\nthough we’re still rocking scarves and raincoats here at Grist<\/em> HQ. To prep you for this glorious three-day weekend,
\nI’ve sifted through the archives and found these handy holiday-appropriate tidbits,
\nfrom flying the flag to drinking beer (both arguably patriotic acts). What’s
\ngoing on your grill this weekend? Can I come over?<\/p>\n
Oh say, can you see?<\/strong> Boy meets grill.<\/strong> Take the sting out. Get baked—or not. Day-offly, Related Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n Let’s Move needs to get real with the food industry<\/a><\/p>\n Win some free ‘Dirt!’<\/a><\/p>\n Ask Umbra on eco-fiction and hair donations for the oil spill<\/a><\/p>\n
So you want to fly the American flag 24 hours a day but are a stickler for
\nfollowing the Flag Code, which requires the flag to be lit up when it’s dark out?
\nEasy peasy: Save the electricity and take it down at sunset. Too much effort?
\nTry a solar-powered, LED flag light! These are readily<\/a> available<\/a> on the interwebs; they make models that clamp directly onto the flagpole, as
\nwell as ground-nesting lights. Get the
\nfull Ask Umbra answer<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Grilled veggie kabobs on the brain? Go with a gas grill to cook ‘em up (that
\nis, unless you feel adventurous and want to make
\nyour own solar oven<\/a>!). It’s far easier to control the temperature of a gas
\ngrill (no more burgers burnt to a crisp), and gas grills produce about half as
\nmuch CO2 as charcoal grills. And you’ll save yourself the pain (literally) from
\nall those headache-inducing volatile
\norganic compounds<\/a> (VOCs) that charcoal gives off. Get
\nthe full Ask Umbra answer<\/a>.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Wasps are actually quite beneficial to the
\necosystem as predators to other insects like caterpillars, which can wreak
\nhavoc on a garden. But wasps can be a nasty addition to your holiday barbecue.
\nI found this handy video
\non making your own wasp trap<\/a> from a used plastic bottle and a coat hanger,
\nas well as some readymade
\nglass wasp catchers<\/a>. Both lure wasps into a vessel with fruit juice as
\nbait. Once the wasps have succumbed to the fruit juice’s siren call, they are
\nunable to scramble out of the bottle. You just empty the container out when you
\nfeel like you’ve got a full house in there. Get
\nthe full Ask Umbra answer<\/a>.
<\/a>
Give yourself a wedgie.<\/strong>
So you’re worried that the lime wedge in your beer bottle’s going to make the
\nthing unrecycable? Never fear! When you recycle your beer, the bottle is picked
\nup curbside by a hauling company, which brings it to a glass-cleaning plant,
\nwhich then ships it to a glass-manufacturing plant, where it begins a new life.
\nA “contaminant,” as your lime would be called, is either picked out
\nat pickup or removed during the cleaning. Get the full Ask Umbra
\nanswer<\/a>.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Conventional chemical sunscreen can be
\ntoxic to your body and the planet—from hormone disruption to coral bleaching.
\nLook for mineral sunscreens that contain titanium oxide and\/or zinc oxide. And
\nif you’re going to be taking a dip in the ocean, choose a screen with
\nplant-based ingredients—we ooze 4,000–6,000 tons of sunscreen into our oceans
\nevery year; scientists say we’re probably putting 10 percent of reefs at risk,
\nso choose wisely. Get
\nthe full Ask Umbra answer<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Umbra<\/p>\n
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