yesterday's brooklyn bike adventure

Yesterday morning I had the hankering for a bike ride. Knowing there were some decent bike routes to get to the Bay Ridge promenade that eventually runs beneath the Verazzano-Narrows, my boyfriend did a little research.

One of the sites he consulted was Ride the City (see my earlier post about it). This is one of those times he utters, "if I only had an iPhone... ," because we don't have a printer to reproduce the route for our bike trip. Plus, all of our area maps are in the car (I love maps). So he just wrote down all of the critical turns to get where we needed.

After eating a yummy farmer's market lunch, we hopped on our bikes and headed out. We rode through the park and overshot our first turn by about 1/4 mile, going out the due south end instead of the SSW end (near Windsor Terrace). But we figured it out and were back on track after about a mile detour.

We rode through neighborhoods we had yet to see on bike: Kensington, Borough Park, Sunset Park. When we got to Sunset Park we went through the park whence the name came. There are some great views of the city from up there (you can see the Statue of Liberty in the middle right of this pic).

[Image: Gowanus Lounge]

From Sunset Park we rode down along 2nd avenue to 67th street, into Owl's Head Park, a cute little park with a bay view.


[Image: Forgotten NY]

In the image above you can also see the entrance to the promenade that runs along the New York Bay. We entered there and rode down to the Verazzano-Narrows Bridge.

[Image: This one's mine!]

There's an exit from the promenade right by the bridge (where we're standing in the above image), so we said goodbye to the bay and headed up 4th avenue. We stayed on 4th through Bay Ridge, then headed up 5th avenue back into Sunset Park. 5th ave in this part of Brooklyn is not the best place to bike (unless you're into chaos). It was madness. If I were blindfolded, spun around, drugged, put in the trunk of a car and brought to this part of Brooklyn, I would think I were in another country. Somewhere in Central America. On every block there were at least 2 double parked cars on each side of the street. Pedestrians bounced across the street like Frogger -- no fear, no discretion. Latino tunes blared from storefronts, cars, block parties.

Eventually, the madness gave way to industrial serenity as we neared Greenwood Cemetery. Thankfully, the northbound traffic was detoured and we had the entire lane to ourselves. As we rode past the cemetery we heard some exotic chirping. Those are definitely not natives. They're the famous Brooklyn Parrots! They were thought to have been accidentally freed from their shipping crates at JFK in the late 1960s. The parrots eventually proliferated and made their way to different parts of Brooklyn and other boroughs.


[Image: Brooklyn Parrots]

The parrots blended in so well with the foliage, we had a hard time seeing them (and capturing them on camera). So we moved on, continuing down 5th ave and onto 16th street. We stopped at a coffee shop in Windsor Terrace for a snack and ended our adventure in Prospect Park (via the entrance we were supposed to start our ride from).

[Image: Mine again!]

The round trip was about 16 miles and much more entertaining than riding around the loop in the park 5 times. One of the best parts about biking in Brooklyn (or anywhere in the city for that matter) is the diversity -- the culture varies, the people vary, businesses vary to cater to the people of the area. In a matter of a few miles we were in Italy, China, the Middle East, Mexico. Every time the landscape would change I would think, "this too, is Brooklyn."

best sandwich ever!

Step 1. Go to the farmer's market (if you live in Brooklyn, try Grand Army Plaza on Saturday; in Manhattan, go to Union Square on M,W,F, or Sat.; outside of NYC, try here)

Step 2. Get yourself these ingredients:

• Healthy Multigrain Bread (sliced or unsliced) from Bread Alone
• Heirloom Tomatoes from Evolutionary Organics
• Goat Cheese from Lynnhaven Farms
• Thai Basil from Phillips Farm

Steps 3-12. Bring home your treasures, and get out the toaster. Slice the bread (if it's not already) and throw it in the toaster. Pick and wash the basil. Wash and slice the tomato. Take that bread out of the toaster. Slather on the goat cheese (don't be shy!). Place the tomato slices on top of the cheese. Sprinkle a little sea salt and fresh ground pepper on the tomato. Cover that layer with the basil leaves. Pour a bit of EVOO and balsamic on the other slice of bread (be careful not to overdo it, unless you like a soggy sammy). Place that slice on top of the pile of goodness. Slice down the middle.

Step 13. Eat it up, yum!

