Irony

Is it ironic that my last post was about bike safety and this post is written with one hand since the other is broken from a bike/car accident? Probably (although ever since Alanis' rendition, I've had trouble keeping the definition of ironic straight).

Last week while biking, a driver opened their door without looking and I crashed into it and veered left. Then, to add injury to injury, I crashed into the car in the traffic lane as well. At this point I came to a stop on the ground. It hurt, a lot. And when I looked at my right hand I knew I was in for it- my middle finger was clearly dislocated (and it turns out broken as well)!

So not that I necessarily needed an excuse, but you will all have to forgive me for not blogging very much this month. Rest assured though that when I get this cast off and the okay from doctors, I will be right back on my bike. Drivers, please be careful when opening your doors, it's the law!

And since the last post ended with a resounding support for a superiority complex, here is another example. A direct quote from Freecycle SF:

"My MIL was baking while visiting and I have 2 sticks of new packaged butter. It's says it's not treated with RBGH, but I only feed my kids organic. Please specify a time you are picking up. I will set it outside for you" (emphasis added).

Not complete without the customary, "Sent from my iPhone." Got to love SF.

Driving Habits

Kiplinger, some sort of financial magaine, had an article today entitled "Generation Y Giving Cars a Pass." This was a surprising article for two reasons. (1) Apparently I am of Generation Y (and so are you if you are between 21-30). I didn't know that, but I am happy to oblige, because Y is a great letter. One that starts my last name, for instance. (2) More importantly, I didn't realize this was a trend. I mean sure, I noticed it amongst my friends, but many of them live in the city and were recently in college (although now, upon further reflection, I realize that was 5 years ago). It has always puzzled me that people would be willing to walk across campus in college (15 minutes), but upon graduating, will drive far shorter distances (e.g. from one end of a parking lot to another).

I'm glad to hear that my generation is taking responsibility for the future into their own hands. Although I suspect we are also known for our shallowness/callowness- always plugged into some machine, I think this is one of our most significant contributions to our community. When public transit can take twice plus as long, it takes some serious commitment (and planning!) to take it. And while I use my train time to slow down, reflect and look out the window, apparently Generation Y "views commuting a few hours by car a huge productivity waste when they can work using PDAs while taking the bus and train." I can't believe a 2010 article used the term PDA.

Personally, I choose to live without a car because I like my lifestyle. I like my super short work commute (2 miles, 15 minutes by bike). I like saving $10,000/year (AAA numbers on average cost of a car/year) so I can choose a job I love and eat good food. I like the increased health benefits (20 to 1), even taking into account the increased risk of death (depending on how you run the numbers, bikes have less deaths per trips but more deaths per mile). And finally, I like the efficiency of combining my wind-down, with exercise, with commute, with catching up to cars at the next light, with advanced brain activity (is that car going to turn, YES?? CRAP!) and with, last but not least, feeling superior to everybody else.

Why I Stay In The City- Community

I constantly think this city is too cool for me. After all, most days all I want to do is stay at home and cook. But yesterday night, Pumpkin and I went for unplanned night on the town.

First we stopped by Freewheel Cyclery (I mean really, in a city with so many bike shops, hipsters get their own, how can I compete?) where Pumpkin had bought her new front chainrings/crank arms because she had somehow managed to crack her old one. We were trying to borrow a crank puller, since mine was incompatible with her bike. However, renting tools is $10/day ($30/6 months) at Freewheel and since I was going to use it for a grand total of 2 minutes, I didn't feel like forking up. If I didn't already have a toolkit, I think the $30 rate would be pretty reasonable (not to mention sustainable) and sure enough, we saw somebody working on his fixie.

With the first part of our night's plan a bust, we moved on to the second- dinner! I've been meaning to try NOPA for a while (not every restaurant gets to name a neighborhood) and knew reservations were totally booked so we decided to give drop in a try. Only a 1 hour and 45 minute wait, crazy. But I put my name down and we decided to walk around. I had seen park(ing) at Fell on my bike ride home so we stopped there to grab some free tea and sit in what normally is normally a parking spot. Most of them were converted thanks to rugs and potted plants. The transformation was impressive. We sat on the side of a 3 lane one way road, a main artery of San Francisco and felt completely safe. The newly green bike lane certainly helped.

Then we decided to check out a "game cafe" as Pumpkin put it which I very excitedly thought might mean a LAN cafe and STARCRAFT 2, but she meant the old school board games. At any rate it was closed, but every Wednesday they have game night courtesy of Gamescape. So you may find me on the corner of Oak and Divis next Wednesday!

Onwards we treked till a few doors down where the store was not only open, but there seemed to be some sort of party inside. As we peered in, somebody demanded we come in and explained it was a Earth Magic Product Opening. And it was truly magic. Desserts and drink, free massages, a tarot card reader and good music!

ZOMG, cupcakes, fudge, brownies, blondies, and blackberry turnovers! They even had non-alcoholic beverages so I happily sipped on some Martinelli's while listening to an amazing violin and guitar duo, The Jaunting Martyrs.

Good voices, solid talent on the instruments AND food? I was in heaven. So much so that while waiting for a free massage, we missed the call from NOPA to come back (my, doesn't time fly).

By the time we got back to NOPA, we had missed our table (and I missed the massage, darn). But when we were seated, we got the best seat in the house:

We watched this guy spin magic with pizza, warm olives, sardines, and vegetables all night. Not pictured is the giant fire grill to the left where rotisserie chicken hung and burgers and pork chops flipped. At first I was peeved to be sitting without back support (we were on bar seats) but the entertainment value quickly made it worth it.

