More than Numbers

An ecosystem for boxes

If you've moved recently, you can feel the pain that San Francisco-based BoxCycle is trying to solve for. It's generally expensive (and wasteful) to buy new boxes and kind of a hassle to hunt them down from grocery stores. After you move, you're stuck with a bunch of boxes to get rid of. Most are recycled but still there is a better way: create a marketplace for people to sell their used boxes to those in need. An excellent idea that I'm looking forward to trying out next time I'm need of boxes. I love ideas that are both eco-friendly and add convenience while saving time and money for the consumer.

Hemp-based kicks

I've been in the market for some new shoes for a little while and have been researching what is out there. I realized certain manufacturers are starting (or at least have the option) to ditch the canvas in favor of hemp. One of the cheaper ($50) hemp shoes out there are also a classic in the Converse Chuck Taylors. I think I might just give these a shot.

Hemp is a good alternative material for the environment as it is a sustainable crop since it is ready for harvest about 4 months after planting.

bamboo cutting boards

We've been needing a new cutting board, so we recently picked up two (one for meat, one for veggies) from the Totally Bamboo Greenlight series. So far, I'm very impressed. The boards are very thin at about 3/4" but also very sturdy and absolutely beautiful. They seem to dry exceptionally quick after washing and did I mention how beautiful they are? Very affordable at about $15. Replace your boards now!

For those that don't know the benefits of using bamboo are exceptional. Bamboo is actually harder than maple (by about 16%), yet is easy on your knives. It's also naturally anti-microbial, which is obviously a great benefit when preparing food. Best of all though, bamboo is eco-friendly. You're not destroying old growth forests. Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on earth, so it is sustainable. And no fertilizers or pesticides are needed in it's cultivation.

I'm definitely looking forward to using these more often. After just a few uses in, I already know these are some of the best boards I've ever used.

Is ecobill a trick?

I received an interesting email from comcast today promoting their ecobill prodct. Ecobill is promoted as "an environmentally friendly way to view and pay your bill online that takes less time and uses less paper." Who could argue with that? I usually pay my comcast bill online anyway and have been wondering why comcast has been so slow to adapt to the industry standard paperless statements.

Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions. In order to sign up for the ecobill program you must also enable automatic payments. I'm fine doing this with some companies, but not comcast. I've  had issues in the past with being invoiced twice in the same payment period and being charged the wrong amount. Why is it that you can't choose to go paperless and pay manually?

It's not an unheard of concept. Email or SMS the customer when the statement is ready and ask them to pay online. Is that seriously so hard? When eco-friendly initiatives are tied together with things like automatic payments it seems like comcast is really only running the program for it's own benefit and not just for the sake of saving the planet.

While I'm talking about it, I also wish utility companies like comcast would push more incentives to be eco-friendly. Like how Whole Foods gives you a small credit for not using a reusable shopping bag.

Easier way to get around.

Today Charm and I went to Alice Radio's Summerthing concert in Golden Gate Park. It was a free concert so we imaged there would be a lot of people and felt it silly to drive and annoying to take the MUNI so we decided to bike over. Best decision ever.

As usual, the SF Bike Coalition provided free, secure bike valet parking. The ride was an easy 10-minutes from our apartment so it was a no-brainer. On top of that, JFK Drive was even blocked off from cars due to it being a Sunday. I have to admit it felt so great having gotten there without a carbon footprint and getting a little exercise at the same time.

The concert was a fun afternoon in the city. Among other things, we were celebrating a friends birthday so good company, good music and good food. Always a winning combination. Performing was The Last Goodnight, Lighthouse, Ingrid Michaelson, and my favorite Marie Digby.

Another one for snail mail.

Was scanning this article about the rise of postage yet again (thank you, freedom stamps!) when I came across this:

With each penny increase in the cost of gas, it costs the U.S. Postal Service 800 million dollars more in fuel expenses a year.

If the numbers are correct, this implies that the USPS uses about 80 billion gallons of gas annually. That fact is absolutely staggering.

So why isn't there any pressure on the USPS to convert to alternative fuels?

Jurlique.

I haven't had much experience with the Jurlique brand before. Besides hearing the name, I really didn't know anything about them until I walked into their San Francisco store the other day. After just spending a few minutes inside of their store, I felt like I knew their history, value proposition and quality of product.

Jurlique really gets how the retail environment should be. Everything is very simple and organized - if you're familiar with their product you should have no problem to find what you're looking for. But their store goes way beyond that and is a great introduction to who Jurlique really is. You immediately understand that Jurlique is about organic, natural products. That they believe in protecting the environment more than developing chemicals That it's high quality stuff, with a huge sink available to test it everything out firsthand (I'm a fan of their Sandalwood Hand Wash). You know they were founded in 1985 and have farms in South Australia. They're very transparent about who they are and what they do. This is exactly the type of brand I love. Where you're immersed into the brand once you enter the retail location, and it's a brand you also become passionate about since they do a wonderful job at telling their story.

And it was a completely awesome designed space to boot.

Hose vs Broom.

This morning I saw two people cleaning off their sidewalks in preparation for street cleaning. One was a man in his 30s with slicked hair and a blazer blasting everything with his garden hose onto the street. The second was an older lady with a broom carefully sweeping away leaves into the gutter. The contrast between the two was overwhelming, especially since they were less than a block away from each other.

I saw the man first and could not believe that people in this day and age (especially in San Francisco) would so carelessly waste water. The lady gave me hope again. It was very symbolic though, how the younger generation needs to wake up and make more of an effort for conservation.

Don't let laziness be an excuse. In addition to being nicer to the Earth, sweeping is even better for your health.

Stop the paper.

Today is Earth Day. A day to inspire awareness for the environment and all things green. I'm a huge supporter of Earth Day but I think the environment and climate change is an issue that should be at the top of everyone's list. As I try to improve my own life, I'm always thinking of ways to lessen my personal impact on the environment. I'm also a big supporter of companies that are friendly to the environment and find alternative ways to do business that are friendlier to the Earth.

One easy way to be better is to try and reduce the paper trail. Some simple things you can do right away include switching to paperless bills and statements, using reusable shopping bags, and removing yourself from direct marketing junk mail lists. You'll find that the added benefit for making such environmentally conscious decisions is also a more simplified and stress free life.

A cool thing that Apple Retail Stores are doing now (which I haven't seen anywhere else) is to offer your purchase receipt be emailed to you. I absolutely loved this idea as it didn't waste a paper receipt that I would just end up shredding and recycling down the line. In addition to being paperless, it was nice not having to hold or pack an extra piece of paper in my wallet.

Since the environment definitely is something I am passionate about, I will try to occasionally post about ways I try to do my part.