Goodlifer » Healthy Habitat

Lend, Borrow & Sharing Services: Changing our Relationship with Stuff

Johanna Björk — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:06:22 +0000

Humans like to own things, and for long we have equaled possessions with success and satisfaction. But does stuff really make us happier? As someone who just moved a 1.5 bedroom apartment and cursed for weeks at how much stuff I had managed to cram in there, I say no. Quite the opposite. The average drill gets used between 3 to 20 minutes during its lifetime. So, why does every household need to own one?

What if there was a way many people could easily share the same piece of equipment, saving both money and the planet? Well, it turns out there are a lot of these kinds of systems in place already.

Don't have a backyard? Borrow one!

NeighborGoods lets you search and post requests by zipcode. The site just went national, and a recent search in my zipcode found a folding hand-truck, a backyard, a backpacking pack, a tabletop propane gas grill, a men’s mountain bike, a tent, a dremel, an inflatable kayak and a yoga mat, on the first page of listings alone.

There are 421 people within 50 miles sharing 231 items, which is pretty amazing. Items range from the highly practical (drills) to the quirky (Hat – For Horse Races). Michelle Tomes in 33137 will lend you one of her cats: “We have 6, you’re welcome to borrow one.”

Manhattan-based site neigh*borrow is interested in creating a sense of community among its users.

On Australian site Rentoid, you can borrow a private island in the barrier reef. You’ll have to pay $3000/day, but there is comfortable room for seven people, and complete privacy. Manhattan-based by-invitation-only site neigh*borrow bills itself as an online community that “connects people who are geographically or socially close to one another, and provides the tools to reduce the ‘friction’ of sharing.” It seems that many of these sites are driven by a desire to build communities and bring neighbors and strangers closer to one another by their common need for stuff. Perhaps our ability to acquire anything and everything we could ever want wiped out more than our need for borrowing?

For those who want to maintain a sense of privacy, Frenting allows you to limit your lend, borrow & share network to your Facebook friends.

For those not comfortable with letting a complete stranger use their nice sleeping bag for the weekend, Frenting allows you to limit your lend, borrow & share network to your Facebook friends, ensuring that only people you know and trust (because you don’t accept friend requests from total strangers, do you?) are able to view your available and needed items (most of these sites lets you post a request for an item you need but cannot find listed).

Whatever your comfort level with this new lending economy may be, one thing is certain: it is great for the environment. More sharing means less stuff that needs to be made, which is especially beneficial when it comes to things like power tools that are often made using precious materials harvested (often very unsustainably) around the world.

So, the next time you need something, spend a few minutes searching around these sites and trade mindless lonesome consumption for a community-building peer-to-peer product-to-service system experience. The future is all about sharing.

Top photo by Vincent Ma, Creative Commons

Liberating Sustainable Beef Producers in the Northeast

Johanna Björk — Fri, 28 May 2010 18:59:02 +0000

At Scott Stringer’s NYC Food & Climate Summit this past winter, one issue that was consistently brought up was the complete lack of slaughterhouses in New York State. Even though land in this region is ideal for pasturing and grazing cattle, farmers have to schedule appointments as far as a year in advance (not even knowing if the cattle will even be ready on this date), and transport their animals to facilities Pennsylvania or Massachusetts. For grass-fed, humanely raised cattle, this is a less-than-ideal end-of-life scenario, and the beef cannot be certified organic (because all kinds of meat share the same facilities).

Say what you want about whether or not we should be eating meat, but the fact is not everyone is willing to give it up. Grass-fed, humanely raised beef is a much healthier option than “conventional” beef, raised in CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations). We should do what we can to improve the infrastructure and make it easier for cattle farmers to raise and “harvest” cattle the right way. Dan Barber, Executive Chef at Blue Hill Stone Barns and local food advocate, says that “Slaughterhouses are the single most important thing that farmers in the region need.”

The Mobile Harvest Unit, recently launched by Glynwood. Photo via The New York Times.

Glynwood, a non-profit organization in the Hudson Valley working to save farming, along with its affiliate Local Infrastructure for Local Agriculture (LILA), recently launched a mobile, modular slaughterhouse — the first of its kind. Currently docked in Delaware County, NY, the Modular Harvest System (MHS) is an innovative, next-generation approach to the humane slaughter of livestock. Dan Barber called this initiative is “the most important thing Glynwood can do.”

Grassfed cattle grazing in the Hudson Valley. Photo by Ulla Kjärval.

“We believe that the MHS will help ensure the future of livestock production in our region and beyond,” says Judy LaBelle, President of Glynwood. “From the very beginning, Glynwood has envisioned the development of this unit to be a model for replication. We know there are other regions with situations very similar to the Hudson Valley, where a mobile unit might well be the catalyst for a revitalized system that will enable smaller farmers to reach the rapidly growing market for regional, pasture-raised meat products.“

Newly sheared sheep on the pasture at Glynwood Farm.

Christine Muhlke wrote about a visit to the MHS for the New York Times’ Sunday Magazine:
“I wasn’t allowed in during a kill, but I was able to watch the Red Devon cow I’d just admired in the holding area be led calmly up the ramp and into the trailer. The wild thrashing that followed triggered primal fear and sadness, which caught me off-guard considering that I’m that obnoxious meat hipster who serves pickled pigs’ tongues at her wedding. Silence. Then blood began trickling from the pipe. When I entered the gory trailer at the end of the day, the quarters of four cows dangled neatly in the cooler.”