But the best view (and taste) of all were our dishes. Mine a seared duck breast with figs, creamed corn and greens while Pumpkin had a pork chop with greens and beans. I thought both pieces were good, especially my duck breast which was moist and tender. Generally, I think pricey restaurants aren't worth it, but I think general ambiance, cooking entertainment, and quality of food made this night memorable.

So here's to SF, making an unplanned night on the town a total success. And, besides the pricy fancy food, the entire evening was free and surrounded by neighbors!

Passivity

My officemate commutes over 1.5 hours every day. Each way. Apparently, Santa Rosa is far. In fact, even when she utilizes public transit, she still has to drive 10-15 minutes to get to the bus stop. That's my whole commute.

Yesterday, in a spout of laziness and self-perceived genius, I decided to ask her for a ride to the gym. After all, it is right on her way home and we were leaving from the same exact spot. At the time I congratulated myself because I would be able to avoid a hill (and I am forever daunted by hills) and it usually takes around 30 minutes. A seemingly long time a car could certainly beat.

I think what I neglected to remember (or purposefully forgot) is that when I ride to the gym, I see a line of cars a mile deep due to the Doyle Drive construction. So my 30 minutes bike ride became a 45 minutes car ride. Plus another 15 to wait and then walk with my officemate. That’s double the time.

While this happens all the time around the city, what really surprised me was on the last leg, when we hit the traffic and I really should have gotten out and biked but was encumbered by social etiquette to stay and keep my officemate company, I was surprisingly relaxed. When I pass the same line of cars on my bike, I always peer into a couple to see what these foreign beings are feeling. I’m always surprised it isn’t rage, but rather apathy. In fact, I could easily be convinced they are serene.

And in the car last night, surrounded by metal, cooled by AC and shielded from the world, I didn’t mind that not only bikers but JOGGERS were passing by. Because it was stop and go traffic, I wouldn’t have noticed the true [lack of] speed if it weren’t for the conspicious comparison right beside me. But even then I decided to ride it out, what could I do about traffic? What a passive stance! So unlike my problem solver, always demanding for peak efficiency, self.

So I guess although I can’t fathom doing it day upon day upon day, and I certainly won’t be asking for another ride ever again, yesterday I had a moment of community with my fellow car riders. And then, when I was finished rock climbing, I rode home over an even bigger hill.

Holy crap it's been 2 months!

Hello everybody!

In case you were wondering, no I am not dead.  There's no real good excuse for my absence unless you include looking and getting an apartment, moving into said apartment right after looking and getting a full time job.  Pumpkin is very demanding sometimes.  But today is Labor Day and as such I have the day off and time to take pictures, upload said pictures, and write about them!

What a great move and job!  First off, I work for the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, which is pretty much the coolest thing ever.  The job is challenging and I deeply believe in the role of parks.  In fact, this department is easily the reason why I can stay in SF.  Otherwise the concrete jungle would eat me right up.

The place is fantastic, a charming 2 bedroom at 1000 sq ft.  Which, believe it or not, is big for this city.  It's been a long process of moving from the dream of a single family home into an apartment into the city but I'm glad I did it.  Mainly because now my carbon footprint, according to carbon calculators, is pristine.  I would link some but I'm not sure of the veracity.

How is living in a 1000 sq feet apartment with 3 people and no backyard access or compost (illegal for SF, but our landlord rather sue than comply)?  It's pretty sweet.  While 1000 sq feet seems small, it's big enough to have moved our furniture around 4 different times in just over a month.  It feels different all the time!  Our energy costs?  Below the roof- $20 for 3 people.  Perhaps the best part is my commute- 10 minutes on a bike and close/cold enough so I don't have to change clothes.  

Although we don't have backyard access, we do have 2 bayview windows that let in a lovely amount of sun.  Because of that, I am starting an herb garden- and the oregano and basil have sprouted!  I'm so proud!  For compost, we do it anyways and just find other compost bins to dispose in.  It's a little less convenient, but worth it.  Plus, with 3 people, we can split that chore quite easily (and I must admit, my roommates do a far better job than I do).  

Speaking of which, the best part of moving is getting to live with 2 of my favorite people in the WORLD.  One is Pumpkin and the other is my high school friend Jon (of earphones fame).  We agree on the big things (being green, being laid back, and food) which makes the little things so much easier.  Plus, now I get to cook more without having to do dishes- sweet!

And now it's time for a customary food photo:

Blackberry 5 grain pancakes and pan-seared salmon sandwich topped with tomato, egg, and caramelized onions and bell pepper.  Strawberry smoothie.  Perfect mix of Pumpkin and I's food preferences.  And as far as I can tell, J will eat anything.

My Favorite Image From Good Magazine

But my favorite image from Good Magazine is this one:

Basically, it portrays how 50 passengers and how much road space it would require to transport them.  First is 50 people and 50 cars (astounding!), second is 50 people and 1 bus, third is 50 people and 50 bikes (so cute!).  Actually, I guess the image also shows 50 people walking too!  Often times we are so busy counting carbon emissions or mpg, that we forget about the aggregate effect.  Also, next time I almost get run over by a car, I will attempt to explain this graphic to them when I pull up to them at the next red light.  WHICH ALWAYS HAPPENS.

