I had meant to make this post back when the NCAA tournament was going on, but ... well ... I'm getting around to it now.
Every year I get excited about the NCAA tournament and this year was no exception. There were some real exciting games and great upsets. However, one thing I did not enjoy was all the greenwashing by Exxon. It seemed they had a commercial played during every timeout on CBS. In particular, the Capturing CO2 ad really struck me as inaccurate.
In the ad, a scientist working for Exxon describes CO2 as an impurity of natural gas that can be taken out and stored safely away from everybody (and the atmosphere in particular). Unfortunately, this is not exactly true. CO2 is a natural byproduct of natural gas combustion because it exists within the molecular structure of the gas itself! Although carbon sequestration should become part of a comprehensive solution to global warming, no one has been able to successfully achieve this on the scale required and it has many environmental, economic, and health related risks. In the end, we need to move away from fossil fuels and into a renewable energy future if we are ever to achieve the dream of a sustainable future.
This topic is still relevant because Thursday is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day so many companies will be out there trying to promote themselves as environmentally friendly. Be sure to read between the lines, do your own research and don't fall for the hype! Earth Day is a great opportunity to generate awareness and inspire action and should not be hijacked for a little corporate greenwashing.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
Rowes Wharf Sea Grille
Rowes Wharf Sea Grille - 70 Rowes Wharf, Waterfront (Aquarium)
For the Winter 2010 Boston Restaurant Week finale, I went to Rowes Wharf Sea Grille with Ann, Kyle and Melissa. It is located in the very posh Boston Harbor Hotel. The decor was maritime themed and very refined. As I feared, it was a little too staid and lacked the energy of a hipper, more accessible restaurant. This may have had something to do with being tucked away in a hotel, which I feel always removes a certain authenticity from restaurants.
I had heard about the place in the Globe when they described it as the first truly great seafood restaurant in the city actually located on the waterfront. And what a picturesque waterfront location it is. We were seated next to the window, which was nice even though it was night. The view looks out over the middle of the harbor and just off to the right you can see the glass-enclosed back side of the Moakley Courthouse.
Let's get to the food. Surprisingly they had chosen to put their most expensive entree, the Filet, on the Restaurant Week menu so three of us chose to get it. Knowing this, I decided to go seafood for my appetizer and ordered the New England clam chowder. I'm not going to claim to be a chowder expert, but this was real good. The steak was exceptional as well, although we all ordered ours medium rare and they came out a range of medium to medium well. This was really the only disappointment of the night. My Cheesecake with Blueberry compote was delicious as well. On top of that, our server was extremely attentive so it is no surprise that the Sea Grille ranks at the top of OpenTable's list for service.
It was another great Restaurant Week experience. I would recommend it for a more formal celebration or possibly a date if you're looking for something romantic with a harbor view.
For the Winter 2010 Boston Restaurant Week finale, I went to Rowes Wharf Sea Grille with Ann, Kyle and Melissa. It is located in the very posh Boston Harbor Hotel. The decor was maritime themed and very refined. As I feared, it was a little too staid and lacked the energy of a hipper, more accessible restaurant. This may have had something to do with being tucked away in a hotel, which I feel always removes a certain authenticity from restaurants.
I had heard about the place in the Globe when they described it as the first truly great seafood restaurant in the city actually located on the waterfront. And what a picturesque waterfront location it is. We were seated next to the window, which was nice even though it was night. The view looks out over the middle of the harbor and just off to the right you can see the glass-enclosed back side of the Moakley Courthouse.
Let's get to the food. Surprisingly they had chosen to put their most expensive entree, the Filet, on the Restaurant Week menu so three of us chose to get it. Knowing this, I decided to go seafood for my appetizer and ordered the New England clam chowder. I'm not going to claim to be a chowder expert, but this was real good. The steak was exceptional as well, although we all ordered ours medium rare and they came out a range of medium to medium well. This was really the only disappointment of the night. My Cheesecake with Blueberry compote was delicious as well. On top of that, our server was extremely attentive so it is no surprise that the Sea Grille ranks at the top of OpenTable's list for service.
