Vegan Chocolate Muffins

I love springtime. Yesterday I bought the most beautiful basket of strawberries. What is better than strawberries and chocolate.

Start by combining day ingredients:

1 1/2 Cups Flour
2 teaspoons Baking powder
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup coco powder (vegan)
1 cup chocolate chips (vegan)

Combine with the wet ingredients:

1 cup rice/soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Add additional soy milk if the batter is a little thick

Bake at 350 degrees

D.C. E-Cycling Event Today

When: today, Sunday April 22, 11:00 am- 3:00 pm
Where: Freedom Plaza (13th and E St NW)

What: bring computers and peripherals for safe recycling

More information:: EPA E-cycling

D.C. Learn-a-palooza

D.C.'s Learn-a-palooza is a collection of community workshops run by members of the Washington D.C. community across the city. The "festival" features a panoply of interesting and green options including, "How to Green your Home" and "Think local first". They are also still taking volunteers to help run workshops.

Events: April 28

Learn more about it here: D.C. Learn-a-palooza

Bike-in Movie

What: Open air screening of the 80s classic "Breaking Away"
Where:Marie Reed Field in Adams Morgan.
When: Saturday, May 12, 7-10pm

Sponsored by the Washington City Paper and Washington Area Bicyclists Association

There will also be giveaways of goodies like VIP Improv passes and a Bike and much more.

For Additional Details: Washington citypaper

Bi-annual Arlington Household Hazardous Wastes Collection Event --TOMORROW

Held at Thomas Jefferson Middle School on S. 2nd Street and Glebe.

The collection covers:

Household Hazardous Wastes (paints, cleaners, ect.)
Computer equipment and peripherals
Bicycles
Rechargeable Batteries

See the complete list: Arlington County

Sierra Club Showing of Kilowatt Ours at the Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse (on Columbia Pike, S. Arlington)

According to the website,

"When: Sunday, April 22nd (EARTH DAY!) at 6:30PM
How Much?: Suggested Donation of $5 to Sierra Club

Kilowatt Ours Reveals the Consequences of Our Coal Powered Economy. The film opens with Vice President Dick Cheney's energy policy speech in which Cheney makes the claim that America needs nearly 1900 new power plants in the next 20 years to meet projected electricity demands.

From here, filmmaker Jeff Barrie takes viewers on a journey from the coal mines of West Virginia to the solar panel fields of Florida, as he discovers solutions to America's energy related problems."

Official Website: kilowattours.org

Showtime is at 6:30 PM on Sunday, April 22 (Earth Day itself!), followed by a panel discussion, with a $5 suggested donation.

Talk with the Treehuggers Tomorrow


Tomorrow Treehugger.com writters will be participating with a live chat on Washington Post.com tomorrow at 2PM. See Details here: WaPo

Holy Climate Change, Batcat!


See how your hometown will look after the icesheet melts with this mashup between google maps and NASA topographical data.

MASHUP

Tofu Watercress Stir Fry

Combine:
1 tbls fresh lime juice
1 tbls tamari sauce (Braggs Liquid Aminos)
1 tbls Mirin
1 tps fresh ginger
1/2 tps fish sauce

1 cubed package of Extra Firm Tofu (the kind you buy in the refrigerator case)

Saute:
2 chopped cloves garlic
1 scallion (or equivalent small onion)
2-4 tbls sesame oil

When garlic & onion reach translucent stage add the marinated tofu
brown on each side take care to minimize turning the tofu as it will fall apart if handled too much

turn off heat
add two bunches of fresh, washed Watercress

add the remaining marinade

cover and allow the watercress to wilt

serve over rice or udon noodles

51 WAYS: Number 7, Hang a Clothesline

Sounds simple, right. Just hang a line, but as New York Times reporter, Kathleen A. Hughes reports these things can be more complicated than they used to be. For one, many jurisdictions and home owner associations forbid the hanging of clothes. For another, culturally we have fallen out of the habit. Kathleen makes it work for her. See her article: NYT

51 Ways to Leave Your Carbon

....or rather, lower your carbon. The April 9, 2007 issue of TIME magazine featured "The Global Warming Survival Guide" which featured 51 ways that individuals can lower their carbon footprint.

I volunteer myself as a human human Guinea pig and in the next few months I'll be working the 51 ways. A "carbon" diet, if you will. It'll be like Oprah's Fit Club, only you know not annoying. E-mail me on the 51 ways if you have any suggestions or questions.

