Tag Archives: summer

Despite victory for Standing Rock Sioux, Energy Transfer Partners vows Dakota Access Pipeline will go on.

by KimberlBlanton Posted on December 5, 2016

Grist sent former fellow Melissa Cronin aboard a four-seat prop plane to the tiny village of Tyonek, Alaska, this summer. Her on-the-ground investigation helped expose a Texas energy company’s plans to develop a coal mine across wetlands and forest that are extremely valuable to the local indigenous people.

Through her dogged reporting, Melissa published Coal’s Last Gamble — the type of fearless journalism we are proud to produce. If you missed the story, check it out here.

As part of our annual winter fund drive, we’re highlighting the stories of 2016 that defined our year. Why? Now more than ever, the world desperately needs independent nonprofit journalism. With the media landscape rife with antagonism, spectacle, and fake news, Grist dives deep and brings important stories you just can’t find elsewhere.

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Grist’s journalism is powered by readers like you. So, if you learned something valuable from Coal’s Last Gamble or any of the great work the team brought you this year, please consider making a gift!

As an added bonus, all new monthly donors will receive a limited-edition Grist steel pint glass to drink your political sorrows away toast to the progress we make toward a more sustainable, just future. Supplies are limited — get yours now.

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Despite victory for Standing Rock Sioux, Energy Transfer Partners vows Dakota Access Pipeline will go on.

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How To Green Your Outdoor Deck Maintenance Routine

by BruceHaddon Posted on September 28, 2016

Summer takes its toll on outdoor decks: the elements, foot traffic, pets, runoff from the roof and plant debris — it all adds up. It’s unavoidable. Regular outdoor deck maintenance ensures that your deck not only looks better but stays structurally sound longer. So what’s a eco-conscious deck-loving home owner to do?

Green your outdoor deck maintenance

There are plenty of outdoor deck maintenance products on the market. These products promise to rid your deck of dirt, stains and mildew yet can contain harsh chemicals. Why not make your own outdoor deck maintenance cleaner with natural, eco-friendly household ingredients instead? With some elbow grease, a power washer and a utility broom, your deck will look brand new in no time at all. Best of all, you and your guests won’t be standing on a pile of toxic timber.

Here’s how to get started.

Eco-friendly deck cleaner recipe

Make your own outdoor deck maintenance cleaner with natural, eco-friendly household ingredients instead!

  1. Using a utility broom, clean all the loose debris from your deck.
  2. Use a power washer to loosen the embedded dirt and rinse off your deck.
  3. Sprinkle the deck with baking soda.
  4. Make your own deck cleaner using 1 gallon of hot water, 1 cup of vinegar and 2 tablespoons of your favorite eco-friendly dish soap. The acid from the vinegar helps clean away any mildew or algae. If you find you have a lot of build-up, consider adding 2 cups of vinegar.
  5. Using a scrub brush or broom, wash your deck with your homemade cleaner. The natural reaction between the vinegar and the baking soda helps to give your deck a good scrub. The baking soda also acts as a mild abrasive to scrub away any tough stains.
  6. Rinse your deck again using the power washer.
  7. Let your deck dry overnight.

Note: If you haven’t washed your deck in a few years, consider repeating this process the next day for a good, thorough clean.

Run away from the toxic runoff routine

The best part of this method is using a natural cleaner saves toxic chemicals from leaking into your lawn and water supply. Enjoy your clean deck knowing it was washed in an environmentally responsible way.

To see other materials to upkeep your deck, visit your local Home Depot.

Feature image credit: Artazum / Shutterstock 

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How To Green Your Outdoor Deck Maintenance Routine – September 28, 2016

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How To Green Your Outdoor Deck Maintenance Routine

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Ted Cruz Endorses Trump After Calling Him a "Sniveling Coward"

by Elizabeth4028 Posted on September 23, 2016

Mother Jones

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For months, Ted Cruz has refused to endorse Donald Trump, making Cruz a hero to some Republicans who remain opposed to Trump. But that ended on Friday when Cruz announced he would support his former rival.