Nowhere was this graphic more apparent than at Pink Party this Saturday, which is basically a giant dance party on Castro and Market to celebrate acceptance and LGBT pride.  As such, people flow in from all over the Bay Area to dance it up!  And as such, the roads are completely stalled.  On our bikes, we passed soooo many completely stopped cars it was almost heartbreaking.  Lines of lights as far as you could see at pretty much every intersection (imagine the first image, at night time).  A + L who were bikeless and stuck on buses, had a hell of a time getting to and from and ended up mostly walking.  So while the bus image is cool, the 50 bikes are more fluid.  Thus, it took Pumpkin and I 30 min to bike, while it took A + L an hour to bus/walk.  Bikes for the win!

Biking and Walking Increasing With Better Urban Planning

According to Good Magazine, a great little production, biking and walking are on the rise.  While I debate the scientific veracity of this uncontrolled, single variable, correlational analysis, I like the results so I'm linking them here.  The more the Department of Transportation spends on walking and biking routes, the more people walk and ride.  Makes sense.  Thanks L for the link!

Groupon and Advertising

I see very little advertisements these days.  While the average American (who I'm always talking about), sees 3000/day, I see maybe 10.  Maybe.  I never watch live tv and even on Hulu, I mute the advertisements to do something else.  Once in a while I'll actually see the ads on various websites, but it's hardly compelling in their static state.  

However, recently I signed up for Groupon, which is a website that sends you a deal of the day- usually 30-60% off.  They do this by ensuring the deal giver a certain amount of customers.  Power of the numbers sort of thing.  Usually when my Groupon email comes, I read the title and ignore it.  I don't need massages and another fruffy nonsense.  But today, the deal was 45% off Let's Be Frank.  And to my surprise, Let's Be Frank is a sustainable hot dog place.  Maybe the first in the nation.  They source their beef from 180 miles away and the mission statement was to create a slow fast food.  Pretty sweet. 

And at 45% off, the franks were 5.33/lb.  That is a very respectable price, comparable to non-local, but organic Aidells (kicked out of Ferry Building Farmer's Market, oooooooo, scandal!).  So I bought the max amount, 36 ounces or 12 links.  

I am really happy with the purchase for a couple of reasons.  (1) I have not tried to make my own sausages.  While the endeavor would be interesting, sourcing it locally is not worth it.  I already have plenty of meat in the fridge and don't feel like butchering it further than ground meat (of one animal) or slices.  Maybe someday, along with my own bacon, when I start buying whole animals.

(2) I have only done a little research on sustainable sausages but pretty much resigned myself to the fact that everybody sources pigs from Iowa.  Which let's be frank, Let's Be Frank does for their pork sausages.  Their reasoning is that pigs do eat corn and so they should be as close to the corn source as possible.  I think this is...strange logic at best so I'll have to question whether or not I want to buy their pork sausage (or spicy Italian sausage).  Hopefully the latter is too spicy so I'll just end up with the beef sausages and call it a day.  Because I really love Italian sausage.

(3) We eat less meat when we cook with sausages.  One sausage is about 2-3 oz, and we'll eat 1/2 or 1 sausage per person.  And since less meat, even if the meat you buy is sustainable, is better, I think sausages are a good, flavorful way to trick my palate into submission.  It certainly worked this weekend when we had 4 sausages/person cover 4 different meals.

(4) Sausages are quick.  They are individually proportioned and freeze well.  And with my impending loss of freedom (more details later!), this may be the saving grace of it all.  But don't think I don't see your trick Groupon, I already was thinking of buying sausages last night, so this doesn't count as an impulse buy right?  Right?

Buying With Trust

I'm a geek.  I really like learning about things, researching, analyzing and coming up with best practices (as they say in policy).  As such, I have no trouble spending a lot of my free time examining who I buy from.  Last week, for the first time ever, I bought half a gallon of milk from Straus Family Creamery, a local creamery who seriously practices healthy farms.  From their waste management to pasture raised cows to the classy glass bottles, this was one of the only websites that answered all my questions.  And I had many.

But too often, I'm fooled by websites.  For instance Tom's of Maine, whom we trust our teeth with, is actually owned by Colgate.  Odwalla is Coca-cola and to compete, Pepsi bought Naked Juice.  See this article for more shockers!  

Like when Food, Inc included Walmart in their story, I'm on the fence about whether or not sustainable principles can be kept in the hands of faceless corporations only concerned with the bottom line.  Like I said in the beginning, it's not the fact we eat meat that puts us into environmental crisis, but instead the sheer amount of it.  Usually when things go bigger, it outgrows the natural system and externalities are pushed onto the environment to maintain a profit.  

And while I don't mind people making a profit, I absolutely abhor that they may be making 2x the amount just by slapping organic onto the label.  When one giant food conglomerate grows food conventionally next door to its giant organic field, the difference becomes negligible (except perhaps in pesticides).  See Micheal Pollan's "Behind the Organic-Industrial Complex." While that difference is enough for others to pay 2x as much and call it a day, I'm not exactly sold.  Although I certainly understand why they would stop at labeling- who has time to go through confusing advertising and purposeful misrepresentation?  Sometimes, even if you do the research, the results are murky.

