Kindle Goes to Princeton

Also in the NYT today:

"In May, Amazon introduced the electronic book reader Kindle DX, touted as a new way to read textbooks, newspapers and other large documents. This fall, six colleges and universities will test the technology in a pilot, which includes making the textbooks for certain courses available online.

The Kindle DX (for “deluxe”) is searchable and portable, a plus for students accustomed to toting heavy backpacks. But there is another reason that some institutions jumped at the chance to try it out: the technology could substantially reduce their use of paper.

“Sustainability is the driving force behind Princeton using the Kindle,” said Lauren Robinson-Brown, the assistant vice president for communications at Princeton University, which is participating. She explained in a telephone interview that the Kindle pilot project was part of a Princeton initiative to use less printed paper."

I'm very interested to see how this turns out...

White is the New Black

I love when an environmental piece is the most popular article on a news website. All day today, NYT readers have been loving this piece about white roofs being the new, hot thing in energy savings. In fact, the article states that "studies show that white roofs reduce air-conditioning costs by 20 percent or more in hot, sunny weather." Awesome, now to see if I can convince my parents to buy into this trend. Since we don't have AC in SF, they'd probably benefit a bit more, you know, living in Atlanta and all.

PS puns intended.

Restaurant Review: Tataki

One of the main reasons that I'm an "almost vegetarian" instead of an honest-to-goodness vegetarian is that I'm obsessed with sushi. I can't live without it. I NEED it (yes, getting a bit dramatic, I know). So, when I found out about Tataki on Yelp, I got super excited. What enviro-pescatarian wouldn't jump up and down and squeal about a sustainable sushi restaurant? I immediately jumped over to Tataki's own website, and, as if I needed more reasons to love them, their mission is as follows:

Our Mission at Tataki is simple: to showcase the beauty and delicacy of Japanese cuisine while respecting the sanctity and fragility of our environment. If we are to preserve the art of sushi, we must also safeguard the health and biodiversity of our oceans. With this in mind, we strive everyday to integrate the concept of sustainable dining into our menu options.

Yes, yes, YES! Now I only needed to actually go there and fulfill my dream of gorging myself on fully sustainable sush. The dream became a reality on a ordinary Thursday night. Having been warned the place was very small, my BF, brother (recent addition to the Bay Area population), and I showed up with our ready-to-wait pants on, and I'm sure glad we did. We were told by a very snobby host/server that it'd be at LEAST a 30 minute wait, and that we should put our name on the list and clear out. Yikes, that wasn't a very good first impression, but undeterred, we put our name down and headed next door to Solstice to have a beer (I should mention that said waiter scoffed at us when I mentioned writing down my phone # so he could call us when a table was ready, despite their being no waiting area thus requiring us to vacate the premises). Two beers and three check-ins later, we headed back to Tataki to squeeze ourselves into the sushi bar. To make a long story short, I will grade the meal on three factors:

Sustainability - A
- Seafood Watch cards everywhere, menu limited to seasonal and sustainable fisheries, press about fisheries conservation all over the walls, etc.

Food - B
- While the fish was fresh and generally good the portions were tiny and expensive for what we got. None of it was really anything to get terribly excited about.

Service - F
- If this place wasn't aggressively supporting a cause about which I feel strongly, I would have walked out. The service was abysmal. Not only was all the staff snobby and too busy for us (it's a SUSHI restaurant for goodness sake), but the service was extremely slow. I saw a roll for one poor table sit at the window for 10 MINUTES!!! before getting taken to them. Also, the waitress was constantly bumping us and twice spilled water on us without saying sorry. Finally, they tried to charge us for things we didn't order.

Sooo, needless to say, I was a little disappointed by my experience. I plan to try again on a different night of the week to see if we simply had a bad crew, but until then, I'll be taking my Seafood Watch sushi pamphlet to my fave mom & pop sushi hole-in-the-wall...and eating sush that IS worth getting excited about.

Carbon Offset Cheat Sheet

To accompany my post from about a week ago concerning carbon offsets and Terrapass, I found this handy-dandy website that rates offset providers, Offset Consumer. It talks about different providers, carbon calculators, reasons to offset, etc, etc. According to OC, NativeEnergy is the best US offset provider...but Terrapass isn't on there, so I don't know what to think about that (I'll do more research and get back to you...it's late).

Happy perusing. Night.

