Grist | Topics | 526 Results

RESULTS		Results 401 – 425 of 526
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Headline	Author	Published	Section
The Age of Aquariums Advice on buying aquarium fish	Umbra Fisk	24 Jun 2004	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, I'm an elementary school teacher and I'd like to get a pet fish for my classroom, but I've heard tales of such fish being caught by eco-egregious means: dynamite blasting, cyanide dumping, etc. How can I make sure I'm getting happy, healthy, sustainably caught fish for my aquarium? Ginger Dearest Ginger, Is nothing sacred? Apparently not cute aquarium fish, which are wooing consumers to inadvertently destro ...
Topics: advice, aquaculture, Ask Umbra, fishing, green living (all these topics)

Vegging Out Advice on antioxidant-rich foods and why they cost so much	Umbra Fisk	21 Jun 2004	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, Antioxidant foods are "the thing" right now, and I would love to be able to eat as many as I need. However, they are usually the most expensive fruits and vegetables. Would it not make sense for farmers or producers to grow these products in greater volume, so we could all afford them and be able to eat healthier more easily? How difficult would such an adjustment in crops be fo ...
Topics: advice, ag subsidies, Ask Umbra, business, food and agriculture, health, industrial ag (all these topics)

Girl on Film On recycling videotapes and laser discs	Umbra Fisk	17 Jun 2004	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, I'm a dedicated cineaste, and over the last decade I've built up a large library (around 5,000 titles) of classic films on VHS and old-fashioned laser discs. I have been anxious to start adding DVDs to my collection, with all the extra features they offer, but I've held off because I know that any further expansion of my collection will require me to make more space -- i.e., get rid of a bunch of bulky pla ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, green living, recycling, waste (all these topics)

Bake Your Cake and Eat It Too On getting a job in the 'eco-field'	Umbra Fisk	14 Jun 2004	Ask Umbra
On getting a job in the "eco-field" By Umbra Fisk 14 Jun 2004 Dear Umbra, I'm a conscientious baby boomer who would like to do things to help the planet. I'm simultaneously enjoying a midlife crisis. I have spent more than eight years in college, studying to be a psychologist/chef. Where in the eco-field is there a place for a reformed business owner/computer teacher/chef with years and years of experience in the psychology of women? Dr. Thom Jacksonvill ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, food and agriculture, green jobs, green living, local food, organic food, sustainable ag (all these topics)

Waste Makes Haste Answers about thermal depolymerization	Umbra Fisk	10 Jun 2004	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, What is thermal depolymerization? Ann Freehold, N.J. Dearest Ann, A polymer is a large group of linked molecules. We're made of polymers such as protein, eat polymers such as starch, and wear polymers such as leather and nylon. Thermal depolymerization is a heat-driven process that breaks down or transforms polymers into the shorter chains from whence they came: oil. Our planet's automatic transforma ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, energy, oil, solid waste treatment and disposal, waste (all these topics)

All the Write Moves On strategic voting and writing to legislators	Umbra Fisk	07 Jun 2004	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, I'm a dislocated Texas resident living in Georgia, and I frequently send action emails to congressional leaders on environmental issues. Which leaders should I be sending my emails to: those I vote for in Texas or the Georgia ones? I'm afraid that when I email the Texas leaders they'll see my present Georgia address and ignore my concern, but I also wonder if the Georgia leaders know that I ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, elections, politics (all these topics)

Litter with a G On glitter	Umbra Fisk	24 May 2004	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, What is the half-life of glitter and what is the environmental impact of said glitter on the ground? Planet Diva Austin, Texas Dearest Planet Diva, Everyone should know the truth: Write me a question about glitter and I will answer it right away. Glitter floats to the top of thousands of questions and shimmers there, distracting me from analysis of household air samples. Glitter. Glitter is to plastic, glass, and aluminum as san ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, green living, waste (all these topics)