I want to trust in what I buy, I want to trust that they are doing the best they can.  Nobody has to be perfect, except the Straus's who even agonize over the added weight of using glass for increased transportation emissions vs. being able to reuse glass containers 8x before recycling them.   And for that, I gladly chose them over Silk (Conagra), Horizon Organics (Dean Dairy Co, largest dairy in the world) and even Clover Farms and Organic Valley who are non-local farm co-ops.  This time, unlike a year ago, I didn't recoil in pain, I gladly paid 2x as much.  Because that's the kind of trust I want to buy behind.  

Called it! Trains are our future.

When I heard of the new increased security measures and fees for flying after the Christmas almost bombing, I told my friend J that the only bright side would be people would finally take public transportation seriously.  And sure enough, last week I saw a headline entitled, "Fliers’ pain is Amtrak’s gain."  Oh, if only I was clever enough to rhyme like MSNBC.  

"During the first six months of fiscal year 2010, Amtrak trains carried 13.6 million passengers, up 4.3 percent from the same period a year earlier. If the pace holds, the rail operator is on track to beat the record of 28.7 million passengers it set in 2008."  2008 being the year of record gas prices.  So we see cost is a huge contributor.  Airline fees go up, train travel goes up.  Gas costs go up, train travel goes up.  But what about time? 

"Between 2006 and 2009, the on-time performance of Amtrak’s 15 long-distance trains improved from 30 to 75 percent. Upgraded sleeping cars, schedule changes and other improvements helped boost customer satisfaction scores from 65 to 80 percent."  While 75% accuracy may not seem very good, it definitely competes with air travel.  I know I certainly get peeved when my public transport is delayed (silently wishing I was on my bike).  Because the airlines share just 5-6 national hubs, air travel later in the day is only 60% on-time.  But even if Amtrak was 100% on-time, it's completely unfeasible time-wise for cross country travel.  It'd take days to get from coast to coast.  

Even so, what's really unfortunate is that people have a skewed mindset of how long it takes to travel by plane vs train.  One tends to only account for the time the plane is in the air.  They forget that often times, you arrive 2 hours early to get through security.  They forget the time it took to get to the airport.  They forget the extra time it takes on the other side to get picked up.  

When my mother and I took Amtrak from Chicago to Ann Arbor, it took 4.5 hours and under $40.  A plane's air time from Chicago to Detroit (DTW) would be 1.5 hours and $179.  Seems like an easy equation of whether money or time is worth more to you.

But since the Amtrak station was inside downtown Chicago, it only took us 10 min (.5 miles) to get there, versus 25 min to 1+ hour (18 miles by car or M line) to the airport.  On the other side, it took my sister 10 min (1 mile) to come pick us up, but it would've been 1 hour (50 miles round trip) by car.  Adding it up, the train took 5 hours while going by airplane would've been 4-5 hours (includes 1.5 hours for security).  So given the disparate ticket prices, the train clearly was the way to go, even though at first it looks like flying would be way faster.  

So I wish people would treat the train right.  With the advent of high speed rail in America (or at least California), I hope people start giving trains the same leeway they give planes.  High speed rail spaced out more akin to airports rather than commuter rail stations.  But faster security lines.  More comfortable seats/amenities.  Bringing your bike.  Less fees.  But probably, the same high ticket prices.

P.S. Berkeley recently did a study comparing emissions of different modes of transportation across the whole life cycle.  The whole shabang- from manufacturing to tailpipe emissions.  I hope the CA high speed rail pays attention since this method of calculation gives trains 155% more emissions but only gives airplanes 31% more.  In fact, on a per mile basis, large aircraft travel was quite comparable to fossil fuel energized light rails.  See chart below.  Crazy.

Image Source Environmental Research Web

Golden Gate Bridge Sunset

Sometimes you forget to do the touristy stuff.  But it sure is easier with longer daylight hours!  Awesome, made my worries go away instantly.

Transforming Leftovers- Taco Salad

I get a lot of flack these days after I embraced Pumpkin's exclamation that I liked eating "garbage."  But sometimes I even get lazy and you never know what leftovers will become.  Even in the realm of food, one man's garbage is another's treasure.

Such as what I had for lunch today:

I call it taco salad (and chocolate milk).  It was as tasty as it looks even though the bulk of it came from leftover nachos.  I know, a truly heinous piece of garbage.  After all, the chips get limp only moments after putting them into Tupperware and the whole thing in general is mangled mess.  But I took the nachos home from dinner out (a necessity of skiing) on Saturday, despite dubious looks from R+J.

Fast forward to just hours ago.  After throwing a mini-impromptu dinner party last night, I didn't feel like making an affair out of dining.  So I opened the fridge but found nothing from the same cuisine, very few things already cooked, and eggs.  Well, not entirely helpful.  But the leftover nachos saved me, because with the chips come cheese, olives, and jalapenos.  I put down a base of salad (one of our only convenience foods), topped on some more chips (these are now 4 months old and somehow have retained their crispiness- processed food kind of scares me), put on the nachos, put on some leftover refried beans (with the nacho cheese melted onto it), and topped it with freshly carmalized onions.  You can call it garbage, but I call it delicious!

I HAD STEAK!!!!!! An Elaboration.

While nobody I know quite shares my unbridled enthusiasm for meat, I feel like I have to disclaim the previous post.  That steak was exciting for many reasons.  (1) I haven't had steak in so long, I can't remember anymore and (2) IT'S STEAK!!!  But this steak was particularly delicious because (1) I haven't had steak in so long, I can't remember anymore, (2) it was grass fed Marin Sun Farms top sirloin, and (3) I BROWNED IT IN BACON FAT!!!!  To be fair, I think the caramelized onions and mushrooms contributed as well, but oh my goodness, so delicious!

