PLAYgreen

B.Y.O.M. -Bring Your Own Mug

 

    

 

Worried that your double-shot-no-foam-skinny-fair-trade latte is expanding your eco footprint?

Popular coffee chains have reported using over 2.3 billions paper cups a year. North America uses 50 million trees for paper cups and 33 million gallons of water to make paper cups. And even though paper is a renewable resource, a large amount of non-renewable resources are used during the production. Travel cups and mugs come in all shapes and sizes! You can fool your barista by getting one these re-useable ceramic mugs.

Green your caffeine fix by bringing your own mug! By ditching this single-use object, you’ll divert over 23 pounds of trash a year from going to the landfill. Plus, by using your own mug, you’ll also save some green -- many coffee shops offer discounts when you bring in your own mug. 

 

Green Certified Restaurants in Berkeley!

 

After working out your minds in class and your muscles at the RSF, your body needs healthy good food to keep up with your busy lives. Fortunately, all four Cal Dining Restaurants on campus are Green Certified, and we are surrounded by a quite a few other green certified restaurants within walking distance of campus.

 

Bay area restaurants earn green certification by making a commitment to adhere to eco-friendly environmental and conservation measures throughout their operations. While regulations vary from city to city they are generally monitored by Bay Area Green Certifiers and city regulators who make sure restaurants meet the certification standards.  Restaurants that are Green Certified are eco-friendly because of the food they serve (high quality, organic, locally grown foods that follow sustainable practices), and actions they take in operating their business: doing everything they can to lighten their eco-footprint by conserving resources, reducing pollution, and minimizing waste.

 

Below is a list of restaurants just blocks from UC Berkeley offering great food, eco friendly practices and a green certificate of accomplishment.

1. Ajanta 
2. Breads of India
3. Cafe De La Paz
4. Chez Panisse Cafe
5. Gregoire
6. Pie in the Sky
7. Zatar

Visit Green My Cuisine to see a more extensive list of green certified restaurants throughout the bay area.

 

Greening our meals

 

 

We all know that our body needs food for energy. Whether you’re heading to the RSF to do a workout, or going to Underhill to compete in an intramural sports event, you have to supply your body with energy. Remember that calories turn into energy and energy is produced by the food that we eat. Going green, by eating organic, cutting out the additives and chemicals, will sustain your body’s energy so you have a powerful and satisfying workout. Take a look at the tips we gathered below from treehugger to help turn your meals more sustainable for your body and the planet.

 

1. The Big O: When you eat organic, don’t just picture the healthy food you are putting in your body, picture the healthy ecosystems which produced that food, the workers who are safer from chemicals, the land, water, and air that is being protected, and the wildlife that is being allowed to thrive. Organic vegetables, fruits, grains, juice, dairy, eggs, and meat (and don’t forget the organic wine and beer), are grown and processed in ways that support healthy people and a healthy planet.

 

2. Fair fare: Fair trade certified food ensures a proper wage and working conditions for those who harvest and handle it. But fair trade is green for the environment as well.

 

3. Go local: Local food generally use less packaging, is fresher and tastier, and comes in more varieties. It also supports small local growers and lets them get more for their produce by not having to spend so much on packing, processing, refrigeration, marketing, and shipping.

 

4. Don’t follow the pack: Instead of buying foods that come in extensive packaging, look for unpackaged or minimally packaged foods, experiment with bringing your own containers and buying in bulk, or pick brands that use bio-based plastic packing.

 

5. Compost the leftovers: Greening your meals isn’t just about the food that winds up on the plate—it’s the entire process, Composting leftovers will ease the burden on the landfill, give you great soil, and keep your kitchen waste basket from smelling.

 

6. Grow your own: In the garden, in the greenhouse, in the window box, or even something fancier, even urbanites can get quite a bit of good eats from not much space. Grow your own and save money, enjoy your own produce and contribute to

 

7. To and from: Just as buying locally grown food cuts on “miles per calorie,” buying from local sellers cuts back on emissions, fuel consumption, and unnecessary traffic.

 

8. Just enough: Put some extra planning into the amount of food you cook will cut back on waste. If it’s something that will spoil quickly, try to avoid making more than you or your family can eat. \

 

9. Raw: Many people swear by the benefits of eating raw. Whatever the health advantages may be, preparing raw food consumes less energy and because raw food is usually fresh by definition, it is more likely to be locally grown.

 

10. Ease up on the meat: Meat is the most resource-intensive food on the table and eating less of it can be the single greenest move a person makes. A pound of beef requires around 12,000 gallons of water to produce, compared to 60 gallons for a pound of potatoes.

 

Source: Tree Hugger, viewed October 30, 2006

Green meal for three for under $3.50

Here is a great recipe for you to impress your guests and save some bucks after a long class or workout at the RSF from Planet Green. A Meal for three for around $3.50 using only one pot, organic fresh ingredients, and ready to eat in less than twenty minutes. Can it be true,delicous and green? Yes it can!  Green because we bought organic at "The Local", Cal's personal farmer's markert on campus,  mitigating the carbon footprint caused by chemicals, and pertol it took to get to the market. Saving electricity and/or gas because of the short cooking time, while conserving water by using one pot.  You get to be the judge for flavor.  

Check back every week for another great meal for the on the go, light budget and health conscious individual.

