July 2012 – Kristen Baumlier

Month: July 2012

Go Box: Resuable To-Go Food Boxes

Posted on July 29, 2012August 3, 2012 by Kbaumlier

Sometimes when I travel, I end up getting food to go. After I eat I end up with a plastic bag, Styrofoam containers, and plastic utensils. I usually feel bad about the amount of packaging I used for my meal and if I have to throw it out I feel guilty. Packaging of food and drink has increased, with the plastic bottles of waters being one of the top uses of plastic packaging.

Laura Weiss wanted to address this issue, and she created Go Box, a program that teams with some of Portland’s local food carts to offer reusable plastic packaging to local patrons. For a one-year subscription fee of $12, a consumer gets a a token that they give to participating food carts, and their takeaway food is served in reusable (BPA-free) plastic containers.

Users can return the reusable containers at over a dozen locations in Portland and receive a new token for their next food purchase.

So far, Go Box has managed to divert 8,000 disposable ‘clam shell’ containers this year from the Portland dump. 900 people have subscribed to the service.

Future plans for Go Box is to expand to include the program being available to downtown Portland restaurants that do take out. Less trash, savings for the food vendors – why not eat food and help reduce adding waste to the planet?

Image Source:
http://www.goboxpdx.com/

Links:

http://www.goboxpdx.com/

This Weekend – Food Font comes to Buffalo, NY

Posted on July 26, 2012July 26, 2012 by Kbaumlier

Food Font, a project where people can create food alphabets and use them in an interactive design tool to the Elmwood-Bidwell Farmers Market in Buffalo, NY on July 28th.

Food Font is an interactive art project where people can make alphabets out of food, take pictures of each letter, and later use these and other food alphabets in a fun, free, interactive online design tool. With the tool, you can write with various food alphabets, choose backgrounds, and do basic layout techniques to make images that can be saved, shared electronically, and also printed. The tool can be used to make images, posters, signs, and other printed materials.

The Buffalo News wrote a short writeup in the Grub-Pub area about the upcoming event.

If you are in the area – come stop by and make a letter out of local produce! (but we are not Buffalo wings I just had to use that image!)

Links:

Buffalo News – Food Font Writeup

www.elmwoodmarket.org

The World’s Fare: The Largest International Roaming Dinner Party

Posted on July 25, 2012July 26, 2012 by Kbaumlier

A few weeks ago I backed a project on Kickstarter called The World’s Fare. The project got funded, and this Fall, the organization The Feast will host an international, roaming dinner party called the World’s Fare that everyone is invited to participate in.

On October 5, 2012 at 7pm local time in cities everywhere, anyone can be a part of the dinner by bringing together 6-8 people for a feast (dinner) of their own. The purpose is to eat together and decide on one thing each group can collectively start to make the world better. It can be small –like fixing a fence or large such as supporting an effort to redefine an industry.

All of the groups who participate will be invited to share what they intend to build and change with the world at large online. These commitments will be shared through The Feast site, social media and showcased in a public art installation that will act as the central piece for a pavilion of innovation in NYC the next day.

This initiative is part of the organization, The Feast, which organizes the Feast Conference which brings entrepreneurs, radicals, doers and thinkers who are revolutionizing the way things work for the betterment of humanity. This year the conference is from October 3-5, 2012.

I plan to participate, and just put the event in my calendar. Now – I have to decide what to cook and who to invite.

Image Source:
feastongood.com/worldsfare/

Links:

feastongood.com/worldsfare/

www.kickstarter.com – World’s Fare

Got Petroleum In You or On You? This Weekend in Buffalo, NY

Posted on July 24, 2012July 26, 2012 by Kbaumlier

Petroleum is everywhere. From the shoes that we wear, to the zippers on our jackets, to the aspirin that we take for headaches – it all has petroleum in it.

This Saturday, my interactive performance Petroleum In You or On You will be in Buffalo, NY as part of the opening weekend of the Buffalo Infringement Festival.

In a unique twist to the scavenger hunt, visitors will be invited to check their clothes, bodies and purses to see what they have on them that originate from petroleum and compete for a special souvenir prize. Pictures will be taken of what people have on them and their count of items will be tracked during the event.

Do you see petroleum when you look in the mirror? You just might after you participate in this interactive performance.

Petroleum In Me and On Me will be at the Buffalo Infringement festival on July 28th. Stop by between 7-9 pm at Barfly (162 Elmwood Ave.) and check yourself for petroleum. Every 30 minutes will be a winner!

The location of the performance and the list of petroleum products can be seen on Google Maps at this link: http://awe.sm/h0GoM.

Location and time:

7pm – 9pm Buffalo Barfly 162 Elmwood Avenue Buffalo, NY

Links:

My Petroleum (On Me and In Me): Scavenger Hunt and Interactive Event

http://www.infringebuffalo.org/calendar.php?day=2

http://petroleuminme.tumblr.com/

http://awe.sm/h0GoM

Lifebox – Cardboard Ecosystems You can Ship

Posted on July 22, 2012July 26, 2012 by Kbaumlier

This year we joined Amazon Prime which has increased our online shipping as well as the amount of cardboard that comes into the house. We recycle it each week, but I feel bad when I see the pile of boxes that come into the house regularly. There is a lot of water and energy that goes into making the cardboard and getting my purchases to my house.

Lifebox is a company that has figured out how to make cardboard into a packaging material as well as a designed ecosystem. The person behind the project is Paul Stamets, mushroom and fungi expert. Cardboard is a perfect growth medium for encouraging the growth of fungi and plants to symbiotically grow together. Each Lifebox contains around 100 different tree seeds and also is dusted with mycorrhizal spores that “protect and nurture” the seedlings. Stamets asks people to rip the box into large pieces, soak them in water, place the pieces in a plastic bag for 6-12 weeks, plant the cardboard panels, water and watch your Life Box sprout tree seedlings.

The seedlings will sprout a miniature forest. In about two years you can plant the trees or take them to a local nature preserve or park. The big picture with the project is to work with organizations like the forest service or non-profit agencies to direct people to public lands where their trees are most needed. The seeds selected are non-invasive species and also have the biggest impact on reducing carbon in the atmosphere.

The Life Boxes are made in various sizes, and some of their partners include Whole Foods and other retailers.

The story behind the box is written on the site-

“ While growing many wood-decomposing mushrooms, my friends and I discovered the ‘wonders of cardboard’ for growing mycelium. Silky, diverging forks of mycelium would happily race down the valleys within the folds of corrugated cardboard. Having myco-mulched with cardboard for many years, I realized that cardboard could become a growth medium for encouraging guilds – communities – of fungi and plants symbiotically working together. Then, the epiphany hit me like a lightning bolt. Why not re-invent the cardboard box so each box becomes a designed ecosystem? “- Paul Stamets

Stamets sees the project as a simple way to “regreen” the planet, one box at a time. So far, I have not gotten one of these in the mail, but I plan to ask at Whole Foods about this next time I go – to see if they use them or sell them.

Image Source:
www.lifeboxcompany.com

Links: