Two of the Smartest People I Know Won World Water Day Challenge!

The winner of Visualizing.org's competition, Visualizing Urban Water Challenge, is Joseph Bergen and Nickie Huang of GSD at Harvard. Congrats, they won $5,000!

I'm sure you'll agree with the judges, who praised their work for being unique, easily accessible, and interactive. So basically, you can roll over countries here:
Then you find out things about water, like this:
The smaller story here is the love and support offered by Verdantic throughout the project. Behind Team Bergen & Huang, Verdantic helped out with some key pointers. Some comments went unheeded, like, notice how that cow looks really small and sad compared to the goat? Fortunately, the genius of their project easily overcame the petty details of Verdantic.

Congratulations to Joseph and Nickie, and the 2 runner-ups that got $500!

Genius: Green Collar Baseball

The Oakland A's are in first place. Indeed, they are. For the 2010 season, the A's launched their new ad campaign, Green Collar Baseball. Yes, the A's are the only team that wears green. Yes, the A's are a blue collar poor man's team. Yes, we all want to see more green jobs and the green economy.

"The Green Collar Baseball campaign communicates that we do things unconventionally and that our young team works exceptionally hard to succeed," said Jim Leahey, A's Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "In communicating that message, the campaign highlights the personality of our team, connecting our fans to our players in a fun and irreverent way."

There will be a total of 10 commercials--some also feature Mark Ellis, Trevor Cahill and A's great Dave Stewart--will gradually make their way to both the A's Web site and local television screens. Looking forward to it.

2010 MLB on FOX Broadcast schedule

Baseball is back and so is Verdantic--at least for now. You may be wondering what this post has to do with verdantic's eco-theme. Not much, but my post of the 2009 Schedule received many visitors. I have decided that this is a great resource for the baseball community and myself. At the very least, I will visit to see what arbitrary game FOX tries to force us to watch. Let's see: 7 Yankee games and 1 Oakland game. Yeah yeah yeah, I know, they are the defending champs and it's about money and viewership . . . even people who don't like baseball like watching the Yankees too.

Saturday, April 10, 2010 (*3:00 PM ET)
New York Yankees at Tampa Bay Rays
St. Louis Cardinals at Milwaukee Brewers
Seattle Mariners at Texas Rangers

Saturday, April 17, 2009
New York Mets at St. Louis Cardinals
Chicago White Sox at Cleveland Indians
San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers

Saturday, April 24, 2010
New York Yankees at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Seattle Mariners at Chicago White Sox

Saturday, May 1, 2010 (*3:00 PM ET)
New York Mets at Philadelphia Phillies
Texas Rangers at Seattle Mariners
Houston Astros at Atlanta Braves

Saturday, May 8, 2010 (*3:00 PM ET)
New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox
Atlanta Braves at Philadelphia Phillies

Saturday, May 15, 2010
Philadelphia Phillies at Milwaukee Brewers
Seattle Mariners at Tampa Bay Rays
Houston Astros at San Francisco Giants

Saturday, May 22, 2010 (*7:00 PM ET)
New York Yankees at New York Mets
Boston Red Sox at Philadelphia Phillies
Chicago Cubs at Texas Rangers
Detroit Tigers at Los Angeles Dodgers

Saturday, May 29, 2010
St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs
Texas Rangers at Minnesota Twins
Seattle Mariners at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Saturday, June 5, 2010
Florida Marlins at New York Mets
Milwaukee Brewers at St. Louis Cardinals
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Seattle Mariners

Saturday, June 12, 2010
Philadelphia Phillies at Boston Red Sox
Chicago White Sox at Chicago Cubs

Saturday, June 19, 2010
Los Angeles Dodgers at Boston Red Sox
Minnesota Twins at Philadelphia Phillies

Saturday, June 26, 2010 (*7:00 PM ET)
New York Yankees at Los Angeles Dodgers
Boston Red Sox at San Francisco Giants
Chicago Cubs at Chicago White Sox

Saturday, July 3, 2010
Milwaukee Brewers at St. Louis Cardinals
Tampa Bay Rays at Minnesota Twins
Florida Marlins at Atlanta Braves

Saturday, July 10, 2010
Chicago Cubs at Los Angeles Dodgers
Atlanta Braves at New York Mets
Minnesota Twins at Detroit Tigers

Saturday, July 17, 2010
Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees
Los Angeles Dodgers at St. Louis Cardinals

Saturday, July 24, 2010
New York Mets at Los Angeles Dodgers
Colorado Rockies at Philadelphia Phillies
Minnesota Twins at Baltimore Orioles

