December « 2009 « Sustainable Bonanza

December 21, 2009

Christmas Wish List

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: Christmas, Holiday, Re-think, Re-use, Waste — admin @ 12:30PM

This year on my wish list for Christmas is for my loved ones to spend less money on me, since buying new gifts can be unnecessarily financially draining.

In order to receive this gift of less waste, I let my family know that used items in good condition would be happily accepted. I find it fascinating what can be found for free if you just ask. On the internet, Freecycle enables people to connect about items they have and need. Taking the initiative to be open with those you know about what your needs are could potentially turn up that perfect gift lightly or entirely unused and in storage.

I think it is great when my family can trade, barter, or find someone giving away what they otherwise would have to buy. This wish of mine also spurred me to look through my own belongings for lightly used items that I no longer or never have used.

Me, a long time ago

Other thoughts on a more sustainable and earth-friendly holiday.

Gift Wrap:

Wrapping gifts in reusable bags which the recipient can either keep, give back or pass along to another person in need
Opting to not wrap gifts at all (can be challenging if you don’t know the person well)
Wrapping in old newspaper or paper bags and then coloring or painting on any additional decoration or adding a simple ribbon.

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December 18, 2009

Italian Food Part 2: Tuscany

Filed under: Economic Anthropology — Tags: Alive, CoOp, Food, Italy, Local, Local Living Economies, Porchetta, Travel, Tuscany — Kirsten @ 11:12AM

The market at Monterci in Tuscany introduced me to a new gastronomic passion, porchetta. Porchetta is a whole sucking pig, de-boned and stuffed with garlic, rosemary, fennel and liver. This juicy and delicious meat is a regional favorite which makes for a delicious and inexpensive lunch at the market when topped with a crunchy piece of skin and stuffed in a crispy roll, its exact flavors varying based on the chef.

It was here in Tuscany that I was made aware that not only were the restaurant menu items, and market items locally grown, but that they are also seasonally available. What this means is that should I go back to Tuscany in July the foods available would be what is ripe at that time. Fortunately for me ‘in season’ during December is cingale (wild boar), black truffles, chestnuts, porchini mushrooms and persimmon.

In the Caprese Michelangelo area, locals who harvest the mushrooms, truffles, and chestnuts from the forest are able to bring the fruits of their labor to market with the assistance of a local Co-op. Sounds like an easy and exotic way to get those truffles that you love? It isn’t. Each of the trees in the forest is ‘owned’ by someone and you would very literally be taking their livelihood.

Overall I have really enjoyed the regional flavors and the lessons that are evident when a locale seems to have a more sustainable food system.

Learn more about the foods of Tuscany from our hostess.

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December 17, 2009

Italian Food Part 1: Sorrento

Filed under: Economic Anthropology — Tags: Alive, Farmers Market, Food, Italy, Local, Local Living Economies, Regional Food System, Sorrento, Sustainability, Travel, Tuscany — Kirsten @ 12:12PM

I’m sitting in a kitchen in Caprese Michelangelo in the hills of Tuscany with a glass of a local white wine. There s a fire going to keep the room toasty warm. Jay is busy in our hostess’ kitchen preparing a tomato and fennel fish stew with ingredients that we picked up from the market that day, all of which were locally grown or brought in from the coast.

Is ‘local’ a theme here? So far, it is and not just because it is a passion of mine.

Let’s start from the beginning:

In Sorrento, where I spent my first few days, the streets are lined with orange trees. Small orchards of a few trees, herbs, and grape vines seemed to occupy all available space in backyards and on balconies.

Limoncello, a lemon based liquor, is not only regionally unique but also varies by producer. One variety I tasted on a whim was far better, in my opinion, than others to the point that I might have though it was a different drink all together.

At night while enjoying a stroll down Sorrento’s small side streets, I caught a glimpses of the day’s catch – frutta di mare – in display cases visible from the outside of the restaurants. No doubt this is meant to entice you in, and also to let you know what the fresh catch is for the day. Fresh meaning that it was caught that day and brought up from the harbour.

