| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
Sharing is Glaring
On energy-hog roommates |
Umbra Fisk |
21 Apr 2008 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, My roommate takes 45-minute showers, does 10 loads of laundry a day, and spends her days watching show after show on TV. What is a nice or subtle way to get her to "cool down" (she didn't like us secretly turning down the water heater)? Thanks, Tested Tom Belmont, Calif. Dearest Tom, Obviously the nice way is to courteously ask. We'll assume this was attempted and failed. Did you read my recent effort to ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, education, energy, energy at home, green living (all these topics) |
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Get the Hang Of It
On communal clothes drying |
Umbra Fisk |
25 Feb 2008 |
Ask Umbra |
| Hello Umbra! I'm a college student working to make my school greener and would like to purchase a few relatively sturdy, high-volume clothes drying racks to place in our laundry rooms so that students have an alternative to using the electric dryers. I know these racks exist because I just got back from studying in Italy for the semester and saw them all over, but I haven't been able to find anything good in 45 minutes of se ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, education, energy at home, green living (all these topics) |
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Major Dilemma
On choosing a college |
Umbra Fisk |
30 Jan 2008 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, I am a high school junior this school year. I am currently researching what college to attend. One major decision in your school choice should be choosing a college that is strong in the field of your study. I am interested in college majors that will translate into green jobs. I know about jobs such as sustainable architecture as well as a few others but I was wondering if you could give a thorough list! Tim Olney, Ill. ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, education, green living (all these topics) |
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Into the Wild
On tossing food waste |
Umbra Fisk |
10 Oct 2007 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, I am a college student. I eat a lot on the go. Not fast food or boxed meals, but when I leave my dorm I usually grab an apple, banana, or other fruit/veggie to eat as I walk to my destination. I don't compost, instead I just throw the banana peel or apple core into the bushes. I like the thought that maybe one day my apple core will become an apple, or that my banana peel will help nourish that piece of ground/animals in t ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, education, food, green living, waste (all these topics) |
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Senior Moments
On class gifts, again |
Umbra Fisk |
09 May 2007 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, My class also wants to give a greener gift when we graduate in 2008. We are starting to plan, and though your suggestion of solar power is awesome and very true, that will not be possible at my Seventh-Day Adventist school. We did not receive permission to do anything like that. Is there anything else that we might do to inspire our campus to become green? Heather Pfeifle Berrien Springs, Mich. Dearest Heather, I'm torn ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, education, green living, religion and spirituality (all these topics) |
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No More Teachers' Dirty Looks
On gifts for your school |
Umbra Fisk |
25 Apr 2007 |
Ask Umbra |
| Hi Umbra, I'm the senior president for my high school class. My cabinet and I want to leave a "green" gift to the school. We would like it to be something that is on campus or easily visible. Can you recommend anything in the $10,000 to $15,000 price range or below? I go to a public school in Northern California, if that's any help. I would appreciate a quick response; the end of the school year is quickly ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, education, green living (all these topics) |
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Juvenile Call
On motivating teenagers |
Umbra Fisk |
11 Sep 2006 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, I'm an officer for my high school's chapter of the National Honor Society, and we stress academic importance and help our community by doing service projects. I'm trying to get a service project going in support of the environment. Greenhouse-gas emissions and alternative fuels are some things I tried to bring up at our officer meetings to motivate my friends to help out, but they don't seem too interested. What I want t ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, education, green living (all these topics) |
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What Is This 'Print' You Speak of?
On environmental print magazines |
Umbra Fisk |
03 Feb 2005 |
Ask Umbra |
| What Is This "Print" You Speak of? On environmental print magazines By Umbra Fisk 03 Feb 2005 Dear Umbra, Can you recommend a paper magazine dedicated to environmental/social-justice issues that has the same kind of light touch and zany humor that Grist has? I've found that getting really good reading material into the house and just leaving it around is a sure way to hook my two children, who are both avid readers. They're both computer literate, but won't go to a website I recommend, ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, education, green living, magazines (all these topics) |
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Bag Lady
On reusable recycling bags |
Umbra Fisk |
27 Jan 2005 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, I am the cofounder and current president of the Recycling Club at R.L. Paschal High School in Fort Worth, Texas. We have started collecting cell phones and plan to donate them to Verizon, since they refurbish and recycle or sell them. With the money they make, they buy new ones with airtime for (in our town) ladies at the Women's Haven shelter. We plan to start recycling plastics too. I need a bag for all this paper. Anywa ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, education, green living, recycling (all these topics) |
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I Was a Teenage Polluter
On environmentally oblivious teens |
Umbra Fisk |
27 Apr 2004 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, My girlfriend's 14-year-old daughter lives with us, and she's the most environmentally oblivious person I've ever met. She makes George Bush and Dick Cheney look like card-carrying members of the Green Party. She throws trash out the car window or tosses it on the street. She never shuts off a light or turns down the heat when leaving a room. She can stand in front of the open refrigerator for 15 mi ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, education, green living (all these topics) |
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Cater to Pater
On intransigent non-recyclers |
Umbra Fisk |
15 Jan 2004 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, I am a completely eco-friendly person and strive to have my family follow in those footsteps. We have a recycling system -- one my canned-beer-drinking dad refuses to abide by. (Not that I'm criticizing canned beer or my father. Both are good.) He refuses to recycle his cans, and I'm a little tired of digging them out of the garbage. Is there anything I could do to change his outlook on his wastefulness? Rebecca ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, education, green living, recycling (all these topics) |
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In Loco Parentis
On making your parents' home eco-friendly |
Umbra Fisk |
12 Mar 2003 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, I am a teenager and so I live with my parents. We recycle paper and some other products (mostly milk containers), but I don't think our house as a whole is very eco-friendly. Since I'm not in charge, I can't really go out and buy new appliances or anything like that. Should I try to convince my parents to do things like switch the type of light bulb we use, or are there other things I can do to help ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, education, green living (all these topics) |
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Green U.
On student activism |
Umbra Fisk |
16 Jan 2003 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, I may be asking the wrong person, but I hope you can help out. I am a student at the University of North Carolina and my group, the Student Environmental Action Coalition, is undertaking an ambitious campaign to raise student fees by $4 per semester in order to bring renewable energy to our campus. While $4 doesn't sound like a lot, in the end it would amount to nearly $300,000 per year, which we hope to increase by corporate ma ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, campus activism, education, green living, renewable energy (all these topics) |
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Weed Creed
On weeding |
Umbra Fisk |
30 Jul 2002 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, We moved into a suburban neighborhood in Ft. Collins, Colo., last year and I began my usual organic gardening practices. I created a beautiful flower garden in our front yard, but I still receive complaints from my neighbors because I refuse to apply herbicides to kill the dandelions and other weeds in the lawn. At least they are all green and neatly mowed! My scientific explanations about the dangers of herbicides and pesticides and th ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, education, gardening, green living, toxics (all these topics) |
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The Paper Chase
On corporate paper recycling |
Umbra Fisk |
23 Apr 2002 |
Ask Umbra |
| I work for a large corporation that is very wasteful with paper. I am looking for information on whom I can complain to about this so that something will happen. They do not use recycled paper or require any recycling of paper. Beth Dearest Beth, Prepare yourself: The fate of reams of office paper is in your hands. You must be the defender of the discarded draft, the champion of the crumpled wad, the protector of the printer ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, business, education, green living, recycling, waste (all these topics) |
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