[It'll look kinda like this sandwich (this one's from My Dinner Table. I was so hungry, I forgot to take a picture!)

water, water, everywhere...

Maybe not for long. Warning: This may be a downer of a post, but there are things you can do (keep reading).

I've been wanting to write about water for a while now. Water conservation is something I think about a lot. As the climate changes there will be fewer and fewer sources of fresh water. Out West, they're turning to desalination and toilet-to-tap to keep up with water supply demands. We continually pollute our water with agricultural chemicals and waste, pharmaceuticals, and domestic waste. Only in "civilized" nations do we hose down our sidewalks and water our lawns with potable water. I see it everyday. It greatly disturbs me. And now there's a movie to scare the be-jesus out of you. It's called "Flow." Check out the trailer below.



What you can do

Check out water conservation tips here.

Get some water conservation tools, like The Toilet Tank Bank and Shower Coach Timer.

If you've got a lawn, get yourself a rain barrel.

green screen

Here's some more on the eco-electronics front -- more specifically, computer components.

"The World's Most Eco-friendly Monitor" [Product Reviews]
What: W2252TE LCD monitor by LG
Why: Reduced energy consumption (19.4 watts vs 44.6 with a Dell)

Zero Watt Sleep Mode Monitors [TechTree]
What: A line of monitors by Fujitsu
Why: In sleep mode, the monitor draws no electricity, unlike 1 to 6 watt use with standard monitors

Eco-friendly Storage Device [[re]Drive]
What: The [re]Drive external hard drive by SimpleTech (Fabrik)
Why: Energy efficient; eco-friendly components and packaging; powers on or off with your computer

Low Power Mini Computer [CRN]
What: Eee box by ASUS
Why: Energy efficient; made with eco-friendly materials, conforming strictly to RoHS and WEEE standards

least toxic cellphones

[Image: Chris Jordan]

Ours is a gadget filled society. Cellphones, PDAs, MP3 players, portable video game consoles, book readers, GPS devices, portable satellite radios, blah blah blah.

And in all of those devices lie lots of little components, many of them hazardous, known to release persistent bioaccumulative toxins (PBTs). According to the EPA,

PBTs are chemicals and/or pollutants that:

1. Remain in the environment for a long time (persist) without breaking down
2. Accumulate in the environment and build up in the tissues of humans, fish, and animals (bioaccumulative)
3. Are toxic (causing cancer and other health problems) to living organisms, including humans

Now, don't panic. I'm not proposing you hand over all of your electronic possessions to the next guy you see in a hazmat suit. These toxins are not leaching out of your gadgets while you use them -- that's something that happens once they reach the landfill. And the way people burn through devices these days, it's no wonder trash heaps everywhere are filled with toxic waste.

So what is one supposed to do?

Buy green
Thankfully, makers of electronics are starting to make less toxic products. Here's a roundup of the greenest cellphones [thanks to MetaEfficient]:

Sony Ericsson T650i
Features: energy efficient charger (24% more efficient than Energy Star standards); PVC-, phthalate-, beryllium-, and brominated-flame-retardant-free

Nokia N95
Features: PVC-, phthalate-, and brominated-flame-retardant-free; battery price is low to encourage replacement of battery rather than entire phone

Nokia 3310 Evolve
Features: highly energy efficient charger (exceeds Energy Star standards by 94%); outer cover made from over 50% renewable materials (bio-sourced); currently available in Europe only

Sony Ericsson P1i
Features: PVC-, phthalate-, beryllium-, and brominated-flame-retardant-free
Read the whole green cell phone post at MetaEfficient.

Recycle, dammit!
Do you really need a new cellphone/iPod/PDA? If it's time to trade in your old broken cellphone for a fancy new green phone, be sure to recycle. Here are just a few e-waste recycling and cellphone donation programs:

• Recellular
  Buy, sell, or donate your used phone
• Eco-cell
  Your donated phone helps various environmental causes
• GRC wireless recycling
  Used phones help with fund-raising for schools, communities, charities, etc
• Staples, Office Depot, or your wireless provider will also take your old cellphone

Find electronics recycling where you live:

• myGreenElectronics
• Earth 911

random brooklyn fireworks and other happenings

I like the outdoors -- and not just your typical wilderness full of tall timbers and woodland creatures. Fun things happen when you go outside, even when you live in Brooklyn.

