Waste | Grist

Mountain climbing for CEOs

Green-biz pioneer Ray Anderson says sustainability literally pays for itself 7
Posted 2 weeks, 5 days ago Ray Anderson set out to make his business sustainable long before green was the flavor of the month. Reading Paul Hawken's The Ecology of Commerce in 1994 literally changed his life, inspiring him to overhaul his carpet company, Interface, and aim for zero environmental impact. Now, with his new book Confessions of a Radical Industrialist, he wants to spur other business leaders to "climb Mount Sustainability."
How much energy does the U.S. waste? 14
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago
Any increase in our efficiency of energy conversion is implicitly a reduction in our energy waste.
Throw the book at 'em

Is it time to get rid of phone books? 9
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago
Five million trees are cut down every year to produce U.S. phone books. Do we really need them dumped on every doorstep? Some states, cities, and phone companies are reconsidering.
It ain't over til it's over

Seattle’s bag-fee supporters still smiling despite setback 5
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago
Seattle's proposal for a disposable-bag fee was soundly defeated in Tuesday's primary election, but bag-fee supporters feel confident that the war against plastic bags is going well.
trash crash

Throwing out the throwaway economy 0
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago
The throwaway economy is on a collision course with the earth's geological limits.
Bag it

Seattle voters toss disposable bag fee 8
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago
Thanks to hefty funding from the plastics lobby, Seattle's 20-cent fee on disposable bags has been, well, bagged.
Cap-sacs, fanny packs, and bindles, oh my

Just say no to disposable bags—here are alternatives 6
Posted 2 months, 4 weeks ago
While Seattleites squabble over whether to impose a fee on disposable bags, we offer up alternatives to the nasty plasty.
Hop on the ban wagon

Disposable-bag restrictions around the U.S. and the world 4
Posted 3 months ago
Seattle is considering a fee on disposable bags, but that hardly gives the city green b(r)agging rights. Cities around the U.S. and countries around the world have already imposed bag bans for all sorts of eco-reasons.
sack attack

Controversy heats up over Seattle’s proposed disposable bag fee 3
Posted 3 months ago
On Aug. 18, Seattle voters will decide whether to implement a 20-cent fee on disposable bags. Here's a quick overview of the proposal and who supports and opposes it.
Going Postal

365 days of junk mail 11
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago
Ad mail isn't the biggest of Cascadia's challenges, but it ought to be among the easiest to solve. I was about to start calling direct mailers myself, demanding they take me off their lists. First, though, I conceived an experiment. I decided to stockpile every bit of advertising mail I received for 365 days. I wanted to see what Catalog Choice and DMA's program would do to stem the tide.
Same as the Old Toss

Ask Umbra on (gasp) throwing stuff out 10
Posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago
It's been a year since today's letter-writer switched to less-toxic cosmetics, but she still can't figure out how to get rid of the old ones. Umbra advises.
West Virginia redefines dirty energy as “alternative” 2
Posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago
In the recent legislative session, Gov. Joe Manchin (D) championed and state lawmakers approved an energy portfolio standard bill requiring 25% of generation to come from "alternative and renewable" sources by 2025. But the new standard, which goes into effect this month, has defined "alternative" to include natural gas, old tires, coal gas and even waste coal.
Murder by breath

Goodbye to Cancer Valley: In remembrance of my friend John Soley 0
Posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago
After a long struggle with cancer, my friend Mr. John Soley died at his home in Carbon County, Pa. on Saturday, June 20. He was only 62, which is too young to die of natural causes. But then, neither John nor I believe he got sick from natural causes. We believe he and many of his neighbors were poisoned by pollution, and that the perpetrators should be held to account.
Talking Trash

‘Garbage Dreams’ explores life in Cairo’s garbage villages 3
Posted 5 months, 1 week ago
Winner of the Al Gore Reel Current award for film, Mai Iskander's new documentary film, "Garbage Dreams," explores the world of the Zaballeen -- a group that makes its living recycling the trash of Cairo.
Hello, Mr. Chips

Ask Umbra on chippers 3
Posted 5 months, 1 week ago
When it comes to chipping yard waste, what are the alternatives? Umbra digs up a few ideas.
DUMPING IN DIXIE

Toxic waste from New York river cleanup headed to Texas 0
Posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Work got underway this week to clean up hazardous PCB pollution that General Electric dumped into New York's Upper Hudson River. But the toxic waste is being sent to a landfill that sits atop the Ogallala Aquifer, a key drinking-water source for West Texas.
Hot potato

Pennsylvania rejected TVA coal ash that’s going to poor communities in Alabama and Georgia 2
Posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Some of the more than 1 billion gallons of toxic coal ash that spilled from an impoundment at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston power plant in eastern Tennessee last December is making its way to landfills in poor and black communities in Alabama and Georgia, as we reported last week at Facing South.

It turns out that TVA also looked into sending the waste to Pennsylvania for dumping into abandoned mines -- but that state's Department of Environmental Protection rejected the ash as substandard.
Talkin' Bout Cogeneration

Two homeowners, one monster, and a cutting-edge power source 6
Posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago
There's a monster in the basement, but Peter and Edith are going to slay it. They're replacing their outdated furnace with a state-of-the-art micro-cogeneration system -- one of the first used in a residential setting.
Urine Trouble

If it’s Yellowstone, leave it mellow-stone? 1
Posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago
After editing Grist's three-part series on poop recently, it's easy to explain why the weird news out of Yellowstone National Park caught this writer's attention.
Runaway Joe

Debate: Roberts v. ‘clean coal’ flack Joe Lucas 0
Posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Here's an online debate between me and clean coal spokesflack Joe Lucas, originally run by the PBS show NOW.