I’m moved in! All done today, despite a lil snafu with my car — drank too much last night at the Supersize Me movie night at Greg’s, so Traci (thanks Traci!) gave me a ride home, and this morning I woke Summer up to drive me to my car which she did kindly (thanks Sum!) but my battery was dead cuz I’d left my lights on — and we didn’t have jumper cables and the movers were coming so I had to abandon the car again, have Summer drive me back, get moved, then my mom stopped by to see the place and gave me a ride to the car (thanks mom!) and Greg was up and had jumper cables (thanks Greg!) so now my car’s safely at my new place although parked slightly illegally cuz I don’t have a parking permit yet.

Overall, a rather environmentally naughty day, with lotsa driving… Also, I missed Life Can Be So Car-Free :( But a happy day cuz I’m in my new apt! After running around all day, took a nice bath with my rubber duckies and feel much less hung over –

Thus the lack of posts. I’m typing this at Whole Foods while nibbling on sushi rolls — which I’ll be doing a lot until Oct. 6, when my DSL should be up and running again –

BTW — If you haven’t seen the special features on Supersize Me yet, you gotta. The smoking fry’s fascinatingly disgusting — And have you played Burger Man yet?

Tags: supersizeme, mcdonalds, frenchfries, frenchfry

3 Comments | Email this post

• Google Transit makes de-car-ing easier than ever in 5 more cities: Eugene, Honolulu, Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Tampa. Hoping LA transit gets googlified soon! (via Lifehacker).



• A stylin’ bike hanger: Cycloc lets you hang and lock your bike to a wall prettily.
• New Yorkers can achieve their own Personal Kyoto by tracking residential or commercial electric usage automatically. (via kottke.org)



• The Permablitz: The next hot party theme for environmentalists? . It’s “a permaculture-inspired backyard makeover where people come together to share knowledge and skills about organic food production in urban gardens while building community and having fun”

4 Comments | Email this post

A weekly sharing of eco-shwag!

I’m so happy with my new recycled-CD coasters that I’m sharing them — I’m giving two away, pictured left.

To get them, tell me what color my bike is in the comments. This’ll separate the real readers from the click-bys, maybe –

6 Comments | Email this post

• Spiders love peyote! Or what happens when spiders go on drugs (via grist).
• I love Bill Clinton. And also, John Stewart. This is really, really, REALLY hilar. And telling. You gotta click. (via LAist)
  



• Larry, I love you. More importantly, who are ya? This dude’s taken 3 Starbucks Challenges recently. For deets on recent challenges, go here and scroll to the bottom.
• Love peak oil?. Not sure? Here’s a primer for those who don’t quite get what that phrase means yet.

4 Comments | Email this post

So your grocery store offers 200 salad dressing options. And you can pick from like a thousand different cuts of jeans.

You’ve got all this choice — why aren’t you happy yet?

Sez Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice (which I leafed through a while back), in the lil TED video below: The problem’s the lack of a pleasant surprise. “The secret to happiness is low expectations,” he sez, tongue in cheek.

The problem, as Barry lays it out, is this: Shop for a pair of jeans. With just 1 option, you’re forced to buy something ill-fitting — which you’ll learn to deal with it. But given 1,000 choices, you’ll spend a helluva lotta time selecting yr jeans. And while your final choice might fit better, it’ll likely not satisfy you much — cuz your expectation will be for a “perfect” pair of jeans, which the pair you bought isn’t likely to be. Furthermore, since there are so many damn options, you’ll blame YOURSELF for not getting the pair that coulda, woulda been perfect….

How’s this relevant to fair trade or enviro issues? Well — Barry asserts that income redistribution — which’ll hopefully give the poorest people more choice, while limiting the choices of the richest people a bit — will make EVERYONE — the poor AND the rich — better off in terms of personal satisfaction, happiness, etc.

The video got me thinking a bit about the way I limit my consumer choices. For ex, in terms of food, I don’t eat beef, pork, or poultry — a practice that drastically simplifies the process of trying to select from a restaurant menu. Furthermore, I’m about organic and local — So if either of those options are on the menu, I’ll pick them, further simplifying things.

And shopping at Trader Joe’s — where, often the only avaliable choice for many products is the TJ’s brand — helps too :)

The same goes for my other consumer options. Say I need a new pair of flip flops. Well, you all know I was limited to just 4-5 different styles.

My tentative suggestion: If the overabundance of choices in our western world’s overwhelming you, consider going organic and animal-, eco- friendly. Not only’ll you do good for the world around you, you’ll streamline the choices you have to contend with, giving a boost to your overall happiness –

Tags: paradoxofchoice, shop, shopping, barryschwartz

7 Comments | Email this post

Black Gold — a film about how the international coffee trade’s letting big western coffee corps rake in money while coffee farmers barely scrape by — is about to hit the theaters!

Thus, a collection. Here’s my review of the film. I met with Tadesse, the Ethiopian rep for many of the farmers in his country, as well as the British filmmakers.

And below’re my recommendations for action, if you’re either a fair trade activist or a filmgoer inspired to act. More actions to be added:

1. See the film with friends! If you live in NYC, Seattle, or Bellevue, it’s in theaters now :)

2. Get to know your local coffee shops and roasters. Why buy Nestle and Folgers — which BTW tastes horrid — when you don’t have to?

3. Make Starbucks step up. Demand that Starbucks brew fair trade coffee at least once a week, and take the Starbucks Challenge!

