shopping

Retailers beef up the packaging

For Christmas last year, I received an iPod Nano (through which I now get my weekly fix of podcasts from NPR Environment, PRI Living on Earth, and of course, Grist). That the Nano weighs a mere 1.74 oz. and is so slim it easily gets lost in an overstuffed pocket is pretty impressive. Nearly as impressive, however, is that I walked out of the store toting this pygmie player inside an slick, white, matte, double-ply plastic behemoth of a bag, with sturdy woven cords that cinched the neck; it could have easily fit 100 Nanos with room several real apples to spare. I've been using it as a gym bag ever since.

Apparently, that's exactly what Apple had in mind:

A review of compact fluorescent bulbs

Worth the switch — but which to pick? Photo: iStockphoto Part of our work here at Grist is to give advice to curious readers, and one thing we find ourselves saying a lot is, “Change those bulbs to CFLs!” But you can only socket to ’em so many times before such broad advice starts to […]

Another reason to procrastinate about my Christmas shopping

From the producers of "The Meatrix" and "Grocery Store Wars" comes "The Story of Stuff," a short video about production and consumption, just in time for the holiday shopping binge. Click here for the full movie (sample clip embedded below).

Are you brave enough to say no to a high-stress holiday?

The problem with Christmas is not the batteries. The problem isn’t even really the stuff. The problem with Christmas is that no one much likes it anymore. If you poll Americans this time of year, far more of them regard the approaching holidays with dread than anticipation. It has long since become too busy, too […]

10 great ideas for “stuff-free” holiday gifts

So you want to give … nothing to your loved ones this holiday season? Or at least nothing that’ll end up on a dusty shelf or in a landfill? Consider these stuff-free gift alternatives. Tangible gifts are so 20th century. Photo: iStockphoto Purchase carbon offsets Plane flights during the holidays can be packed with irritations: […]

On organic Christmas trees

Dear Umbra, Is there such a thing as an organic Christmas tree? How chemical-intensive is conventional Christmas-tree farming? If I want a Christmas tree, what’s the most eco-friendly way to go? Your fan, Lisa Seattle, Wash. Dearest Lisa, Since you are not only a fan but also my senior editor, who told me you are […]

A gift guide for eco-minded shoppers headed to big-box stores

More Advice Looking for more holiday gift ideas? Check out our past gift guides: Gifts Recommended by Grist Staff and Readers Even More Gifts Recommended by Readers Gifts for Young Folk Gifts for Every Stereotype on Your List When it comes to gift-giving this holiday season, ‘twould be best to give nothing at all but […]

In which we attempt to calculate how much an organic feast would cost

There’s something about Thanksgiving that seems to prompt people to think about where their food comes from. Maybe it’s all the cornucopias and sheaves of wheat depicted in supermarket circulars, or maybe it’s the focus on the harvest. Visions of farmers bringing in the crops may lead people to think about how food gets to […]

A review of recycled toilet-paper brands

Time for a new roll, but what’s your type? Photo: iStockphoto Deciding what kind of toilet paper to buy is a delicate issue. Perhaps most significantly because you want to protect those delicates — but what about this delicate planet of ours? According to the NRDC, if every household in the U.S. replaced just one […]