Saturday, July 31, 2010
Detroit Tigers at Boston Red Sox
Los Angeles Dodgers at San Francisco Giants
Seattle Mariners at Minnesota Twins

Saturday, August 7, 2010
Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees
San Francisco Giants at Atlanta Braves

Saturday, August 14, 2010
Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals
San Diego Padres at San Francisco Giants
Baltimore Orioles at Tampa Bay Rays

Saturday, August 21, 2010
Atlanta Braves at Chicago Cubs
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Minnesota Twins
Texas Rangers at Baltimore Orioles

Saturday, August 28, 2010
Philadelphia Phillies at San Diego Padres
Minnesota Twins at Seattle Mariners
Florida Marlins at Atlanta Braves

Saturday, September 4, 2010
New York Mets at Chicago Cubs
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Oakland A’s
Texas Rangers at Minnesota Twins

Saturday, September 11, 2010
Philadelphia Phillies at New York Mets
St. Louis Cardinals at Atlanta Braves
Seattle Mariners at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Saturday, September 18, 2010
Atlanta Braves at New York Mets
Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox
Colorado Rockies at Los Angeles Dodgers

Saturday, September 25, 2010
WILD CARD

Saturday, October 2, 2010
WILD CARD

United Airlines' Unfriendly Skies

I like to think that bicycle-friendly cities and establishments are met with admiration and appreciation. While businesses that put out dog drinking water bowls on the sidewalk may get the nod from dog-owners, bicycle friendliness is a progressive act with environmental benefits.
Prior to my last trip back to NYC, my bicycle gang shipped a padded bicycle bag so that I could ride again. LAX long term parking drops me off at United Airlines with my bicycle bag. So far so good. United Airlines charges me $175 to check in my bicycle—that’s for one way. That's more than the ticket for my seat. With my car miles away in a lot, I am stuck at the check-in counter with a bicycle. I can’t bring it back to my car or lock it up at the airport, but if I do bring it, it will cost me $350. As I’m calculating this crisis in my head, the mean old UA staff that issued the ticket harrumphs at me for deliberating my financial demise. He gives me the number for a courier company that might hold it over the weekend for a couple hundred bucks. A younger UA employee pitied me and talked to his pals in baggage that agreed to watch and store my bicycle for free. I tipped the nice young man enough money for a 6-pack.
Guess who else charges $175 for bicycles? Other shitty airlines that don’t give a shit, like Delta Airlines. It’s clearly a penalizing deterrent to justify bad service. United.com site provides links to Fedex encouraging you to ship your luggage ahead of you. Certainly more convenient for United but how is that more convenient for me? What’s a fair price? I understand most airlines charge $20 for each checked baggage. Bicycles with case should weigh less than 50 pounds but they are a bit more difficult to handle. I think $50 is fair. And so does JetBlue and Virgin America.
If United Airlines was a motorist, he would be an old curmudgeon in a polluting Pontiac clunker. Instead of honking and high-beaming at cyclists like motorists tend to typically do, he pins cyclists against a tree at the knees. Unsatisfied with the helpless nature of the cyclist, United pulls down the cyclist’s pants then has a sidewalk sale to sell salvaged bike parts from the wreckage.

Yellow Pages, "Little. Yellow. Different."

As print newspapers embrace and imitate the generic exit strategy of moving online, it is sad to see them go. While print may not be the most environmentally sound, the publication effects many families and the communities. Here's a brief list of prints that are flailing in the sea change of technology: Ann Arbor News, Asian Week, Bloomfield Free Press, The Bridge, The Capital Times, Christian Science Monitor, Kansas City Kansan, Kentucky Post, Rhinoceros Times, Tucson Citizen. Personally, in many cases, I just don't believe that there is enough content and useful information to fill a daily print issue. As such, papers are often filled with irrelevant ads and fluff. Turning the paper into "tabloid size" can only stave off extinction for so long.
My tilt today is not against newspapers but with the yellow pages, or super yellow pages, as it were. They used to stack of shoe box-sized phone books stack outside of my apartment building. This huge heap of phone books would seldom be taken into an apartment unit, usually by the old and digital illiterate. Then after a thunderstorm, the pile would turn into a heavy stinking pile of wet paper.
Prior to completely moving online, they forced their way into my home by shrinking the phone book into a 6x9 booklet (wrapped in plastic) that fit into my teeny mailbox. I must admire their thoughtfulness of only providing my with a "Midtown West: October 2009-2010" edition focusing on my local area and not all five boroughs. This little book is going straight to the recycling bin. They may have eluded death this year, but death is imminent.