As L cleverly asked me, how does one who only gets roast/braise end up with a steak?  Well, when one is an amateur butcher, one sees steak everywhere.  

First, 15 lbs of meat comes in an unassuming box.

Bike the meat box home!  The C in CSA stands for community so the box is delivered, amongst many others, to a neighbor.

That box is not as small as it looks ;).

Meat should never defrost in a bag of it's own juices, lest you want to taste iron.  Putting it over a rack and covering it with paper will allow it to breath and dry age a little.  See award winning River Cottage Meat Book.

Cut it up!  Just make sure it's against the grain.

One 4 lb roast becomes 3 steaks and 1.5 lbs of strips.  All separated into reused containers (SF doesn't recycle styrofoam) and labeled with dates and sizes.  The easier you make it for your future self, the easier it is!

Some slices are destined for grinding.

My perfectly marbled, oh so delicious, and sustainable steak.

I HAD STEAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've Been Thinking...

Recently I've been thinking about the wisdom of radical behavior.  On the one hand, it is far easier for me to theoretically stick to something 100% than to let myself have room for error.  Because when I think to myself, ok, you don't have to ONLY eat sustainable meat, then it quickly becomes a slippery slope.  And soon enough I'm buying 3 lbs of bacon, 3 lbs of sausages, and going to Popeye's.  So much for the quarterly report!

The problem is, while I can easily live with myself radically, I don't want to end up as a hermit foraging alone in the mountains, drinking my own distilled pee.  After all, I think happiness comes from those you surround yourself with, not just the ideals you hold yourself to.  But at the same time, when I want to throw an impromtu BBQ for biking down from San Francisco to Menlo Park, the fact of the matter is, my roast/braise meat CSA is not BBQ friendly.  The 3 lbs of sausages or chicken we picked up were far more popular and cheaper than the $40 slab of goat Pumpkin caltrained down. 

Don't get me wrong though, my diet has significantly changed, and the way I feed people has significantly changed.  While I'm discussing 3 lbs of sausage, we only used a fraction of the package.  The rest is stored safely in my freezer.  I only cooked 3 whole, out of desperation to eat sooner since everything else was being cooked from scratch.  That includes pizza dough, tomato sauce, lemonade, and butchering the chicken into proper pieces.  

And while we can debate the merits of having a BBQ in the first place, with it's emissions spewed directly into the atmosphere, I wouldn't have changed things for the world.  7 friends in the kitchen and in the garage (the theme being food AND bikes), cooperating to make a beautiful meal, which we then sat outside and enjoyed.  Beautiful indeed.

The Beginning- Quarterly Report

When I started this blog in the beginning I made a few [overly-ambitious?] promises that I wanted to update you on.  

#1 Pledging to buy only sustainable meat, B-.  Technically I could call this a win.  After all, for meat I'm cooking with, I've gone 100% sustainable.  Some parts were hard, such as  staring at the Monterey Aquarium seafood guide for each and every seafood choice (often so confusing I have to leave it for another day so I can cross reference the internet).  Some parts easy, such as with beef/lamb/goat because the CSA provides plenty.  We actually have leftovers from month to month!  But technicalities aside, I have to admit I cheat when dining out.  Popeye's Tuesday $.99 for 2 pieces deal still slips into my diet about once a month and I can't deny my popularity.  As for the temptress bacon, there has been some clever accounting where I'll host a eating-party and keep leftover bacon that somebody else has bought (this happened once, maybe twice).  Tsk, tsk.

On the other hand, there has been so much real improvement.  On Monday I inadvertently made a recipe from a vegetarian cookbook for rice and beans.  Certainly the pre-sustainable cow me (the mad cow me, if you will) would have recoiled in disgust.  Instead, I added a serving of beef, home-made tortillas, and wished for more vegetables (we had missed the farmer's market that week).  And when I say serving, I mean the USDA serving size, a mere 5 ounces.  I can distinctly remember scoffing at the equivalent visual (a deck of cards) in college.  These days it's totally natural.  I can even spend lunches without meat, without a problem.  Life is all about progress.  

#2 Seriously scrutinizing labor concerns of purchases, A.  This one was new but has been relatively easy.  Like I mentioned during my shameless plug for Rainbow Grocery, I loved that they paid their staff a living wage.  Marin Sun Farms is a small family farm.  I talk to the farmer's I buy from at the farmer's market (although admittedly, I mainly just ask for prices).  Even Costco has amazing labor practices, their cashiers get paid over $20/hr.  If I can't find a place where I trust their labor standards, I don't go in.  Sometimes this means waiting for the next farmer's market, but most times, I've planned better than that.

As for non-consumable purchases, well, my big purchase in 2 months was $11.91 in computer parts.  After that, another $18.39 for Aviator sunglasses, the only non-consumable part of our Valentine's Day extravaganza.  It was definitely out of convenience too, Pumpkin had forgotten her already old and beat up sunglasses and we were due for a lot of biking that weekend.  And I suppose it doesn't hurt that I find Aviators hot.  

#3 Pledge to take public transit/carpool/bike, A-.  This one was old and easy to continue. The more I bike, the more routes I discover and the more I remember where the hills are.  Google Maps now provides a bike routes.   Amar does it with grade, in the city.  Livestrong with a point and click style route planner, elevation, and time estimate.  And calories too, if that's your thing.  Public transit, whether Caltrain, VTA or MUNI provides an excellent supplement.  As does carpooling!  Even I was surprised that I could minimize my driving down even more.  I literally can't remember the last time I drove alone.  I can remember my last carpool though!

