Fresh veggie storage ideas!

This is a topic that has been hot on my internet feed this morning, so I thought it would nice to share the links that I have been receiving with all of you. I am not quite sure why, maybe because Labor Day means that summer days are starting to wane, your garden is in top form with harvests getting out of control, and you have to start thinking about how to preserve your harvest before it goes bad. Now, if you want to truly enjoy your healthy harvest while continuing to be friendly towards the environment.

Once you get your organic local veggies with in your house, the first thing you might do is put them into plastic. Plastic continues to drain valuable oil sources from the planet, and all though plastic has been a semi-success in recycling programs, it is still one of those items that if you don't need to use you shouldn't. One of the biggest problems we have environmentally right now is over-packaging, and that goes for our home life as well. Reducing plastic and packaging from your house is just one more way to reduce your overall energy and carbon footprint. Also, in the past decade there has been a growing concern with Bisphenol-A, aka BPA, leeching into their food through plastic containers. Removing plastic storage containers would be the most logical and easiest step to this problem.

Here are the two articles that list everything from Eggplant to Corn to Berries, to Zucchini and how to store them safely. Both articles talk about close to the same techniques but cover things that the other doesn't. One comes from Whole Living and one from Nature's Path Organic.

And here are the links:

How to Store Summer Produce

How to: Store Fruit & Vegetables without plastic

---Justin

Bikestorming.org

While many saw that Rio+20 a large failure on the part of many in the environmental world, something special came out of that conference. Something special that is now starting to get a notice in America, and being picked up on various outlets through out the web, and something truly special to help fight and reduce our carbon footprints in the whole world.

That something is a website called bikestorming.org.

The idea sprung up from the Buenos-Aires based bicycle advocacy group, La Vida en Bici. The basic idea is that by 2030 to have bicycles be the primary mode of transportation in the urban world. They are running on the the phrase "51% in 2030. Through their website and group they will use their website to facilitate other advocacy groups, artists, social media commentators, and social activists to come together and push this imitative forward through a truly grassroots movement. 

Bikestorming.org is basing their whole movement on three simple facts to gain traction to their argument.

1) THE PLANET IS WARMING

2)THE WORLD IS URBAN

3) BICYCLES ARE A VEHICLE OF CHANGE

With a beautiful blog covering everything to transit maps, subway escalators for bikes, to bike friendly hairstyles, this is a great meeting place to get the word out and inspire true social change. Espeically since they have a very clear goal.

Check out their video below:

[EN] Bikestorming.org launched at Rio+20, intro by Bill McKibben from mati kalwill on Vimeo.

Check out the great work Le Vida En Bici is doing as well!

Wattvision

Every so often, a new idea springs forth and we get to glimpse into what could be. I have stated on here before, and our original founder, Jay, has stated on here before that one of the biggest issues that is holding us back to truly mastering our energy consumption is real-time energy monitoring. Now, obviously, there are ramification to an electric company for truly offering this to their consumers, and their have been many products and ways to look at to monitor real time energy use.

Even on this site alone, we have talked about this issue a few times, and different products. Jay even posted an unboxing of an Efergy E2. Yet, something then happened over the last couple years, well actually, two things happened over the last couple of years, that now has a direct effect on giving the power back to the consumer.

The first thing that happened was the smartphone revolution. All of a sudden in the past couple of years everyone smartphones seemed to be readily available and accessible for everyone in almost every income bracket. They slowly started becoming part of our lives. Smartphones have changed the way we live and could very well change the way that we do small things around the house. We have been allowed to have a computer in the palm of our hand.

The second thing that has happened is Kickstarter and the crowdfunding movement. These type of sites allow us as consumers to invest in ideas that we think that would better our lives. We don't have to depend on big banks, or large investors that may or may not get our idea, but we can pitch our idea to a plethora of like minded people, and let them decided if they like our idea. It is truly power to the people.

That is where Wattvision comes in. Wattvision is a prototype real time energy meter that delivers real time energy use directly to your smartphone, and can determine how much energy a specific device in your house. I watched the video, and I was pretty impressed with what they are intending to do. You can check it out here.

These guys also have some pedigree under their belt. They have also gained backing for this nifty solar energy charger called the Ready Set Solar Kit.I am excited to see if this project gets funded and where it goes from there. I think with enough people interested, and the correct roll out that this could be a game changer.

---Justin (link via Angie Fretz)

Tribulations and Local Food

It has been a long long time. Sometimes in life, you get bogged down in unexpected events of sorrow and joy, and projects and pledges take a back seat. I have just went through one of the periods. Loss of a father, supporting my wife finishing grad school, and a multi-state move, brings us to this moment now. It has been a long year, and life has thrown us lemons, oranges, grapes, and whatever other fruit life can throw at you, and we made a lot of "lemonade". Now after everything was said and done, it is time, and there is time to pick-up with conservation and getting Slay Energy Vampires! Moving in the right direction. With all of that said...

...welcome back, I am glad you are still following me. Now, on to some brief information.

A few days ago, the city of Tempe in Arizona, added to their city web page a page dedicated to all of their locally crafted food. Everything from Pasta, to Beer, to Popcorn. It is a long and informative list with direct links and locations to where you can purchase this local food. Local food is still the best and most effective way to cut down on your food's carbon footprint. So, if you are in the Tempe, Arizona area, check out this list. They proudly advertised this list on their Facebook page as well.

Right here for great local food!

---Justin

In.gredients a new way to shop, and new way to think

There is a new grocery store that is opening up soon in Austin, Texas, it is called in.gredients. It has already started getting plenty of buzz in the mainstream media so I thought it would state a few words about it. In.gredients is offering all local, all organic food to the customers. That is nothing new at all, right? Not really, but it is what else they aren't offering that is new. In.gredients is striving to be the first non-waste food store in America right now. Non-waste? What do you mean? Well, there will be no packaging for their food. You will have to bring in your own containers, weigh your food, and then pay for your food. Only buying what you really need, with no packaging to deal with. According to their video:

Americans throw away 1.4 billion pounds of waste every day, and 40% of it comes from one-time packaging. But it's hard trying to be a conscious recycler after a while because of the double or triple wrappings for every product.

Wow! That's a lot of waste! One of the biggest challenges we have in America right now is over-packaging. Unfortunately, where we get our supplies to live on (i.e. food), is one of the worst culprits in this problem (in my mind shipping, especially for big business seems to be the worse, but I have no states, just personal observations). In.gredients is slated to open this year, and is already getting a lot of attention. I am hoping other companies start paying attention to this new delivery method, which almost ensures that we have to start thinking about slow food (something I will talk about soon in a later article).

Let's see what they have to say for themselves:

Wow, I will have to check this out when it opens!

---Justin J. Stewart