“After many months of careful consideration, of prayer and searching my own conscience, I have decided that on Election Day, I will vote for the Republican nominee, Donald Trump,” Cruz wrote in a Facebook post.

At the Republican National Convention in July, rather than endorse Trump, Cruz urged Republicans to “vote your conscience,” drawing shouts and boos from the audience. On Friday, he said his own conscience told him to support Trump. “If Clinton wins, we know—with 100% certainty—that she would deliver on her left-wing promises, with devastating results for our country,” he wrote. “My conscience tells me I must do whatever I can to stop that.”

Cruz had some good reasons not to endorse Trump, stemming from the nasty primary battle between them. Trump has repeatedly attacked members of Cruz’s family. In February, Trump went after Cruz’s wife, Heidi, threatening in a tweet to “spill the beans” about her. Trump then retweeted an unflattering photo of Heidi next to a better one of his own wife, Melania.

Cruz’s response: “Donald, you’re a sniveling coward. Leave Heidi the hell alone.”

But Trump wasn’t done going after Cruz’s family. Toward the end of the primary, Trump suggested that Cruz’s father might have been involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. When Cruz refused to endorse Trump at the convention this summer, Trump promptly revived this accusation.

Cruz cited these attacks to defend his decision not to endorse Trump at the Republican National Convention in July. “I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father,” he said at the time. Now his habits appear to have changed.

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Ted Cruz Endorses Trump After Calling Him a "Sniveling Coward"

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The Eco-Friendly Reason Rio’s Olympic Medalists Didn’t Get Flowers

by radiomeciurilive Posted on August 23, 2016

The Olympic Games are held every four years, and although the medals change, the award ceremonies are usually very similar.

Olympic medalists typically receive a bouquet in addition to their medal, but flowers werestrangely absent from the podium in Rio. Why? Turns out it was part of the Rio Olympic Committee’s efforts to make the massive event more eco-friendly.

Flowers are not very sustainable, said Christy Nicolay, the executive producer of the victory ceremonies, told the New York Times. We give it to an athlete, and very often they just throw it away.

Even those of us who aren’t Olympic athletes know this to be a painful reality of life. We get flowers for special occasions or perhaps simply cut them from our own gardens to bright up the house, but it seems they wither and die almost instantly.

Like any crop, growing flowers is a resource-intensive process. “Seventy percent of the cut flowers sold in the U.S. are imported from Latin America,” reported Diane MacEachern for Care2. “Though the hot climate is just what the flowers need, those constant high temperatures are also conducive to bugs and disease. Consequently, growers in Columbia, Ecuador and many other countries rely on pesticides that have long been banned in the U.S. to produce flowers worth selling in international markets.”

Related: Why Buying Local Flowers Is Just As Important As Buying Local Food

With all that in mind, Rio’s decision to nix the bouquets seems very noble…until you hear about what they gave athletes as a replacement souvenir.

Those who managed to finish in the top three of their events at this years Summer Games receivedsmall sculptures of the Rio 2016 logo,designed in three dimensions for the first time in history. It’s said that the figurines can double as a display stand for the medal. Sadly, the sculptures were made ofresin, polyresin and PVCnot exactly the most eco-friendly materials. It remains to be seen whether future Olympic host cities will follow this example.

While the athletes are far less likely to toss their sculpture in the trash, it’s worth noting that fresh flowers and plants were still used to decorate the podiumsI wonder, where did they end up?

Related: 5 Simple Ways To Recycle Your Fresh Cut Flowers

Image Credit: Thinkstock

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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The Eco-Friendly Reason Rio’s Olympic Medalists Didn’t Get Flowers

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California smog is getting worse again, but because of climate change, not cars

by LenaRoof4575566 Posted on August 12, 2016

smog-eat-smog world

California smog is getting worse again, but because of climate change, not cars

By on Aug 12, 2016 2:58 pmShare

Hospitals have been reporting increased visits from patients seeking treatment for respiratory ailments this summer in Southern California. The culprit? Smog.

