The Latest on Lawns and Lingerie

Mr. Green is busy on his world-wide publicity tour for his new book. In the meantime, here's a Mr. Green classic column from April 2007.

Every so often, us environmental muckrakers, doomsayers, and alarmists actually get to declare a victory. In my rant against the environmental silliness of lawns, I pointed out that one session with a lawnmower could spew as much pollution as driving a car for 100 miles. But now the EPA has given California permission to require catalytic converters on small engines like those used in mowers, a move that will cut the machines' smog emissions by 40 percent. The EPA is now considering setting national emission standards for small engines.

Also chided here was Victoria's Secret's use of pulp from virgin forests for the 350 million sexy catalogs it sends out every year. Under heavy pressure from ForestEthics and its chainsaw-wielding protestors, the lingerie company has agreed to stop using pulp from Canada's boreal forest, and to use 10 percent post consumer recycled paper or paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, in its catalogs. Now I just have to convince my cousin Nubby that recycled paper is not going to let more of the models' attributes show through their lingerie.