Verdantic's Dream Car

Sometimes it seems that in order for something to be believably eco-friendly, it has to be ugly. Sure, there are beacons of beautiful eco designs, like Piano's California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Here's some ugly ones: solar vest, washing machine + toilet collabo and most of all, eco cars. Why does an eco car, electric vehicle or hybrid irrevocably have to be ugly or unsafe? Verdantic will be needing a car soon as I prepare my move back to California. Here's my car of choice: The Volkswagen Jetta TDI Stationwagen.
Here's some car dork mumbo jumbo:

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Turbo compressor

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1,968 cc 2.0 liters in-line 4 front engine with 81.0 mm bore, 95.5 mm stroke, 16.5 compression ratio, overhead cam and four valves per cylinder

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Diesel fuel

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Diesel common rail fuel system

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14.5 gallon main diesel fuel tank 12.1

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Power: 104 kW , 140 HP SAE @ 4,000 rpm; 236 ft lb , 320 Nm @ 1,750 rpm
- 2.0L L4 engine

Here's what I need to know about it:
- Turbo!
- 30 MPG city / 41 MPG highway
- Diesel and convertible to bio-diesel
- MSRP: $23,870
- Engine sounds like a real car
- Looks like a normal car

Dirty problem, Cleaner solution: Pee Poople

To calculate the number of pet dogs in a populated area, you divide the human population by 2.65 then multiply by .534. For New York City's 8 million, that works out to 1.6 million pet dogs. Let's assume 90% of dog walkers pick up their dog'(s)' daily shit. Assume some are crazy enough to pick it up with a newspaper. Some may use bio-bags as well. I could go on to calculate the number of unpicked up turds per city block in NYC, but that's not exactly the point. Point is, that's at least a million plastic bags a day. Banning plastic bags in this regard will be a tough sell. I can't imagine President Obama picking up Bo's poop without plastic.
Meet the Peepoople. They developed a biodegradable bag to help sanitation in Africa. The bag serves as a toilet but when buried, it provides organic fertilizer for improved soil structure. Perhaps this innovation could help NYC reduce trash and enhance urban farming and gardening.

HOGWASH: Marylhurst University's Online MBA in Sustainable Business

Blogger's foreword: I love school. I encourage everyone to take any opportunity to learn something new. That said, I was intrigued by this banner ad on treehugger today:
Marylhurst University's Online MBA in Sustainable Business
What's not to like?
1: Why go to classrooms when you can learn at home? Networking is a huge part of business school. If it's 100% online, you can avoid the awkward alcohol-infused social events intended for business networking. Experiencing the throes of presenting a gaudy group clusterfuct powerpoint in front of your peers is a must.
2: Not sure if executives at Fortune 500 companies love hearing from business-minded whistleblowing employees with 18-months adeptness in the following areas of expertise: renewable energy; public policy; green development; and natural and organic resources. 18 months of evening online eco-discussions won't make you a scientist--a verdanticist at best.
3: Being in the first graduating class of any program from any school will be frustrating. Accreditations from the NWCCU or the IACBE don't mean anything if only 4th-tiered schools are on the lists. Plus, I thought the MFA was supposed to be the new MBA.

Transportation Fatalities

Trivia: What transpired during the first automobile accident in the United States?
Answer: In 1896, the first U.S. automobile accident occurred in NYC where a car hit a bicyclist.
After hearing about what happened on the Metro in DC where at least 6 people died in a train collision, it may evoke some hesitation to riding subways and trains. Per year, 800 people die in train accidents. Although that may seem like a shocking figure, rail workers--not passengers--make of for the majority of the 800.
It's a little shocking, but less than 800 cyclist die per year. I expected a higher number. As opposed to a train passenger, a cyclist may have some control over his/her fate by wearing a helmet, being more alert and following traffic rules. By contrast, 35,000 people die in car accidents every year.
To put these number into perspective and the actual likelihood of death, the number of miles traveled should be taken into account. Clearly, airplanes are the safest with 200 deaths per year and a chock-full of miles. Between bicycles and cars, if we compare the 800 and 35,000 deaths to the number of miles traveled, that being 6 billion and 3 trillion respectively, cyclists are 11 times as likely to die as motorists. Adding to the odds against commuter cyclists, two-thirds of bicycle fatalities happen in urban areas.
I'm going to end this downward spiraling circular logic and arrive at some conclusions. I'm not going to stop riding my bike--not now, in fact, most bike deaths happen between June and August. Riding a bicycle can help riders stave off heart disease, America's greatest killer. The asshole in a Hummer is probably safest if it doesn't flip over. No one said verdancy is the safest way to travel, but I do have a heightened appreciation for the Subway. And when I'm behind the wheel of a car, I hope I never face the odds of killing a cyclist.

