 Something Comes From Nothing Celebrate Buy Nothing Day on Friday; no purchase necessary Thousands of people the world over plan to celebrate what's usually the biggest shopping day of the year by ... not buying anything. That's right, it's almost time for Buy Nothing Day, celebrated Nov. 23 in the U.S. and Canada and Nov. 24 in the rest of the world, drawing attention to how easy it is to stop, drop, and not shop. The poor, the hungover, and the lazy aren't the only ones getting in on the no-buying action. Activists across the globe will be staging events at malls and sprawling superstores near you, encouraging people to take a day of rest from rampant consumerism. And the best part: you don't have to worry about what to get for your friends -- to celebrate, simply buy nothing! If only the other holidays could be so simple. [ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ] source: Adbusters |
Tip #2 from Grist's new green-living guide, Wake Up and Smell the Planet
Q. What's really in your kids' cereal?
A. Watch for high fructose corn syrup, an unhealthy additive. Click here for more green-living tips, or buy the book!
Q. What's really in your kids' cereal?
A. Watch for high fructose corn syrup, an unhealthy additive. Click here for more green-living tips, or buy the book!
TODAY'S NEWS
| Hear No Yvo Industrialized countries' greenhouse-gas emissions near all-time high Take it away, Yvo de Boer of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change: "Industrialized countries' overall greenhouse-gas emissions rose to a near all-time high in 2005. Greenhouse-gas emissions between 1990 and 2000 went down, but then between 2000 and 2005 they increased again, by 2.6 percent." Oy. Bali can't come soon enough. [ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ] source: Agence France-Presse |
| Go and Greenwash No More Green products largely guilty of greenwashing, says study A study of 1,018 "green" products from big-box stores has found that all but one were marketed with false or misleading eco-claims. Researchers from TerraChoice Environmental Marketing called out products for committing the "Six Sins of Greenwashing": a hidden tradeoff (e.g., toxin-loaded electronics touting their energy efficiency); no certifiable verification of green claims; flat-out lying about certification; vagueness (e.g., products claiming "all natural" status, which could include hazardous substances that occur naturally); irrelevance (e.g., products claiming to be CFC-free even though CFCs have long been banned); or a lesser-of-two-evils situation (e.g. organic cigarettes). Cascade paper towels were the big -- and only -- winner, with claims of being chlorine-free, having recycled content, and having legitimate logos checking out as accurate. [ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ] sources: CanWest News Service, TerraChoice |
| They Tried to Make Me Go to a Reserve, I Said Bonobo Congo nature preserve set up to protect bonobos A swath of Congo rainforest larger than the state of Massachusetts will be designated as a nature reserve in a collaborative effort between American and Congolese environmental groups and agencies. Advocates hope the reserve will be a significant step toward protecting the endangered bonobo, one of humans' closest ape relations. Bonobos, which live only in the Congo, are often targeted by poachers. They are also the only primates other than humans known to have sex not just for procreation, but for pleasure. And if that's not worth preserving, we don't know what is. [ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ] sources: The New York Times, Mongabay see also, in Grist: Saving bonobos with sex |
Read more news ...
GRIST COLUMNS AND FEATURES
 Java Script On reheating coffee Q. Dear Umbra, As a web developer for a certain respectable online magazine somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, I drink a lot of coffee to keep me alert and my very demanding employers happy. However, in my constant imbibing of the dark elixir, I'm concerned about the energy use involved. Specifically, I can only drink coffee piping hot, and sometimes when I take a break from being wired and resume my regimen, what little coffee is left is ice cold. So I toss out the chilly remainder (about one-fourth of the original pot) and put in another pitcher of water. So here is my question, am I being more wasteful in doing this than in, let's say, taking the remaining cold coffee and heating it up in the microwave? I impatiently await your answer. Paranoid Coffee Drinker A. Dearest PCD, At first I wasn't so sure this microwave/coffeemaker query was any different than the microwave/stovetop query or the stovetop/kettle/microwave query. I'm still not convinced, actually. We have established that ... Read the rest of Umbra's answer. [ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ] new in Grist: On reheating coffee |
 Happy Thanksgiving Grist takes a short break, wishes you a wonderful day of giving thanks We Gristers are taking a break for the rest of the week. On Thanksgiving, we'll be stuffing ourselves with pumpkin lasagna and Cointreau cranberry sauce, sending Thanksgiving e-cards to everyone we know, and feeling grateful that we have the bestest readers in the whole wide world. On Friday, we'll be buying nothing. And on Monday, we'll be back hard at work, bringing you wise and witty green news and views. Here's wishing you and yours a happy Thanksgiving. |
Coming Monday: Advice columnist Umbra Fisk on used cooking oil
Grist: Environmental News and Commentary
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