#4 Eliminate waste from my life, A.  This mandate suffers from vagueness but I'm calling this one a victory too.  From reducing water waste to eliminating food waste, this one is my favorite (and probably Pumpkin's bane).  What can I say, I love efficiency =).

Friday Friendsday (R+J)

While visiting my good friends R + J to start an early morning ski trip, I discovered they had soundly trumped my navy shower. Even in the haze of the wee morning hours, I knew this genius must be publicized!  So henceforth, Fridays are now the realm of my amazing friends and their equally amazing green conquests.  Friday Friendsday!

I had told R about my navy showers/water saving antics a while back and in response he engineered this:

This seeminly inocuous assortment of tubes and wires is a homemade pump system.  R+J's shower is now a resevoir for water, they've put the stopper in and take showers with slightly cold feet. Instead of going down the drain, the grey water is used for flushing toilets and washing laundry.

To do this, R simply bought a pump, which activates upon being dropped into the shower water.  It then pumps water out of the shower and through the clear tube.  The clear tube can be connected to either the low flush toilet toilet (shown below) or the washing machine.  Not too shabby for <$20!  And the tube usually stays connected to the toilet because it has it's own resevoir. As a low flush toilet, the tank actually holds enough water for multiple flushes.  Truly genius.

Hats off to R+J!

Rainbow Grocery

If you are lucky enough to have the AT&T phonebook in SF (or to find 10+ untouched in front of a neighboring apartment building), then you can find yourself 20% off coupons for each odd month, except November.

Rainbow Grocery is a worker owned co-operative and it's truly a hippie dippie store.  You have staff that is paid a living wage, local and organic choices, and daylight harvesting (a mysterious and large contraption which almost eliminates the need to use electricity during the day).  You have bulk bins and no meat (*gasp*).  And by bulk bins, I mean rows and rows of beans, pasta, rice, flour (who knew there were so many?), nuts, and cereal.  Unriviled.  Then there are the bulk buckets which have tasty delights such as peanut butter.  Ooo, don't forget the bulk oils or beauty products.  We always bring our own bags/jars, which means a $.05 discount/bag, but more importantly, no waste.  Which I suppose is why I forgave them for not selling meat (and somewhat hypocritically still selling dairy).  

Bounty!

But the lack of meat doesn't really matter, because Rainbow is for non-perishables.  My meat comes from the meat CSA (pick up tonight!! Woooo!), produce and eggs from the farmer's market.  But those pesky carbs that Pumpkin enjoys so much is the realm of Rainbow.  So yesterday, with coupon in tow, I spent $28 on walnuts, rice, black beans, brown sugar, tahini, and rice milk (somebody is also lactose intolerant).  Enough to last...at least a month (see picture below).  The bulk of the purchase were walnuts for a pricy $7.59/lb (on sale from $10.09).  Although with coupon it was technically $6.07/lb, that is also technically the price sustainable meat.  I know which one I rather have, but since Pumpkin puts walnuts in a very tasty homemade granola and bread (why she doesn't substitute this with some STEAK is beyond me), I suppose it is more than okay =D.

The most exciting purchase (the realm of Rainbow is expansive and exotic) was bulk tahini (which I shoveled into my own jar) for hummus.  But then I realized, after opening my bean bags, that I had managed to shovel two bags of black beans instead of one bag of black beans and one of garbanzo.  *Sigh,* not quite a true hippie.

How much stuff can a stuffed backpack carry?

You would think laundry would be a relatively simple task.  But of course, for somebody like me, it's a real endevour.  Pumpkin's laundry needed to be done, so I thought I'd be the best s/o ever and bring it over to my house where I have a washer and dryer and then bring it back all done the next day.  Door to door delivery, if you will.  

Also, that meant I could run the laundry on a weekday night (better for the environment, because it puts less demand on the grid but weekends work too) and air dry the heavier items in the backyard. 

Long story short, I ended up with this beast on my back the other day.  It included a few glass jars (always useful), some CSA meat (always delicious), and my bike u-lock (which I normally find heavy, but not so much that day).  Luckily the route was mostly downhill, but man, it's days like that I sort of wish I wasn't such a nut and drove my car.  Sort of.

Done!

Err, I mean, done!

Who says leftovers are boring?

One of my favorites, insert-meat-name-here hash.  In this case, ham.  Why is it my favorite?  Well, I'm always not finishing carbs (potatoes), I always have eggs and onions on hand, and it allows me to have meat for breakfast!  By the way, eggs easy over is the only way to have this. Yum, splayed egg guts!

Big Purchase- $11.91!

I knew eventually my not-buying-new streak would end, and so it did on Monday. Just 2 days shy of 3 months without buying anything new. That I couldn't eat, that is.  Sweet.

But this purchase was long overdue, and I was very happy with what turned out. Without further ado, my purchase(s):

Thermal paste and a SATA cable

If you recall back to my post about the trifecta of sustainability, you'll remember that my good friend O gave me a bunch of his old computer components.  Well, over Christmas he also bought me Windows 7 and gave me his old 200 GB SATA hard drive and another better CPU.  When I had installed the first round of his components, there was quite a maneuvering to get my IDEE hard drive, DVD drive, and CD drive to fit on the one IDEE cable.  I had to leave the DVD drive out because it simply didn't fit.  At the time I was thinking of buying a SATA hard drive to alleviate the problem, but lo and behold, another month of flexibility and a got one for free!  This is the first time I've had a hard drive over 80 GB!

