29th July, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
This Austin Chronicle story reports that “[b]ased on the most up-to-date data, the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) study projects an “extreme” risk of water shortages by 2050 in Travis County. Texas emerged as one of 14 states at the most severe risk of additional water shortages and problems caused by climate change.”
The article continues, “Greg Meszaros, director of Austin Water, suggested a good response to the climate-change study is to take the utility’s 3C Challenge to commit to a 10% reduction in water use (with some help from the city’s water-use calculator at www.waterwiseaustin.org). “Conservation needs to be an everyday value, not just something you do during a drought,” he said. “We need that culture change.”
KUT has a story today on electric charging stations for cars, which will become important in November when Chevrolet starts selling its all-electric vehicle, the Volt, in Austin (for $41k). The car will be able to go about 40 miles on one charge, but it also has a generator to run on gas if needed. Still, some people are worried that consumers will get “range anxiety,” or a feeling of nervousness about having enough charge to get to their destinations. As of now, there is only one public charging station in Austin at the Whole Foods on 6th and Lamar, but the City is planning to add 100 more stations in the next two years. Right now, it’d take about eight hours to fully charge a car at that station, but that will be cut to three hours in the future.
Many people are also worried that, if the Volt takes off, all this charging will drain the electric grid, but some say there is enough power in clean energy to meet the demand. For example, wind power from East Texas is highest at night, when most people are expected to be charging their vehicles. Additionally, Austin Energy is working on incentives to promote charging at non-peak times. It should be interesting to see if the public is ready to purchase an all-electric vehicle and if the city is ready to support the accompanying electricity demand.
29th July, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
Here’s an update on my recent gardening success:
Tomatoes are finally starting to do well and produce more. Right now I count 17 little green tomatoes – still probably not enough to can my own pasta sauce like I planned, but maybe in the fall they will continue to do well.
Of my 7 okra plants, one is doing really well and getting very large. I’ve never seen an okra plant before so I don’t know how tall it will get before it starts producing fruit.
Our chili plant is doing really well and our little jalapeño plant is also doing well.
And I have some butternut squash starting- hopefully they will do better than my summer squash.
As the Statesman reports, a new miniMAX program is being implemented in some state office buildings. This program will replace old trash cans with a large recycling container and a mini trash box hanging on the side (see photo below). The plan is to encourage recycling among state employees. Additionally, employees will be expected to empty their trash/recycling bins into centralized bins in their work areas. The state hopes that this self service approach to trash will increase awareness about what is being thrown out and what is being recycled by each employee. The state is also transitioning to daytime custodial crews. All of this together is expected to save the state more than $1 million a year.
My boyfriend works for a state agency that has implemented the new mini-bins, and he says the bins have an FAQ sheet attached that mention the bins will increase recycling revenue and similar programs have substanially increased recycling in other organizations. However, he has also noticed that people in his office are putting non-recyclables in their recycling containers, since there isn’t much room in the small one-gallon trash bins. The brief FAQ sheet attached to the bins provides some info, but it doesn’t directly explain what should go in each bin. Also, many commenters on the Statesman article are focusing on the “take your own trash out” aspect of the reforms, which is missing the point of trying to increase recycling. This seems like a well-intentioned move by the state, but it won’t be very effective if employees aren’t properly educated about the recycling process.
28th July, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
Starting at 6PM tomorrow, the Wildflower Center will be having its last Nature Night of the summer, “Birds of Prey”. Admission is $1. Here’s the description:
Thursday, July 29: Birds of Prey – soar with us to explore the habits of hawks, eagles, buzzards and more birds of prey. At 7 pm only, don’t miss a flying demonstration provided by Blackland Prairie Raptor Center with their feathered friends in our Courtyard! Stop by the Travis Audubon Society booth for more information on local birding programs. Check out great activities at the Capital Area Master Naturalist booth.
28th July, 2010 - Posted by katherine - 2 Comments
The Statesman had this article today about Bull Creek Park. Here’s an excerpt about the littering problem:
Statesman Watch spent several hours at the park last weekend… [t]he understaffed Parks and Recreation Department did make it out to empty trash cans, but the rest of the park was strewn with food wrappers, beer bottles and cans, cigarette butts, diapers and even spent charcoal.
On Saturday afternoon, a large family held a birthday party for a child. The next morning, beer cans, candy wrappers and an El Rancho Supermercado plastic bag of trash were left behind. Near the creek, three Budweiser bottles, an empty pack of Kool 100s and orange peelings were left where a trio of men with an ice chest had been the afternoon before.
On weekends, with little or no police presence, park users cart ice chests, grills and picnic tables and set up next to the water. Children swim by. Refuse litters the ground even though trash cans are a few feet away.
