So I am sick, possibly with the flu, and I remembered looking at Google Trends for the flu a while back so I though I’d post about it. Here is a video explaining it:

It is interesting to me how they use search terms data to put together these models. It makes me think about what else could be graphed like this that they haven’t done yet or how Google Trends can be used for research and gathering a sense of what the public is thinking and doing.


Specific links to pages of interest:

• Google Flu Trends
• About the data
• Current US Trends (You can also see trends by state.)
• Google Trends, (search by term)

Image credit: Flickr user euart
Here are some interesting Halloween news links I found while perusing the net:

• Halloween Safety for Adults
• Sex Offender Awareness on Halloween
• Dentists in Bridgman holding buy-back program for Halloween candy
• TUAW’s Halloween Roundup
• The Ultimate Halloween Desktop

Have a safe weekend! I will be playing in an ultimate frisbee tournament as one of Rufio and the lost boys from the film Hook!

Halloween is this Saturday, so I thought I would pull together a quick list of ideas:

1. Make your own candy this year.
Why? Store bought candy uses a lot of packaging, and typically travels long distances to make it to your belly. Here are some links to make-it-at-home recipes:

• http://www.cooksrecipes.com/category/candy.html
• http://candy.about.com/od/halloweencandyrecipes/a/halloween_hub.htm
• http://candy.about.com/od/halloweencandyrecipes/Halloween_Candy_Recipes.htm

2. Reuse, borrow or salvage old costumes or costume parts.
Why? Reusing old costumes and costume parts extends the life of the materials and temporarily diverts them from becoming waste in a landfill. It also prevents the need to use fresh, virgin materials for the purpose of a costume. Get creative! Pull together some old clothes that you don’t wear anymore and fit them together to make something interesting.

3. Make your own costume.
Why? Making your own getup allows you to choose more sustainably available materials and also could lead to a greater appreciation for the experience. Plus, you can make it fit your body the way that you think it should.

4. If you are going out to party, drink locally brewed beer or alcohol. (This one you can do any time of the year, but you can make it a point to do it especially for one entire weekend!)

5. And lastly, put that pumpkin in the compost! If you don’t have a compost, donate it to your nearest community garden.
Why? Nutrients in the pumpkins can return to the earth if they are allowed to decompose naturally. The next crop of plant life can then take up these nutrients.

Have a safe and environmentally-conscious Halloween!

On October 10th, a beautiful morning even if the slightly overcast sky and the occasional drips of water threatened more rain, I set out for Prospect Park in Brooklyn. I took part in a group hike through the park with the goal of foraging and learning about foraging in this urban parkscape. The group was led by Leda Meredith, author of “Botany, Ballet, and Dinner from Scratch,” as part of Green Edge NYC’s urban foraging series.

Stepping into the park, I wasn’t sure what to expect for the next 2 and half hours. What I came to realize, though, was that this city is not devoid of edible plants even though it is not as “natural” as people may perceive it to be. My own family members were skeptical that we would find anything when I told them about it later.

The parks of New York turn out to have not only edible greens, but species that are good for medicinal and seasoning purposes too. Leda told us about dandelion leaves, epazote, gingko leaves and nuts, and many others.

For a better look at what we did, watch this video I made:

Check out Leda’s website here and Green Edge NYC’s here.

Tea season has come around sooner for me this year with this chilly September. Most of the tea that I drink is probably made in China. I like to drink jasmine tea mostly, but sometimes I’ll have green tea. And I drink A LOT of tea in the winter, so it got me thinking about what kind of impact that has.


First of all, importing the tea will increase the environmental impact. Most likely, the tea is getting shipped over from China in a large shipping container on a big ship. Tea doesn’t weigh very much, but it still does weigh something and takes up space, so both factors would have to be taken into account.

Then, the materials of the packaging should be considered. Sometimes tea gets shipped in large barrels, so they can be sold by weight. That is the most efficient way to ship the tea by using the least amount of packaging.

NUMI Organic Tea is one company that uses good practices for packaging. From their website:

“our tea boxes are made with 85% post-consumer waste, annually conserving more than 5,202 trees and reducing landfill by 334,560 pounds. We do not cello-wrap our boxes, our tea bags are 100% biodegradable, and we choose to use bamboo for all of our gift packaging, a leading renewable resource.”

On a more commercial side, Lipton apparently is only going to use leaves from sustainable, ethical sources for their tea. Check out this Treehugger post.

Here is another good article about food mileage of tea and coffee that offers the advice that we should drink tea that is “sustainably produced, fair trade tea. Buy it loose and in bulk if you can, or in unbleached tea bags, at least.” The author makes the point that in the big scheme of things tea and coffee production are often important sources of income for poor third world villages and that the shipping by boat is about one-eightieth the carbon footprint of shipping by air.

So I guess that means I can still drink tea this winter, but I will have to try to buy lots of leaves at once from the right vendor (though I’m not sure where I can get fair trade jasmine tea in the city).


Image credit: Flickr user serhio

Last friday, I volunteered at the Solar-Powered Film Series hosted by Solar One and Green Edge NYC. I found out about this event from Green Edge NYC (specifically Patricia Curry). It was great to meet up with people doing great work in New York regarding sustainability and community outreach! Thanks should go out to both organizations who put on a great series!

This night’s film was The Garden, about a group of urban farmers in L.A. who started their 14 acre garden after the riots in 1992. They go through some hardship starting in 2004 when they have to fight to prevent eviction.

It was an emotional film! It was frustrating how unsympathetic to farming the people trying to get the land were. The community went through several legal difficulties during their fight. I felt worked up about protecting the plants and the relationship that the people developed with the plants, more than the human interests involved. So many of the trees they planted were producing fruit and took many years to reach that point, and the community gained so much from their relationship with the land. But if you watch the film, you will see what happened. The film also brings to the fore the reality that many groups are constantly in conflict with each other because of things like land and development. There are many ways that things could have gone, and the film documents this journey.


Here is a video/slideshow that I made from the pictures and video I took of the events:


It was really a great event overall! The screen had to be inflated, and that was really fun to watch. I’m not sure what it is about watching something inflate, but considering how many people still go to watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons get blown up, it has to be some kind of innate human intrigue.

Stacey Murphy ended the night telling us about BK Farmyards. They do very interesting work in Brooklyn with growing food in backyards and contributing to Community Supported Agriculture (I think). Check out their website.

I hope that there are more events like this that more people can go to in the future. I think it is a good idea to show people that we don’t have to sacrifice everything that we enjoy (movie-going) in order to live a more sustainable life. It isn’t about being ascetic. To me, it is about being conscious of what we do, of our choices and trying to make the right decisions.