|
| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
Paving Grace
On driveways |
Umbra Fisk |
01 Oct 2008 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, What is the most eco-friendly driveway material? Jean K. Newington, Conn. Dearest Jean, Other than "no driveway because no car," dunno. I can tell you all the characteristics possessed by a good eco-friendly driveway material, but no single material pulled ahead of the rest and parked itself in first place. Since I don't know what type of drive you have -- a long and winding road? A mere blip? -- a face-saving answer woul ... |
|
| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, climate, green building, health, mercury, water pollution (all these topics) |
|
|
Pedal Power to the People!
Umbra Fisk on commuting by bike |
|
30 Sep 2008 |
Umbra Video |
| "Ask Umbra" is the first video series produced by Grist TV. Look for new video tips for greening your life from Umbra every other week starting Sept. 30. Grist's green living advice columnist offered up a taste of her video series last month with a sneak preview on which plastics to avoid. Watch it here. And check out the Umbra video trailer. |
|
| Topics: Ask Umbra, bikes, green living, health, video (all these topics) |
|
|
Meat Wagon: House of fools
While antibiotic-resistant bugs flourish, a House subcommittee buries its head |
Tom Philpott |
30 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| In Meat Wagon, we round up the latest outrages from the meat and livestock industries. ----- As the fruits of three decades of financial-market deregulation and lax oversight ripen on Wall Street, now is a fitting time to mull over our government's efforts to regulate the food industry. Let's think specifically about its actions regarding antibiotics in livestock production. In industrial meat production, you stuff animals together in close contact with their own wast ... |
|
| Topics: Congress, politics, business, health, food, scientific research, livestock (all these topics) |
|
|
Are you better off than you were eight years ago?
CEPR compares pre- and post-Bush economic indicators |
David Roberts |
26 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| In the final 1980 presidential debate, Ronald Reagan famously ended with a question to the American public: are you better off now than you were four years ago? The folks at the Center for Economic and Policy research wondered, what would our answer be today? So they pulled together a whole range of economic indicators and compared today's numbers with the numbers from eight years ago, at the beginning of the Bush administration. The results are ... striking. Check ... |
|
| Topics: economy, George Bush, green jobs, health, politics (all these topics) |
|
|
Mercury Falling
E.U. will no longer export mercury |
|
25 Sep 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 10:31 AM on 25 Sep 2008 Hold on to your thermometers: The European Union will ban exports of mercury as of March 2011. The 27-nation bloc stopped mining mercury in 2001, but its exports of the metal account for up to a quarter of global supply. The export ban will require mercury that's no longer of service to be put into storage instead of sent abroad. "Mercury poses a threat to human health and the environment in the European Un ... |
|
| Topics: European Union, health, mercury, news, progress, toxics (all these topics) |
|
|
Put That in Your Water and Drink It
EPA not likely to set standard for perchlorate in drinking water |
|
22 Sep 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 11:08 AM on 22 Sep 2008 The U.S. EPA is expected to decide as soon as Monday whether or not to set a standard restricting the amount of perchlorate allowed in the nation's drinking water, but so far, such a standard looks unlikely. Perchlorate is a chemical found mainly in rocket fuel and fireworks that has been associated with thyroid dysfunction in young kids and pregnant women. The E ... |
|
| Topics: food, health, news, toxics, US EPA (all these topics) |
|
|
And by 'permanent slowdown,' I mean economic growth and improved public health
CARB shoots down the 'economy vs. environment' myth ... again |
David Roberts |
19 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The other day, contemplating an Economist story on geoengineering, Andrew Sullivan said, "I much prefer the idea of developing new non-carbon technologies or experimenting with technology to deflect or arrest warming to throwing the global economy into a permanent slowdown." Sullivan has no particular knowledge of or expertise on climate legislation (not a dig -- it's just not one of his interests). What he's doing here is reflexively passing along center-ri ... |
|
| Topics: green jobs, California, economy, greenhouse-gas emissions, climate, legislation, politics, health (all these topics) |
|
|
Supreme Cork Justice
On wine bottle stoppers |
Umbra Fisk |
17 Sep 2008 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, Here's a question I couldn't find an answer to in the Grist archives: What kind of plastic is being used for the corks in wine bottles? If I decide to put a bottle in the cellar for several years, will the plastic leach into the wine? Thanks for your help! Holli B. Portland, Ore. Dearest Holli, No need to fret: Wine bottles plugged by plastic stoppers or screw-tops can be stored upright, with the plastic separate ... |
|
| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, booze, ecological footprint, green living, health, toxics (all these topics) |
|
|
Disease-y Does It
New study links BPA to heart disease and diabetes |