Killing is never a good thing, and it is far from the quaint, pleasant side of farming that we have seen much of lately. Some critics say that forcing a large frightened animal into the 8 by 53 feet MHS trailer is neither easy nor humane. But, for organic grass-fed beef producers it could be the answer to their prayers. Consumers now gladly pay a premium for good beef, and the MHS makes it possible to satisfy this demand. USDA Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is supportive of the initiative that will help further his goal of repopulating rural America by creating more market opportunities for small farmers and strengthening the connection between local supply and demand. “We have to make sure that producers are capable of getting critical mass to meet consumer demand,” he told Muhlke. A mobile slaughter unit seems to be the best possible solution at the moment.

Glynwood Farm, located outside Cold Spring, NY.

Located an hour and a half drive north of New York City, outside the town of Cold Spring, Glynwood Farm is a very quaint peaceful place. The working farm and institute are both dedicated to helping communities in the Northeast save farming — the MHS is only one of their many initiatives. I visited on a gorgeous day to help celebrate the farm’s 15th annual Sheepshearing Day. The actual shearing was a fairly quick occurrence, although it was quite funny to see the newly “naked” sheep grazing in the pasture afterward. We were also treated to a beekeeping lecture, a greenhouse and garden tour, a felting demonstration, ice cream making for the kids, as well as a delicious lunch. I would highly recommend a visit if you happen to be in the Hudson Valley.

Top photo by Ulla Kjärval

5 Facts that will make you lay off the bottle(d water) – for good.

Johanna Björk — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 19:49:45 +0000

Are you a bottled water addict? Admitting you have a problem is the first step in curing an addiction. It’s time we all take a look at this complicated relationship we have with a completely useless product fueled by manufactured demand. Fortunately, water is free and available to most of us here in the Western World (most of us just take it for granted). Yet, we keep spending our hard-earned money on bottled water. Why?

There are a few myths surrounding bottled water that need to be cleared up as we start on the path toward recovery.

First, it is no cleaner or safer than tap water. The big beverage companies that make millions off our fears of poisoned water would like us to think so; however, according to some recent studies, bottled water is often more contaminated than tap. In fact, federal regulations that govern bottled water require it to be only as good as tap water, not better. There are no regulations or requirements that bottled water be any higher in quality than tap water. Although many areas have problems with water quality, a good filter is always your best bet to get drinking water that is as safe as possible. If we all laid off the plastic bottles, maybe our government could allocate the money currently spent on excessive waste removal (according to A Recycling Revolution Americans use 2,5 million plastic bottles every hour, and most are thrown away) to safeguarding our clean water supply.

Recycling plastic bottles is certainly better than putting them in a landfill, but the reality is it's not so much recycled as downcycled. The process uses a lot of energy and is often not cost-effective. Still image from The Story of Bottled Water.

Second, bottled water does not taste better. Actually, it often looses out to tap water in blind taste tests. 90% of the cost of a bottle of water is in the bottle, lid and label. It is often transported long distances, which emits large amounts of carbon but also seriously affects the quality of the water. According to the website Bottled Water Blues “it is unrealistic to think that water can be bottled in plastic containers, produced at a bottling factory, transported and stored at high temperatures for months at a time and be purer than what a basic home water filtration system can provide. It is impossible to get chemical free water from a plastic bottle.” Storing bottles in warm places like cars and windowsills may actually cause some of the chemicals to leach into the water. Yuck.

Bottled water is often proved to be lower quality than tap, and is subject to far less regulation. Still image from The Story of Bottled Water.

Third, the water in your bottle does not come from the pristine spring depicted on the label. A report released by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) called “Bottled Water, Pure Drink or Pure Hype?” points out that as much as 40% of all bottled water comes from a city water system, just like tap water. (Why is this scandal not all over the news?) The report also highlights the fact that 60% to 70% of all bottled water sold in the U.S. is exempt from the FDA’s bottled water standards, because the federal standards do not apply to water bottled and sold within the same state. Unless the water is transported across state lines, there are no federal regulations that govern its quality. According to the NRDC, “Bottled water companies have used this loophole to avoid complying with basic health standards, such as those that apply to municipally treated tap water.” Also, all carbonated or sparkling waters are completely exempt from FDA guidelines that set specific limits on contaminants such as E. coli and fecal coliform bacteria, Cryptosporidium and Giardia (pathogens that cause diarrhea and other intestinal problems), or cancer-causing chemicals, such as phthalate. Seems like we’re playing a bit of Russian roulette here.

Our nasty addiction to bottled water created a lot of waste. We don't want to deal with this, so we hide the problem by just shipping the waste off somewere else, for other people to deal with. Unfair. Still image from The Story of Bottled Water.

Fourth, bottled water does not make you look active, cool and healthy. Large corporations like The Clorox Company, PepsiCo and The Coca-Cola Company, none particularly known for their health consciousness, spend millions on advertising to make you think that toting a plastic bottle is somehow signaling to the world that you are devoted to healthy living. What you should do is invest in a good reusable water bottle, and there are enough stylish options out there to match your lifestyle. BPA-free is key, but also make sure it’s good quality, because you don’t want to have to keep replacing one that breaks or gets worn out, then you’d only be creating more waste.

Stylish reusable bottles from EarthLust.

Fun colorful reusable bottles from Kleen Kanteen.

Good-looking reusable bottles from Thinksport.

Fifth, you are getting ripped off. Bottled water not only puts unnecessary strain on the environment, it drains your wallet too. Since it’s a dollar here and there it may not be noticeable, but it adds up. Many people complain that water filters are expensive, which is not true, they just cost more per unit, which makes you feel like you’re spending more. With a home water filter you can have guaranteed quality water for about 10 cents a gallon, whereas you pay anywhere from $1 to over $20 a gallon for bottled water, depending on how fancy the packaging is. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have clean water than a fancy bottle. It’s time to take back the tap, people.

