Earth Day and Greenwashing

I took this write-up from the Center for Biological Diversity email digest that I get on a weekly basis. I must say it encapsulates the hopes and fears of the environmental movement pretty accurately. I personally think there are too many gimmicky 'Green' things going on right now. I think it's good that people are finally 'aware' that they have an effect on the planet, but a lot of it is definitely corporations trying to make people feel good about themselves and, oh yeah, buy more of their product. Overpopulation is the simplest cause of environmental degradation, whether it is through habitat loss or increased demand for resources. Any long term solution must incorporate decreasing birthrates through increasing education, among other things.

Out of all of these awareness events (Earth Day, Earth Hour, etc), I am the biggest fan of Earth Day because of it's history and grass roots beginnings. I am willing to support things that raise awareness, but sometimes these events can be counterproductive or just ridiculous. I remember watching an NFL game and when they went back to the studio they were raising awareness of energy usage by having the studio lights turned off. So the anchors were sitting there in partial darkness, one of them was waiving around a flashlight, yet there were 6 LCD screens visible behind them turned on showing highlights of games and such. If they had really wanted to draw attention to energy usage (or if they wanted to use less energy permanently), they could have turned off those TV screens and been able to have their lights on and still used less energy.

It's great to remember how important our planet is and spread awareness of our impact on it, but it's more important to remember that we have an impact every day and it is in our daily choices that we will determine whether all of us humans can live sustainably on it or if Earth Day will have less of a meaning for future generations.

Seven Billion People and Counting -- So Earth Day Matters More Than Ever

Yesterday, Earth Day was commemorated for the 40th time since 1970 -- this year, by about a billion people. How'd it get so popular? Ironically, it's one of corporate America's favorite advertising events. Wal-Mart is plugging "earth-friendly" stuff like Cheerios and STP gas treatment, while Sony is hyping its new video game Trash Panic and General Motors is providing Earth Day lesson plans for little ones. The Minnesota Beef Council's ludicrous line? "Celebrate Earth Day this year with a juicy, lean cut of beef and know you're making an environmentally responsible and healthy food choice" (and please, don't research the environmental effects of meat production). Never mind the fact that Earth Day 1972 arrived with 4 billion people on the planet, while today we're fast approaching 7 billion meat-and-Cheerio-eating, Wal-Mart-shopping, mass-consuming humans. Hey, anybody think overpopulation might be the biggest focus of future Earth Days? Just a thought. Besides, every day should be Earth Day -- as our friends at Grist.org put it, "One day is for amateurs."

Still, if a billion people have each done just one tiny thing to help the planet this April. . .well, that's better than a poke in the eye. And it doesn't mean we can't celebrate all year, which means today can be Earth Day, too. So go clean up a trail or something -- again -- and keep spreading the word about saving the environment. Because with all the people around today (and with all the advertisers cramping our style), we have a lot more spreading to do.

Read a thoughtful article from Grist.org and learn about the real first Earth Day -- which took place in March -- from the Boston Globe.

Metropolis Cafe

Metropolis Cafe - 584 Tremont St (South End, Back Bay)

On Sunday night, Ann and I were wandering down Tremont St looking for a place to eat and we decided to try out the Metropolis Cafe. I am happy to say it was an excellent choice. Described as a Bistro and Wine Bar, it has a cozy European feel. The menu was simple and had several dishes that I wanted to try. With some help from the waiter, I chose the Rigatoni. It was amazing. The sauce had a familiar flavor, but it was combined with enough spiciness and flavor that you just wanted to lick the plate clean. To top it all off, the menu is priced about $8 less than comparable restaurants on Tremont. Definitely a strong recommendation from me if you're in that area or looking for a new place to try.

Good News for High Speed Rail

In case you missed it, last week Obama and Biden came out with their plan for implementing high speed rail in the US. I am very excited by this proposal and feel that the US is far behind other developed countries in implementing inter city rail. Admittedly, our continent size geography and urban history make inter city rail less practical than most European countries or Japan, but I feel that there is already enough demand to utilize it in certain parts of the country and Obama's 'corridor' plan takes this into account.

It appears to me that the initial $8 billion will go towards improving existing infrastructure to let current generation trains run at their top speeds (around 110 mph). Normally, I would say this is a waste, but it only seems practical since we're so far behind and it will probably require an investment 10 times as large to implement a comprehensive high speed system. My only complaint is that I would prefer to see the focus made on a couple of high priority corridors instead of eleven. In particular, the Northeast Corridor (Boston to DC; I now I'm biased!), should be a model for the country due to its high density cities and relatively short distances. Getting the Acela up to 150 mph for the entire route could virtually eliminate air travel among several of the US' largest cities. I also think California needs a high speed line between the Bay Area and LA and their plan seems to be very well thought out and could accomodate train speeds up to 220 mph.

For more details go here (thanks to Sanjay for sending me the links originally).

Grotto

Grotto - 37 Bowdoin St (Beacon Hill, Bowdoin, Government Center, Park St)

For our second Restaurant Week dinner, Ann and I checked out Grotto in Beacon Hill. We were both very excited at the prospect of a high end Italian menu with accessible yet intriguing entree options. The name Grotto is very fitting as it is a cozy underground restaurant in an otherwise nondescript building on Bowdoin St. I would recommend it as a good spot for a special romantic dinner (once again price is an issue for making this a regular stop though Restaurant Week only saved $3 a meal over their regular menu with the same choices).

For the Primi course, I ordered the Cavatelle, which was hand rolled pasta combined with sausage and mushrooms in a thick cream sauce. It tasted amazing, although it was certainly very thick, almost like eating a cheese sauce, and required a very dry wine to cut through the taste in your mouth. Unfortunately my Chianti was not up to the task. I also got a bite of Ann's Sweet Potato Ravioli, and it was pretty good with an emphasis on sweet. I'm not sure I would order it for my meal, though. For the Secondi, we both ordered the Carne, which was beef tenderloin over risotto with asparagus and a red wine sauce. The beef was perfectly seasoned and truly a tasty piece of meat. Once again, my risotto seemed to be coated in a sort of thick cheesy sauce, with parmesan flecks on top of it. It tasted good, but could be overwhelming. Luckily, switching to a Cabernet for the meat certainly helped. The asparagus didn't really seem to fit into the taste patterns of the risotto or the red wine sauce, but overall I was very happy with my selection. To finish everything off, I ordered the Melting Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream. For me, when it comes to dessert, simpler is better and it's hard to top this combination. That said, it was executed perfectly and was as good if not better than the Molten Chocolate cake at Finale (if only because they gave you a real portion of vanilla ice cream to offset the chocolate). Ann's dessert was Banana Bread with Caramel Ice Cream. I enjoyed the ice cream but am no big fan of Banana Bread and there was really nothing there to interest me after having eaten my chocolate cake.

All in all, I was a fan and would like to try some more dishes out. The normal $36 prix fixe price tag isn't outrageous for nice occasions and you get the added benefit of being able to walk off your meal through Boston's most romantic (and historic!) neighborhood afterwards.