sustainable living
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Defense insiders: Sustainable communities are key to the future
David Orr.Photo: Lisa DeJongThis story is the second of two pieces excerpted from a feature story in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Read the first piece here, and the full Chronicle story here. Environmental studies professor David Orr has set out to turn the aging rust belt town of Oberlin, Ohio, into a laboratory for […]
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Paul Hawken pays tribute to green-biz visionary Ray Anderson
Ray Anderson, a pioneering sustainable business leader, passed away Monday. At a Thursday memorial service, Paul Hawken paid tribute with this eulogy.
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Umbra takes on 25 dares in 25 days
Ask Umbra takes on a new sustainable living dare every day for 25 days.
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The $200 backyard barbecue
This is what's going to convince Americans to invest in local food and alternative energy: the demise of the backyard barbecue. High gas prices are finally trickling down into U.S. food markets, and the red-meat-loving New York Post has calculated that an outlay of burgers, hot dogs, trimmings, potato salad, and ice cream will cost […]
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Ask Umbra on how much food Americans waste, and what to do about it
Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, Do you have a reliable source/figure for the total amount of food wasted by Americans? I read somewhere that up to 40 percent of the food we buy may be thrown away. That means people spend an additional 66 percent on food products they don’t/can’t actually consume. […]
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Forget the gloom — new ways of living and organizing our economy are flourishing
Despite a flurry of bad news recently, good things are spouting up.Photo: Judy Merrill-SmithThe last couple of days have been gloomy ones. I kept checking in with the vague and dire reports from the nuclear-power bleeding edge in Japan. For part of the time I was also immersed in a post about truly awful things […]
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Ask Umbra Book Club: What makes a home?
Home is where the art is. And the war too.Photo: Stefano ADearest readers, Welcome to February’s book club conversation. I hope you’ve gotten some good couch time in at home to read At Home: A Short History of Private Life, by Bill Bryson. If you haven’t been able to cozy up next to this “history […]
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Ask Umbra’s 5 surprising things to make you a lover like no other
Send your question to Umbra! Dearest readers, It is said that only amateurs wait for Valentine’s Day to express their love. Readers of this column, I know that you are not in that category. That said, we could all stand to add a few tricks to the sometimes dusty lusty repertoire. So I created this […]
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Ask Umbra Book Club: Next week the discussion begins about Bill Bryson’s ‘At Home’
Dearest readers, I hope you’re reading this from the warmth of home. If where you are is anywhere like where I am right now, you’re glad to have good insulation, heat, and a roof over your head to keep the freezing rain off. But human beings have not always been so cozy. This and many […]