After dinner, my man and I decide to go for a walk. As we turn the corner away from our block, we start seeing flashes and loud noises. What is that, some stupid kids with fireworks? No, that cop just drove in the opposite direction of the noise.

Turns out, there's a fireworks display going on a block away from our building. It looks like it's launching from the library roof. Where else does that happen? Fireworks for seemingly no reason, not on the 4th of July or New Year's.

After the big flashy show in the sky that rattled and confused the area bats (they were flying around all batty-like), we continued our walk along Prospect Park.

What's that now? It sounds like a band playing. Maybe it's a movie? It sounds like a movie. We decide to check it out. As we get closer to the long meadow, the big screen appears. Yup, it's a movie. At first we're disappointed -- it's Hairspray, the remake. I feel a bit like Andy Rooney by saying this but, Why do they feel the need to remake movies? Isn't the first time around good enough? (Can't you hear his quavery voice?) And there's nothing worse than John Travolta in a fat lady suit and a bad Baltimore accent.

Surprisingly, his performance aside, the 20 minutes or so we watched were pretty entertaining. It's actually an appropriate movie to play in a park where I often have flashbacks to Sesame Street, the epitome of multi-culti integration.

So what's the point of all this? I dunno, maybe I just wanted to let you know that I like spending time outside -- it's gotta be healthier than sitting here, like I am now, on the couch typing away on the computer.

Get outside! Check out the Prospect Park events calendar.

wind power to the people

Bloomie (that's Mayor Michael Bloomberg to you non-NYC folk) is proposing a very progressive wind energy plan for the city. In his plan, the mayor wants to install wind turbines on top of buildings and bridges and in windy waterways. Turbines in coastal areas could produce 10 percent of the city's energy needs within 10 years.

“When it comes to producing clean power, we’re determined to make New York the No. 1 city in the nation,” Mr. Bloomberg said as he outlined his plans in a speech Tuesday night in Las Vegas, where a major conference on alternative energy is under way.

But there are some serious hurdles for the plan, like battling people who are against aesthetic changes to neighborhoods and the fact that Bloomie's only in office for 18 more months to start the ball rolling (or the blades spinning). For the plan to be fully realized it could take years, maybe decades due to government red tape (ie, permits from state and federal agencies).

Read the rest of the story from the New York Times

If you're picturing giant wind turbines spinning atop skyscrapers, that won't be the case. Rooftop wind turbines are much smaller and less invasive (they also generate less electricity) than the larger land- or water-based varieties. There are various designs (see images below) and new ones, like the one featured in the video below, are being introduced all the time.


[Image: © Lucid Dream Productions via MetaEfficient]


[Design: Graeme Attey; Image: ICT via NotCot]


[quietrevolution via Logical Science]

seriously sustainable footwear

I wish these were around when I was shopping for hiking shoes for my Yellowstone/Glacier trip back in June.

Just-launched END, or Environmentally Neutral Design, is not your average outdoor shoe company. I think of them as the Nau of footwear. Sustainability is considered at every step of production. Here's what they have to say:

END was born out of idea that better design through problem solving is the next step in making greener gear for the outdoor athlete. We will not just replace toxic or virgin materials with sustainable ones, our evolutionary design process, Co2ND, will begin at the design table. Here we will question every seam, every stitch, every material and every step in the manufacturing process…we will question everything in our quest to minimize the footprint of our products prior to manufacturing.

Some of the materials they use for their shoes include recycled rubber and bamboo fiber. They're eco-friendly and pretty good lookin' to boot (ha!). Click one of the pictures below to get yourself a pair from REI.com.


Ladies' Stumptown Cross-training Shoes ($80)



Men's Stumptown Cross-training Shoes ($80)


How about some amazing socks to go along with those kicks?

I can't say enough great things about Teko socks (and my boyfriend agrees, best socks ever!). They make their socks with sustainable fibers like EcoMarino that isn't chlorine treated like traditional wool; Ingeo that's made from corn; recycled polyester; and organic cotton. They're super comfy and have magical wicking abilities (ie, you're feet don't stay all sweaty). They're totally worth the price (about $15 a pair!). On our aforementioned trip, we brought a couple of pairs each -- they wash up easily and dry pretty quickly.

Get yourself some Tekos by clicking the images below.



