February 22nd, 2010
No doubt the current Olympics has and continue to dazzle people with the drama (some outside of the venues) but somehow lost amongst the sports accomplishments remains the face that Vancouver touted this Olympics as the Greenest ever. It seems that China also made that claim a couple years ago. Instead of getting into a comparison of this green aspect versus that sustainable item, we took a look at the Vancouver Convention Center West, which marks the World’s First Convention Center to Achieve LEED Platinum Rating.
Yes, we’ve discussed our feeling about the LEED label and how we would like seeing more money going toward sustainable aspects versus a LEED plaque but nonetheless they built an impressive structure, which currently hosts the international media for the Olympic games. When the Olympics pack-up Vancouver will still have the dazzling sustainable structure.
What we like most is the six-acre living roof (Canada’s largest) which contains 400,000 native plants and grasses, and the green roof acts as an insulator to mediate the exterior air temperature, as well as reduces the building’s storm water runoff and integrates with the waterfront landscape ecosystem. With Vancouver being such a water friendly city, we also applaud the on-site black water treatment and desalinization systems that are projected to reduce potable water use 60 to 70 percent over typical convention centers. On the energy side, the center includes a heat pump system that takes advantage of the constant temperature of the adjacent seawater to produce heating and cooling. Very cool.
The people of Sochi have their work cut out for them if they hope to continue the Green trend of Olympics venues and buildings.
Tags: blackwater, Convention Center, heat pump system, LEED Platinum, living roof, Olympics, Sochi, Vancouver
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Events, Green Building, Programs and Standards, Resources, Technology, Water | No Comments »
January 18th, 2010
Who doesn’t like food? Especially fancy food. Lot’s of people do as judged by the crowds filling the aisles and booths of the Moscone Center for the 35th Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco. With so many munchies, nibbles and treats to delve though we had to restrict our nibbling, tasting and inquires to the ever expanding Natural and Organic section.
Food like anything else can be about expectation. We set the organic chocolaty bar fairly high and weren’t disappointed by the plethora of organic chocolates but we actually went in search of more interesting items. Zhena’s Gypsy teas marked our first discovery. Even though they’ve been around for about 10 year they more recently created five biodynamic teas and we felt much better after sampling the Caramelized Pear flavor. On top of the tea itself we had to like containers made from 70% recycled steel (and the cans are 100% recyclable because they contain no paper stuck with glue. They make their tea bags from non-GMO corn silk and can be composted as they biodegradable after 60 days. Having this teas makes us feel good better come 4 pm tea time.
We know that several natural partially organic (organic flour) bog bones exist but we could help from talking (no sampling for us) with the owners of Bare Bones dog bones. If they hailed from Cali then we might not of stopped but seeing that these guys make their all natural bones in Dallas caused us to discuss how people in Big D see these dog bones of all things. They mentioned that the people in Texas don’t exactly “get” the whole dog bone thing but they know that organic is some buzz word so they continue to go along for the ride. Go get ‘em Fido!
Field Roast impressed us not just by feeding us tons of samples of their various fake meats but by showing us their factory in a renovated 1920s former dairy building in Seattle. These commitment to re-using an existing building cost them more than moving into some new factory but it showed that along with their commitment to use local veggies and minimal packing that their heart or rather their “meat” is in the right place.
We weren’t so happy to see all the companies pushing organic this and that in horrific plastic packaging. We saw enough gluten free, natural, corn syrup based products in the section (we don’t want to call anyone out at this point) that must have had various green marketing gurus earning their bonuses. We wish that they would spend less money on marketing about how good their product is and just make their product better.
Tags: biodynamic, corn syrup, gluten free, Natural, non-GMO, organic, San Francisco, teas, Winter Fancy Food Show
Posted in Business, Eco-Entreprenuers, Events, Food, Products, San Francisco | No Comments »
January 11th, 2010
Even if the U.S. government continues its pseudo protection to save the planet’s wildlife and natural resources they can be thanked indirectly as they recently created a new National Wildlife Refuge System Coloring Book. Most people might not be aware of the U.S. Refuge System, which includes more than 540 refuges, with at least one in every state and one about an hour’s drive from most metropolitan areas. Here in the Bay Area we have a few including Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Newark.
The book, aimed at primary grade students, offers various refuge scenes for the kids to color. I’m not that into drawing but my niece had a great time coloring the desert big horn sheep that live in the Desert National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada. The book also allows kids to create a list of wildlife sightings. The book also encourages kids to ride bike through the refuges instead scaring the wildlife with vehicular monsters.
We like the style of Katie R. Schipps’s drawings, which offer a rough and ready look with large lines, and creates the perfect fit for attacking with a crayon or colored marker. Hopefully the refuge system will survive for many years but at least kids today will have some insight into the all important refuge system and how important it is to our future.
Tags: Bay Area, coloring book, Desert National Wildlife Refuge, National Wildlife Refuge System, Nevada, U.S. Government
Posted in Environment, Lifestyle, Resources, San Francisco | No Comments »
December 10th, 2009
Sometimes San Francisco feels a little Los Angeles or New York especially considering the tall, smartly dressed model-esque crowd that packed the W hotel for the 5th annual Gorgeous & Green fashion show. New York and LA may have a slender leg up on SF as far as model runway shows but SF keeps the other cities and a well dressed arms length with the overall greenness of the event.
Upon entering the festivities, my friend and I couldn’t help but notice the tall talent circulating through the upstairs rooms. Some huddled around the bars sipping organic vodka, beer and wine drinks while others just strolled along looking fab. We took a prime spot with cocktails in hand right next to the living wall. We don’t know how many others noticed the Design Ecology produced wall but we did breathe deeper standing next to it.
The festivities mostly surrounded the fashion. Later in the evening, we joined the crowd around the catwalk for the show itself. The eco-chic fashion lineup offered up an interesting array of attractive models modeling everything from underwear to bizarre dresses. The combination of DJ Donavan beats, green vibe and model attitude got most of the crowd in a buzz. We had one quibble with the actual show as we would have liked to know what each piece represented in terms of “eco” or “sustainability”. It would have been nice to know what made that skimpy underwear so sustainable.
Besides the actual threads, the event brought like-minded people from all professions together to raise awareness (and money) for Global Green. We attempted to talk with a few people about fashion but as we aren’t fashionistas that didn’t go so well. We did chitchat with several big hitters in the business world and left feeling impressed that events like this (even if we don’t buy $500 green underwear) will only continue to bring awareness to solid sustainable causes.
Tags: Design Ecology, DJ Donavan, fashion show, Global Green, Gorgeous & Green, los angeles, New York, San Francisco, W hotel
Posted in Business, Events, Lifestyle, San Francisco | No Comments »
December 3rd, 2009
While watching the new documentary “Tapped” with some of my other Greenies, we glanced at each other when one of the water rights experts used a notable quote courtesy of Mark Twain, “Whiskey is for sipping and water is for fighting.” So true, and the fighting will only get worse at least if you believe the water wars that will soon steal the headlines from the oil wars. Twain’s words echo much of the sentiment for this interesting, informative and thought provoking new docu flick.
Directed by Stephanie Soechtig, the film deconstructs the various aspects of the bottled water industry. Tapped examines the role of the bottled water industry and its effects on our health, climate change, pollution, and our reliance on oil. Unlike oil which people think of as a commodity, water hasn’t truly hasn’t been considered a commodity until recently. Although water wars and rights have become big news in various countries, Tapped jumps into the fray and pulls no punches right here in the U.S. The film targets (among others) the big three bottled water companies (Nestle, Coke and Pepsi who declined to be interviewed for the film), the International Bottled Water Association, and the FDA.
Tapped leaps right into water rights war between Swiss owned Nestle (who owns various bottle water brands including Poland Springs and Arrowhead) and the town of Fryeburg, ME. The film shows compelling footage and as well as local interviews which show that Nestle stealthy bought the rights to land in an effort to suck all of the water supply from the ground that it can without the consent or payment to the public. The film captures footage of tanker trucks quietly rolling into town but instead of loading up with black gold, they fill up with blue gold (H2O). Soechtig creates more drama as she displays the protests and grassroots movement demonstrations while showing and discussing the Nestle tactics.
They say that oil and water don’t mix, but nothing could be further from the truth when considering the plastic water bottles. The film flows with information about the hazardous materials found in the petroleum based plastic water bottles. Most companies produce water bottles using BPA which as the film claims can causes cancer, brain disorders and diabetes among other diseases. Even though the FDA claims that small levels of BPA to be safe that approval is based upon two chemical company studies. We loved the footage of Senator John Kerry grilling an FDA employee about the lack of third party, independent studies that the FDA uses to determine the safety of various plastic water bottle ingredients.
Speaking of the FDA, the bottled water does not fall under FDA jurisdiction as far as water quality, and it’s horrifying to watch the FDA spokespeople (as well as the spokespeople from the International Bottled Water Association) refuse to answer or simple gloss over questions about various studies and quotes about the quality of the water and the containers. It’s pretty much a self regulated industry so caveat emptor to all bottled water drinkers.
The film also pulls a few heart strings when Soechtig interviews local residents in Corpus Christi who live next to the largest private manufacturer of plastic water bottles. The documentary makes a strong case that the manufacturer looms as a sort of plastic Three Mile Island for the local residents who deal with various diseases and defects because of their proximity.
Tapped surprises with info about the worldwide effects of plastic water bottles (i.e. the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is only one of five ocean plastic zones in the oceans) as well and lots of insider info from various experts and even an ex-FDA employee. At some points the film becomes a bit repetitive as it encircles the same points but overall the film offers keen insight into the bottle water industry and leaves the companies making the bottles, sucking the water from the ground, and regulating the industry looking all wet.
Tags: bottled water, BPA, FDA, feature documentary, feature_documentary, films, International Bottled Water Association, Stephanie Soechtig, Tapped
Posted in Business, Environment, Films and Documentaries, Plastic, Resources, Water | No Comments »
November 16th, 2009
As some of my colleagues and I wondered Friday (with less people) then Saturday (bobbed and weaved through the packed crowds) through the San Francisco Green Festival 2009 and we put aside any thoughts of the outside the green world bubble with the economic woes, with so many downtrodden uncreative businesses sticking to the old game plan. Here we viewed, tasted and discussed fresh innovative and mostly sustainable ideas.
We have to give the festival credit, maybe it seemed as though more authentic green businesses showed up at this year’s version. We didn’t see much corporate greenwashing like the not as Green as it used to be Burt’s Bees. Also, Coke owned Honest Tea sold its not so green corporate drink but that would be a minor quibble. Aside from checking out some of the various discussion groups (state of small Green business) and even some cooking demos (how to make organic stew) most of the time we spent wandering the trade floor.
Without spending too much time or words (we’ll post some more ramblings soon) here’s some of the cool stuff we found. Zen Honeycutt’s mother roped us in (or rather grabbed) us to introduce us to her daughter who is busy creating her own lavender empire with her practically lavish lotions, eyeshades and creams. Just down the long aisle, we spotted the reusable sandwich bag the Fresh Snack Pack. Great idea in place of the sandwich bags that get tossed. These packs contain no PVCs but we’d like to find out what these bad boys consist of. We had no doubt about what the Organic Essence lip balm consisted of. But we licked our lips for more than just the organic ingredients. The 100% FSC compostable non-plastic tube really wowed us. Why hadn’t someone thought of this before? Like us? We also ignored the wishes of our dentists and sampled the multitudes of chocolates, and we sampled them all but we liked Alter Eco bar (especially the dark) not only for the best and richest creamy favor but also for the organic ingredients and the fair trade philosophy that the relatively small company abides by.
As for 2010….bring it on!
Tags: 2009, Alter Eco bar, chocolate, fair trade, Fresh Snack Pack, FSC, Green Festival, organic, Organic Essence, PVC, San Francisco, Zen's Garden
Posted in Business, Eco-Entreprenuers, Events, Food, Interesting ideas, San Francisco | No Comments »
November 9th, 2009
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words but, of course, I’m not going to dedicate 1000 words or even 500 to this picture. My green friend and I spotted this billboard in a not exactly obvious place in the Soma district of San Francisco but we figured that PETA didn’t have or want to spend the big bucks on a billboard right next to the 101 freeway. Still the billboard, for those eyeballs who it, makes its point.
We figured that with all the talk about food and food sources (see the stirring documentary Food, Inc. or read The Omnivore’s Dilemma or Fast Food Nation) that people can make their own decision about where their McNuggets come from and if they want to munch on them.
PETA often creates outrageous ads and they definitely like to stir the pot. Their ads, seen or not, often start a dialogue which we like. Dialogue about our fast food nation – we’re loving it.
