Springtime treat – Vegan Ice Cream in Boston

Did you know that The University of Chicago reports that going vegan is 50% more effective than switching to a hybrid car in reducing greenhouse gas emissions?!  Maybe you are like me and you can’t make the TOTAL jump. You can at least substitute some creamy icy cold snacks and go animal product free every once and awhile, right? (For disclosure purposes, I was vegan once, a LONG time ago, and now, I would rather stab myself in the eye with a spork than give up aged gouda for life, but, that is just me.)

Okay, okay… many of you may say… “How can it be ice cream if there isn’t any cream?” Well, it is and it can be. While Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, even your local grocery store, have a nice selection of dairy free treats in the frozen dessert aisle, occasionally you want to get an impromptu cupa something nummy. For those warm days that are just on the horizon, check out one of the great local Boston places to get your Vegan ice cream jones on!

NORTH END:

Grezzo Restaurant
69 Prince Street Boston MA 02113
857-362-7288

They do not use dairy, animal products, animal derived products, maple syrup, honey, nutritional yeast, cooked vinegars, canned food or processed ingredients.

SYMPHONY:

Wheelers Black Label Vegan Ice Cream
334B Massachusetts Ave
Boston, MA 02115
617- 247-0047

They use soy, coconut, rice, and almond milks for all of their tasty treats!

BEACON HILL:

Cafe Podima
168 Cambridge Street
Boston, MA 02114
617-227-4959

Be sure to ask for their tofu frozen yogurt!
KENMORE:

Ankara Café
472 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
617-437-0404

They also have tofu frozen yogurt!

SO, while you go out and get your nomnom on, be proud that you are doing your part to reduce your carbon footprint, one lick at a time!

Tags: ankara cafe, boston, cafe podima, carbon footprint, emissions, greenhouse gas, grezzo, tofu frozen yogurt, University of Chicago, Vegan ice cream, wheelers

What a bright Idea

The general public now knows that Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFL) are more energy efficient than traditional incandescent lighting. This is old news. CFL’s provide more light with less power, less coal is burned and this means less CO2 is going up into the atmosphere.

But D2E has not devoted a blog entry to these little money savers, so here it is. And to the left is a close up of a CFL in Lorelei’s apartment. Below you can see a full photo of the über cool lamp that she found on the sidewalk in Cambridge, with the side table that was also found on the Cambridge sidewalks. This lamp has to be circa 1960. Free-cycled furniture and CFL’s, how can you go wrong?

Aside from helping the environment we should note that you can also save money. Although some name brand CFL’s are somewhat more costly ranging from $7-$20, in the long run they save you money while helping the environment. If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.

There are those skeptics however, that argue that CFL’s are just as bad for the environment because they contain Mercury and become hazardous waste once they have served their purpose. (We like skeptics, by the way. Skeptics help us get to the truth.) The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), suggests that CFLs of 25 watts or less, the equivalent of a 100-watt incandescent bulb — contains no more than 5 milligrams of mercury, the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen. Even though the amount is minimal it is vital that these bulbs be disposed of properly.

You can find a location where you can drop off these CFL’s here.

If a CFL breaks do not use a vacuum to clean up the mess, and

1. Ventilate the room by closing all interior doors and opening all exterior doors or windows to the outside.
2. Remove all materials you can by wearing disposable gloves and scooping up the glass and powder with a stiff paper or cardboard. You can then pick up smaller fragments using duct tape. Grab a damp paper towel clean the surface once then clean it again this time adding a dish soap, dry it all up and dispose of the paper towel.
3. You can pick up a mercury-absorbent container linings for broken CFL’s, if and when they are available.

Not all CFL’s are the same, they come in many different shapes and sizes and are used for rooms around the house. With the popularity of CFL’s and the growing consciousness of the environment there are even newer light bulbs coming out like electron-stimulated luminescene (ESL), so check out your options. If you don’t believe in the benefits of using CFL make your own test. I have, so far I haven’t found the need to replace any light bulbs I bought the ones I have in March.

This post is courtesey of our wonderful summer intern, Nathalie. We miss her!

Tags: CO2, coal, Energy, ENERGY STAR, greenhouse gas

BIG Belly

Last week I grabbed a pizza and headed for Copley Square to enjoy my lunch in front of the park. When I finished my delicious Uppercrust I headed for a trash receptacle and encountered Big Belly!

Big Belly is as friendly as he sounds, being the first Solar Powered Trash Compactor that does exactly that, compresses the garbage thrown into it’s belly making room for five times more trash than traditional trash receptacles.

The best part about Big Belly is that he is powered by solar panels when compacting all the trash and he reduces the number of collection trips needed to pick up all trash. This cost effective friendly belly cuts fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions by 80%.

Next time you see Big Belly be sure to feed him trash that his belly can compress!

Tags: Big Belly, compactor, garbage, greenhouse gas, solar