2009 MLB on FOX Broadcast schedule

I'm not going to lie, but there's nothing verdantic about this post. Taking a nap while watching baseball out of one eye on a flatscreen is not the best use of energy. Could be worse, I suppose, but it is--personally--my favorite American past time.
FOX paid billions for all of the Saturday baseball games. It blacks out all televized broadcasts, except for one game per zone. Unfortunately, the larger market teams get aired most often, for obvious reasons of viewership and revenue. If I had to guess, it's most likely the Yankees playing some other overpaid team. This post is a helpful reference for Saturday matchups.

2009 MLB on FOX REGULAR SEASON BROADCAST SCHEDULE

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago Cubs

Atlanta Braves at Arizona Diamondbacks

Minnesota Twins at Tampa Bay Rays

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Philadelphia Phillies at Los Angeles Dodgers

Cleveland Indians at Chicago White Sox

Minnesota Twins at Seattle Mariners

Saturday, June 13, 2009

New York Mets at New York Yankees

St. Louis Cardinals at Cleveland Indians

Chicago White Sox at Milwaukee Brewers

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Tampa Bay Rays at New York Mets

Los Angeles Dodgers at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Milwaukee Brewers at Detroit Tigers

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Boston Red Sox at Atlanta Braves

Chicago Cubs at Chicago White Sox

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Arizona Diamondbacks

Saturday, July 4, 2009

New York Mets at Philadelphia Phillies

Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins

Oakland Athletics at Cleveland Indians

Saturday, July 11, 2009

New York Yankees at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs

Tuesday, July 14, 2009 – 8:00 PM ET

2009 MLB All-Star Game

Busch Stadium – St. Louis, MO

Saturday, July 18, 2009

New York Mets at Atlanta Braves

Baltimore Orioles at Chicago White Sox

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Oakland Athletics

Saturday, July 25, 2009

St. Louis Cardinals at Philadelphia Phillies

Minnesota Twins at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers

Saturday, August 1, 2009

New York Yankees at Chicago White Sox

Los Angeles Dodgers at Atlanta Braves

Houston Astros at St. Louis Cardinals

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees

Texas Rangers at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Philadelphia Phillies at Atlanta Braves

Los Angeles Dodgers at Arizona Diamondbacks

Cleveland Indians at Minnesota Twins

Saturday, August 22, 2009

New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox

Chicago Cubs at Los Angeles Dodgers

Saturday, August 29, 2009

New York Mets at Chicago Cubs

Tampa Bay Rays at Detroit Tigers

Houston Astros at Arizona Diamondbacks

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Boston Red Sox at Chicago White Sox

Minnesota Twins at Cleveland Indians

San Francisco Giants at Milwaukee Brewers

Saturday, September 12, 2009

New York Mets at Philadelphia Phillies

Chicago White Sox at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Atlanta Braves at St. Louis Cardinals

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals

Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins

San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers

Imagine NYC without 24-hour subways or newspapers

Riding around on my bicycle here in my NYC bubble, I don't know if gas prices have increased. I'm not even sure where to find the nearest gas station. When prices of goods and services around me increase, I get the feeling that prices have hit $4/gallon.
What is going on? New York Times went up 50 cents to reach $2. Next week, the price of postage will go up 2 cents to reach 44 cents. New York Times moving online is an unfortunate foretoken, but it has environmental benefits. As for postage, that's great if the 2-cent increase encourages people to write more emails instead and discourages junk mailers to blast credit card offers.
And then there's the subway. Paterson and state leaders' solution to an MTA bailout package is to allow a 25 cent fare increase to subway rides to $2.25; and a monthly pass will go up to $89 from $81. I'm going to blame Paterson for this mess--but I think Roger Toussaint may also be culpable. Here's what Paterson could've done to avoid this: when Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan was proposed in 2007. Paterson stutter-stepped and undermined congestion pricing. Aside from the $500 million in federal funding that NYC was eligible to receive, ridership could have increased. Now with service cuts, there is less of an incentive to ride. Still, it's better than Londoners, who pay by zones with fares up to £4, or $5.80/ride. Personally, my solution is to ride a bicycle, because you can't read the newspaper while you ride.