Chickpea Curry

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tsp mustard seed

1 dried chili, or 1/2 tsp chili flakes

1 tsp cumin 1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp coriander seed

1 tbsp salt, or to taste

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 ripe tomatoes, diced or 1 cup canned tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 tbsp chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)

1. Heat oil in a large pot and add onions and garlic and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.

2. If you are an exacting cook like Hugh, prepare the chili as above, adding the mustard seeds to the mortar and pestle as well. If you are a lazy cook like me add all the spices to the pot and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

3. Add the chickpeas and tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally for about 20 minutes. Serve with bread or rice. Add cilantro garnish if using.

Source: Planet Green, viewed October 3, 2008

Reduce Your 'Waist'

According to a recent article in The New York Times, Americans churn out 30 million tons of food waste per year. That wasted food often ends up in landfills, producing methane -- a greenhouse gas -- as it decomposes. How can you reduce your food footprint and decrease your waistline at the same time? Dish out smaller portions (a good trick for keeping portion size in check is to use smaller plates) and save your leftovers for a second meal.

When you're eating at a restaurant, stick to tapas or appetizers, and skip the main course. If modest portions aren't available, split an entree with a friend or bring your own carryout container to avoid plastic and styrofoam. Not only will you be taking steps to keep a healthy waistline, but you'll be reducing the amount of waste produced per year.

For more tips, visit wastedfood.com.

Source: Sierra Club, The Green Life, viewed May 20, 2008

The Eat Well Guide

We know its important to stay healthy no matter where you are, be it on a business trip or in your own home town. When you're away for the weekend, you can take your workout outdoors and hit a local trail or gym, but what about finding healthy food choices? Now, you can plan ahead and find wholesome, fresh and sustainable food before you leave town.

The Eat Well Guide is a handy online database of small-scale farms, restaurants, and other green food outlets throughout the U.S. Enter in your zip code and voilà, a long list of options in your area or wherever you may be headed. The site also has Water-Conscious ratings, so you can find out which neighborhood restaurants are saying no to bottled water.

To find local or nationwide options for local, sustainable and organic food, check out the Eat Well Guide.

Refueling post workout with the "food of the future"

After working out, it's important to refuel your body, preferably within an hour after a workout. This period is when the muscles absorb the most nutrients and when glycogen, an energy reserve in your muscles, is replaced most efficiently. The actual composition of the post-workout meal is a matter of some debate; for optimal glycogen replacement, most people recommend carbohydrates, but a certain amount of protein is needed for muscle repair and growth.

Sources of carbohydrates include wheat, rice and potatoes, but with the cost of wheat and rice bursting through the roof, all eyes are turning to the humble spud as a nutritious staple that could cheaply feed a world increasingly ravaged by hunger.

The potato has plenty going for it, the land and water use efficiency is superior, it matures in as little as 50 days, and can yield between two and four times more food per hectare than wheat or rice. A great source of complex carbohydrates, potatoes only have 5 percent of the fat content of wheat—that is, if you don't smother yours in butter. Potatoes also have one-fourth of the calories of bread, and when boiled, have more protein and corn and nearly twice the calcium. Plus, they contain vitamin C, iron, potassium, and zinc.

As we move toward a reality where there simply isn't enough food to feed the world, many prominent voices—including the United Nations, which declared 2008 the "Year of the Potato"—are saying that the potato is part of the solution.

Find out more here.

A drink thats good for you and the environment

As a Rec Sports member, we know you treat your body well by working out. How about a drink that treats you and the environment well? What drink is that you ask? It's yerba mate. Not only is it good for you, but the organic- and fair-trade-certified yerba mate is being sold in a sustainable fashion as well.

Yerba Mate is known for energizing your body, stimulating mental alertness, aiding in weightloss,
accelerating the healing process, relieving stress and fortifying your immune system.

In addition to all of its health benefits, companies now sell organic and fair-trade-certified versions.

Here our a few places that offer this delightfully eco- and fitness- friendly beverage:

EcoTeas
Guayaki
Grounds for Change

Source: Treehugger, viewed March 20, 2008

Coming soon, to a Bear's Lair near you!

When you get hungry before class, after a workout or just while studying on campus it's good to know where to grab a bite to eat. Now, one of your options is going green. The ASUC Senate passed a bill Wednesday night which will provide for the Bear's Lair restaurants to undergo green-certification within three years.

The bill will bring student group Bay-Area Environmentally Aware Consulting Network and Bear's Lair restaurants together to make the necessary changes for certification. The pub already strives to meet green standards. Its policies include recycling all glass, using only fluorescent lights and abstaining from electric heating.

Haitham Alloun, owner of The Coffee Spot, said that his businesses are also already doing their best to comply with green standards and would welcome certification.

For more information, check out the Daily Cal.

An Eco-friendly & Healthy Valentine's treat

As someone who loves to eat healthy and work out, I know that chocolate may be the last thing you'd think of as a healthy treat, but surprisingly eating chocolate in moderation does have its benefits. Not only does chocolate today come in many organic and fair trade varieties, but studies show that it can help your heart and cholesterol.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reminds us that chocolate might be a calorie-dense food (a small snack-size candy bar is typically in the 40 to 100 calorie range), but the fat found in chocolate is stearic acid. The paper cites a study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 1997 that found stearic acid could increase levels of HDL (the "good" cholesterol) and people who eat milk chocolate had lower than expected levels of LDL (the "bad" cholesterol). In addition, University of California-Davis researchers established that chocolate contains high amounts of phenolic compounds, which are antioxidants and so may help reduce the risk of heart disease.

If you want to surprise your Valentine with a treat that's good for them and good for the planet, check out a few of the yummy chocolate treats that are eco-friendly too!

Endangered Species
Dagoba Organic Chocolate

Source: The Daily Green, February 12, 2008