Reduce, reuse, and train your dog

For those of you with a dog, you know the trials and tribulations of reliable recall (i.e. coming when called) from your four-legged-friend. If there's another pup or an interesting patch of grass to sniff, the chances of your dog coming to you the moment you call are pretty slim (at least they are in my case). But, as we recently learned in obedience class, all that can change the moment you bring high-quality treats into the mix! Seriously, give your dog something really special every time he comes to you, and you'll immediately see a difference in recall response time and enthusiasm level.
"What does this have to do with being YBG?" you might think. Well, there's no treat my puppy finds more special than people food...of any kind...we're talking everything from ribeye to corn to salad dressing. So these days, we've taken to putting all our inedible (from a human standpoint) leftovers into plastic bags and putting them in the fridge for future use with Wally (our dog). This means we spend a lot less on expensive, packaged doggie treats, and we have to take fewer trips to the compost bin (cause you're not throwing that organic refuse away, right? RIGHT???). An important note though: Not all human foods are dog-friendly. Chicken/fish bones and chocolate immediately spring to mind, so be mindful about what you give your pup.

Carbon Offsets: A Globetrotter's Best Friend

Hello my thousands (and by 1000s, I mean 4) adoring fans,

I've been traveling a LOT recently. A trip to Denver/Boulder for the 4th of July, a trip to Ohio for work (which was AWESOME, btw. We were electrofishing as a part of stream community surveys), and now I'm headed to Vegas for a friend's bachlorette party. Given the fact that I'm already dishing out all kinds of $ for these trips, it's sometimes hard to also think about the added cost of buying carbon offsets for my trips...However, Terrapass is making it just a little easier for all of us to get that much closer to carbon-neutral traveling. They have an air travel option in which you by one year's worth of flight carbon offsets. In this package, $50 buys offsets for 4 short, 3 medium and 2 long-haul flights, and luggage tag is included (so that you can show off your commitment to reducing global warming, obvs).

Given the thousands of dollars that you'll spend on the 9 flights accounted for by your air travel package, $50 really isn't much when it comes down to it. Air travel is an individual's single largest contributor to their carbon footprint, so do the right thing and take steps to make yours that much smaller.

Taste the Wildness

This post is for all the dog and cat owners out there: Try Taste of the Wild pet food! I promise you won't be disappointed. TOTW is a grain-free, all-natural pet food that is so good for your furry buddy, and animals LOVE it. We switched our puppy from Iams to TOTW, and the results were immediate. Wally (our pup) began eating more, his dandruff-y skin issues cleared up (saving us on vet bills), his #2s were smaller (due to better nutrient absorption), and his owners felt better because he was eating more naturally. What isn't to like about this wonder-food? Ok ok, I know the food isn't magic, but we've had such a great experience, my exuberance gets ahead of me :)

DIY Surf Spray

Is anyone else addicted to Bumble and Bumble's Surf Spray but hates the cost and the fact that you are spraying chemicals in your hair? Well, for those out there like me who love a little body without all the scary chems, search no longer. I found a recipe on another blog for a DIY spray, and it actually works pretty well! Give it a try, and let me know what you think.

http://blog.strawberryhedgehog.com/2008/08/beach-babe-hair-spray.html

And now it's time to go surfing to get some REAL sea spray in my hair.

My Favorite Kind of Recycling

Raise your hand if you love Craigslist...my hand is most definitely raised (and even waving around a little bit. You know, like that brown-noser from your freshman econ class?). Having spent the last few weekends trying to furnish my new apartment in both the cheapest and greenest way possible, I've realized that "recycling" used furniture is most definitely the way to go. Not only do you save large pieces of wood/metal/plastic from going to the landfill, but you can find some really great stuff for almost nothing. We got a giant, wooden, and very attractive bookcase/shelving unit for $43 because the previous owner had to get rid of it immediately (if not sooner). I also ended up with a great futon-type-thing that was originally $400 at Cost Plus...guess what I got it for? $60!!! Not only did I save $340, but I avoided consuming virgin materials. Not bad, eh? So next time you're looking for new end tables or a bed frame, don't head to Ikea. Hop online and with a little persistence, I promise you won't be disappointed.

PS I tried hard to find things at garage/estate sales here in SF, but speaking from experience, it's pretty much 100% junk at those things. I haven't tried any of the flea markets yet though.