shopping
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15 Green Fashion Finds
Does your summer need a little sartorial splendor? Of corset does! We’ve put together a head-to-toe eco-ensemble that proves innovative designers are giving green a new look. (Of course, the greenest route is to shop secondhand, and those fashion finds you’ll have to dig up yourself.) Shaun Deller Wheely cap Cyclist — or rather, recyclist […]
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This store takes its green role seriously
Last month, we reported on a few regional grocery chains that are earning organic certification. I went to one of them, a Hannaford, the other night, and have been meaning to publicly praise them ever since. Not only do they have huge, clearly marked organic sections (none of this shy, tucked-away business), they also had […]
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Umbra on prioritizing organic purchases
Hi Umbra! I just recently became a stay-at-home mom. Life is bliss, except for the one-income household we now have (my husband brings home the tofu-bacon). Now that we have very limited funds I cannot afford to buy all organic food. Sometimes organic food is nearly double the price of conventional food … yikes! I […]
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Mock, yes, but then take a closer look
How about that GE Money Earth Rewards Platinum MasterCard? Hard not to make fun of it, right? So hard, in fact, that Daily Grist failed. To not make fun of it. That is to say, they made fun of it. And by "they" I mean "we." Moving on. Beyond the mockery, there’s actually a reasonably […]
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Umbra on refrigerator downsizing
Dear Umbra, Two of our favorite Brit-coms are Keeping Up Appearances and As Time Goes By. It is hard for an American not to remark that in both households, which seem quite affluent, the refrigerator is short, and fits beneath the kitchen counter: nothing so grand as what passes for normal in American kitchens. Do […]
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Why the FTC is right to block Whole Foods’ buyout of Wild Oats
John Mackey. Photo: Whole Foods Market In a high-profile exchange with Michael Pollan last summer, Whole Foods Market CEO and founder John Mackey took an avuncular approach to farmers’ markets that might take business from his company. “Whole Foods Market is committed to supporting local farmers’ markets across the United States (and also in Canada […]
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Umbra on biodegradable products
Dearest Umbra, With biodegradable corn-plastic products like clothes hangers, credit cards, and trash bags, we are led to believe there are good alternatives to plastic that can be thrown out guilt-free. But doesn’t all trash get put in landfills that are then hermetically sealed to prevent the bad contaminants from leaching out, but hold in […]
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Nike or Adidas? Google or Yahoo? Scorecard helps shoppers pick.
Stepping back for a second from the fact that they all churn out unhealthy food and are a general blight upon society, which fast-food joint has the most cred on climate change — Burger King? McDonalds? Wendy’s? A new scorecard issued Tuesday ranks corporations on their commitment to reducing their contribution to global warming, giving […]
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Umbra on seltzer bottles
Dear Umbra, I love drinking fizzy water, especially in the summer, but I am appalled to learn that the plastic bottles use petroleum in their production. Plus, hauling them home from the supermarket burns gas. I’ve been looking at seltzer bottles, also known as soda siphons, the original source of carbonated water, and also much […]
