Ideal Bite

We now bring you Part MCMXVII in the "Mike Really Does Not Care for the Process of Moving" series...

This weekend I gave away a TV. It was a 32" Toshiba that has served me well, through the days back when I had cable (On Demand, how I miss thee...), through all of the Oakland A's playoff runs of the early 2000s, and through intense Netflix periods as well. It still worked great, but it was time to say goodbye because my new studio is...cozy, in the parlance of real estate agents. (I'm not particularly looking forward to only watching movies on my laptop, but it's either that or sleep with the TV in my bed. And I'm a warm sleeper already.)

So I listed it on Freecycle since I had no takers on Craigslist -- apparently no one wants to pay for a bulky, unreasonably heavy, non-flat-screen Read the full post... 

I really hate moving. It's a terrible, terrible chore. But going green did make one part of my recent move this past weekend a little more bearable.

Boxes are, of course, a necessity. But buying them is expensive and wasteful, and getting them from grocery stores with like mashed bananas at the bottom kinda sucks.

So I went on Craigslist, and under the "For Sale" section, I clicked on "free." I searched for "boxes" and found a bunch of listings right in my neighborhood where people were giving away moving boxes, most of them claiming they were in good condition. Within maybe 30 minutes, I had collected about 15 totally sturdy, nonbanana'd moving boxes, and it didn't cost me a dime.

In short: If you're moving, check Craigslist. It is awesome. Read the full post... 

There's my entry for "Best Sex Industry Pun." My mother must be so proud right now.

A German madam has launched a new discount offer at her East Berlin brothel: Travel green and save yourself a few euros. Fifteen minutes inside would have run you €30, but show 'em a bike helmet, your U-lock keys, or your bus ticket and it's only €25.

The madam estimates that about 10% of the clientele is taking advantage of the deal. No matter what industry you're in, times are tough, but it's nice to know that going green will always pay off.

-Senior Editor Mike...off to ride his bike - to the store, sicko...
Read the full post... 

There is one other thing we have to fear: a beer and wine tasting event where most vendors are pouring you full glasses of wine and beer while also being pretty lax about taking your drink tickets. Yikes.

I hit up the fourth annual California Certified Organic Farmers Organic Beer and Wine Tasting Event in SF on Friday evening, and though the details of the event are a bit hazy, I do recall a few things that might help guide your picks next time you're in the market for some booze.

• Uncommon Brewers' Siamese Twin Ale – a Belgian-style Double that's rich and malty with a little citric kick - was essentially my obsession of this past summer. But since that's the only one they

Read the full post... 

Wooooo, free stuff! Who doesn't like free stuff? Crazy people, that's who. You're not crazy are you? ARE YOU? If you are, I sure hope you're not near my house or my stash of gummy bears, because everyone knows that crazy people love gummy bears. Oh, wait.

Anywho…Michael Adrover, a fashion designer who's taken home awards from the Council of Fashion Designers of America, and has been nominated for Vogue awards, is now designing for German eco-apparel company hessnatur. Together, they recently launched their new limited edition "World In Your Hand" organic cotton tees (see pic - bigger one here), which are now on sale at Whole Foods Markets.

Our Read the full post... 

Last week, Newsweek released its long-hyped green rankings of the 500 largest companies in the United States. I would say it made for a few surprises.

The top five:

1. Hewlett-Packard
2. Dell
3. Johnson & Johnson
4. Intel
5. IBM

Tech companies – ones that produce tons of electronic products, and presumably traffic heavily in e-waste - dominate the top here, joined by a pharmaceutical/personal care company. McDonalds made the top 25; Coca-Cola made the top 40.

Newsweek's list pitted companies against others in their respective sectors, and considered full environmental impacts, green initiatives (stuff like powering operations with renewable energy Read the full post... 

…about eco-soap. I'm pretty sure that wasn't a pun, but it's hard to tell anymore.

So I've been trying out different eco-soap varieties lately…some are meh, some I really dig (Whole Foods' Rosemary Mint Glycerin Soap), but outside of the glycerin varieties, I seem to run into the same problem with these bars: They almost always fall apart long before their time.

Not like break in half, mind you. Like splinter into somewhere in the vicinity of 78 billion tiny slivers that end up being pretty much useless. This process starts very early on…once it's been in the shower for a couple days, you can see it start to crack and prepare for disintegration.

Has anyone else encountered this sort of thing? Is there a fix? Please send help…my side of the office is starting to smell, and I don't think Read the full post... 

Rules are rules. I get that. And in order to win the coveted Golden Hoe, I had to grow edible food by the end of the contest, something I will readily admit I did not do. But if we had gone like two more weeks, you would have witnessed the most incredible blossoming of tomato fruit ever known to mankind (or at least the roof at 340 Brannan Street).

Did I change my gardening style in those two weeks? Nope. So I submit to you, fair, reasonable (and good-looking) readers, that I have been made the unwilling victim of a contest that pitted me against nature rather than my fellow competitors, and just like The Old Man and the Sea (no, I'm not blowing this out of proportion, why do you ask?), this story as well ends with the protagonist clutching at the mangled skeleton of a lost victory.

All I'm Read the full post... 

Why we humans think we can improve on nature - which was had millions of years to hone its processes - is beyond me. But if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right?

The New York Times blogged last Friday about a Minnesota company that looked around at its state's 10k crystal-clear lakes and had an epiphany: It's the moss.

Most folks with pools dump chlorine in periodically to kill the bacteria and keep it clean (even though there are other options, ahem). But chlorine, though potent, isn't exactly gentle - and you have to keep adding it because it gets eaten up by things called Read the full post... 

SF Biters who are total science geeks, unite!

Hey, since when are there crickets in this office? Anywho, starting tonight, everyone can get more science exhibit/eco-building action at California Academy of Sciences.

Usually open from 9:30 am to 5 pm, CAoS is keeping their doors open until 8 pm on Monday and Tuesday nights throughout August. If you've been missing out on seeing goofy penguins swim, or cool 3-D movies about bugs, or laughing while watching butterflies land on jumpy tourists trying not to have panic attacks, well, now you can do it after work.

And if you're the procrastinating type, you may now rejoice even further: These special Mon.-Tue. hours will go until Sep. 8, the day after Labor Day.

Say hi to the albino alligator for me...

-Senior Editor Read the full post...