Tags: Fast Food Nation, Food Inc., Peta, San Francisco, SoMa, The Omnivore’s Dilemma
Posted in Business, Food, San Francisco | No Comments »
October 30th, 2009
For anyone who has seen the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers, they might get that same feeling of “us” versus “them” that fills the truly indie 9500 Liberty. Body Snatchers grabbed its content and texture from the red scare, the McCarthy era where people believed that Communists (or rather aliens) launched an invasion of the small town. 9500 Liberty takes that same feeling with a Virginia town that according to some locals has been invaded by Zapatistas but the scary thing here is that the film here is a documentary.
In the McMansion and McMall loaded Prince William County, a wealthy suburb of Washington D.C., directors Annabel Park and Eric Byler weave a hot button topic film that shows a community hatefully splitting itself in half — one side the conservative, wealthy lower and middle class Anglos who wish their community to remain lily white and the other side the immigrants who moved into the lower and middle class neighborhoods but also built the McMansions, cook the food and represent much of the quiet economy of the town. The film shows the racial divide that forms as a result of a one notable blogger who creates a fear campaign camping and gets the city council to enact an immigration policy that requires police officers to question anyone they have “probable cause” to suspect as being an undocumented immigrant.
Although the film documents the protests in and front of the local government offices, the real battle takes place through the Internet as the immigrants and their supporters create their own resistance using You Tube videos (shot by the filmmakers) as well as counter blogs. The filmmakers create an all too scary vibe mostly because of the scary xenophobia and racism that exists under the guise of politicking. As director Byler mentioned before last night’s West Coast Premiere in San Francisco, “When people are made to be afraid, they tend to act in very predictable ways, and there are people who know to exploit these fears, in particular racial or cultural fears, in order to influence elections or advocate for or against legislation.”
“This is a cautionary tale where people are afraid to act in predictable ways.” He followed up by saying, “It’s a cheap lesson.” For the price of a movie ticket, the people who see the film will get a town full of objective education.
Tags: 9500 Liberty, Annabel Park, Communists, Eric Byler, feature_documentary, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Prince William County, Virginia, zapatistas
Posted in Films and Documentaries, San Francisco | No Comments »
October 23rd, 2009
No matter who attends the BSR conference, we always seem to find a balance between the people who legitimately wish to improve sustainability, not just for their company but the planet, and those who set out to further their profits by subtle or blatant greenwashing.
During the Thursday morning breakfast, Zhang Yue, chairman and CEO of China-based Broad Air Conditioning woke the crowd up as he spoke through an interpreter. A few minutes before that, I found myself asking a colleague “Who is this guy?” After 10 minutes, I changed my mind. More people should listen to this guy. True, I haven’t done due diligence on his company but if his company does half the things that he says they do then I’m on board. Yue created China’s first “non-electric chiller” and insists on showing consumers how triple paned windows will reduce their need to use air conditioners. Consider that their business revolves around making air conditioners. 
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Broad Air Conditioning, BSR, Calvert Social Investment Foundation, china, Michael de Soyza Dialog Telekom, PPP, Sayjay Raman Howcast Media, USAid, Zhang Yue
Posted in Business, Eco-Entreprenuers, Events, San Francisco, Technology | No Comments »
October 22nd, 2009
Ah, it feels good to have the BSR conference back in San Francisco. Even though the economy has gone to hell, it is good see that probably close to 1000 attendees hit the conference so the sour economy has not killed the whole notion of notion of sustainability and companies.
Good start — as we walked in and registered the staff handed me a recyclable, biodegradable, compostable lanyard.
The theme for this year’s conference – Sustainability in a Reset World
After admiring our lanyards and breakfast we jumped into packed conversation with Pamela Passman of Microsoft. Of course we considered today’s launch of Windows 7.
The discussion centered on the sustainability of Microsoft. Now, most people will admit that the technology business isn’t the least sustainable or “dirtiest” business. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t press a heavy carbon footprint. Passman discussed that companies need software to track their own carbon footprint.Microsoft may have many ideas for other comanies but they need to look in the mirror as well.
She admitted the two most pressing issues that Microsoft needs to improve in so far as reducing their carbon footprint that includes:
1- Traveling (lots of it)
2 – Data centers — The data centers continue to be electric and water intensive.
Microsoft claims to be attempting reduce the footprint of these data centers. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: BSR, china, data centers, human rights, Microsoft, Pamela Passman, San Francisco, sustainability
Posted in Business, Events, San Francisco, Technology | No Comments »