Greener sports

Many will not admit that baseball is a sport. I'm willing to call it a game. If baseball is a game, then I don't know what to call Nascar. By the way, Nascar should be NASCAR, because it is an acronym for National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, but all caps are too obnoxious. There are many polluters in Nascar and it just wouldn't be as loud and exciting if they raced with hydrogen cars. As other auto racing circuits have taken steps towards greenery, Nascar has employed a green pace car: the Toyota Camry Hybrid. Next month, the Toyota pace car will make its debut at the Coca-Cola 600. It wasn't easy. The pace car had to pass a performance test of reaching 100mph within a quarter mile.
As for baseball, there is also a growing consciousness for the environment. The perfectly manicured fields of baseball should never be replaced--no matter how much water it needs; but perhaps something can done about depleting and endangering ash wood used for baseball bats. On Earth Day last week, I was proud to attend a day game at the new Yankee stadium to see the Oakland A's. I wrongly assumed that a day game would not be played under bright lights. Since it was cloudy and it drizzled the entire game, they turned on the lights. So much for that. I was surprised to see recycling and compost bins around the park. Judging from the contents thrown inside the receptacles, instructions posted above the bins were desperately needed. Can't expect NY inhabitants to know how to compost, much less rowdy Yankee fans. Plus, New Yorkers are accustomed to seeing garbage men throwing bags of recyclables into garbage trucks every morning. Even Whole Foods provides instructions on composting for its eco-friendly conduits. Without posting instructions, I don't believe the billion-dollar stadium is actually serious about composting.

Bicycles helping RFID's poor image

A bicycle can make you a better person:
- it is good for your mental and physical health;
- it can give you a slimmer and more attractive physique; and
- it can make you feel good about yourself and your surrounding environment.
Bicycles can even make unsavory characters like RFID tags cool. Although RFID tags have developed a poor reputation for privacy and environmental concerns, they are being used as helpful devices to combat bicycle theft around the world. The UK, the Netherlands and in Portland, OR, RFID tags are attached to registered bikes to deter bike theft or to track their locations when stolen.

RFID: more at stake than privacy

RFID, Radio Frequency Identification are those tracking devices that you see on the boxes of products. Sure RFIDs are a great way to run a business more efficiently. Using radio waves, they allow instant tracking for shipping, supply chain management and inventory tracking.
There are many types of RFIDs, but once these things are activated, they send signals and information about the consumer without consent. That's the crux of the privacy issue that it raises. Verdantic certainly appreciates privacy and annoymity.
But, RFIDs are bad for the environment. Researchers aren't sure whether RFIDs can cause cancer or harmful effects to your health. It might be like one of those situations where exposure to small amounts of toxins or BPA are totally safe according to the FDA. RFIDs can be difficult to spot. They usually look like a white padded sticker, but underneath is an integrated circuit with copper wires, an antenna and a battery.
So maybe these things can benefit the environment by enabling businesses to operate more efficiently. How necessary is it? As much stuff as we Americans buy, attaching an RFID to every product creates more waste. Waste of a precious metal and millions of tiny batteries--that should be properly disposed of--end up in our landfills. Unfortunately, you can't see them and they can't be recycled. In fact, they get in the way of recycling boxes. The tags left on cardboard contain metal and inks that complicate recycled feedstock. On steel, the copper can contaminate other metals. When left of glass, the metals can damage glass kilns while being harmful to recyclers and glass blowers. The same can be said for the PET or HDPE recycling process.

Interview: Heather Sperling, Food Writer

V: Heather, welcome to Verdantic. Thanks for contributing to my blog—I really appreciate this.
HS: Happy to help—it's actually quite appropriate as Earth Day so happens to be my birthday AND I've been posting for PlanetGreen.com AND I love the color green.

V: Perfect. Before we begin, can you tell us a bit about yourself?
HS: Sure, I was an editor of the food website StarChefs.com for over 2 years before moving to Chicago, where I currently write for a number of magazines and websites, including the Discovery Channel's green do-it-yourself website, PlanetGreen.com. I've always been enamored with food and drink, and I think that the green movement is THE movement of our age, so naturally I get quite excited when the two overlap—which, thankfully, happens quite a lot.