|
16 Sep 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 10:58 AM on 16 Sep 2008 Ubiquitous chemical bisphenol A is linked to heart disease and diabetes, says new research released Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The Food and Drug Administration recently declared that BPA is safe; the new study's release was timed to coincide with an independent panel's review of that conclusion. Researchers studied urine samples from 1,455 American adults; BPA wa ... |
|
| Topics: Food and Drug Administration, green living, health, news, scientific research, toxics (all these topics) |
|
|
Us and Chem
Companies move toward nontoxic chemicals and products |
|
15 Sep 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 3:53 PM on 15 Sep 2008 Here's a crazy fact: A baby's body contains nearly 300 chemical compounds by the time it takes its first breath. It's the consequence of a chemical industry that has long paid little mind to where its products end up or what they do to people and the planet; of the estimated 83,000 chemicals on the market, some 80 percent lack basic health and safety data. But in reaction to stricter regulation an ... |
|
| Topics: green cleaning, green products, health, innovation, news, toxics (all these topics) |
|
|
Ace reporter joins Environmental Health News
Marla Cone to lead expanded news operation |
Russ Walker |
15 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Award-winning environment reporter Marla Cone is leaving the Los Angeles Times to join the ranks of nonprofit journalism, becoming the top editor of Environmental Health News starting today. Cone, whose work at the L.A. Times includes a series of articles highlighting the environmental threat posed by brominated flame retardants and investigations into the health of ocean ecosystems, will spearhead an expanded news operation dedicated to producing original, investigat ... |
|
| Topics: green living, health (all these topics) |
|
|
Lipstick It to the Man
Market for natural personal-care products booming in spite of economy |
|
11 Sep 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 4:48 PM on 11 Sep 2008 Despite an economic slump, eco-friendly personal-care items have Americans sitting up and paying attention top dolla. Sales are booming despite high food and energy prices, and analysts predict the products' popularity won't ebb anytime soon. Chicago-based research firm Mintel reports that sales of natural personal-care products rose 12.5 percent last year to an inflatio ... |
|
| Topics: business, consumerism, green living, green products, health, news, shopping (all these topics) |
|
|
Slower
|
David Roberts |
09 Sep 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Kent A. Sepkowitz doesn't mention it in this op-ed about lowering auto speeds, but it would save a heck of a lot of gas too. I'm sure politicians will be eager to propose it! |
|
| Topics: cars, green living, health, oil (all these topics) |
|
|
As I Lay Me Down to ... Eek!
On bedbugs |
Umbra Fisk |
08 Sep 2008 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, I desperately need your help. My house has become infested with bedbugs! I'm trying to find an environmentally friendly way to get rid of them. I've tried a thorough cleaning and tried using diatomaceous earth (fossil shell flour) to no avail. The local exterminator is looking more and more appealing. Please stop me before I do something rash like resorting to him and the nasty chemicals he'll be using. Ofer Pasadena, ... |
|
| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, green cleaning, green living, health, toxics (all these topics) |
|
|
Yes, They Can
Under pressure from Big Canned Tuna, FDA lax in mercury regulation |
|
04 Sep 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 12:59 PM on 04 Sep 2008 Under strong pressure from Big Canned Tuna, the Food and Drug Administration is crazily lax in regulating mercury in tuna. Among many examples: In 2000, a draft advisory to pregnant women listed canned tuna as a product highly contaminated with mercury; after FDA officials met with the three largest tuna companies, the final advisory left tuna off the list. When the FDA's fish mercu ... |
|
| Topics: food, Food and Drug Administration, green living, health, mercury, news, regulation, toxics (all these topics) |
|
|
http://www.grist.org/news/2008/09/03/bpa/index.html
National Toxicology Program still concerned about BPA |
|
03 Sep 2008 |
News |
| "Some" of All Fears National Toxicology Program still concerned about BPA Posted at 4:58 PM on 03 Sep 2008 The National Toxicology Program begs to differ with the Food and Drug Administration's recent conclusion that common chemical bisphenol A is safe at currently regulated levels. In a report released Wednesday, the NTP notes "some concern" that BPA can affect children's brains and reproductive systems. The agency made the same conclusion in a draft report in April, which ... |
|
| Topics: green living, health, news, parenting, toxics (all these topics) |
|
|
Less driving means less dying
Some good news about high gas prices |
Eric de Place |
22 Aug 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I'm a bit late on this, but it's still worth mentioning. Via The New York Times: Traffic deaths in the United States declined last year, reaching the lowest level in more than a decade, the government reported Thursday. Some 41,059 people were killed in highway crashes, down by more than 1,600 from 2006. It was the fewest number of highway deaths in a year since 1994, when 40,716 people were killed. You can't attribute the entirety of the decline to reduced d ... |