In very few other instances, we could imagine paying thousands of times more for the same thing. Still image from The Story of Bottled Water.

If I can’t convince you it’s time to lay off the bottle, then surely the amazing Annie Leonard can. Watch her 8-minute film The Story of Bottled Water, released on World Water Day.

Top photo: detail of photographer Chris Jordan’s Plastic Bottles from his 2007 series Running the Numbers, depicting two million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the US every five minutes.

Fall Holiday Decorating: Cheap, Conscious & Seasonal.

Claire Fountain — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:06:57 +0000

With decorations being sold in every craft store, corner mart and shopping website, I cannot help but want to buy orange baskets or all the acorn shaped bells and whistles hanging around out there. Halloween has come to mean buying a costume to wear once, stocking up on candy for trick-or-treaters to argue over, and purchasing pumpkins only to have them rot or be the butt of teenage antics. It’s easy to jump ship and buy plastic everything or stock up on things that serve little purpose more than sitting for a few days and collecting dust, but that doesn’t mean you should. All that buying and lack of worth makes my fall-holiday-loving heart ache a little and think back to the holidays when we did things a little differently.

Natural decorations. What is more beautiful than a collection of deliciously colored pumpkins and gourds? Photo by cwalker71, Creative Commons.

On a quiet October 31 many years ago, I stood in my home kitchen staring at an empty Candy Bowl, frantically wondering what I would do if a little fairy or pirate rang the door bell. Facing little arms reached out with an open bag, a smile and dance would not suffice. Using what I had in the kitchen, popcorn balls with nuts, candies and sprinkles were born. My teenage brother, who was usually too cool for any of my kitchen and baking adventures, actually jumped in to help me test the sugar stages! Soft ball phase it was and I even saw him break into laughs and smiles as I struggled to coat the popcorn and roll uniform balls. Buttery fingers and all, he helped me bag them up for the neighborhood children. Thankfully we lived in a small community where popcorn balls were trusted, and appreciated for the real food they represented. Though more than that was the simplicity. Practically free and supporting my idea that holidays (any of them that fall in the 100 days leading up to the new year) are best spent with family or friends doing heartfelt things that feel good… This was a winning Halloween!

That year my conscious and sustainable holiday planning and decorating started happening. Collecting colorful leaves and branches became our table settings and place mats. Tiny acorns and pine corns filled bowls and local Indian Corn cobs were fashioned into wreaths. Pumpkins and gourds of all shapes and colors dotted our front stoop. With Halloween knocking on the door already and Thanksgiving fast approaching, here are some simple ways to make your decorations as useful and smart as can be.

Beautifully colored fall leaves, ready to be placed in a bowl and displayed on your dining table. Photo by Darren Hester, Creative Commons.

1. As mentioned above, use the outdoors!
Nature is the common mental landscape that is created when people think of this season… grab the childrens’ or a loved one and take a walk bundled in sweaters to look for items that can be used to garnish tables or window sills.

Beautifully colored fall leaves, ready to be placed in a bowl and displayed on your dining table. Photo by Darren Hester, Creative Commons.

2. Farmer’s Markets
…can be great places for local pumpkins, a far better option for the environment and safer than plastic ones. Set out a variety of sizes and allow them to remain until Thanksgiving. If you are into carving them, wait until close to Oct. 31 (now…) and scoop out the insides saving the seeds to roast with spices such as cinnamon, sea salt and cayenne for a spunky snack (that is also healthy!) Though the pulp could be used for pies, you would have to source a sugar pumpkin for this use and after one has had a snaggle-toothed grin cut into it for days, you do not want to use that in baking.
Bonus! If you want your pumpkin decorations and a pie, too; opt for small sugar pumpkins and winter squashes. Beautiful and sophisticated, set out now and bake later. Here is a recipe (pdf download – 60k), though allow time to make it!

Chocolate bat & cat cookies.

3. Make or Fake
…Halloween candies. Local candy companies and bakeries make precious pre-packaged treats that children and adults will like. For family and friends, make something you love like popcorn balls, baggies of roasted pumpkin seeds or buckeyes. Fake it by giving out something other than candy. Recently I was part of a Kid’s Tasting event where the youngsters were happier with the handmade little paper “fortune teller” toys we gave them than with the actual desserts. Print your own or fold up newspaper into origami. Recycle after the holidays.

4. Form and Function
…as soon as a chill hits the air, a huge bowl of whole nuts hits my table. The shades of brown never fail to bring fall to the room and are great when guests stop by. Nibble on your decorations if you wish, open some and use in that cornbread and pecan bread for the Thanksgiving pot-luck or save for Christmas to stick in stockings and test out that nutcracker’s real power!

A bowl of nuts for the entire season.

5. Cozy Up
… from the inside out, too! Sometimes making a home look ready for the holidays is as simple as putting the given holiday into action. Put out blankets for snuggling, boil mulling spices and change up your lighting for softer views using lamps or candles in different spots in your home. Feels festive already and you didn’t buy anything new!
Bonus! Get back to your senses for this… what says Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc. to you? Is it a fire? Fill up that log basket. Is it ghoulish treats? Make beet soup, potato and cauliflower brain mash, or bat shaped chocolate cookies… you decide really. I also make sure to have everything for a decadent hot cocoa or hot toddy ready to go, as sticks of cinnamon and spices filling a sealed glass jar make even the counter tops say fall is here. Next to some antique ceramic squirrels and a hand-carved wooden owl I both got from a garage sale, the season comes alive for free.

