travel
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Budget-friendly hotel chains also have the smallest carbon footprints
When choosing an environmentally friendly hotel chain, the best indicator probably isn’t whether the place asks you to hang up your towels if you don’t want them replaced each day. According to a new analysis [PDF] by sustainability company Brighter Planet, budget and mid-range hotels tend to produce the least carbon per room. Topping the […]
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‘Evotourism’ is the new ecotourism
Why journey all over the planet visiting natural wonders that are sure to disappear by the time your grandchildren are old enough to curse your profligate ways, when you can journey into the past, which has already happened so you at least you can't screw it up? That's the premise of Evotourism, a the hot […]
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Food Studies: Post-communist pork, the Goat Whisperer, and other stories from the field
Mangalica pigs in Hungary. Food Studies features the voices of volunteer student bloggers from a variety of different food- and agriculture-related programs at universities around the world. You can explore the full series here. Over the past few months I’ve visited food producers, large and small, all over Europe. I’ve been behind the scenes on […]
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Food Studies: The life of an airline chef
Meet the people behind the plastic trays.
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Saving the planet, one cruise at a time
Set a course for adventure …Photo: JemingwayOdd locations are not unusual for green-leaning conferences, but this one might take the cake. I’m en route to Miami for a conference aboard, ahem, a cruise ship. What better place to contemplate the fate of the Earth, ocean conservation, and ways to right the planet’s social ills than […]
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Your guide to a great green weekend in Portland
Portland’s swanky Sapphire Hotel.Photo: Sarah Gilbert Can you think of a greener city than Portland? Nope, didn’t think so. The City of Roses occupies a warm, squishy spot in the hearts of many a biker, climate hawk, and nature-lovah. We asked you to share your fave local breweries, organic cafés, and green hangouts, and compiled […]
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Space tourism may ignite the effects of global warming
If you "just want to get away" from Earth for a while by indulging your new hobby of space exploration, you may find the planet pretty steamed when you get back.
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Top 10 worst Christmas gifts
The Jamaica Plain Green House today released its second annual list of “Top 10 Worst Christmas Gifts.” The list ranges from $2 stocking stuffers to baubles of the super-rich. JP Green House co-founder Ken Ward said, “These ten items achieved high scores on each of three criteria — profligate, unnecessary, and tasteless energy use — […]
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Ask Umbra on globetrotting friends, thorium reactors, and more
Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, I have greatly cut back on my airplane trips because of my concern about global warming. However, I have groups of friends whose main conversation is about the overseas trips they have been on. When I don’t have an exotic place to talk about it seems like […]