdale's. Hello, Salvation Army.
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World's greenest gym forces patrons to generate their own electricity
A gym in Portland, Oregon (where else?) claims to produce 36 percent of its electricity from a combination of solar panels and special exercise bicycles that transform patrons’ exertions into electricity.
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Plastic purge: Trouble on every aisle
It took me two hours to buy five days' worth of groceries that didn't have any plastic packaging. Two hours! WTF?
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Plastic purge: The enemy is everywhere
I am going to eliminate as much plastic as possible from my life for two weeks. But I'm keeping my toothbrush. I'm not THAT crazy.
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How to stay cool for next to nothing
Central AC is for suckers. Why are you cooling every inch of your house, even the dust bunnies under the couch, when the only part that actually needs to be cooled is your body? Having endured, sans air conditioning, countless summers in locations including the deep South and the middle of the gigantic urban heat […]
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Five ways to green your marijuana habit
Happy 4/20! Sorry to harsh your buzz, but indoor pot growing is a major bad trip for the environment. (All right, no more mixed drug metaphors. Maybe a couple.) Let’s be blunt (okay, one more): If marijuana ever becomes legal in the U.S., we'll have to start thinking about how to keep it from bogarting […]
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With a rain barrel, April showers can bring more than flowers
Barrel essentials.Photo: kierkierAs the old adage goes, April showers bring May flowers. But for those looking to green their homes, April showers also provide an easy way to reduce water bills and water waste. Rainwater harvesting is a simple and efficient way to capitalize on the naturally occurring precipitation in your area, and reduce dependency […]
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Ask Umbra on refillable cleaning supplies
Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, I’m trying to cut back on plastic waste and am wondering if you know of places that offer things like cleaning supplies in bulk, so that I can refill and reuse my old containers? Thanks!Lyda L.Harlem, NY A bottle walks into a bar and asks for a […]