Ladies' EcoMarino Wool Low-cut Socks ($14.95 at REI.com)


Ladies' Ingeo Ultra-light Crew Socks (On sale $7.97 from Amazon)


Unisex EcoMarino Wool Light Hiking Socks ($17.95 at REI.com)


Men's Ecopoly Recycled Polyester Quarter Socks (3 Pairs for $33.95 at Amazon)

my farmer's market dinner

Oh man, that was delicious. It was like a gourmet meal. And a majority of the dinner we just ate was made from farmer's market goods. Here's what we had:

A hearty salad of sunflower greens, watercress, oyster mushrooms, carrots, and sunflower seeds with homemade lemon-ginger dressing and thai basil flowers

• Sunflower greens (tender little leaves, see the image at right) were from Evolutionary Organics of New Paltz, NY
• Watercress, was not from the farmer's market but sold at Fairway supermarket from a local farm
• Oyster mushrooms of various colors (white, yellow, and peach) were from the mushroom guy (Madura Farm). He has an amazing selection of mushrooms (lion's mane, shiitake, hen-of-the-woods). They all have unique qualities and health benefits
• Sweet, early carrots and thai basil were from Phillips Farms in Milford, New Jersey
• Sunflower seeds, lemon, and ginger were from Fairway. The dressing was simply fresh lemon juice, grated ginger, olive oil, fleur de sel (salt), and black pepper

Heirloom tomato, lemon cucumber,
goat cheese, with thai basil

• Heirloom tomatoes (maybe Big Rainbow or Mr. Stripey variety?) and the lemon cucumber (mild, sweet round little thing, see right) were from Evolutionary Organics in New Paltz, New York
  
• Capri goat cheese was from Westfield Farms in Hubbardston, Massachusetts (purchased at Murray's Cheese Shop)
• Thai basil was from Phillips Farms in Milford, New Jersey
• This delicious pile was simply dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar

It's amazing what you can find at your local green market, like heirloom and seemingly exotic varieties that you probably won't find in your supermarket. Eating fresh, close-to-home food like this is not only healthy and tasty, it directly supports local farmers and encourages biodiversity.

Find your local farmer's market at Local Harvest.

Read about the importance of biodiversity.

Thanks, baby, for making me a yummy dinner!

UPDATE (Or I should say, correction): I had previously listed "Bulich Farms" as the mushroom provider, it's really Madura Farm. Sorry Mushroom Guy!

warming up to the kindle

There's nothing like losing yourself in a book. Not just the world within the book but the sensory experience -- the smell of the pages, the sound they make when you turn them, the feel of the paper between your fingers. But when I start to think about all of the paper used, the trees exterminated, to print books, magazines, and newspapers, it seems ridiculously wasteful. Especially since there's a paper-free alternative out there -- The Kindle (and other e-book devices).

And this little write-up on the Kindle is making me want one. Sheryl Eisenberg, for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), details her experience with the reading machine and the sacrifice of the good ol' fashioned printed word. In her words:

...I like the Kindle... a lot. What it lacks in the Proustian dimension, it makes up for in the practical. I would always want real physical books for the works I love best-- fine hardcover books at that. But for most of the ephemera I read, electronic versions are fine.

Years ago, I came to the same conclusion with regard to the newspaper when I gave up the print version to read it exclusively online. What I lost was the familiar smell and feel of newsprint and the fun of perusing the page layouts. What I gained was the web's look-up and cross-referencing capabilities and the knowledge that I was helping to preserve trees, whose dappled leaves, cooling shade and trilling birds exceed the delights of even the most beautifully printed page.

Read the whole story here.

While you're saving trees, you can also benefit from the convenience factor. You can carry around that 900-page classic, your favorite newspaper, and magazines, all in one small device that weighs less than the average paperback. Currently there are more than 150,000 books available, with more being added all the time. You can also upload Word documents, saving yourself the time and paper of printing out things like directions or manuscripts. One Kindle fan on Amazon even had her wedding officiated from the device.

My one hesitation to getting one is that it's another piece of electronics and it of course requires electricity. But it's apparently really efficient. With the wireless capabilities off it can last for a week without charging, so people recommend keeping it off when you're not actually downloading anything.