Tour of Beauty On makeup	Umbra Fisk	24 May 2004	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, I haven't been reading Grist for very long, so excuse me if you've already addressed this topic, but what are the environmental impacts of using cosmetics such as lipstick, eyeliner, mascara, eye shadow, and especially nail polish? Since becoming an environmentally conscious consumer, I have purchased cruelty-free products, but I have only recently begun to consider the environmental impact of the packaging and the products themselve ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, green living, green products, toxics (all these topics)

Dye Another Day On hair dye	Umbra Fisk	24 May 2004	Ask Umbra
Greetings, O Esteemed Umbra, I decided a while ago that I wouldn't put toxic chemicals down the drain for the sake of vanity. However, I'm a dirty, dirty blond (um, hair color) and was wondering if there is a "safe" way to add some highlights. Besides lemon juice, are there other products or substances that can be used to safely create that sunny look I'd like to have? Dirty Hairy Cincinnati, Ohio Dearest Dirty Hairy, A strand of ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, green living, toxics (all these topics)

The Pill of Chill On environmental stress	Umbra Fisk	27 Apr 2004	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, I'm the poster child for a late-twentysomething environmentally responsible adult. I use less than 100 gallons of gas a year, less than 100 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month, less than 20 gallons of water per day, less than 100 therms of natural gas during the winter in Minnesota. I take my garbage out once every two months because nearly everything is recycled, composted, or bought in reusable containers. My ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, ecological footprint, green living (all these topics)

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 ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, education, green living (all these topics)

The In-Law That Broke the Camel's Back On environmentally oblivious family	Umbra Fisk	27 Apr 2004	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, I am totally frustrated with my in-laws. They know how important it is for us to raise our infant in the least toxic environment we can manage. However, when we go to their house, I have no control over the situation. We arrived there for Easter vacation only to find out that three rooms had been painted and two newly carpeted -- and not with eco-friendly materials! There was also a n ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, green living, toxics (all these topics)

The Pen Is Mightier Than the Pollutocrat Announcing Umbra's latest contest	Umbra Fisk	15 Apr 2004	Ask Umbra
Dearest Beloved Readers, Another turn of the seasons (still four, at last count) has brought us together again on the eve of Earth Day, the moment in the sun for the environmental movement, the fifth anniversary of Grist, and the second anniversary of my ability to freely pontificate into your inbox. It's been a nice, quiet year here in the stacks, though there was a phase upstairs of eating o ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, green living, waste (all these topics)

Jewel-Use Technology On recycling CD jewel cases	Umbra Fisk	25 Mar 2004	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, I've been Googling all over to find a place where I can recycle old CD cases, to no avail. I'm moving soon and would really like to find an environmentally safe way to dispose of these things. Do you know of any place they can be dropped off, or any other alternatives? Melissa Edgewater, N.J. Dearest Melissa, Here's an answer not just for you, but for all those readers who write in with insanely specific rec ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, green living, recycling (all these topics)

Table of Contents On post-consumer content	Umbra Fisk	25 Mar 2004	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, So I was sitting there at lunch, eating my crackers, when I spied a recycling symbol and was confused. What is "pre-consumer" content? I mean, if the label is true ("carton made from 100 percent recycled paperboard -- minimum 35 percent post-consumer content"), what is the other 65 percent? And what is paperboard? Kevin Laurel, Md. Dearest Kevin, Pre-consumer content is the stuff picked up from ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, green living, recycling (all these topics)

Recyclical Market On the market for recycled material	Umbra Fisk	25 Mar 2004	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, In reference to your polystyrene response: The polystyrene I have seen recently appears with a No. 6 recycling triangle on the bottom. But I've heard there is no market for this stuff, even though our local recycling company claims to want us to collect all Nos. 1 through 7. How can this be? Gail San Bruno, Calif. Dearest Gail, It's a trick. Since recycling became the Next Big Thing in the 1980s, town ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, green living, recycling (all these topics)

Export Retort On exporting our recycling	Umbra Fisk	09 Mar 2004	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, While we were cleaning out a family member's house, a neighbor stopped by to see what we were up to. I mentioned that we were tossing "real trash" into the large dumpster and compiling recyclable materials for a trip to the recycling center or metal scrap yard. We don't know this person well, but without him knowing our political persuasion, he stated that recycling is just another segment of the "liber ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, green living, recycling (all these topics)

