Those who truly need to Discover probably don't watch the Discovery channel

Tonight I watched Tom Brokaw's special report on Global Warming. I was really excited as I had seen previews the weekend before while watching a Discovery channel show about renewable energy. When I heard "Tom Brokaw" and "Global Warming" used in the same sentence, I assumed it would be a big deal, probably would be on one of the major networks to reach the masses, and I would have guessed NBC since that is Tom's alma mater. Tonight when I was turning on the TV and trying to locate the show, fiance Tom informed me that it was on the Discovery channel. Obviously, I love the Discovery channel because it is all about learning, but I was a little miffed. I didn't believe fiance Tom. The Global Warming report was a really big deal. People needed to know about it. Even in Texas. But, as so often is the case, fiance Tom was right.

So, disappointed that roommate Dave and I might be the only people in the world watching Tom Brokaw (even fiance Tom decided he needed to do laundry instead), I sat and waited for the show to begin. Considering it was on the Discovery channel instead of NBC, I was a little disappointed. The show was a little soft. I had already heard about pine beetles and the devastating effect they are having on white pines in the Rockies and the far-reaching consequences the extinction of the white pine will have.

Nevertheless, I learned a few new things and I wanted to post them in case someone else didn't know them.

1. Honda has created the FCX Clarity, a zero-emission vehicle, which is actually in production. 200 vehicles will be released over the next 3 years, primarily in Southern California. It's real and it is totally awesome.

2. Geyser generated electricity. The electricity generated by the geysers in the show could power 725,000 homes or roughly the city of San Francisco. That is pretty badass yo.

3. LivingHomes has created green, prefabricated homes that can be assembled in less than 24 hours. And the coolest part is that they actually are aesthetically pleasing both inside and out.

Keep your head up, Tom Brokaw. One person out here is listening.

To cook or not to cook?

Two days ago my brother sent me a link to a blog that had a recent post about eating raw. He thought I might be interested in learning more, which of course I was. (If you happen to click the link, you should check out the before & after photos link and you'll be interested, too). I must admit, much of my interest came from wanting to discredit raw foodies as lunatics (which I may or may not do by the end of this blog post). I had recently been discussing raw diets with my going-on-2-months vegan friend Molly. Molly told me she had been browsing the raw food cookbooks in Barnes & Noble because they happen to be placed right next to the vegan cookbooks. We brainstormed a bit about what these cookbooks could possibly contain. I mean raw cookbook is an oxymoron, is it not? My best guess was basically guacamole with some carrot sticks for dipping. It didn't sound much like cooking and it didn't so much fun to be eating either.

Nevertheless, I found myself guiltily cruising the information superhighway in my pjs at 10:03pm last night. I was hoping no one would catch me and accuse me of losing all of my marbles. The first post that my brother had provided had a lot of reasons why eating raw is great, and though a couple were a little out there (something about natural life energy and eating seeds that have sprouted), I felt like maybe eating raw was at least as good of a choice as the Typical American Diet (or TAD for short, an acronym I just picked up from the raw food circle last night). Plus, who doesn't want to join a diet where you get to eat ALL THE TIME because of your foods are so light in calories that should you eat only 3 plates of food a day you most certainly would die immediately. Also, I would get to eat plenty of nuts and avocados (two of my favorite items from nature's bounty) to help me sustain life with supplemental fat. It sounded healthy enough, even if I was questioning the fact that I would get enough protein.

Then, at the end of reading a posting on someone's 30 day trial of eating all raw, I found it. At this point, I was seriously considering trying a raw diet, especially during my summer in Dallas when I would have access to all kinds of fresh, local, raw produce. Steve had lost 8 pounds in a month, but found his weight had stabilized and he was feeling "insane energy". I thought I would return for my wedding looking great and feeling even better. Then Steve told me his secret. He admitted to experiencing some difficulties during the 2 week detoxification period. And then Steve told me that he had such dry skin since he began the diet that his skin was cracking and bleeding all over his body, and that it hadn't gotten any better during the entire month.

Steve, your skin is trying to tell you something.

(This post is dedicated to Leah, the one who was always there to remind me that I like my blog and should stop avoiding it).

How green is your orange?

So, a couple of days ago The New York Times published an article called "How green is my orange?" Apparently, Tropicana picked up on the idea that living green is the biggest trend of the 21st century. They decided to hire some consultants to figure out the amount of carbon emissions released for every half-gallon of orange juice they create. I was excited to hear about Tropicana's project. I love orange juice, especially the kind that is not-from-concentrate, which just happens to also be the kind that is not-so-environmentally-friendly. This is because if you buy concentrated orange juice in a frozen canister you can save a ton of packaging waste, but if you buy not-from-concentrate, the weight of the water has to be transported over a zillion miles.

