And the Best Place to Buy Food Is… February 6, 2008
Posted by shomriel in Uncategorized.Tags: local foods, paper bags, plastic bags, reusable totes, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods
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To be honest, in a celebrity death match between Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, I would totally be cheering on the sidelines for TJ’s, who’s friendlier, less corporate, and way cheaper. Oh, and also, chock-full of cute boys (The only reason I’m on the sidelines is cuz I haven’t yet bought a reusable tote with which to do my grocery shopping. I sorely regretted this negligence this past Superbowl Sunday, when, after having first waited in line for hours, I then got stuck in the rain with my two super-heavy paper bags. Let me just say that the walk from the supermarket to my apartment is more fun in the sun). Anyways, Whole Foods does have this commitment to locally-grown foods, which are healthier, cheaper, better for the environment and for the community’s economy. Just between us, though, I give my business to Trader Joe’s and their boys.
Sundance of the New Age February 5, 2008
Posted by shomriel in Uncategorized.Tags: An Inconvenient Truth, carbon footprint, Earth Pledge, Earthkeepers, eco-luxury, Fields of Fuel, Flow-For Love of Water, Half-Life, Lexus, Project Greenhouse, Sundance, Timberland
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I guess it makes sense that a festival named Sundance would finally go green. All the pretty hippies floating around honoring the sun and the earth… Oh, wait. That’s not at all what it’s about. But people involved in this formerly non-earth-focused festival are finally shifting their attention away from celluloid to carbon. From the movies themselves being green-themed (“Fields of Fuel,” “Flow:For Love of Water,” “Half-Life”), to on-site groups selling environmentally-friendly products (like Timberland’s new recycled boots), to the non-profit group Earth Pledge helping filmmakers reduce their carbon footprint and Lexus’s Project Greenhouse showing those of us with money how to live in eco-luxury, Sundance is getting a total makeover.
A Wink and a Smile February 1, 2008
Posted by shomriel in Uncategorized.Tags: coal power, George W. Bush, Kyoto Protocol, nuclear power, State of the Union, UN
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That’s what our president gave us during his most recent State of the Union. He’s obviously unconcerned about–well, pretty much everything–but in this blog we focus on the environment, and he sure as hell couldn’t care less about that. The great US of A is the only developed country not to have entered into the Kyoto Protocol, and his main plans (if you can call them that) for improving the environment involve nuclear and coal power. January 20th can’t come soon enough.
Open Wide the Green Gates January 28, 2008
Posted by shomriel in Uncategorized.Tags: Africa, agriculture, Beill Gates, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bono, Microsoft, World Economic Forum
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Bill Gates is going out with a bang. He’s stepping down from Microsoft and donating $306 million (a mere drop in the bucket of his billions, but a respectable chunk nevertheless) to a foundation for African farmers that he and his wife have started. This foundation is geared toward teaching new agricultural methods which will enable people to work their way out of poverty. Some of its goals are to help with farming education and training, to provide crops such as rice that can thrive in Africa’s often-harsh environment, and to strengthen connections to both local and global markets.“Of the billion people who live on less than $1 a day, three-quarters are small farmers,” he said in explanation of the agricultural focus. Think about this one: Mr. Gates is worth roughly $60 billion. If he were to distribute that to every one of the earth’s inhabitants, that’d be $10 a person, which would be ten times as much as 1/6 of the world lives on a day. And about what I have allotted to myself for a weekly budget.
UPS: Undeniably, Pretty Smart December 24, 2007
Posted by shomriel in Uncategorized.Tags: greenhouse gas emission, hydraulic hybrid, UPS
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UPS has some brilliant ideas. I mean, we all love those men in brown, but now here’s more reason to appreciate them. The company has come up with new software that maps out delivery routes and eliminates left-hand turns whenever possible, saving 3 million gallons of gas last year alone. They’ve also unleashed an hydraulic hybrid delivery vehicle, which cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions and ups fuel efficiency. Not to mention it has really cool flames on the sides!
Meat IS Murder…of our planet December 19, 2007
Posted by shomriel in Energy, Lifestyle, Uncategorized.Tags: Gidon Eshel, global warming, Morrissey, Pamela Martin, vegetarianism
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Some pretty recent findings have discovered that eating meat may affect more than just the consumer and the animals–it may affect the entire planet. Gidon Eshel and Pamela Martin, assistant professors of geophysics at the University of Chicago, have found that the energy used throughout the cycle of raising animals and turning them into food is, not surprisingly, significantly more than that used for a vegetarian diet. Just one more reason to side with Morrissey on this one.