4. Create your own action plan! Get creative! Come up with your own ideas for action!

5. Volunteer at movie showings. Oxfam’s helping organize the activist stuff at movie showings, so here’s your chance to watch the film for free while volunteering for a good cause :)

6. Go see the film, seriously. Cuz it’s coming to Portland, Chicago, Washington DC, Nashville, and Madison this month –

7. Get the word out for the LA opening on January 12, 2007, at Laemmle Grande.

8. A couple more chances to catch Black Gold in LA! If you haven’t seen it, get to this film festival!

9. Black Gold at the Fine Arts Theatre on March 30, 2007.

10. Black Gold on PBS on April 10, 2007.

Tags: blackgold, fairtrade, coffee, ethiopia

10 Comments | Email this post

In an effort to drink less alcohol, I’ve been trying to drink more juice. And dude, there’s some yummy stuff out there!

My current addiction: Zola Açaí, which I found at random while browsing at Co-opportunity.

Apparently, this stuff’s made of Amazonian Açaí berry, a Brazilian fruit rich in antioxidants. Plus, the company sez it’s about sustaining Amazon rainforests and supporting the co-op that picks the Açaí berries.

So since it was at already my co-op which I love, I went ahead and bought it. Super delish, with a small kick of caffeine to help me through my afternoon. I mean, I really don’t really write about juices often. And this is one that I really, really like.

But then I emailed, asking if / when they were gonna get organic certification, and if / when they were planning to join the Fair Trade Federation.

And a dude called Chris emailed back, saying organic certification’s expected in the next month, and the FTF — they’re working on that, but no ETA.

Good news, yes? So — Chris sez the new packaging — with the organic certification logo — should be out by the end of the year.

I’ll be watching for it — and drinking happily in the meantime — cuz Zola Açaí offers cocktail recipes too :P

Update, 5/12/07: I found a yummy acai sorbet too –

Tags: acai, amazon, rainforest, juice, fairtrade

6 Comments | Email this post

• Squeege your bod dry! I’m not sold yet, but I too hate laundering towels — (via Treehugger)
• Palm Beach peeps rally against Starbucks! Some of the arguments for keeping Starbucks outta the community are rather bizzare — i.e. the mermaid’ll attract people with piercings — but I totally admire the moxie of these people, trying to keep fast food joints from cheapening their ‘hood. [Update, 10/12/06: Starbucks get the okay for 1 store] — with a brake on opening any more]
• Real food can be dirty and bloody, sez the Accidental Hedonist, on why she no longer watches the Food Network.



• Be a green amoeba! Cuz your fave cali music store’s going green, supporting the Sierra Club, Rainforest Action Network, and Conservation International.

2 Comments | Email this post

The Expo’s really gonna get built! Ok — It won’t be finished till 2012, but still! The groundbreaking ceremony for this light-rail project — which’ll finally ease the traffic congestion on the westside — is happening Friday morning!

I won’t be there, cuz it’ll be v. v. early tomorrow morning — Why 8:30 am? Seems a lil cruel :P

When: Friday, Sept. 29, 2006, at 8:30 am.
Where: In the median of Exposition Blvd. about 3/8 mile west of Crenshaw Blvd., between West Blvd. and Hillcrest Drive.

RSVP (not required) to Genetha Eddins at 213.245.5506 or geddins@exporail.net.

Wanna know more, or to get further involved with the project? Here’s the MTA’s site about the Expo line. Check out a Friends 4 Expo meeting like I did, or explore one of these other public transit groups :)

Update, 10/1/06: One guy comes up with a plan for a unified transit system for LA. Check it out!

Tags: bus, expo, lightrail, mta, losangeles, transportation, travel, santamonica

0 Comments | Email this post

In this series, coffee companies share what they think the top 3 things that needed to be changed about fair trade certification are. Read the whole series here.

The Top 3 from Jim of Cafe Humana, a 2-year-old company that supports organic, fair trade, and shade grown coffee, with a focus on Costa Rica. He originally posted as a comment here, then I wrote him asking for clarifications; below’s his revised list.

1. Clarify FT’s environmental standards for certification. Jim wants more clarity and transparancy in terms of fair trade certification’s environmental requirements for the consumer. By leaving the environmental guarantees rather hazy and undefined, “I think that takes something away from those of us who really want to see true sustainability — both financial, social and, ecological. Though not exactly a priority, I think this is something they need to address and open up the discussion to the Super Certification dream we all have.”

2. A better and more detailed auditing system is necessary – including a better guarantee that the farmer received a specific dollar sum. This is similar to the point the Geoff of Intelligentsia made, but Jim adds that TFUSA could do a better job of emphasizing to both customers and activists that the fair trade minimum goes to the co-op, not directly to the farmer, to clear up confusion.

3. Quality standards. “Geoff is dead-on about creating a culture of quality. Though an immense and nebulous undertaking, I think it would be invaluable and make sourcing really fine coffees that much easier, which would drive up demand, etc…. I’ve heard more than once that, “Oh, I’ve had Fair trade coffee and I didn’t like it.” Who is benefiting from that? Maybe something as simple a two-tier cert (A and B?) would be enough that farmers would push to attain “A” pricing and that helps everyone.”
__

Sez Jim: “I began origin-roasting a few years ago after meeting some really great farmers in Costa Rica. It was the best thing possible for the farmers but proved unsustainable both financially and ecologically (air freight). While I still have a good relationship with my Costa Rican supplier and travel there annually to meet with him, I have entrusted the Fair Trade certification process to guide me to selections of other responsible coffees until I can get there myself.”

Here’re the posts (one and two) discussing the difficulties of roasting at origin. Jim’s also sending me some coffee — Yay! A review to come :)

Tags: fairtrade, coffee, cafehumana, transfair

0 Comments | Email this post