Southern California has experienced its worst smog in seven years. Ozone levels have exceeded federal standards on 91 days in 2016, nearly 30 percent more than this time last year, according to the Los Angeles Times. Every day of August has exceeded the federal standard of 70 parts per billion.

Cities like Los Angeles have never been known for making it easier to breathe. Yet as bad as the air currently is, it’s still far better than than it was in the ’70s and ’80s, when LA had 200 smog-filled days a year.  

While emissions from vehicles are usually the culprit behind smog, the reason for this season’s poor air quality has more to do with the particularly hot and dry weather, and an influx in wildfire activity. Ozone regulations and federal fuel efficiency standards for trucks and cars, meanwhile, have helped cities cut pollution.

But in the future, as climate change increases both wildfires and temperatures in the region, it’ll take even greater effort to make Southern California’s air clean again.

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Here’s How Much Everyone is Freaking Out about the New Harry Potter Book

by RubySDLOxzlznh Posted on August 2, 2016

Mother Jones

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When I was a preteen I was so obsessed with Harry Potter novels that I spent New Year’s Eve on a Harry Potter message board. In fact, that’s what I did for most of my winter break: my family wasn’t the vacationing type and I was too young to really go out, so for countless hours I stared at my computer talking to other HP fans. (This was back when message boards were still a thing and avatars mostly consisted of cribbed celebrity photos.)

My obsession eventually died out, but going to see the last Harry Potter film, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” in 2011 was still a bittersweet affair for a 20-year-old. It felt like both a farewell to a drawn-out childhood passion and the beginning of accepting the reality that there would no longer be any more Harry Potter books or movies to look forward to. I was, finally, an adult.

But now Harry Potter is back. Kind of.

Earlier this summer, a new play featuring a middle-aged Harry Potter, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” previewed in London to rave reviews. On July 31—coincidentally Harry Potter’s and J.K. Rowling’s birthday—the script was released as a book, just like in the good old days, at midnight with hundreds of fans flocking to bookstores to get their hands on the first copies. The script, written by Jack Thorne and based on a story by Thorne, J.K. Rowling and director John Tiffany, has garnered praise from some critics and mixed reviews from others, but it’s also led to a collective spewing of joy, tears and fervor over the latest Harry Potter adventure.

See some of the best reactions below.

J.K. Rowling saddened a number of fans when she announced at the play’s premiere that Harry Potter is “done now.” But at the very least, a new movie based off a book in the Harry Potter universe, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” opens in November.

And will I be rushing out to get the new script? Not yet. But still knowing there’s a chance to revisit the series has given me a chance to time travel, back to my adolescent days of commiserating with other Harry Potter fans on message boards.

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Here’s How Much Everyone is Freaking Out about the New Harry Potter Book

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Green Road Trip Tips For The Summer

by LSHThorsten Posted on July 18, 2016

Ah, summer! The season of barbecues, picnics, camping, delicious fresh fruit and summertime adventures. One of my favorite things to do through the summer is take a road trip — with family, friends and sometimes even a short solo journey. I find that road trips make for a relatively cheap and easy holiday option, allowing one to explore the interiors of a particular area and marvel at the beauty that summertime brings. Last year, I spent my summer in the Pacific Northwest, and the number of road trips I took increased exponentially. Sometime in the midst of summer and considering how much I was getting out onto the road, I decided that it was only fair to go about my little adventures in a more environmentally responsible manner — a green road trip if you will.

Green road trip tips, for all seasons

These green road trip tips will keep your next summer road trip as eco-friendly as it is enjoyable. Image Credit: Monkey Business Images / Shutterstock

I’ve always been a pretty accountable and cautious person by nature, and so, I researched ways in which to make my journeys more “green”, and lessen their impact (directly and indirectly) on the beautiful surroundings I often cruised through. Today, I’m going to share with you some green road trip tips to keep your next summer road trip as eco-friendly as it is enjoyable.