V: How has green movement and sustainability affected trends the food industry?
HS: Sustainability has become, without a doubt, one of the biggest trends in the industry. As far as food is concerned, the green movement is very much a grassroots movement, and chefs, restaurateurs, business owners, and food media have played essential parts in spreading the word and setting the example. Writers like Michael Pollan, chefs like Dan Barber and Alice Waters—they set trends through their restaurants and their writing, and help draw the public's attention to the big issues in sustainable eating. Of course, these are only three names in an astoundingly large network of people and organizations who are making the promotion of sustainable food their mission in life. As public awareness has grown, public expectations have grown—and in the food industry this means that diners and consumers are savvier than ever, and expect more from producers, markets, and restaurants. A few years ago, we started hearing about the merits of grass-fed beef and organic milk; today a sustainably minded diner could think: "Sure, your arugula was grown on the roof of your restaurant and you cured this lamb bacon yourself, with no nitrates involved. That's great. But are you composting? Recycling? Serving fair-trade coffee and using eco-friendly cleaning supplies in the kitchen?" In the food world, the ante keeps getting upped.

V: What are some the most innovative concepts and trends that involve sustainable eating and sustainable food?
HS: The Blue Ocean Institute, an organization devoted to sustainable seafood, has a pretty amazing program called FishPhone. You text the name of a fish to a certain number, and you get a text message back with info about whether the fish is a sustainable choice, and if not, what good alternatives are out there. I've never done it, but I love that it exists. And it's a great example of the sustainability movement harnessing fairly innovative technology to make essential information easily accessible. A handful of high-end restaurants across the country (The French Laundry and Per Se) are putting in new water filtration systems that make still and sparkling water in-house. They're eliminate the carbon footprint of their water, while still being able to offer the bottled water that diners want and expect. And I love that restaurants are starting to compost. I was in Seattle a few months ago and over half of the 40-odd restaurants I visited told me that they're composting. Granted, Seattle has always been an uber-green city. But composting—especially in a restaurant—is a bit of a pain, and that's a huge percentage that are making the effort.

V: What is the future of the dining experience, in terms of trends?
HS: That's a big question, man. You mean in terms of sustainability and green stuff, right?

V: You’re totally right. Let’s keep it green.
HS: Sustainability is going to continue to be huge in the restaurant world. Restaurants will keep touting the local and/or sustainable products on their plates, and more chains will follow Chipotle's lead and start serving sustainably raised ingredients. Ordering whole animals and cooking head-to-tail (i.e. using every part of the animal) is a growing trend in restaurant kitchens, and in line with that sustainably minded, artisan approach we're seeing things like homemade charcuterie (made from the trimmings) popping up across the country. In a way, this part of the future of the dining experience is actually quite historical. Ordering a whole pig, breaking it down in-house, curing the jowl to make guanciale, using the fat back for seasoning, turning the head into headcheese—these acts borrow from culinary traditions that are hundreds of years old. Today they're gaining momentum, and are certainly part of the future of many American restaurants.

V: In what ways might energy and transportation affect our food?
HS: In the past year, we watched the prices of eggs, flour, and milk rise as the price of gas rose. The average cost of a slice of New York pizza rose by some crazy amount, and my favorite morning glory muffin at the greenmarket went up 50 cents. This is one basic way that transportation affects our food: when transportation costs fluctuate, food costs fluctuate too. And of course there's the issue of the carbon footprint. Industrial food production has a wildly huge carbon footprint, from factories that process food to the energy that goes into massive cow feedlots (which produce insane amounts of methane gas, by the way. Cow farts are astoundingly bad for the atmosphere).

V: How feasible is the locavore diet and urban farming movement?
HS: It's certainly possible to exist off a diet of predominantly local foods, though some places— like San Francisco and New York—certainly make it easier than others. But it can absolutely be done, especially if you make reasonable exceptions and allow yourself California olive oil or non-local citrus. There are many that would say this is anathema to the true locavore spirit, but I say it's just realistic. There's a good amount of info, support, and interest out there. For her book "Animal Vegetable Miracle" Barbara Kingsolver, and her family, spent a year eating only local foods. The Eat Local Challenge is a network of people and blogs who participated in a challenge to go locavore for a period of time in 2008. As for urban farming, I think it's excellent and essential on a social level—especially when it takes the form of school gardens or community-focused gardens. The Obamas' decision to grow food at the White House is certainly an exciting development. Hell, even people growing a few herbs in a container on a stoop is a step in the right direction, because it means that we're increasingly aware of the quality of our food, and where it comes from. I recently read that 43 million Americans plan to grow vegetables at home this year—7 million more than in 2008. That's huge!