Over the course of my first 3 weeks of attempts to make positive food consumption choices, I had discovered that orange juice causes a few problems. First of all, the best tasting and probably better for your overall health orange juice is not from concentrate (Problem #1 - Transporting excess weight). Secondly, the best orange juice is made by Florida's Natural and they only use oranges from Florida (Problem #2 - Would be great if I lived in Florida and could call Florida's Natural local, but I live really, really far away from Florida). Thirdly, the organic orange juice available in Whole Foods and the Linden Hills Coop is both from concentrate, but packaged just like not-from-concentrate AND it contains oranges from all over the place (Problem #3 - Organic orange juice contains oranges flown here from South America and requires transportation of the extra water weight even though it is from-concentrate).

I am not giving up orange juice. I love it, and I am fairly certain I cannot swallow any sort of pill with any other type of liquid. My OJ is a requirement of my being.

So, back to the Tropicana case. At first Tropicana made me very sad. It turns out a half-gallon of Tropicana produces 3.75 pounds of carbon emissions. To put that in perspective, I biked 20 miles round trip per day to work all summer and I only reduced my carbon emissions by 630 pounds. But then, Tropicana made me very happy. Tropicana said, "...it turned out that the biggest single source of emissions was simply growing oranges. Citrus groves use a lot of nitrogen fertilizer, which requires natural gas to make and can turn into a potent greenhouse gas when it is spread on fields." Now, Tropicana seemed confused. At the end of the article, they stated, "Now, PepsiCo managers said they planned to work with their growers and with researchers at the University of Florida to find ways to grow oranges using less carbon. " And I said to myself, duh, have you guys not read The Omnivores Dilemma? All Tropicana needs to do to cut out practically all of their carbon emissions is grow oranges without using nitrogen fertilizer aka......

Grow them organically.

Life can be so simple.

Priorities, priorities. . .

This is an apology to all of my loyal blog readers (I know you're out there somewhere). I have been in Mexico for the past week. I didn't tell any of you because I was afraid. I know what you're thinking. I just escaped from the Minnesota winter where we've been having sub zero high temperatures for almost 100 hours straight. This is a good thing. But, you say, how can you possibly be trying to save the world, and by eating locally to reduce fossil fuel consumption no less, and still think it is ok to jet set off to the tropics whenever things get too tough around here. Where is my hearty Midwestern background that thrives on matyrdom and suffering?

It is true. One of my biggest struggles in trying to live a more responsible lifestyle is air travel. Air travel is one of the greatest consumers of fossil fuels, and each additional hour flown per years adds hectacres onto my carbon footprint. But, what do I do? I love to travel. There are a great many benefits to traveling. In fact, I would go as far as to say that I wouldn't be trying to live a responsible lifestyle if I hadn't traveled in the past. Travel makes me understand how connected we all are. It has taught me that the flavor of an in season tomato or avocado in Chile really is so much better than those shipped to the U.S. at the same time that I shouldn't bother to eat the pathetic excuse for produce that lines the shelves of my local grocer in the winter. It has taught me both the benefits of and how to use public transit. It has taught me that smaller houses do not actually result in a lower quality of life and can be quite cozy.

So. How do I reconcile flying 5,000 miles with saving the world? The problem is that no one person can engage in every single world saving practice. Also, there is considerable disagreement over what practices actually do contribute to the saving of the world (which is part of the reason this blog exists, to help us all sort through the mucky muck). I think the best philosophy and ultimately the most successful is simple prioritization. There are a lot of things we could do or we should do to make a difference, but sometimes we can't afford to do them all or they directly conflict with eachother. Take a look at your life. Figure out what you value. If the most important part of your daily breakfast is the not-from-concentrate OJ you ship to Saskatchewan from Florida, then finding a local substitute or buying from concentrate OJ is probably no going to work for you. Right now, I drive a 1999 Grand Prix GT. It has a huge V6 engine and the best gas mileage I've ever gotten is 24 mpg. But, I can't afford a new car, especially a brand new Prius or the forthcoming Chevy Volt and I need a car to get to where I'm going on a regular basis. So I keep my car, but I take the bus whenever I can and I ride my bike all summer. You figure out what is important to you, what you absolutely need, and then you try your best to make the rest better.

The Joy of Blogging

Blogging makes you a better person. It holds you accountable for things you plan to do. Eating at tables makes you a better person. It also makes you better at your job.