The Car

Arguably, one of the best ways to keep your trip green is to maximize fuel efficiency. Before embarking on a long journey, make sure your car is fully tuned up. Sometimes overlooked factors, such as your tires not being fully inflated, can reduce fuel efficiency by a significant amount (not to mention, they make driving dangerous). Making sure your car is well maintained and suited for a road trip is vital, as a car in shape will retain its efficiency for a long period of time. More importantly, a well-maintained car aids safety, and safe driving practices are critical for long drives.

If you are renting a car for your trip, then consider renting one that is fuel efficient.  I’ve rented cars for longer journeys in the past, and trust me when I say it’s worth paying a little extra to get a vehicle with higher fuel efficiency.

The Load

Green road trip tip: avoid packing heavy and bulky items unless absolutely necessary. Image Credit: Youproduction / Shutterstock

Pack only as much as you need. Avoid packing heavy and bulky items unless absolutely necessary, and be sure to empty out your trunk of any items you’ve been storing in there that you won’t need for your summer road trip. Keeping your weight to a minimum will reduce the amount of gas consumed, and also save you some money over time. I recently learned that keeping things on the roof of your car can reduce efficiency up to 25%! Apparently, bike racks and luggage carriers will interfere with efficiency even when empty as they disrupt the aerodynamics of the car.

The Drive

Planning your route in advance will help you save fuel, as opposed to spontaneously “going where the road takes you”. In terms of the drive itself, here are some easy-to-follow steps that really do make a big difference in staying environmentally friendly:

When possible, opt for cruise control, as this is much better than constantly accelerating and braking.
Don’t idle! I remember driving to Seattle once, and seeing a “Stop Idling” sign at this large intersection. Even though the sign was very visible, most drivers were in fact, idling. Idling is tempting, but in reality consumes a lot of gas in a small amount of time.
Use as little air-conditioning as possible. I find this quite hard to do, especially during the peak of summer, but it’s worth a try during cooler evenings or while driving through long shaded areas.

The Activities

Apart from the journey itself, the activities you engage in throughout your road trip also contribute to the carbon footprint you leave behind. In terms of food, try and eat local. Consider frequenting farmers’ markets, or eating at local sustainable restaurants. Not only will you be helping the environment, but you’ll get to truly immerse yourself in your new surroundings and get an insider’s perspective. Packing low-carbon snack alternatives in reusable containers is a great way to stay healthy, and also reduce waste.

A great way to see some sights you might otherwise miss is to throw some walking and hiking into your road trip. This saves fuel, and is a fun activity to change things up during a road trip. Instead of using electronic devices to keep your mind occupied during those longer and bleaker drives, or during long pit-stops, try playing a game or two, or interact with fellow travelers. I’ve met some really interesting people at pit-stops, and have found that exchanging stories over a meal with fellow road-trippers is so much more fulfilling than staring at a screen. Even though it doesn’t seem like much, you’ll be saving some electricity, and reducing your personal impact on your surroundings, and who knows — you might even enjoy doing it!

So the next time you’re planning a road trip, think about including these green road trip practices into your journey. After all, half of the enjoyment a road trip brings comes from the beauty of the environments we drive through — so it only makes sense that we do our part in preserving its splendor.

Feature image credit: MNStudio / Shutterstock

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Green Road Trip Tips For The Summer – July 18, 2016

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Green Road Trip Tips For The Summer

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This veggie burger is so juicy it literally bleeds

by WDCIsmaeltjydj Posted on May 24, 2016

Disclaimer: This burger is not vegetarian. Shutterstock

This veggie burger is so juicy it literally bleeds

By on May 24, 2016Share

At this point, we all know how bad meat is for the planet. A short list of the impacts of meat cultivation on land include deforestation, overgrazing, compaction, and soil erosion. One pound of beef requires about 1,800 gallons of water to produce. And our carnivorous tendencies produce, according to some estimates, as much as 50 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions — more than cars, planes, trains and ships combined.