6. Take the Time, To Make the Time
…like making popcorn balls with a teenager who had never seen a sweet ball like that before. It was a moment that would have been lost if I had just grabbed a super sized bag of candy bars at the store. Meeting neighbors and making connections with local producers would have been hard if I had not been hunting for goods at the farmer’s market. Listening to my Grandmother talk while gathering red and golden leaves for her door… yes, that too would have been nothing but an unborn thought if taking a little extra time was skipped. Sure, we now have amazing and natural decorations but more than that, we have the memories that go along with them!

Inventive pumpkins, Rhinebeck, NY.

Whether you pick up leaves for your mantels or decide to go all out making your own popcorn balls and pumpkin pies, fill your holiday with decorations that are not only visually appealing but really support the season. And, for a true zero-impact (or as close to it as possible) fall holiday season, be sure to compost all those natural decorations and (potential) leftovers when they have served their beautiful purpose.

Top photo by Maggi_94, Creative Commons.

NYC’s largest green roof — a post office park.

Johanna Björk — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:10:20 +0000

They’re popping up all over these days, and are a great way to reduce the carbon footprint of any given building. The new green roof atop the Morgan mail processing facility is so vast — at 2.5 acres the largest in NYC — that it deserves to be called a park. This is the U.S. Postal Service’s first green roof, but with all the facilities they operate across the country it is hopefully not the last.

Built in 1933, the 2.2 million square foot Morgan facility is located on 9th Avenue and 30th Street in midtown Manhattan and became a historic landmark in 1986. The roof was originally constructed to serve as an additional mail processing location, and supports 200 pounds per square foot. This made is a perfect candidate for a green roof, since it is strong enough to support the weight of the soil, vegetation and other green roof components.

Walking paths and FSC-certified wood benches make this 2.5 acre green space a bona fide park.

A green roof is not only aesthetically pleasing, it also provides other significant benefits. First, it lasts up to 50 years, which is twice as long as a conventional roof. It helps reduce the amount of contaminants in storm water runoff flowing into municipal water systems. The reduction of polluted runoff is projected to be as much as 75% in the summer, and up to 35% during the winter. A green roof also helps save money and energy on heating and cooling since temperature is regulated naturally. The Postal Service’s goal is to reduce the Morgan facility’s energy use by 30%.

Seven stories above the city, the Morgan green roof offers a spectacular panoramic view of midtown Manhattan and the northern New Jersey shore. Elizabeth Kennedy Landscape Architects designed the garden-like space with low-maintenance native plants such as Calamagrostis (a lush, maintenance-free grass), coral carpet, John Creech, Immergrunchen and Fudaglut sedums. The 14 orange-hued Ipe Brazilian wood benches are made from lumber certified sustainable by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Low-maintenance native plants and grasses ensure sustainability.

“The Morgan green roof is the largest in New York and one of the largest in the country,” says Sam Pulcrano, the Postal Service’s vice president, Sustainability. “Not only does it provide employees with a beautiful, serene outdoor environment, the green roof will help us meet our goal to reduce energy usage 30 percent by 2015.”

The new green roof is part of the Postal Service’s commitment to create sustainable spaces and facilities wherever possible. Their greener facilities strategy also includes the use of environmentally conscious building components, renewable materials, energy-efficient lighting and HVAC, low volatile organic compound parts, low-water use fixtures, solar photovoltaic systems, a LEED-certified facility opening soon in Long Island, an expanded NYC-wide mixed paper and cardboard recycling program (materials recycled have tripled compared to the previous year), and a growing fleet of hybrid electric delivery vehicles.

Components of a green roof. To be suitable, buildings need to be able to withstand a large weight load.

Now, if they could only stop those darn catalogs from flooding our post boxes. Well, you can. Visit catalogchoice.com to stop those unwanted glossies from keeping on coming. To also stop credit card offers and other unwanted junk, sign up to opt out at DMAchoice.org (registration required).

View footage of the Morgan green roof here.

PARK(ing) Day

Johanna Björk — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:24:09 +0000

For one day, a few of those rectangular spaces marked in white, usually reserved for clunkers, were temporarily reclaimed for people. On September 18, as part of an annual event called PARK(ing) Day, artists, activists and citizens in cities around the globe helped transform metered parking spaces into public micro-parks, picnic spots and al fresco work spaces.

PARK(ing) Day was originally dreamed up in 2005 by Rebar, a San Francisco art and design studio, in an effort to make people rethink the way streets are used and reinforce the need for broad-based changes to urban infrastructure. “In urban centers around the world, inexpensive curbside parking results in increased traffic, wasted fuel and more pollution,” says Rebar’s Matthew Passmore. “The strategies that generated these conditions are not sustainable, nor do they promote a healthy, vibrant urban human habitat. PARK(ing) Day is about re-imagining the possibilities of the metropolitan landscape.”

PARK(ing) Day at Ritual Coffee Roasters, San Francisco. Photo by Scott Beale / Laughing Squid, Creative Commons.

PARK(ing) Day Barcelona. Photo by noraes, Creative Commons.

Since 2005, the project has blossomed into a worldwide grassroots movement: PARK(ing) Day 2008 included more than 500 “parks” in more than 100 cities across four continents. This year, the project continued to expand across the globe, with participants in South Africa, Poland, Norway, New Zealand and South Korea. “Urban inhabitants worldwide recognize the need for new approaches to making the urban landscape,” says Rebar’s John Bela. “PARK(ing) Day demonstrates that even temporary or interim spatial reprogramming can improve the character of the city.”

CC Puede Health Clinic & BBQ Park(ing) Day, North Beach, SF. Photo by Steve Rhodes, Creative Commons.

PARK(ing) day on Valencia Street, SF. Photo by pagedesign, Creative Commons.