It was another great Restaurant Week experience. I would recommend it for a more formal celebration or possibly a date if you're looking for something romantic with a harbor view.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
The Real vs. Green Economy and Craig's List (and reading material)
Lately I've been spending a lot of time on Craig's List for various reasons. On Saturday, I bought a road bike from another guy in Somerville after a couple of weeks scouring for a good deal. I gave away an old video camera that had been gathering dust in my parents' basement to an art student who was excited to get it. I'm in the process of selling a couch from our apartment and am attempting to sell some Canon Mt passes as well as an extra mirror I have for a Civic Coupe.
What does this have to do with progressBoston you ask? A site like Craig's List is a key tool in living a sustainable lifestyle. The internet makes getting rid of your old junk much easier as there are now thousands of pairs of eyes to check it out instead of the dozens that would stop by a yard sale. As with yard sales though, one person's junk is another person's treasure and by re-selling it, you have extended the usable life of the object. This is great because it keeps it out of landfills and prevents the energy intensive process of making a new object. I feel that it also encourages a sense of community and allows people to help each other out in a way that can be lost in a modern, urban environment.
I recently joined a Sustainable Systems at Work discussion group. The first session outlined the need for corporations to take responsibility for their environmental impacts and Interface Global CEO Ray Anderson described himself as a "plunderer of the natural world." Most corporations take raw material from the Earth to create a product that will never return to the Earth in its original form. This is true of the company I work for and there must be a better way.
In many ways, our current economy has been built on this unsustainable practice. Our GDP grows and we feel 'richer' when we spend money on cheap items that will only be thrown away in a year or two. A site like Craig's List allows these items to extend their useful life (Obviously, this only works for a short period of time and products should be designed to return to their natural state which is why Cradle to Cradle is on my reading list). One of the benefits of the Great Recession is that it has placed more of a focus on person to person relationships and making due with what one has instead of a blatant consumerism. If this feeling can be extended to change our purchasing habits when we are making money then maybe there is hope for us to truly find a sustainable life model and protect our planet's resources. Capitalism and environmentalism are not naturally at odds (read: Natural Capitalism); we merely have to place a price on protecting the environment to make capitalism sustainable. Therefore, when someone says they are supporting the economy by purchasing something, it's important ask if it is a sustainable economy that they are supporting.
What does this have to do with progressBoston you ask? A site like Craig's List is a key tool in living a sustainable lifestyle. The internet makes getting rid of your old junk much easier as there are now thousands of pairs of eyes to check it out instead of the dozens that would stop by a yard sale. As with yard sales though, one person's junk is another person's treasure and by re-selling it, you have extended the usable life of the object. This is great because it keeps it out of landfills and prevents the energy intensive process of making a new object. I feel that it also encourages a sense of community and allows people to help each other out in a way that can be lost in a modern, urban environment.
I recently joined a Sustainable Systems at Work discussion group. The first session outlined the need for corporations to take responsibility for their environmental impacts and Interface Global CEO Ray Anderson described himself as a "plunderer of the natural world." Most corporations take raw material from the Earth to create a product that will never return to the Earth in its original form. This is true of the company I work for and there must be a better way.
In many ways, our current economy has been built on this unsustainable practice. Our GDP grows and we feel 'richer' when we spend money on cheap items that will only be thrown away in a year or two. A site like Craig's List allows these items to extend their useful life (Obviously, this only works for a short period of time and products should be designed to return to their natural state which is why Cradle to Cradle is on my reading list). One of the benefits of the Great Recession is that it has placed more of a focus on person to person relationships and making due with what one has instead of a blatant consumerism. If this feeling can be extended to change our purchasing habits when we are making money then maybe there is hope for us to truly find a sustainable life model and protect our planet's resources. Capitalism and environmentalism are not naturally at odds (read: Natural Capitalism); we merely have to place a price on protecting the environment to make capitalism sustainable. Therefore, when someone says they are supporting the economy by purchasing something, it's important ask if it is a sustainable economy that they are supporting.
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