V: What can the FDA or USDA do to help shape sustainable and organic foods?
HS: The USDA has set standards for organic certification (through an organization called the National Organic Standards Board), but they're widely considered to be faulty--or at least less stringent than they could or should be. "Organic" began as a counter-culture movement (counter to industrial agriculture) and grew rapidly in popularity in the last decade. When the government stepped in and regulated "organic," many of the existing practitioners and followers felt that the official standards were too lax, with too many loopholes. But ultimately the government regulation is an undeniably positive first step, and has done wonders for spurring consumer consciousness of organics. There is currently no FDA/UDSA certification for sustainability, but there are a number of NGOs that are totally focused on the subject. There are some great independent organizations dealing with sustainable seafood (which is nearly impossible to classify as organic, because most seafood is wild-caught, and even if its farm-raised, often the feed is made of wild-caught fish), like the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program, the Seafood Choices Alliance, and the Blue Ocean Institute. The Cool Foods Campaign is devoted to spreading the word about the relationship between food and global warming and promoting eco-friendly, low-carbon-footprint foods. The Green Restaurant Association helps restaurants operate in a more sustainable way. Their certification process has been criticized as being too easy as well, but it's a start! The FDA and USDA have some hefty issues on their plates, what with the recent food safety debacles and the increasing problems with industrial agriculture. For now I think it's going to continue to be NGOs, chefs, writers and activists who really spread the word about sustainability. I should also mention that there are third party sustainable certification: Protected Harvest and Food Alliance are two major organizations that are providing sustainability certification to producers, stores, and restaurants.

V: Thanks again for your help. This content and your expertise are a great addition to my blog.
HS: The blog looks good, and I love that you reference that the A's happened to win the World Series in 1989 before launching into a remembrance of the Exxon Valdez spill. Nice personal touch.

V: Thanks for reading. Happy birthday on Earth Day!

Verdantic book review: Food Matters, by Mark Bittman

Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating with More Than 75 Recipes
Mark Bittman (2009)
✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ 1/2 out of ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

In his new book, Mark Bittman, The New York Times' Minimalist, creates a two part guide to better food consumption. Food Matters, begins by examining the flaws and myths of the modern American diet. In this part of the book, Bittman explores sustainability and environmental issues of our food production, as well as the strategic communications and deception deployed by Big Food--oftentimes in cahoots with government agencies. Bittman spares us from reviewing the obvious problems surrounding animal cruelty or fast foods. Instead, Bittman builds on the confusion from the barrage of ambiguous food pyramids, nutrition facts, food studies, health claims and messages. He provides us with an excellent case of an unclear message from the FDA: reduce saturated fats and keep total fat consumption to less than 30% of your total calories. Rather, he makes it much easier to digest: eat fewer animal products and nutrition-poor (junk) food; and eat more plants.
Unlike authors like Michael Pollan--that refers to himself as a vegetarian in one chapter then eats cheeseburgers at McDonalds in another, then shoots and eats a wild boar at the end of the book--by no means is Bittman promoting or demanding a call to action for vegetarianism. But given the current health and environmental situation, Bittman delivers part 2 of Food Matters: a how-to guide for conscious eating. He proposes a better way to plan for meals--not just for dinner but for each meal over an entire month. What's more, Bittman includes more than 75 delicious recipes. Visit his column, The Minimalist, on the New York Times site, where Bittman has video tutorials on cooking recipes.

Starbucks Shared Planet

Have you been in a Starbucks recently? How long has this "Starbucks™ Shared Planet™" signage and hoopla been going on? More importantly, how did I not notice? I searched through Starbucks' press release archive and couldn't find an announcement or explanation. Although I sense that it appeared overnight, it almost seems as if it was always there. It's a lot to handle. The concept is big and it has many leg, even if it may seem simple: You and Starbucks. It's bigger than you.
Shared Planet includes Project (RED). A nickel per purchase on your red plastic Starbucks gift card will save lives in Africa. Project (RED) collects the money for the Global Fund to go off to fight and save lives; but something tells me that while most consumers may know that AIDS is a problem in Africa, they don't know anything about the Global Fund. There's also aid towards rebuilding New Orleans, community involvement, environmental stewardship and ethical sourcing. Putting the onus on customers with, "whatever we do, you do" extends responsibility and awareness. Everyone should know more about what and whom they are supporting when they make purchases. I do believe that the Fair Trade coffee system has many flaws to it. It's a tough club for small farmers to break into. Fixed prices further commoditize coffee beans to the point of over-production. This reminds me of the corn farmers in the U.S. who are barely turning a profit on a market flooded with government subsidized corn. Farmers lose. Big winners are those that can enjoy cheap high fructose corn syrup: Coca-Cola and the fat on your ass. Likewise, Fair Trade coffee would provide overproduced and cheaper coffee for Starbucks. Even as the largest buyer of Fair Trade coffee, Starbucks has now upped the standards on coffee with Shared Planet. Bravo.

