Seen on Rittenhouse Square

I can't tell you how many times I'm behind someone on the street as they throw out their wrapper to their big mac or cigarettes. Often, I fume with anger and mutter unintelligible things behind their backs, but sometimes I actually say stuff. I don't understand why someone would throw trash on the street when there are two trash cans on either side of the block. Laziness? Some sort of culture barrier? A secret effort to keep Philly dirty and rough-n-tumble? It's time to grow up Philadelphia. Some neighborhoods are showing their true colors.

Yesterday I saw a solar powered trash compactor in Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia. Wow, I thought; the only neighborhood where people actually put trash in trash cans gets this newfangled contraption. Neat.
Now if we can only get people to actually us it.
Read more here.
On the slate: Teaching people how to properly use a trash can.

Philly DON"T recycle

Alarming statistic for you: Only eight percent of Philadelphians recycle.

Why God, oh why do I live here?

The new Green channel and why it irks me

The new Green Channel on cable TV launched about a month ago ...have you seen it? In theory, its a great concept. People showcasing their green products, builders explaining how to better your home, celebrities showing you how to be green. Entourage star, Adrien Grenier has his own show, "Alter Eco", where he pals around with a bunch of hip LAsters, showing products in local eco-stores, meeting local gardeners who can tell you how to build a compost in your backyard, all while having a hip cool approach to life that only celebrity can bring. yawn... Bored yet?
My favorite cookbook author, Rene Loux has her own show, where she consults with other hip celebrities and tells them how to be green. I love her cookbooks and recommend them whole-heartedly but OMG if I hear the word "green" one more time from her lips I might hurt someone. On a particularly recent episode Rene meets up with her "friend" Alice Cooper and tells him how he can be green on the golf course. First of all, I really don't buy into their artificial friendship and secondly, isn't being green and golfing polar opposites? Aren't golf courses artificial green spaces where once thrived natural wildlife habitats which have been torn down and turned into luxury golf courses where mostly rich, wealthy people waste much of their time? I recommend the John Sayles film, Sunshine State, for those unaware of this fact. So, what did she tell him? "Wear bamboo or organic cotton, use these golf-tees made out of corn, use these recycled golf balls. Well, some of her advice is nice,. I mean bamboo fabric is awesome, but all in all golfing tears down eco-cultures, destroys communities and displaces wildlife, all which we need if we are going to continue life on earth. So take that for some honest advice, Alice. Lastly, a vegan like Rene should at least sneak in a few words about snacks on the golf course and pump up her books!
The Ed Bagley show, "Living with Ed" is the saving grace of the Green Channel. Ed Bagely has been doing his own thing for years, installing solar panels on his roof long before it was chic, riding his bike in LA where everyone opts for a hybrid instead of using their own two legs. He's the real pioneer, the others are just marketing goods. Oh and did I mention that Emeril Lagasse has his own show? Ugh serioulsy, a carnivorous meat eater telling me how to be green. puh-leeese.

Gordon Loves Greens

Britain's' most famous chef and TV personality Gordon Ramsey has taken his plea for fresh seasonal veggies to the highest place possible. Ramsey, well-known for the gratuitous shirtless shot during each and every episode of Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares and his frequent use of the word bollocks, feels that chefs should be fined if they use out-of-season vegetables for their cuisine. He's taken the issue to Gordon Brown.
See the link here . http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN0949726820080509?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews

As a practicing macrobiotic I couldn't agree more. Living in the Northeast my choices for veggies are always limited in the winter months. This year I lived on squash, kale and potatoes for the majority of winter. Living by New Jersey, tomato capital of the East, I can't wait for the first few months of fresh, delicious red tomatoes and sweet sweet corn. Sure, I'm tempted by vegetables of all kind, but have you ever been truly grossed out by a greenhouse-grown, color-injected unripe, grainy, pink tomato? Besides the 'green' aspect of this whole argument, keeping things local thereby reducing emissions to get our food on the table, we are also supporting our local farmers and living a bit more realistically, and truly benefiting from the freshest food possible. Here in Philadelphia, the local farmers markets have all been pushed back to the first few weeks of June, (thank you climate change!) which is when you can see with your own eyes what's local, what's fresh and what's for dinner.

obama likes arugula...so what?

I'm listening to this incredibly inane argument on CNN right now about why some people don't want to vote for Obama. "He's lofty, he likes arugula" Oh, so people don't know what arugula is therefore they don't understand where Obama is coming from. Does this not validate all that he was saying about Western PA and its' hardnose bible thumping gun toting citizens? "Well he eats this stuff called arugula, what the hell is that? I don't like him (grunt)" Is that how we make decisions anymore? Well maybe I'm lofty too, because arugula is one of the most delicious, spiciest salad greens out there.

on going green

Last night, as part of their "green-themed" week, CNN had on a CEO of a major company and a list of the top ten greenest companies in the US. Something along those lines, anyway.
The CEO was from Stonyfield Farms. Hey, isn't their biggest product yogurt? Isn't yogurt made from dairy? Dairy comes from Dairy Cows, which make up some of the most putrid, rankest methane-infused shit you can imagine. Which in turns causes global warming, organic or not. Going vegan is the single best thing you can do to help the planet. Bite the bullet and make a difference. Take that CEO.