My friend Melissa sent me the link to this healthy recipe from the New York Times. I like quinoa recipes (see here and here), and I love pretty much anything with avocado, so I knew this would be a winner. This was a very easy recipe with simple, seasonal ingredients–I found the tomatoes, cucumbers, and jalapeno at the farmer’s market! I didn’t use the onion or cilantro, but the vinegar, jalapeno, and lime juice provided enough flavor to go around. This is a nice summery dish, served hot or cold.
1 to 2 jalapeño or serrano peppers (to taste), seeded if desired and finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped cilantro, plus several sprigs for garnish
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 avocado, sliced, for garnish
1. Place the quinoa in a bowl, and cover with cold water. Let sit for five minutes. Drain through a strainer, and rinse until the water runs clear. Bring the 3 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add salt (1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon) and the quinoa. Bring back to a boil, and reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer 15 minutes or until the quinoa is tender and translucent; each grain should have a little thread. Drain off the water in the pan through a strainer, and return the quinoa to the pan. Cover the pan with a clean dishtowel, replace the lid and allow to sit for 10 minutes. If making for the freezer, uncover and allow to cool, then place in plastic bags. Flatten the bags and seal.
2. Meanwhile, place the finely diced cucumber in a colander, and sprinkle with salt. Toss and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Rinse the cucumber with cold water, and drain on paper towels. If using the onion, place in a bowl and cover with cold water. Let sit for five minutes, then drain, rinse with cold water and drain on paper towels.
3. Combine the tomatoes, chiles, cilantro, vinegar, lime juice and olive oil in a bowl. Add the cucumber and onion, season to taste with salt, and add the quinoa and cilantro. Toss together, and taste and adjust seasonings. Serve garnished with sliced avocado and cilantro sprigs.
26th July, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
KUT had this article about a small group of protesters who last Friday had a press conference about UT’s decision to start selling UT-branded water. The article states:
The plastic water bottles, which were unveiled last week, are projected to bring in a million dollars each year, with 40 percent of the revenue going toward student scholarships.
Protesters told reporters that instead of selling plastic water bottles, the university should sell aluminum bottles and give 40 percent of that revenue to student scholarships.
“We don’t want to add thousands of pounds of plastic into our waste stream,” Stacy Guidry, Texas Campaign for the Environment Program Assistant, said. “We can do a lot better than that.”
In response, the company formed to sell the plastic bottle, H2Orange, issued an open letter. According to Austin Business Journal:
The document said the water bottles are made from 100 recyclable PET (polyethylene terephthalate) material. H2Orange is buying carbon credits to offset the impact of manufacturing the bottled.
Also in the letter, the company said in its second year it plans to sell refillable, stainless steal bottles. The company is looking into creating a collapsible, BPA-free, dish washer-safe versions, as well as a biodegradable plastic bottle.
a grassroots, volunteer-run organization dedicated to helping Central Texans in need grow their own organic vegetables. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit, GCP installs organic food gardens for elderly, low-income, and disabled community members as well as for elementary schools, community centers, and shelters in underserved areas of Austin. We turn unused land into garden beds that provide food, education, and a sense of accomplishment and pride for all involved in their creation and maintenance.Since 1998 GCP has helped more than 160 gardeners and their families claim—or reclaim—their gardening dreams. Our goal is to create lifelong gardeners, so we actively support our gardeners for two years through four growing seasons. Because we return to refurbish those beds for a total of four seasons, we have actually planted more than 640 seasonal gardens.
GCP has several fall volunteer opportunities that we will update you on once registration opens up – sounds like a very great organization!
If you’ve been feeling a little helpless about the Gulf oil spill and want to do something to help, head on over to the benefit tonight at 6:00 at Hotel San Jose and Jo’s on South Congress to donate some money, eat some delicious food from Perla’s and Lambert’s, listen to Papa Mali and Lost Bayou Ramblers, and get educated about how you can help. The optional $10 cover charge and the $10 per plate shrimp boil proceeds will benefit the Greater New Orleans Foundation and the Gulf Restoration Network. Additionally, Texas State Rep. Mark Strama will be speaking about renewable energy policies in Texas, and Brandi Clark of EcoAustin will be discussing local volunteer opportunities and green energy resources in Austin. Sounds like a great time for a very important and timely cause.
Paul Robbins, creator of the Austin Environmental Directory and local environmental activist, discussed on KUT this morning the possibility of zero energy suburbs. The idea is to create energy efficient houses that would use up a net of zero energy. Robbins says that by using newer, efficient appliances, good insulation, CFL light bulbs, and solar rooftop panels and water heating, it’s possible to have a net zero energy home. He also states that it would be about $500 more per month for an average family to reach this goal, including energy efficient changes to the family cars. He says this is feasible for some of the population at this time, but as solar energy and electric vehicles become cheaper in the future, net zero homes will become more and more attainable.