But it’s delicious, which is probably why 84 percent of vegetarians eventually go back to eating it (including this writer and at least 20 percent of the Grist staff). A person can only convince themselves that veggie burgers don’t taste like compacted sawdust for so long — until, possibly, now. A Los Angeles-area startup claims to have produced a veggie burger that can meet all your red-blooded desires.

Beyond Meat creates meat products sans meat, and their latest venture, the Beyond Burger, promises to look, taste, and feel just like the real thing. And apparently there’s an eager market for it: The Beyond Burger launched in the meat aisle — right alongside beef, poultry, pork, and lamb — at a Whole Foods in Boulder, Colo., Monday, and sold out within an hour, according to the company.

Unlike most veggie burgers, which are commonly blends of black beans and soy mash, the Beyond Burger is made of 20 grams of pea protein. The reviews, so far, are positive: A Whole Foods exec said it “tasted, felt and chewed like any other burger.” (Although, given that Whole Foods is selling it, maybe take that with a grain of organic, free-range salt.) It also looks like one — the burger “bleeds” beet juice when you bite into it.

Here it is, in all its flesh-free glory:

Plant-based alternatives to animal products make up a burgeoning trend: The New York Times reports that foods made from plant protein grew almost 9 percent from 2014 to 2015 — nearly three times the growth of overall food sales.

Unfortunately for vegetarians — or anyone — hankering for a convincing slab of pea protein to throw on the grill this summer, you’re going to have to wait: The Beyond Burger is currently only available in the Boulder Whole Foods (know your audience, as they say), but the company hopes to expand to other markets next year.

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This veggie burger is so juicy it literally bleeds

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No, the Summer Olympics Will Not Be Leaving Rio

by Daniella76U Posted on May 19, 2016

Mother Jones

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Last week, as Brazil was grappling with the ouster of President Dilma Rousseff, University of Ottawa professor Amir Attaran called on the International Olympic Committee to postpone this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro—or move them elsewhere—due to the continued threat of the Zika virus. He argued in the Harvard Public Health Review that exposure to the mosquito-borne virus in the heart of Rio, where he said the number of suspected cases has reached 26,000, could result in a “full-blown global health disaster” and should prompt Olympic officials to take action as a “precautionary concession.”

“Simply put,” wrote Attaran, a legal and medical scholar, “Zika infection is more dangerous, and Brazil’s outbreak more extensive, than scientists reckoned a short time ago.”

For months, would-be Olympians have expressed their concerns about the virus. Some even have refused to participate in this year’s Games. On May 12, the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization reiterated a series of precautions for athletes and tourists planning on attending the Games, like avoiding impoverished and overcrowded parts of Rio and urging pregnant women to not visit Zika-stricken areas. And on Tuesday, after Attaran’s article had prompted a new level of scrutiny, WHO chief Dr. Margaret Chan told reporters the Olympics should go ahead as scheduled: “You don’t want to bring a standstill to the world’s movement of people.”

But at this point, is it even possible to move the multibillion-dollar spectacle? I got in touch with two Olympic insiders—A.D. Frazier, who served as chief operating officer of the Atlanta Olympic Committee, and Olympic historian David Wallechinsky—to see what they thought about a last-minute change. They were…less than optimistic. “Just forget it,” Frazier said. “The International Olympic Committee won’t cancel unless Rio goes completely bankrupt.” Wallechinsky was even more blunt: “I understand that this is no joke, but in terms of moving them at the last minute, unless there was suddenly an epidemic of people falling over dead in Rio, it’s not going to happen.”

Here are the three main reasons why:

It would be unprecedented. Wallechinsky, president of the International Society of Olympic Historians, noted that the only times the Olympics have been canceled were during World War I and World War II. They’ve endured violence before and during the Games: Ten days before the 1968 Summer Games in Mexico City, for example, police and military officers opened fire into a crowd of student demonstrators, killing and wounding hundreds; at the 1972 Summer Games in Munich, 11 members of the Israeli team were killed by terrorists; and in 1996, a bombing during the Atlanta Games killed two and injured more than 100. (Atlanta COO Frazier recalled being briefed about dozens of bomb threats each day during the 17-day event.)