Of course, by that month, I had already packed away my SATA cable with my old motherboard and left it in my parent's house, which has since been torn down.  So checked craigslist/freecycle and I asked all my nerdy friends if they had extra SATA cables or extra thermal paste lying around (and this is what took me a month).  But they didn't (for shame!) which meant...buying new.

However, I knew I didn't want to just get it online, due to the environmental impact of shipping.  During this time of pleading with nerds for parts, one informed me of a small shop right in SOMA.  So off I went to Central Computers, which is just about as local as you can get for computers.  By which I mean, the company seems based in China.  Not only were the parts reasonably priced (student discount) but they had limited packaging too (everything I took out of the store is pictured).  

At home the next day, I tore apart my computer, and by tore I mean I gingerly laid it down on it's side (on newspaper, so I wouldn't have to deal with carpet's static electricity) and opened it up.  I unlatched my heat sink, unlatched the old [old] CPU, and put in the old [new] one, put a dime size amount of THERMAL PASTE (such a cool thing to buy), and then reattached the heat sink.  Then I installed the hard drive, hooked up the DVD drive (instead of the CD drive that had fit on the IDEE cable) so I could install Windows 7 DVD.  Closed it back up and installed Windows 7, which only required a little troubleshooting with O since it wouldn't recognize the old [new] hard drive so I thought I might have broken it in transit.  But I didn't, and with a little more troubleshooting with O (a genius) over the HD audio, I FINALLY had a AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+, 200GB SATA harddrive, 2GB RAM desktop.  All for the low cost of $11.91.  Told you it was a big purchase!

Awesome.

Another ski weekend!

It's been dumping for a week while I have been relegated sick invalid, but is clearing up just in time with my sinuses.  Which means, *drum roll,* another ski weekend at Squaw!   

This weekend, my friends have blessed me with a snow tired, small sedan filled to the brink with 5 people (one of them is 6'2," not pictured), their luggage, plus 5 sets of ski gear. This reminds me of when I used to carpool down to San Diego after breaks at home and fill my smaller sedan with 5 people and their luggage (none of them being 6'2"). Of course I didn't have a lovely roof box which is pretty much like adding another huge trunk to the top of your car, so ingenious.  It's all about a can do spirit!

But don't ask 6'2"'s butt.  Because it was numb the majority of the ride.  

Recycling Is Confusing

Apparently in other lands, which are still in the United States, people cannot curbside recycle.  For instance, Tuscaloosa, Alabama is celebrating curbside recycling for 60% of their residents.  Whooopeeee (excuse me, I'm in a rather dismal state due to a cold and the death of health care reform today).

However, in the great city/county of San Francisco, we not only get curbside recycling, but municipal composting as well.  I point out municipal because municpal and industrial composting can handle fun things like animal bones!  They also do all paper, food scraps, and yard trimmings.  Composting is relatively easy to remember although sometimes I'm stuck with a newspaper wondering how much life they can really get out of it if I recycle (so I usually dump it in the compost).

Which brings us to recycling.  Because municipalities control recycling, they also control what they want (or can) recycle.  This means when I've just finished the last drop of Rice Dream (a non-lactose alternative to milk), and open the carton to see metal foil lining the inside, composting is out.  But can I recycle the carton?  Well according to the carton, I should go to http://www.tetrapak.com/environment and find out!  So I do, only to discover that if I can't (and neither can 80% of all US residents).  Which is quite frustrating.  But apparently, if I lived south 5 miles in San Mateo County, I could.  But then I couldn't compost food scraps.  *sigh*

Of the 3R's (reduce, reuse, and recycling), recycling is my least favorite because it is attached to consumption and is confusing (the 2C's, if you will). But I'm finally realizing how important the whole cycle of recycling is.  It's so critical to look for recyclable (in your municipality) packaging or for things with the least packaging of all when buying.  The hippie store or Costco is pretty good about this, as they are unconcerned with advertising.  But you can take this concept anywhere.  For instance, when I succumb to my primal desires and eat Popeye's fried chicken, I bring my own mesh bag so I don't take their container, and even deny them the pleasure of wrapping my bag in a plastic bag.  Packaging eliminated!  

When recycling, make sure your city takes it!   In SF, you don't have to rinse (although it's nice, according to Joanne Wong, a waste manager for the city of San Francisco).  She also thinks recycling is easy, but I guess that's her professional opinion.  And that's it!  I was pretty sure there was a 3rd step we learned (perhaps taking it out to the curb?), but stick a fork in me because I am done folks!  

A Friend Asked

"When's the last time you spent money on something other than food? " 

I sat there thinking for a while, kind of appalled I couldn't remember, since I'm rather fond of my memory.  But, chalk it up to the law degree for research skills, I pulled up my credit card statements online.  Even though a credit card generates more paper receipts, I'm an exclusive user of it, unless the place is cash only (such as a lovely farmer's market).  This is because it leaves a, for a lack of a better word, "paper" trail which means I'm on top of my finances.  I also firmly believe in paying off the entire balance on time- don't look at me as a contributor to this economic downturn.