23rd July, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
Last week I visited Bombay Bistro with a friend, and we both had great meals. It’s located in the Great Hills area at 10710 Research Blvd, Ste 126 (right by the HEB), and it is rated pretty well by customers on yelp and urban spoon (4 out of 5 stars for both places). The restaurant’s website isn’t working well for me, and without being able to look at the menu again I can’t tell you what I had, which makes this a pretty inadequate restaurant review, but what I can tell you is that this was probably my 4th visit to this restaurant in the past 2 years, and I’ve never had a bad meal and the service is always good. Each time I’ve always gotten a vegetarian dish, of which they have a good variety, and I’ve always overeaten. It’s American-ized Indian food, so it’s probably not very authentic, but it’s a nice spot to go during the week if we don’t have time to make dinner. The lighting is sort of dim and it’s decorated very nicely (big comfy booths, bronze decorations, sort of an exotic feel) – you wouldn’t expect such a nice looking restaurant to be located in an HEB strip mall - it’s a very relaxing, comfortable atmosphere. The prices are reasonable ($10-15) at Bombay Bistro, and if you are trying to eat vegetarian meals more often when you are eating out, Indian restaurants in general are a great place to start because there’s always such a great variety of interesting vegetarian dishes!
Recently, I looked into how green and non-toxic my cosmetics are and wasn’t too happy with the conclusion. As it turns out, a lot of people are also starting to discover that their cosmetics and beauty products have all sorts of weird and toxic chemicals in them. Annie Leonard, creator of the Story of Stuff and the Story of Bottled Water, put out a new video on this topic, the Story of Cosmetics:
Scary, right? Luckily, just this week, Reps. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., introduced the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010, which would “require all ingredients in a cosmetic product to be listed on the product’s label and would give the Secretary of Health and Human Services two years to develop a list of prohibited or restricted ingredients.” Let’s hope this bill passes so that the burden isn’t on consumers to seek out non-toxic products. Until then, use the Environmental Working Group’s Cosmetic Safety Database to find the products out there with the least amount of chemicals.
Recently, I decided my living room wall needed a little makeover. After reading Re-Nest and browsing through Etsy, I was inspired to try to cover the wall in items from Goodwill or other vintage/handmade/not new pieces. I liked the idea because the finished product would hopefully be unique and different from all the Urban Outfitters and Ikea wall decorations I tend to buy and also because by buying used items, I’d be cutting down on stuff! Plus, I found it was pretty inexpensive. I will admit that it took a long time and wasn’t all that easy–I had to keep an open mind about what would work, and I made several trips to Goodwill and other stores. Even now, it’s still a work in progress and I’m going to keep an eye out for other pieces to add. I’m sure a designer who does this kind of thing a lot could probably provide a better list of stores with great vintage decorations, but I am not that knowledgeable. So here it is, my amateur “cutting down on stuff” wall art project:
The big photo in the middle (sorry about the flash) is from Goodwill and the tags on the back say it’s from Z Gallerie, a store with cute but expensive decorations. Its original price tag was $85, but Goodwill charged me $35. The mirror on the right is also from Goodwill and cost about $3. The little framed pressed flower was $1. The plate is a vintage plate from Etsy and was about $8 with shipping. I also had to make a trip to Home Depot for a specific wall hanger for plates that size–that was about $2. And finally, the feather. I am most proud of this because I am not at all crafty, but I made it happen! The frame that the feather is in is from another trip to Goodwill. It was originally a frame with a cheesy flower picture in it, but I turned the cardboard around, painted it with some leftover paint I found under my sink, and attached a feather from Hobby Lobby. Total, it was $6. The only new things I bought were the plate hanger and the feather, and I spent a total of $55. Not bad for a total makeover of my wall.
I would love to hear if any of you have some favorite vintage stores where you find items for home decor or otherwise. I am just starting this cutting down on stuff project, and I would love any suggestions!
One of my favorite green blogs, Re-Nest, just posted a Green City Guide to Austin, with shout-outs to Casa de Luz, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, the Austin Farmer’s Market, and Barton Springs. The post even listed places I’ve never heard of, like Habitat Suites, an eco-friendly and centrally-located hotel, and Wildflower Organics, an organic home decor shop. Check it out and see if your favorite green place in Austin is included in the guide.
The Ciy of Austin beat out Portland, Oregon; Greensburg, Kansas; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Boston, Massachusetts for VH1′s Do Something Award in the City category. The award show was held on July 19 to honor young people’s commitment to social change. Austin won the award because it is “leading the nation in car sharing programs and encourages biking as a primary form of transportation.” Way to go, Austin!