Paul Steely-White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives, told NPR’s Brian Lehrer that there were 51 (legitimately permitted) parking spaces turned into parks throughout New York City, not only in traditional metered spots but also in some residential street parking spaces. (Let’s just hope they didn’t have to move the park across the street for street cleaning.) Some had community gardening classes, and in one very special spot on 9th Avenue & 60th Street, Fordham University students put on a “Shakespeare in the Parking Spot” show. Steely-White feels PARK(ing) Day shows us what cities could be, in giving just a bit of space back to the people, we can create vibrant common areas that will enliven neighborhoods.

One of the three Pilsen, Chicago PARK(ing) Day parks in conjunction with the Cesar Chavez Community Garden, which is currently being threatened by a developer. Photo by metroblossom, Creative Commons.

PARK(ing) Day, LA. Photo by waltarrrrr, Creative Commons.

Over the four years of PARK(ing) Day, participants have broadened the scope or “parks” to fulfill a range of unmet social and spatial needs. “From public parks to free health clinics, from art galleries to demonstration gardens, PARK(ing) Day participants have claimed the metered parking space as a rich new territory for creative experimentation, activism, socializing and play,” says Rebar’s Blaine Merker. “While PARK(ing) Day may be temporary,” he adds, “the image of possibility it offers has lasting effects and is shifting the way streets are perceived and utilized.”

Rebar's PARKcycle, a pedal-powered mobile micro-park. Photo by sfbike, Creative Commons.

PARK(ing) Day is a grassroots, open-source event that depends on the organizational skills of independent groups around the globe, who adapt the project to champion creative, social or political causes that are relevant to their local urban conditions. Rebar has exhibited PARK(ing) Day at venues worldwide, including at the 2008 Venice Architecture Biennale, ISEA 2009 Dublin, the Canadian Center for Architecture, the American Institute of Architects and the Van Alen Institute in New York.

Stay-cation Park, Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. Photo by megananne, Creative Commons.

PARK(ing) Day, Seattle. Photo by carfreedays, Creative Commons.

The popularity of PARK(ing) Day is very indicative of how much value we all place on public green space, and how desperately we need more of it. New York’s HighLine Park cannot even compare to the likes of Central Park when it comes to size (it could probably be completely submerged into the reservoir), but as far as impact and popularity goes, the HighLine has brought green space and positive attention back to the Meatpacking District. And people have fallen completely and madly in love with what was just a few years ago nothing but rusty abandoned train tracks. Similarly, the five blocks around Times Square that were closed to traffic this summer, actually brought real New Yorkers back to this tourist trap. The possibilities are endless, people. Tell the people that run your city that you don’t need much, a few square feet of park space is all we need to make a good amount of people happy.

Children relax in PARK(ing) Day spot outside A-B Fits on Upper Grant in North Beach, SF. Photo by sfbike, Creative Commons.

PARK(ing) Day Twin Cities. Photo by Solutions Twin Cities, Creative Commons.

More information regarding local PARK(ing) Day activities and a global map of all participating cities are available on the PARK(ing) Day Network website. Start planning your PARK(ing) space for next year!

Top photo, Herman Miller PARK(ing) Day by stevendepolo, Creative Commons.
For more PARK(ing) Day photos, check out the Flickr group pool.

My very own edible container garden.

Johanna Björk — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:16:09 +0000

Ever since managing to kill the evergreens in my window boxes, I had planned on replanting them with something perhaps a bit more interesting, if not easier to manage. Although beautiful, flowers just seemed kind of like a waste to me. Since I was going to spend all this time tending to these plants, could I not grow something more useful? I do have a history of killing many a potted herb plants (every single one I have ever owned, in fact), but maybe that was just because I didn’t really know how to take care of these precious things?

Fueled by a disdain for the current food system and desire for a degree of food sovereignty, I entered the gates of the New York Botanical Garden, pen, note pad and camera in my bag, ready to learn how to do this. How hard could it be? There was a festival at the NYBG that weekend, with lectures and happenings all around. I eschewed Martha Stewart on the main stage to go hear Rose Marie Nichols McGee talk about container gardening, a subject on which she has written a book and is an enthusiastic supporter of. Nichols McGee runs Nichols Garden Nursery in Oregon, and has a profound understanding of the added challenges wannabe gardeners face today, cramped living quarters lacking outdoor space being the main one.

Rose Marie Nichols McGee of Nichols Garden Nursery in front of a group of excited future gardeners at the New York Botanical Garden.

There are many advantages to growing food in containers. First off, one does not have to worry about the quality of the soil in the location, but can simply go out and buy a bag of good organic potting mix and start planting. If one would move, the container gardens could come right along without much effort. The main advantage to edible gardens is, of course, that you can enjoy the fruits (and herbs and lettuces) of your labor. There is no tomato that tastes better than one that you have planted, tended to and, finally, harvested. Friends and family will be also very impressed when you tell them you are serving dinner made from home-grown ingredients. And, if you grow these edible plants well, they will look as beautiful on your balcony or in your window as any purely decorative flower.

My tomato plant, waiting patiently on the fire escape.

The tomato in it's new home, on my fire escape. I chose a plastic pot (even though a terracotta one would have been much nicer) because it is lightweight.

Nichols McGee suggests stacking pots one inside the other to add vertical growing space. She says you don’t have to be so neat about it, but make sure that the drainage holes match up and the roots of all plants have room to grow. She advocates planting themed gardens based on what you actually enjoy to eat. A Herb garden could contain basil, oregano, tarragon, chives, rosemary, parsley and cilantro (start with seeds). Most of these will continue to grow larger as you chop off some to use for cooking, she refers to this practice as “cut and come again.” The Southeast Asian garden has three kinds of thai basils, kaffir lime, Vietnamese koriander ( a special breed that she will be selling at the nursery next season), sai san pepper and in the middle a meyer lemon tree. The latter requires a bit more effort, such as top and root pruning, but she says meyer lemons are good for beginners and can be taken inside in the winter.