I'm probably not going to rush out and buy one, but maybe come holiday time I'll be asking Santa to leave one under the tree.

an open letter to jamba juice

Dear Jamba Jamba,

I am deeply concerned. Why must you continue to use styrofoam (aka, polystyrene) cups? You crank out smoothie after smoothie without even thinking about the vessel in which your so-called healthy drink is dispensed.

Why do I care? For one, the styrene component in polystyrene can leach out of the container. Styrene is a known neurotoxin, a potential carcinogen, and estrogen disrupter. According to studies cited by Grinning Planet, "long-term exposure to small quantities of styrene is also suspected of causing:

• low platelet counts or hemoglobin values
• chromosomal and lymphatic abnormalities
• neurotoxic effects due to accumulation of styrene in the tissues of the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves, resulting in fatigue, nervousness, difficulty sleeping, and other acute or chronic health problems associated with the nervous system"

Styrofoam also takes about 1,000 years to break down, and who knows if it ever actually degrades.

I wonder what you do in cities like San Francisco that have banned styrofoam to-go containers. Why can't you use whatever kind of cups you use there in every city? Like paper cups or Fabri-Kal's Greenware biodegradable cups.

I thought I was the only one taking issue with your choice of cup until I did a quick Google search. Turns out there's even a Facebook cause to try to get you to change your wicked ways.

Please consider this plea. I feel I must boycott your tasty smoothies until this issue is resolved.

Sincerely,

Supereco

urban homesteading: part 3

The third part in a series of urban farmers. Read part 1 and part 2.

A bunch of people, London, England
While not as hardcore as the urban homesteads featured in parts 1 and 2, city farming is taking root (excuse the bad pun) in places like London with regular folks playing the role of farmer. Thanks to Food Up Front, the smallest of plots -- gardens, balconies, windowsills -- are being converted into growing grounds for edibles.

What this non-profit group is proving is that anyone, just about anywhere, can grow their own food. Food Up Front provides novice urban farmers with tools, education, and a network of other growers with whom to trade produce. According to their site, new members receive:

• Starter Kit: a container, locally produced, peat-free compost, and some organic salad and herb seeds (2 types from a choice of 4)
• Basic Planting and Harvesting Guide
  
• Advice and support from a Food Up Front Street Rep: a volunteer who is local to your area.
  
• Details of Food Up Front gatherings and workshops, enabling you to meet other members and develop your food growing knowledge
  
• The opportunity to share and grow food with your neighbours and people in your surrounding area
• Access to the Food Up Front members online forum at Project Dirt

The urban farming movement not only helps people provide for themselves, it encourages community interaction. One of the smart things about Food Up Front is that they favor planting food in the front garden (it's right there in their name) as opposed to behind the house in a backyard. The reasons for this are many:

• More often than not front gardens are dead space
• It is a modern day trend to pave over front gardens, or lay slate or stones down. This reduction in vegetation can lead to heat island effect, making urban areas warmer at night
• It helps to encourage people to get to know their neighbours – there’s more chance of sharing a conversation with someone in the front garden compared to the back garden
• In some cases the front garden could be better suited to food growing due to its position
• It also allows a neighbour or friend to water your plants while you are on holiday, without the need for a key

Read more about Food Up Front.

Watch a video about the urban food growing network.

[Image source: Food Up Front]

endangered species act in danger

Traditionally the good news follows the bad news to smooth over any ill feelings left over from the latter. Sorry for monkeying with tradition.

The bad news in this case has to do with the tinkering of the Endangered Species Act by a certain unpopular president (do I have to sully this blog with his name?). You know who I'm talking about. Well this is what he's gone and done: propose said Act be overhauled to let federal agencies, not independent scientific review, determine if protected species are put at risk by "government projects." That's right. As Bob Irvin, of Defenders of Wildlife, put it, "Clearly, that's a case of asking the fox to guard the chicken coop."

From the Washington Post:
The new rules, which will be subject to a 30-day per comment period, would use administrative powers to make broad changes in the law that Congress has resisted for years. Under current law, agencies must subject any plans that potentially affect endangered animals and plants to an independent review by the Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service. Under the proposed new rules, dam and highway construction and other federal projects could proceed without delay if the agency in charge decides they would not harm vulnerable species.

Okay, so there is some good news here.
You can give the administration a piece of your mind! Don't let the current administration mess with the Endangered Species Act. Sign this letter to your representatives. (It's easy, just click the link and fill in your info. Defenders of Wildlife will do the rest.)