GM & Segway PUMA: no winner here

Today on the streets of NYC, GM unveils its collaboration project with Segway on a new 2-wheeler 2-seater vehicle. The PUMA, Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility, can reach 35 mph (no highway) and go up to 35 miles on a charge and cost 35 cents to charge.
Clearly, this vehicle has not be thoroughly thought through. Essentially, they're developing a new mode of transportation without a market, a place to travel or a plan for its release. The companies hopes cities or colleges will set up special PUMA travel lanes, like bicycle lanes. Sounds like more congestion to me. Can't blame them for trying and turning over a new leaf, actually this is commendable. This is a complete 180 from their reliance on heavy and large fossil-fuel cars and trucks.
Chris Borroni-Bird, director of the project for GM said, "Pumas might appeal most in densely packed cities in places such as India and China. There they would seem a big step up from bicycles. Americans, who are used to cars, might not take them as seriously." Exactly. He just admitted that this isn't a vehicle that America needs. Let's take look at some quick facts:
Fact #1: GM is running on $13.4 billion tax payer dollars.
Fact #2: Alternative transportation devices make sense since GM's domestic car sales aren't selling--almost down 50% this year.
Fact #3: No one looks cool on a Segway.
Fact #4: It is possible to look cool on a bicycle, unless you ride a folding one or a tandem.
Fact #5: But hey, GM bought out the Specialized bicycle company last year. (I know, I know. Bicycles are not nearly as profitable as EVs or Hummers)

Carbon Footprint Calculators

Brands have engaged us with many free calculators including calorie counters, BMI, credit and get-out-of-debt calculators. A carbon footprint calculator would seem to be unself-serving by discouraging purchases and thus lowering revenue. At first I doubted that any brand would attempt such a disruptive tactic to the point of irony, but I was wrong.
For an online company such as Yahoo!, their service requires a lot energy for its servers. Come to think of it, it could be to their benefit if consumers realized that browsing online or playing Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball is better for the environment, as opposed to carbon intensive activities such as quad biking or hopping on a Caribbean cruise.
Moving along on the spectrum of sensibility, I also found JPMorgan's calculator. There's an angle: they are selling carbon offsets. So actually, they are informing their clients of their environmentally-unfriendly deeds. Of course, we often see guilt being used by advertisers as a motivational device.
I wasn't impressed by HP's calculator. HP kept it pertinent by limiting their calculator for printing and buying HP stuff. I didn't make it through their entire calculator because it froze, but I suspect that they will tell me how much money I'm wasting, how bad my operations are for the planet and how much money and carbon emissions I can save by buying HP products.
Can you blame perspicuously bad companies from trying to look good? BP is trying. They also have a cutesy animated character named Professor B who provides tips on how to save energy and the environment. Each calculator has a specific call to action that results in more consumption, or at the very least, a better way to consume. I suppose a business purpose needs to be defined above all else. If anything, we should be grateful that at least a solution is offered and awareness is being raised.
My favorite calculator was on EarthDay. You get to pick an avatar and walk around the block as you figure out how many planets it would take to sustain your lifestyle. Sadly, it will take 4.6 planets if everyone lived with my consumption habits. I'm ashamed. It's the airplane flights, I tell you.

The zero-carbon activity paradox

It's April and boy is it wet outside. Which is worse: riding a bicycle in the winter and getting covered in salt or riding in the rain with toxic runoff from buildings spraying you in the face? It's time for more green roofs, people. Alas, let's find a new indoor hobby.
For the price of slightly more than a movie ticket, I bought a 4x4 Rubik's Cube. Over the years, the 2x2 and the classic 3x3 have offered me hours of entertainment and I trust that the 4x4 will present a greater challenge and countless hours of low carbon entertainment.
I learned the 2x2 and 3x3 in years prior to my web addiction. Now with the aid of websites and YouTube tutorials, this may only detract from the challenge and my toiling hours. A true geek would never stop after 4x4. The shopkeeper at the game store asked me if I wanted to spring for the 5x5. He added, "the 5x5 can be done with all of the algorithms from the 3x3 and the 4x4. Do you know the Rubik's Parity Theory?"
Ok..., time to leave.
It's not exactly zero-carbon, but neither is walking or bicycling which both require shoes that were made in China. The Rubik's cube is also made in China. It's made almost entirely of petrochemicals, but unless I develop a hatred for the cube, I can take pleasure in the fact it won't go leachating in a landfill any time soon. Surely, kWh's will be needed to power my laptop, my lamp, as I solve the cube. I may decide to play some intellectually stimulating music, perhaps classical!