Check out this Statesman article about how East Austin is seeing an increase in environmental improvement projects like walking trails, new sewage lines, and cleaner public areas. The article states that the city will have almost doubled its expenditures on East Austin public works projects at $47.9 million annually in the 2009-11 fiscal years, up from $25.7 million annually from 1998 to 2008. The reasons for this increase include an influx of new, more affluent residents who have been communicating more with City Hall about their environmental agenda for the area. The change is not without its tensions, though, as longtime residents are hesitant about the projects, and some would prefer that money be spent elsewhere.
Wednesday night, the City will be sponsoring a meeting for people living in the Montopolis neighborhood to discuss proposed amendments to their neighborhood plan document. The meeting is at 6:30 in the auditorium of Austin Community College’s Riverside campus, 1020 Grove Blvd. For more info, call Maureen Meredith at the City of Austin at 974-2695.
20th July, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
Last week I tried another recipe from my vegetarian cookbook and it turned out pretty well – how can anything with a lot of cheddar cheese not turn out well though? I modified the recipe slightly.
Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups broccoli heads
8oz ricotta
1 garlic clove, diced
6-8 tbsp Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 c cheddar cheese
6 flour tortillas
1 cup veggie bouillon
1 jalapeño pepper, diced
Directions:
Bring a pan of salted to a boil and blanch broccoli for 1 minute, then rinse in cold water and drain
Cut off stems and peel broccoli and dice the remaining heads
mix broccoli with garlic, pepper, ricotta, cumin, and half of remaining cheeses
fill tortillas with mixture, rolling them up and arrange in oven-proof dish. Top with remaining cheese and bake in preheated oven at 375 for 30 minutes
This morning, I heard two interesting local-food-related stories on NPR. The first was about the health benefits of honey and the increase in popularity of beekeeping. Beekeeping has become more popular recently in urban areas as more and more people become interested in growing their own food. The story went on to discuss the importance of bees in our agricultural system and how honey can provide antibacterial properties, although the allergy-preventing claims are mostly unfounded.
The second story was about the debate about raw milk. Raw milk is also seeing a rise in popularity due to the local and natural food movement. Proponents claim that raw milk is more nutrient-dense than pasteurized milk, and the woman interviewed for the story claims her kids no longer have allergies after making the switch to raw milk. However, critics of raw milk point to the increase in likelihood of the presence of bacteria in raw milk versus pasteurized milk, and they believe that the nutritional benefits don’t outweigh the risks.
19th July, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
Ever since I went to the Renegade Craft Fair and saw some really cool aprons made entirely out of old clothing, I’ve wanted to try and do the same thing at home. So I’ve been saving clothes that I normally would have donated in hopes I could make some aprons as presents for the holidays and birthdays. A friend let me borrow her sewing machine and a book called “A is for Aprons” (it has 25 different apron designs) and I was off on my first sewing project.
I had a pair of khaki pants that belong to my husband that no longer fit him, which I decided to use as the main part of the apron and the ties. I also had a cute pink summer dress that mysteriously wouldn’t zip up this summer when I got it out of the closet, despite the combined best efforts of my husband and myself to wrestle some upper back fat into the dress while leaving enough clearance to safely zip it up without harming said fat. I decided to use the dress material to add some unnecessary decorative flair to the apron. I also bought 1/2 yard of green and white fabric with a tiny flower pattern on it to make the pockets and waistband.
The instructions were pretty straightforward but there were many techniques I didn’t know how to do (like a “zigzag” stitch), and parts of the instructions, like attaching the large pocket, that were a little confusing and I just did what seemed to make sense. The main part of the apron is 15×26, the large pocket was 9×22, and the small pocket was 5×5. The waistband was 5×27 and the 2 ties were each 4×26. I’m not going to explain in detail how I put everything together step-by-step because I’m not very experienced at sewing and you can check the book out from the library for the exact instructions, but basically after I cut up all of those pieces, I hemmed all of the sides of them, then I attached the small pocket off to the side. For the large pocket (and the book has an illustration of this that helps) I folded the pocket into thirds, ironed those sides so I would know where I needed to sew down the fabric to make the divides in the pocket, and after pinning everything in such a way that the pocket fabric was scrunched up enough so that the pockets would actually come out a little from the apron so you can fit your hands in, I sewed everything down. I also then attached the ties on each side of the top, and then sewed down the hemmed waist band on top of that so you could no longer see where the ties were sewed to the apron. Before I added fabric from the pink dress, here is what it looked like:
here it is before I decided it needed a ruffle
Here's the dress I used for the ruffle
the finished product
For adding the ruffle, I just used the existing ruffle of the dress and attached it after hemming it. Finally, I added a little hemmed strip at the top. I had a lot of fun making it even though it’s a little too country sassy!
The Chevrolet Volt