Once seated at the restaurant for the evening I was pleasantly surprised with a local and superior in quality bottle of vino rosso – red wine. This left no need to spend money on the otherwise pricey wine list, a pleasant occurrence which repeated itself throughout the trip until Rome.

Sorrento’s ability to not only feed me, but to do so locally and with great flavor was definitely appreciated. I appreciated knowing that the locally produced and harvested foods comprised the entire menu.

Would this be repeated? Find out about Tuscany in Italian Food Part 2: Tuscany.

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December 4, 2009

Recklessness Inaction

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: Alcohol, Bad Habits, Basic Needs, Butterfly Effect, Cigarettes, Climate Change, Environment, Global Warming, Non-Renewable Resources, Reckless Inaction, Renewable Resources, Tobacco, Water — admin @ 10:53AM

So let me get this straight: the argument a little while ago was ‘how could humans possibly think we could cause damage to the earth enough to change the climate. We couldn’t possibly have an impact on the earth’
(This from my interpretation of the climate change versus global warming argument.)

Now, it is ‘We have done so much damage that it is not worth it to make changes in our lifestyle’ I hear this as ‘We’re going to die off as a species eventually so why bother changing?’

It reminds me of the argument that people who chain smoke or drink heavily use to justify habits and lifestyles that have been proven to be unhealthy. In this case instead of a label saying ‘Smoking Kills’ maybe we should think that ‘Reckless use of non-renewable energy without a renewable alternative will tank the planet.’ or ‘Irresponsible use of resources = Earth death’ I’m sure there is a a marketing firm out there that could come up with a doozy… Although it is our positive messages that make the greatest impact on change, not the negative…

Back to my main point though which is this-> While we may make decisions individually, because we are a part of nature – which functions as a system – our actions have a global impact. From the policies of global manufacturers that we purchase from to our own household habits, our choices matter.

Paul Erlich said: “The fluttering of a butterfly’s wings can effect climate changes…” That is not to say that we should knock off all the butterflies for fear of a tornado. I think this science based thought supports that small actions can affect change.

Does it really hurt us to take a few seconds to think about what we need to do so that we can combine multiple errands into one trip? Does it drastically decrease our sense of happiness to be less wasteful?

I am not a proponent of Global Warming or Climate Change because to many people that topic is still up for debate. I choose, instead to bring up irresponsible global actions surrounding resources, which are destroying our environment. The very same Earth that we rely upon to provide us with our basic needs of food, water, and shelter. We can not listen to the political and media babble which distracts from this fundamental issue and encourages us to be recklessly inactive. Because of this, whether for reasons tied to climate change or not, we need to be responsible with our use of our planet.

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December 2, 2009

What are best practices anyway?

Filed under: Economic Anthropology — Tags: Alive, Best Practices, Net Positive, Replicable, Semantics — admin @ 9:23AM

Best practices: these mysterious things that I hear talked about again and again. I have been told that we need to look for and implement them. The idea sounds good. Look for what works and repeat everywhere.

I do not believe it is that simple. I’ve been giving it some thought lately and the challenge I see is that what is best for one community is not necessarily the best for another.

Different communities certainly have in common that they are groups of people, however, that is potentially the end of the similarities between any two groups. The cultural personality of one community changes the way it’s participants interact with each other and with information. This cultural difference is what makes a community alive, vibrant and unique. To say that any one idea will ever work in every type of community is simply wrong.

While the truly ‘best practices’ out there are the ones which work for many different cultures and communities, it is also possible to have a project that is incredibly specialized to one culture, and which is able to have a great effect on it.

So, I propose a change of wording or rather a clarification. Let’s search for ‘net positive practices’. In that phrasing there is no assumption of rank, just an acknowledgment that an initiative or plan worked.

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