Extracting the dead evergreens from my windowboxes.

Adding some good potting soil mix.

Gardening in cramped spaces requires a fair amount of body contortions.

In the Fruit Bowl garden, she plants pink panda berries, lemongrass (looks for stems at the Asian market that still have root nubs and may grow roots in planted in moist soil or soaked in water) and edible flowers such as pansies, violas, calendulas and nasturtiums. Edible flowers are a fun way to add some color and excitement to any salad. In the Salad Bowl garden, she plants arugula (start with seeds), leaf lettuces, kale and tomato, the latter in a larger container placed in the middle of the big pot since it needs room to form deeper roots. When it comes to growing lettuce she advocates choosing toothier varieties that can complement your regular salad greens, because if you eat a lot of salad, you will not be able to grow enough for more than a few meals.

Remove plants from plastic pots and loosen the roots before planting.

Lemon thyme going into the soil. Gloves are good to have since some plants can be poky. I happened to have these yellow gloves at home and figured I'd use what I have instead of buying new ones.

The parting advice Nichols McGee gave us was to use a good potting soil mix, fertilize when needed (she recommends Dr Earth products), make sure your pot has proper drainage holes, don’t overwater your plants, which can cause the roots to rot. This can be quite tricky since the top soil may feel dry even though there is plenty of water inside the soil, she suggest poking fingers into the soil to feel it or lifting the pot to see how heavy it feels (the heavier it is the more water is in the soil). Finally, she says, have fun with your plants (sine you will be spending a lot of time tending to them).

The start of my edible container garden! Needless to say, I have major envy for my downstairs neighbor's garden.

Putting the windox boxes in place on the sunny side of my apartment.

Then, she said: “who wants plants?” People in the audience of about fifteen looked at each other, surprised and unsure if they should make a dash for the table upfront to beat the others to the good stuff. I’m not sure who managed to score the lemon tree, but I walked off with a thai basil, a tomato plant (I am still not sure exactly what variety) and a few lettuce starter plugs. For my windowbox garden, I would complement this with lemon thyme, lavender, greek oregano and arugula seeds from the NYBG garden store.

Thai basil, soon to be accompanied by lettuces.

The second one is put in place and my garden project is complete! Now I just have to care for my plant babies to keep them alive

After this lecture I felt much better about starting my little garden, and not so scared that I would end up killing all my plant babies. But, just in case, I purchased a copy of Rose Marie Nichols McGee’s Bountiful Container, a book she co-wrote with Maggie Stuckey in 2002 but has, she says, sold more copies this year than ever before. I guess that’s a sign as good as any that container gardening is really starting to take off.

The Edible Garden

Johanna Björk — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:15:34 +0000

Long before E.O. Wilson gave the condition a name, humans — city dwellers in particular — have felt a need to somehow be close to nature. Wilson dubbed it Biophilia and we see it in everything from inner-city community gardens to high-priced condos with water views. To fulfill our need to have nature be part of our lives we build ponds in our yards, keep animals as pets and grow plants and flowers in our gardens.

This weekend, I ventured out to The New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. This was my first visit and I found a small paradise in the city, that I will be sure to visit again many times. The event that drew me to the NYBG was The Edible Garden, a summer-long celebration of growing great food. The description invites you to “through delectable exhibitions and mouth-watering programs, be inspired to grow, prepare, and eat garden-fresh produce, and understand how plants provide the food and drink essential to maintaining life and enhancing wellness.”

Flowers can be edible too.

Sings with helpful tips for aspiring edible gardeners are posted throughout.

The incredible rise in popularity of local, organic food have given way to a new generation of gardeners, growing edible plants in their homes (t doesn’t get much more local than that!) If you are at all concerned about food safety (and if you have been reading about the scary stuff going on throughout our food system, you should be), growing your own food makes you able to control everything, from the ripeness and flavor down to the application of fertilizer and soil. No funny stuff anywhere.

I went on a beautiful day, and the gardens were quite crowded. Edibles to the people!

Edible gardens can have amazing diversity.

Big garden means lots of compost.

Through twelve different edible gardens, The NYBG hopes to inspire people to grow, prepare, and eat garden-fresh produce and provide a deeper understanding of how plants provide the food and drink that are essential to maintaining life and enhancing wellness. The amazing programming features activities sure to delight foodies, gardeners, cooks, entertainers and health freaks, as well as the casual summer visitor. During two Festival Weekends, there will be celebrity lectures and demonstrations by food luminaries such as Dan Barber, Martha Stewart, Michael Anthony, Michel Nischan, Aida Mollenkamp, Rose Marie Nichols McGee, Johny Iuzzini, Peter Hoffman, Amy Goldman, George DeVault and Rosalind Creasy. Add to that seven Edible Evenings and a Farmers Market every Wednesday and Saturday and it should give you more than enough reason to make a trip out to the Bronx.

Green cabbage.

Incorporate plants with beautiful foliage and tasty fruit in your garden.

Martha Stewart's fragrant herb garden was a big hit among all ages.

Coriander & friends.

Plant once, harvest again and again.

Who says edible can't be beautiful?

Edible flowers.

For intense flavor, harvest culinary herbs before they bloom.

