Reviews

I’m interested to know what TerraPass Footprint readers have to say about the Nest thermostat that has been consuming the tech blogosphere the last few weeks. Created by the brains fomerly behind the iPod, the $249 device will be able to sense the habits of the household and program itself to function accordingly. You leave the house at 9am? After… read more →

When Al Gore released his movie and book *An Inconvenient Truth* in 2006, he was praised for raising awareness about global warming. For those who wished he had included more information about solutions, the former vice president has responded forcefully with a new book, *Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis*. Published just weeks before UN climate talks… read more →

David Owen's book Green Metropolis, an expansion of his 2004 New Yorker article on the environmental benefits of cities, puts forth two propositions: first, that urban living is inherently more resource-efficient and therefore greener than suburban or rural living; and second, that environmentalism has historically been tainted with an anti-urban bias that prevents greens from fully embracing some of the… read more →

A couple recent New York Times articles regarding the quality of compact fluorescent bulbs set off a firestorm of comments. The thrust of the most recent article was that, while CFLs can meet people's needs, meeting their expectations is tougher. CFLs in stores are of variable quality, and the incumbent technology sets a high bar: incandescent bulbs produce more flattering… read more →

**Chocolate -- $4.95** TerraPass worked with Bloomsberry & Co. to produce Climate Change Chocolate, a tasty 1.75oz of dark or milk chocolate with 133lbs of carbon offsets bundled in: roughly equivalent to the average American's daily carbon footprint. If it's for someone special, get the gift pack -- neatly wrapped with two bars of dark chocolate and one milk. **Thank… read more →

I still feel bad when I think about the year that my brother and I gave our mom a microwave for Christmas. Sure, it was the mid 80's, and sure, microwaves were the hot new time-saving appliance... but, well, it was an appliance. Not exactly a gift that makes a girl giddy when she unwraps it. Fortunately, the TerraPass store… read more →

Like many TerraPassers, I stay away from bottled water and sodas. But until recently, I still bought small bottled soft drinks by the case for the one use I couldn't seem to shake: school lunches. My kids are in high school, and all these years we've never used paper bags for lunches. Our cupboard is filled with various models of… read more →

A year ago people laughed at me when I suggested that they get energy-saving power strips as gifts. Now at least one of those friends tells me the whole family's getting one this year. In a year in which energy prices rocketed to all-time highs followed by a collapse of the economy, there's something very appropriate about gifts that help… read more →