Anyways, I checked this month's running statement, and unsurprisingly didn't find anything.  December?  Still a bunch of groceries and restaurants.  Finally, over 2 months back, on November 3rd, I confirmed replaced my broken earphones with a new set.  That is the last time I bought something new (that I couldn't eat).  I told this to another friend, who promptly replied, "You are nuts."

A fair point.

My Ski Trip

This last weekend I made good use of my season pass and got 4 days in at Squaw.  I also took up 10 of my friends.  

It's pretty hard to organize for 10.  People insist on leaving early, coming late, and driving their own cars.  However, I'm happy to report that a little reminder to carpool about a week before the event, helps give people enough time to plan for pick ups.  As such, we only drove 3 cars, even though 4 people came up Thursday, 2 left Friday (while 6 more came), and 8 people left on Sunday.  All small sedans mind you- thank god for ski racks and back seats that fold down.  Yah, most people are surprised when I tell them what I can fit in my parent's Toyota Echo (this time it was food for 10, 2 skies, 2 snowboards, luggage, and 4 people).  The important key is a can do attitude!

Also, we completely minimized driving by taking the Squaw shuttle from our cabin in Incline Village for a massive carpool!  It's quite a feat to get 8 people on a shuttle by 7:50am, especially when 3/4 of them have come in after 10:30pm the night before.

Another feat?  Feeding 10 people.  Here I raise my glass to eggs and building sandwiches on the mountain.  We somehow managed to go through 3 dozen eggs, all of them pasture raised and organic.  Egg salad is an easy but effective lunch.  And when you build sandwiches on the mountain instead of the night before, they don't get soggy and you eliminated the need for personal ziplock bags.  We just carried some bread and fillings in two bags.  The last day we ran out of bread, despite me buying 3 loafs and Pumpkin making another, so we ate pasta on leftover plastic bags.  It was the epitome of ghetto and I thank my friends for putting up with me.

Finally, and this came as a big surprise to me, the only meat we had was 4 slices of bacon, 2 lbs of ham and 5 sausages.  Non-sustainable, so I really shouldn't have been buying it in the first place (but at least we ate in).  I thought for sure people would hang me by the neck for the paltry amount, but instead we cut them into small slices and it worked out perfectly.  The sausages peppered the pasta both nights, the ham morphed into breakfast and lunch.  Egg and ham sandwich is deliciousness I discovered all the way back in junior high, and I was happy to see it revived for breakfast.  That me would also have served sausages whole, leaving half the people behind or buying 2x as much, but new me held my breath and sure enough, we survived! 

But let's be honest, I couldn't have done this without my great friends.  Everybody was happy to carpool, take the early early shuttle, and were thrilled with the food/my over-planning.  So thank you guys again such a great (and green) trip!  I love skiing =D.

In the Second Most Dense City in America...

Another beautiful discovery in Golden Gate Park.  

A Family On Caltrain

This was a truly adorable sight, 3 brothers, one mom and one dad (not pictured) all riding quietly on the Caltrain.  I especially love the duo in front.

Navy Showers- 3 gallons of water/shower

I have, what some may consider, a neurosis of green practices, but I'd like to take this time to quickly explain just one.  Navy showers.  According to Wiki the steps of a Navy showers are as follows:

"1. Turn on the water
2. Immediately wet the body
3. Turn off the water
4. Soap up and scrub
5. Turn the water back on and rinse off the soap
6. Turn off the water

The total time for the water being on is typically under two minutes."

And no, I haven't frozen to death.  But because I use shampoo, conditioner and soap, I repeat 3 and 4 once, conditioning then soaping in the same round.  My bottle of conditioner wants conditioner in my hair for an obscene 2 minutes, so might as well use that time to soap up.  

Why is this important?

Well the average shower head flow is 2.2 gallons/minute.  Average water pressure is 50 psi, and if I pretend I know what that means, then a 10 min shower uses around 14-16 gallons of water (see here).  Holy crap, that's a lot of water!  Well, if you take a navy shower, you save  11.8-12.8 gallons of water.  SAVE!  Amazing.  Then, if you want super extra bonus points, you cut upon old milk gallon jugs and collect the cold water as it warms up. 

Like so!  Future dish washing water.

Other uses for milk gallon jugs?   Filling them with water and putting them into your toilet tank for a simple hack (regular toilets use 3.5+ gallons of water per flush).  Fill with water and put it in your fridge or freezer (if it can fit).  Use as plant pots (poke holes in the bottom).  Recycle.  Of course, a post that was going to be one simple green tip, became 14.  Enjoy!

No Blogs, No Worries

[09:38] Elisa Lee: i think about being green a lot because of you

You don't realize all the people you affect, just by being green, but you do.  So even if I haven't been blogging of my green exploits during the holiday season, believe me, they are happening.  And I will soon be back to inspire the unseen masses!

But for now, take solace in your own green ways, and that it passes on and affects others.  Thus, little change, becomes big.

Since joining the meat CSA, multiple people have asked me to link them to their site (and I'll do it one more time here you go!).  After telling others of my navy showers my friend recently told me he saved his shower water to run the laundry.  Of course, I have my green friends who I rant against Walmart with (big Organics can kiss my big- ok not that big, butt), but these are people I never expected to influence.  SUV drivers, true consumers, wiser and older folks all fall to the wisdom of leading by example.

Lead on!

*Update: I swear this is true, another friend on AIM [14:41]: "i'm definitely not as green as you, but i try, and you remind me to be more conscious as well"  What a great day!