Eating at desks may be one of the single greatest problems in modern corporate America. Since we already essentially spend 95% of our days in front of our computer screens, you'd think we'd want to get away for an hour and look at something else, even if it is just an orange-painted wall or the table of middle-aged women who lunch together everyday without fail. I used to be a desk eater. I had my reasons, including but not limited to not wanting to clock out when I would probably just be sitting by myself at a table, wanting to leave earlier in the day (which taking no lunch break allows), or simply being too lazy to walk down to the cafeteria when I have a microwave located in the corner of my department. I was reading In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan's most recent book, when he suggested to me that I eat only at tables with the caveat that "No, a desk is not a table." With little else to entertain me during the day, I decided that maybe this table eating thing would have some benefits. After all, Michael Pollan is a pretty smart guy. So Monday I went to eat in the cafeteria. Within 30 seconds, one of my long lost friends in Finance sat down with me. I learned a lot about how he was doing, didn't spill any crumbs in my keyboard, and had FUN. Now I am only on day 3, but I feel like I have an infinitesimally better understanding of my organization than I did last Friday. Also, people have started to tell me things. Secrets. And, if you knew me, you'd know that I love a good secret and consider it one of the defining features of your relationship with me if you're willing to tell me things you wouldn't tell the average Joe.

So, in conclusion, my blog has held me accountable for blogging, eating right, and making new New Year's Resolutions whenever I find something I should probably try doing to make my quality of life better. Eating at tables has, in 72 short hours, made me 37.7% better at my job and increased the quality of 5 of my office relationships. If those stats aren't good enough to convince you to try eating all of your meals at tables, check back in another 24.

The Cost of Living

Why do Americans always want the absolutely cheapest item we can purchase? This obviously applies to traditional Black Friday practices, where we are so motivated by falling prices that we forget about our common humanity and harm others. At least in Black Friday's case, we have been fooled by consistently higher prices the rest of the year that we are actually getting more bang for our buck, a high quality product at a lower price. Black Friday is about value. I'm fine with Black Friday. Though I rarely accompany them, my family heads out every year to grab a few deals, and my brother's big screen plasma TV is a shining example of how he got a high quality product at a great price. Those who know me well would attest to my own love of deals. I shop Nordstrom Rack and TJ Maxx with great relish and return home with leather driving gloves and cashmere sweaters that I paid next to nothing for. Still, here I am purchasing a relatively luxurious item for a discount. I could pay the same price for synthetic material gloves at Wal*Mart, but would never do so because I know that those gloves will not last as long or please me as much.

No, friends, my problem is with those who will pay the lowest price and sacrifice all quality just to save money. Wal*Mart's current tag line is "Save More. Live Better." At first, as a poor college student, I thought it was genius. I could buy cheap things at Wal*Mart where quality was less relevant (in the case of light bulbs, pencils, and dorm room decor), and I would have more money left over to improve the quality of other consumer goods in my life. I was happy with my lot. I noticed, however, that some of my fellow starving students would buy other goods at Wal*Mart where quality seemed more important. Cheap produce was abundant in our SuperWal*Mart, but I still remember the day when my roommate peeled the orange she had just purchased and found the inside covered in mold. Food is essential to the quality of our lives, both in terms of the pleasure found in eating a delicious meal and in the long-term health of our bodies. Food is also kind of like wedding photography. You get what you pay for. You can hire a cheap photographer, but unless your freshman art major roommate is doing you a favor and taking your pics, the important moments won't be captured and your face will look a little fuzzy. The differences are not very distinct with packaged foods. Obviously, if you buy a name brand box of cereal at Lund's, there wouldn't be a difference between the actual product if you bought it at Wal*Mart instead, but in terms of the whole foods that are the best tasting and most healthful anyway, $4 strawberries at Lund's will always be far better than the $2.50 container at Target. Don't even get me started about Aldi. Yes, despite the occasional ecoli outbreak, our food system is actually extremely secure in terms of bacterial contamination. Nevertheless, all food is not created equal. Just as no one can argue that a BMW is equal to a Hyundai in quality, Aldi's food, processed or whole, is not the same as what you could purchase at your local farmer's market. And so I return to my original question. Who decided that food, our lifeblood, the subject that occupied the whole of human life for our first 10,000 years of existence, should be relegated to the bottom of our priority list? How can something absolutely essential to our well-being take the back seat to Blackberries and Nintendo Wiis?

Uh oh...spaghetti-Os!

I haven't posted anything for two days. My older brother, who is currently my only follower, called me on the phone and informed me he was extremely disappointed in me for not caring for my blog. I'm experiencing a little bit of fear. What if I'm not meant to be a blogger? I don't know if I have a valid contribution to the world today (or yesterday or the day before). What if I fall victim to a neverending writer's block?

I think when I can't write, it means I haven't been reading enough.