This week in trash news:
Photo via Marketplace.
This weekend was the Atlantic Antic, a large annual street fair in Brooklyn. I’ve missed the past two, so I was psyched to get out there today. One dominating theme: babies. Granted, I live in the second-most-posh-baby-populated hood in the borough, if not the state (spotted Michelle Williams this afternoon pushing a stroller in the seasonal uniform of skinny jeans tucked into ankle boots), but come on. When did onesies become the new Starbucks? Every other booth, it seemed, boasted designer baby suits with various embellishments: Indian wood printed giraffes and lions, the local area code, a Coney Island mermaid…
I have to admit, I purchased an ity-bity tee for a Parisian baby I’ll be meeting for the first time next week. Presented with the choice, I shelled out an extra three bucks for the “organic” version. To be good to the environment and all. But now that I’m examining my pre-Paris bank balance, I’m weighing the environmental good of an organic shirt for the little one, versus the excess energy I’ll have to exert when I return to off-set the extra spending. I can never decide: do I buy more because it’s “green”?
Care to share your thoughts on the subject?
Photo via Tiny Birds Organics
I took an unannounced vacation this week. Please excuse the inconsistency. You’ll be happy to know that ton of rich garblogging carried on in my absensce. In particular, check out these two links:
1. Carrying around your trash for two weeks is a growing trend in New York City. The practice makes both you and others aware of how much waste each of us produces, and adds incentive to make less. Check out this Trash Talk blog from frog design where Debra Keneally is logging her experiences toting trash and where she has amassed an impressive collection of links to allies and others doing the same thing. Note: This is not the last you’ll hear of this genius fad around these parts, just the last you’ll hear of them before the weekend.
2. Keith over at the Temas blog covered two trash-related stories this past week. First, he investigates a new Mexican disposable diaper claiming to be “environmentally friendly”. Next he updates us on another PET recycling project, this one backed by the government of Brazil in an attempt to construct solar water heaters from trash.
Photo via The Temas Blog
This week in trash news:
Photo via Benettontalk.
This week in trash news:
Check out this handy graphic from today’s NYT coverage of Bloomberg’s long-term plan for a greener city. The Times points out that New Yorkers may be pissed off by plans to charge cars $8 for the privilege of entering Manhattan and loosening zoning restrictions to allow for more densely populated neighborhoods. The paper also notes that the plan is very expensive and would require huge buy-in from the State. We shall see.
The Independent Media center breaks down the congestion plan and links to criticism here.
Ever feel like trash to energy programs sound a little too good to be true? Sometimes they are. It turns out Green Power is missing some key documents and didn’t report on a fire they had.
I’m glad to hear someone is thinking about alternative energy in Uganda. A Ugandan friend told me a couple of weeks ago that the government might allow the forest outside of Kampala to be uprooted and replaced with industrial nonsense.
San Franciso’s so green, even their garbage is green. It’s so green, it makes yo’ mamma look blue.
And in other greening garbage news, it looks like the BigBelly is catching on.
Carl’s Jr. uses veggie oil collected from the fast food chain’s restaurants to run five of 20 corporate vehicles and plan to get the other 15 running on reused oil in the next few years. While this is good news and all, I’m not sure it cancels out the evil of 1) the existence of a fast food chain or 2) that nasty Paris Hilton add, let’s hope this serves as a model for other oil-chugging chains to think about closing the loop.
Happy first day of Spring!
This week in trash news:
This week in trash news:
Tipster-in-chief Kimberly sent me this article today on a dance floor in the Netherlands that harnesses the power of those who grove upon it.
Loreen Leedy went from subject to tipster in one fell swoop when she sent me this link on turning trash into energy along with the answers to her interview questions last week. It’s a round up on blog, magazine, newspaper and academic sources on making oil out of just about anything.
The Times has a lovely piece in today’s Sunday Styles section about the growing trend of environmentally friendly weddings. It’s a topic I know my side bar buddies Ethical Weddings and Great Green Wedding keep in mind when posting. Of course the number one way I can think of the reduce your ceremony’s footprint (not to mention your and your parents’ energy output) is to not throw such elaborate parties. That said, I’ve been to one of those farm to table places upstate, where the article mentions the couple held their rehersal dinner–crisp weather, more kinds of carrots than you knew existed, pigs wandering about, compostable cutlery, picturesque carriage trails perfect for hikes and runs…I could imagine a fantastic feast served there.
Update: For even MORE on green weddings, check out this post of the same name over at hippy shopper.