The NYBG offers daily Docent Tours during which you will discover the edible plants in the Garden’s landscape on guided plant tours of the grounds or the Conservatory’s Tropical Fruits, Roots, and Shoots exhibit. At 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, Sonia Uyterhoeven, Gardener for Public Education gives Home Gardening Center Demonstrations teaching you the ins and outs of vegetable gardening. Bring the kids too! In the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, there is a fun, hands-on program called Flower Power, where they can learn how flowers become fruit. They get to plant beans to take home, make pollinator puppets, and participate in a plant-part scavenger hunt, all demonstrating the life cycle of a plant and the pollination process.

On festival weekends, you can sample wares from various vendors by the conservatory. My faves: Swedish cider, wine slushies & raspberry gelato.

Although not edible, flowers around the botanical garden are a true feast for the senses.

I guarantee you will be inspired, and if you feel like really digging your hands in the dirt, you can start with taking aone of NYBG’s Continuing Education Classes, where you will learn how to grow your own herb or vegetable garden. Another good option is to start helping out at a local Community Garden, the American Community Gardening Association’s website lets you search by zipcode to find the one closest to you. I went home hellbent on planting my own edible garden on the windowsills and fire escape of my Brooklyn apartment, but more on that later…

Veggie Trader

Johanna Björk — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 05:30:38 +0000

The newly launched online marketplace Veggie Trader is best thought of as a Craigslist for not just vegetables, but also fruits, herbs, nuts, seeds and plants. People with home gardens can create listings to sell produce they are themselves unable to consume to others who may lack the ability to grow food in their own backyards. Simple and brilliant.

You have to register to use the site, but is free to join. Users list the produce they would like to swap and name what they would like in return. A simple zipcode search makes it easy to find local produce right in your neighborhood. There is also a wanted section, where you can post request for certain items (artichokes in Bushwick, anyone?).

Since the site is still very fresh, there are currently not that many listings, but with an increasing number of users there is tremendous potential. Veggie Trader fills a need in a marketplace where more and more consumers want local produce grown without pesticides. What better way is there to shop for food than to cut out the middle man and deal directly with the growers, who just happen to be your neighbors? And why not take advantage of the social networking opportunity here and make some new foodie friends? You have tomatoes, I have chillies, we live two blocks apart, let’s get together and make salsa!

Say you are part of a CSA, and one week you get a box filled to the brim with peppers, which is great and pretty and all, but you really don’t like peppers, so what do you do, throw them straight into the compost? Just trade it. Someone in your neighborhood really really likes them.

Top photo by: adactio, Creative Commons.

D.I.Y. Cleaners: Kitchen

Johanna Björk — Wed, 20 May 2009 13:34:26 +0000

Very few of those who like to cook actually enjoy cleaning their kitchen, but a way to make it a bit more pleasant, and a bit more like cooking, is to make your own cleaning products, using what you already have within arms reach. Also, many conventional cleaning products contain chemicals that should never come in contact with food, some are even outright detrimental to our health. According to Treehugger, only 30% of the 17,000 different petrochemicals available for home use have been tested for exposure to human health and the environment.

The key to keeping a clean kitchen is maintenance, never letting it get too grubby. Every time you cook, make it a habit to wipe down the stove and countertops, wash pots and pans and put dishes away in the dishwasher (or do them by hand if you are that kind of brave pioneer) before you even sit down to eat. Cockroaches and other unpleasant creatures just love when you leave stuff out, another good reason to not procrastinate.

If you are anything like me, though, you may not always follow your own advice, so maybe there is quite a bit of work to do. One thing that is particularly important with surfaces that come in contact with food is that harmful bacteria are removed. But, there is no need to resort to toxic chemicals to achieve that, instead stock up on baking soda, vinegar, lemons and tea tree oil. Here is a list of ingredients useful for making your own cleaning products.

Baking Soda: cleanses, deodorizes, scours and softens water.
Soap: all-purpose. The unscented kind — liquid, flakes, powders or bars — is biodegradable. Castile Soap is a good option. (Avoid those that contain petroleum distillates.)
Lemon: acidic, anti-bacterializes, deodorizes.
Salt: absorbing, mildly abrasive.
Vinegar: degreasing, mildew, odor and stain removing. Can also help get rid of wax build-up.
Tea Tree Oil: anti-bacterializes, deodorizes, conditions.
Alcohol: disinfecting. Great to clean sponges etc. one you’re done cleaning.

Also refer to the list compiled by Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI), for reference. And, remember, warm water and vigorous scrubbing can work wonders if used consistently.

Part of my cleaning arsenal, vinegar, salt & baking soda. It's good to get the cheap stuff, but I happened to have some old vinegar in the house, and thought it better to use that than buy a new bottle.

So, let’s start with making an All-purpose Spray Cleaner:
Good to use inside cupboards, on countertops and other flat surfaces. Mix equal parts vinegar and water in a spray bottle. If the surface you’re about to attack is really dirty, you can heat up the solution in the microwave for a few seconds to amp up the cleaning power (remove the sprayer part first). Spray on the surface and let it sit for about 15 minutes. This helps soften dishsoap scum and other gunk, making it easier to clean up.

Tools:
There’s really no need to buy fancy cleaning supplies, just use stuff you have around the house. Old T-shirts, socks and towels (cut bigger ones into smaller pieces) make great rags. You know those mesh bags that you buy onions and potatoes in at the store, save them, cut into pieces and tie together for a scrubber sponge, great for cleaning pots and pans, grimy sinks etc. Speaking of sponges, don’t throw it out once you think it’s a bit too gross, put some alcohol on it, throw it in the dishwasher, or boil it with some baking soda. If you are going to buy one thing, make it a microfiber cloth, they are great to wipe vertical and shiny surfaces, such as refrigerators.

Cabinets:
It’s always good to start on the insides. If they are very dirty, spray cabinet shelves with the All-Purpose Cleaner you just made, scrub and wipe. If they’re only dusty, a wet rag will do. Clean cabinet doors, and make them smell nice, by using ¼ cup lemon juice mixed with 1 quart of hot water to wipe them down. I once saw a picture of a kitchen where all the shelves were alphabetized and labeled according to what was supposed to be on them. Freakishly anal perhaps, but not a bad idea if used in moderation. Maybe you make a sweet and a savory section, so you know what side of the pantry to look for those garbanzo beans, or make a good side and an evil side, where one holds such healthy things as lentils and rice and the other candy and microwave popcorn. You choose which is the more accessible. Being organized in some way is key, though, and if you live with someone, make sure you decide the order of the house together. It drives me nuts when my co-habitor puts the big plates on the side of the cupboard where the small plates are supposed to go, but who decided that? I did, just by doing it, and it’s probably too much to ask for him to telepathically share my random rationale.

Baking soda will clean almost anything. Keep an open container in the fridge to get rid of unpleasant odors.

The Kitchen Sink:
My main sink problem is food scraps that get stuck. Many of us don’t have garbage disposals, which may result in cloggage. Annoying, yes, but do not reach for that nasty commercial drain cleaner. Even if it works it will eventually eat away at your pipes. To clear a nasty clog mix 1/2 cup salt and 1/2 cup baking soda together, pour the mixture down the drain, follow with 1/2 cup of vinegar and let the mixture sit (for 15 or so minutes) while you boil water on the stove to flush it down with. Of course, the best way to prevent clogs is to make sure no solids go down there. Keep a small compost bucket next to the sink and scrape off plates before putting them in the sink or dishwasher. If you still get frequent clogs, try pouring 1/4 cup of baking soda and 1/2 cup of vinegar down the drain, let it sit for 15 minutes and then wash it down with boiling water. To scrub the sink shiny clean, pour some baking soda on a sponge and scrub, its abrasive qualities will get rid of grime and dirt without scratching the metal. For faucets and other shiny details, try using toothpaste to polish them to a shine. Just put some on a rag or and old toothbrush, polish, and wipe off with water.

The Oven:
This one can be quite unpleasant if you’ve let it get out of hand, and again, the key is maintenance (boring, I know), like scrubbing off spills before they dry to a crust. Besides being toxic and bad for the environment, conventional cleaning chemicals can also infuse your food with unpleasantness when the residue left is heated up. Not so tasty. So, instead, cover the bottom of your oven with a layer of baking soda and spray it with water until damp, not wet. Dampen the baking soda two times more after it dries and leave it sitting overnight. The next morning, you can scrape off the baking soda and it will take all the grime along with it. Clean off the white residue and finish by wiping the whole interior with your All-Purpose Cleaner, the vinegar will prevent future grease build-up.

Dirty Oven. Clean Oven. Photos by LuMag00, Creative Commons.

The Stove:
Your stovetop can also be cleaned using baking soda, you can either mix it into a solution by adding water or just sprinkle it right on the sponge. Use a toothbrush to get into crevices. Unless you have a ceramic top, spills can easily be cleaned if you sprinkle them with salt (if the spill has dried, moisten it a bit), which is absorbing and provides mild abrasiveness that won’t scratch the surface.

The Microwave:
If not properly maintained, microwaves can become little ecosystems, smelly and full of mystery stains. An easy trick to get rid of splatters and grease is to mix 1/4 cup of vinegar with 1 cup of water in microwave-safe container and cook it for three minutes. This also works with a bowl of lemon slices, heated for about a minute, which also neutralizes musty food odor. Leave it in there for about ten minutes so the fumes can work their magic, then open the door and wipe clean with a damp rag, starting at the top. Put those scraps in the compost and be done with it.

These are going in the microwave. I happened to have some grapefruit that had passed its use-by date, so I used that instead of lemons, works just as well.

Cutting Boards :
This is probably the most bacteria-prone part of your kitchen. Keeping separate cutting boards for poultry, meat, seafood and veggies is one good way to prevent germs from socializing. Cleaning them thoroughly is very important, but don’t reach for that creepy anti-bacterial (unless you feel like it would be a good idea to put toxins in contact with your food and potentially breed super-resistant mutant bacteria). If you have small cutting boards, run them in the dishwasher, they may get a bit warped in the bottom rack, so try and put them on the top one. A simple trick is to put lemon juice on your cutting boards, let it sit overnight and rinse off in the morning, this anti-bacterializes the surface and gives it that oh-so-fresh lemony scent. One of the best bacteria killers out there is regular soap and water. Use a brush to scrub thoroughly and get into any nooks and crannies there may be. If you have a wooden cutting board, wipe it off with a bit of salt too, this will absorb odor and make the wood look nicer. Finish by wiping it with a bit of vinegar, this is good for any type of wood surface since it removes stains and grease and reduces odor. Some tea tree or lemon oil is also a good way to moisten the wood and keep it from cracking (and it smells good too).

Clean cutting boards thoroughly with soap and water, put some power and baking soda into it to get rid of grime.

Countertops:
This is the final stretch of your kitchen cleaning journey. Use a baking soda paste to scrub off any dirt or grimy buildup. You can also rub the surface with some lemon juice for added anti-bacterialization and odor control. Finish by spraying the countertops with the All-Purpose Cleaner (this is a good thing to do daily), which will further neutralize odor and help keep them clean, fresh and sparkly longer.

Having a clean kitchen is good for the soul. Open up a bottle of wine and take a moment to admire the work you’ve done, all without harming the health of the planet or yourself. Resist that urge to order take-out just because the kitchen is clean, cooking is what it’s for and if you can just learn to maintain it, it’s all good clean fun.