|
| Topics: cars, green living, health (all these topics) |
|
|
He Ain't Heavy, He's My Rubber
California to phase out lead weights on tires by end of 2009 |
|
21 Aug 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 4:07 PM on 21 Aug 2008 Lead weights used to balance vehicle wheels will be phased out in California by the end of 2009, in accordance with a court settlement approved Wednesday. The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed by the Center for Environmental Health in May against Chrysler and the three biggest U.S. makers of lead wheel weights. The group says 500,000 pounds of lead is released annually ... |
|
| Topics: Big Auto, California, cars, health, news (all these topics) |
|
|
Dope on a Soap
On Method cleansers |
Umbra Fisk |
20 Aug 2008 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, I've noticed lately that Method cleaning products are now being sold in a number of different retail outlets, whereas before they were only sold in Target. This shouldn't seem too weird in our every-store-sells-the-same-thing world, but seeing these products on the shelves in Whole Foods got me wondering more about them. You see, I went looking for some trusty Bon Ami cleaner the other day and found it gone from the shelves ... |
|
| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, consumerism, green cleaning, green products, health, shopping, toxics (all these topics) |
|
|
A creepy new use for rBGH
Putting cow hormones into fish food makes them balloon |
Tom Philpott |
20 Aug 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Update [2008-8-22 13:20:9 by Tom Philpott]:I was alerted to the rBGH-tilapia news item by this blurb in the Organic Consumers Association news feed on Aug. 19. But when you click on the link provided by OCA, you're taken to a source dated 2003. Unlike reader Mr. Mean, who (very cordially) comments below, I sloppily didn't notice how old this 'news' is. I emailed E. Gordon Grau, the Hawaii-based scientist who performed the study on rBGH and tilapia, to ask him if there w ... |
|
| Topics: agriculture, aquaculture, Big Ag, food, health, insanity (all these topics) |
|
|
Sip 'n' Skip
California won't ban BPA in baby bottles, sippy cups |
|
19 Aug 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 12:58 PM on 19 Aug 2008 With 22 legislators abstaining, the California Assembly voted 31-27 Monday not to ban chemical bisphenol A in baby products. BPA is one of those things you'd like to keep out of your kid; the bill would have banned it from bottles, sippy cups, and other containers for tots. Legislators also voted 36-33 (with 11 abstentions) against a bill that would have banned equally icky chemical PFOA from food ... |
|
| Topics: California, food, green living, health, legislation, news, parenting, politics, state politics, toxics (all these topics) |
|
|
Highway Near the Danger Zone
One in three schools too close to highways for clean air, study says |
|
18 Aug 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 5:38 PM on 18 Aug 2008 One third of American public schools are in an "air pollution danger zone," researchers at the University of Cincinnati found in a new study to be published in the Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. They defined danger zones as areas within a quarter-mile of heavily trafficked highways. Diesel particles and other pollutants from highways can ... |
|
| Topics: air pollution, health, news, scientific research, urban planning (all these topics) |
|
|
Podiatribe
On toxins in your body |
Umbra Fisk |
18 Aug 2008 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, I saw an infomercial late at night about these foot pads that you wear to sleep and they will "remove toxins from your body." I didn't know who else to ask, so you win that lottery. Do we actually have that many toxins in our body? And does wearing silly pads on our feet really pull them out so we can easily throw these toxins in the trash? I think you should do an experiment and let me know if I'm missing the boat ... |
|
| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, Environmental Working Group, health, mercury, shopping, toxics (all these topics) |
|
|
BPA: A-OK?
Common chemical in food containers not a health threat, says FDA |
|
18 Aug 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 7:15 AM on 18 Aug 2008 Food containers made with common chemical bisphenol A pose no health threat, according to a draft assessment by the Food and Drug Administration. More than 100 government- and university-funded studies have linked BPA to cancer, diabetes, behavioral disorders, and reproductive problems, and an April report from the National Toxicology Program declared there was "some concern" a ... |
|
| Topics: food, Food and Drug Administration, green living, health, news, toxics (all these topics) |
|
|
Scents and Sensibility
Making a stink about green(ish) deodorants |
Kate Sheppard |
12 Aug 2008 |
The Bottom Line |
| Choosing a deodorant can be the pits. Upon moving to Washington, D.C., about a year ago, I quickly realized two things: Our Nation's Capitol was built on a swamp and The Hill is called that for a reason. So biking -- my chief form of transit in the city -- can be quite the damp, smelly affair. After arriving at more than a few congressional hearings smelling certifiably ripe, I realized my hippie stick ... |
|
| Topics: advice, green living, green products, health, shopping, The Bottom Line, toxics (all these topics) |
|
|
|
©2008. Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Gloom and doom with a sense of humor®.