Doubt of the Benefit On the benefits of recycling	Umbra Fisk	09 Mar 2004	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, Some time ago, the public radio program This American Life, hosted by Ira Glass, was about recycling. Glass reported, "Experts agree that we have plenty of landfill space for the foreseeable future." He proposed that recycling therefore did little more than make us feel good. The hapless person he interviewed came up with no better response to that than, "Well, what's wrong with feeling good?&q ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, green living, recycling, solid waste treatment and disposal, waste (all these topics)

For What Shall It Profit a Man... On recycling profitability	Umbra Fisk	09 Mar 2004	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, My friend has the notion that recycling programs lose money. Where does this come from? I can imagine situations where that could be the case, but in most cities there seems to be plenty of material being recycled to justify the collection infrastructure, etc. And surely there are markets for more recycled content than we currently produce. Why does the myth persist that recycling doesn't make sens ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, green living, recycling (all these topics)

Stinky Unsafe Vehicle On SUVs	Umbra Fisk	25 Feb 2004	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, Please help; my friend Kathryn Schulz, Grist's managing editor, is sick of hearing about my guilt. I own an SUV. In my defense, I got it almost six years ago, when I was moving to the mountains and needed a big car with four-wheel drive to support my rugged, transient lifestyle, and it's a littler model, not a Navigator. Life is funny, though, because now I live in New York, and the only thing I use my SUV for is commuting from ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, cars, electric vehicles, hybrids, placemaking, Prius (all these topics)

The Heat Is On Advice on heating tiny urban dwellings	Umbra Fisk	25 Feb 2004	Ask Umbra
OK, Umbra, I live in a building in Brooklyn where, in typical Brooklyn style, we do not control our own heat. That is, there is no thermostat in our apartment. Thus, our only options for regulating the temperature in the winter are turning off the radiators or opening the windows. Obviously the latter is an absurd waste of energy; I don't want my poor radiator trying to heat all of the outer boroughs of New York City ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, green living (all these topics)

Chips and Peanuts On packaging peanuts	Umbra Fisk	25 Feb 2004	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, I was wondering whether you could provide me with advice about packaging materials. You see, I was recently married and my wife and I now find ourselves buried under packaging peanuts, Styrofoam, and other such materials, much as we tried to avoid the fate (of receiving loads of store-bought gifts, that is, not of being hitched). What do you suggest we do with boxes and boxes of this post-nuptial detritus? Chip Giller G ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, green living, recycling (all these topics)

Toxic Cling On fabric softening	Umbra Fisk	12 Feb 2004	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, With winter upon us, I'm thinking about a serious matter: fabric softener. During the summer, I don't use any. However, with snow looming, static cling is on my mind. Long story short, which is better: liquid fabric softener or dryer sheets? Allie Shippensburg, Penn. Dearest Allie, Your home will be a happier, healthier place if no fabric softener darkens your dryer. Both liquid and sheet contain a stunning amount of notoriou ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, green living, toxics (all these topics)

Heavy Metal Garden On composting paper	Umbra Fisk	12 Feb 2004	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, Two questions: Does the colored ink in newspapers still contain chemicals bad for a compost pile? Also, what about the colored ink printed on cardboard boxes? I want to have a safe compost pile to use in a garden. Anonymous Dearest Mysterious Reader, Some readers may find gardening questions in February a bit jarring. By choosing to answer this one, I'm taunting those of you who don't live in the Pacific Northwest. True ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, gardening, toxics (all these topics)

Kid Commando On diaperless parenting	Umbra Fisk	12 Feb 2004	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, I have a baby on the way. Due to prodding by my wife, I have begun to think about things such as diapers. Babies make a lot of boom-boom, and wrapping it all up in a bundle of plastic diaperness, tossing that in a plastic sack, and then tossing the lot in a landfill seems eco-unfriendly. And reusable diapers are definitely parent-unfriendly, insists my wife. I have seen some all-cotton and paper disposable diapers, but at ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, green living, parenting, solid waste treatment and disposal, waste (all these topics)

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