Still, Wallechinsky admitted that Rio 2016’s Zika problem is a unique one. The closest parallel that he could think of came two years ago, when Africa’s Ebola crisis spurred concerns at the summer Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China. Officials from China and the International Olympic Committee announced that athletes from affected areas would not be allowed to compete in combat sports or swimming out of fear that athletes could transmit the virus. The event took place as scheduled, but three athletes were unable to compete.

There’s too much cash riding on Rio 2016. “Sponsors and the TV networks have put so much money into these Olympics being in Rio that it’s impossible to imagine moving them at this late date,” Wallechinsky said. The organizing committee, Frazier noted, would have locked in place sponsorship deals and contracts for buses, hotels, and other infrastructure long before the event. Moving the Olympics to a new host city would require advanced notice not just for top international sponsors that typically support the Games, but also for local sponsors like the ones in Brazil helping fund Rio 2016, Wallechinsky said. Local and international sponsor deals account for 52 percent of the Rio Organizing Committee’s revenue, or $962 million, making it the dominant source of funding. (The bulk of those sponsorship agreements were made in 2014, right around the time of World Cup, which was also held in Brazil.)

Earlier this year, organizers trimmed expenses by $500 million to balance its $1.85 billion operating budget, eliminating thousands of seats from venues and taking away televisions from rooms in the Olympic Village. Still, economists project that the overall costs for this year’s events could reach more than $10 billion. “You can’t just pick up and move carte blanche,” Wallechinsky said.

Possible sites would need a “pickup squad” of organizers, fast. Two years ago, rumors surfaced that organizers were considering moving the Rio Games to London—host of the 2012 Olympics—out of concern for Brazil’s preparation. But finding a replacement site at this late stage with available venues is just one piece of the puzzle, Frazier said. Preparing the surrounding roads and infrastructure for a massive influx of athletes, business personnel, and spectators, as well as coordinating a flawless 17-day spectacle in three months with thousands of contractors and vendors, would pose a virtually impossible challenge for the “pickup squad” of organizers who would have come together at the last moment.

And that’s putting aside the travel schedules for the spectators and athletes themselves, as well as the need for safe, comfortable accommodations for athletes at an Olympic village. “The village itself is too complex to start in three months,” Frazier said. “If you’re talking about 15,000 athletes and officials and their safety, do you think somebody would organize a totally secure Olympic village in three months? No, not a chance.” He added that since the Munich Games, the security of the venues and athletes’ housing has been a pressing issue for organizers. Moving an event is one thing, but Frazier noted that moving an entire Games—opening ceremony and all—is “folly.”

“You can’t do it. Two years ago, I would’ve felt differently,” Frazier said. “Today they’ve got three months to go, man. Only a fool would take on the responsibility of taking the Games away from Rio.”

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No, the Summer Olympics Will Not Be Leaving Rio

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Quilt’s Dreamy New Mind Excursion

by Muriel4825 Posted on March 6, 2016

Mother Jones

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Quilt
Plaza
Mexican Summer

Courtesy of Mexican Summer

Singer-guitarists Anna Fox Rochinski and Shane Butler, who contribute the lion’s share of the material on Quilt’s arresting third album (with solid drummer John Andrews filling out the lineup) are clearly talented writers, but the sheer gorgeous sound of the band is so intoxicating that it almost doesn’t matter. Like its predecessor, the engrossing Held in Splendor, Plaza offers a dreamy mind excursion, mixing soothing male-female vocal harmonies with swirling folk-rock guitars and strings for a potent escapist cocktail. Evoking the late-’60s, when soft pop and loopy psychedelia intersected to delicious effect, mesmerizing tracks like “O’Connor’s Barn” and “Eliot St.” make a twee first impression before the luscious melodies kick in, and you’re hooked. If Plaza sometimes feels like a decadent indulgence, so be it!

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Quilt’s Dreamy New Mind Excursion

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