Here are the 51 ways (in brief):

1."Turn food into fuel" (biofuels)
2."Get blueprints for a green house" (passive efficiency)
3. "Change your lightbulbs" (conventional to LED lighting)
4."Light up your city" (using LEDs in public installations-such as street lights)
5. "Pay the Carbon Tax" (public policy-carbon caps vs. carbon tax on individuals)
6."Ditch the McMansion" (Smaller houses, greater efficiency)
7. "Hang up a clothesline"
8. "Give new life to your old fleece" (reuse/recycle clothing)
9. "Build a Skycraper" (new advances in green commercial construction)
10. "Turn up the Geothermal Heat" (finding and using new technologies to harness clean energy)
11. "Take another look at vintage clothes" (reuse/recycle clothing)
12. "Capture the carbon" (carbon sequestration)
13. "Let employees work close to home" (telecommuting)
14. "Ride the Bus" (public transport)
15. "move to a high rise" (low sprawl)
16. "pay your bills on-line" (paper reduction)
17. " Open a window" (lower cooling use)
18. " Ask the experts for an energy audit of your home" (energy efficiency)
19. "Buy green power at home or away" (finding and using new technologies to harness clean energy)
20. " Check the label" (energy efficiency)
21. "Cozy up your water heater" (energy efficiency)
22. "Skip the Steak" (emissions reduction)
23. "Copy California" (public policy)
24. "Just say no to plastic" (plastic reduction)
25. "Support your local farmer"(emissions reduction)
26. "Plant a bamboo fence"
27. "Straighten up a fly right" (public policy)
28. "Have a green wedding" (emissions reduction)
29. "Remove the Tie" (lower cooling use)
30. "Shut off your computer" (energy efficiency)
31. "Wear green eye shadow" (consuming environmentally friendly goods)
32. "Kill the lights at quitting time" (energy efficiency)
33. "Rearrange the heavens" (public policy)
34. "Rake in the Fall Colors" (emissions reduction)
35. "End the paper chase" (paper reduction)
36. "Play the market" (emissions trading)
37. "Think outside the packaging" (paper/plastic reduction)
38. "Trade Carbon for Capital" (public policy)
39. "Make your garden grow" (waste reduction)
40. "Get a Carbon budget" (public policy, emissions reduction)
41. "Fill'er up with passengers" (emissions reduction)
42. "Pay for your carbon sins" (carbon offsets)
43. "Move to London's new green zone" (emissions reduction)
44. "Check your tires" (emissions reduction)
45. "Make one right turn after another" (emissions reduction)
46. "Plant a tree in the tropics"
47. "If you must burn coal, do it right" (emissions reduction)
48."Drive green on the scenic route" (emissions reduction)
49. "Set a higher standard" (public policy)
50. "Be aggressive about passive" (energy efficiency)
51. " Consume less, share more, live simply" (waste reduction)

Cats love the Colbert

Colbert recently interviewed Colin Beavan, AKA No Impact Man
on the Colbert Report.

Personally, Beavan makes me coughed up a hairball with his semi-self righteous hard-core douchiness. But Colbert can cat-my- nip anytime.

See it here: http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/?lnk=v&ml_video=84626

Even green cats can't tread water forever!


One World.net is Hosting and On-line Discussion on the possible impacts of climate change. Check it out. One-World.net

Cat Learns to Take the Bus

According to Brittan's Daily Mail, a cat in England has learned to use the bus.

According to reports, "The feline, which has a purple collar, gets onto the busy Walsall to Wolverhampton bus at the same stop most mornings - he then jumps off at the next stop 400m down the road, near a fish and chip shop."


This guy just might beat us at our own game! Daily Mail

From Alingtonians for a Clean Environment:

Mark your calendars:

The Arlington Environmental Collection and Recycling Event (E-CARE) a
is a twice yearly event where Arlington residents can safely dispose of
household hazardous materials, or recycle bikes, small metal items,
electronic equipment, linens, clothing, shoes, books, and eyeglasses.

Held: April 21, 8:30am-3pm. Thomas Jefferson Middle School, 125 S. Old
Glebe Rd, West parking lot.

Bring your household hazardous waste (Arlington residents only),
bicycles (donation requested), clothing and shoes, small metal items,
eyeglasses, books, cell phones, computer equipment, monitors/TVs (fee).

Compost bins will be available for sale ($10) on a first come first
serve basis.

More info? Call 703-228-6570 or go to the County Recycle Web Site
http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/EnvironmentalServices/Environmenta
lServicesEnvex.aspx or http://tinyurl.com/ysygx6

Green Real Estate Scares in Washington region

The Washington Post-Express published an article on the availability of environmentally friendly real estate in the Washington D.C. metro area, especially in the condo market. The article suggests that the lack of green housing, especially in the condo market is due to low consumer demand:

"In order to find the perfect first condo, 26-year-old Gillette has enlisted Kiefer, who just launched Green D.C. Realty, a firm dedicated to the selling and buying of environmentally friendly properties. But the paucity of listings on his site (zero) and the difficulty Gillette has faced finding something that meets her standards (the Glover Park place didn't cut it — nor have the other 15 they've seen) reflect how far the Washington area has to go in greening its condo market.....

But without any vocal demand from the public for green properties, and without a concrete definition of what green really is, developers have been hesitant to embrace the available options."

See the whole article here: WaPo

Everyday is Earth Day!

Every April it seems every newspaper, magazine and organization wants to promote Earth Day. Don't get me wrong, Earth Day is a wonderful way to promote environmental awareness. But most years it seems like after the middle of April we don't pay any more attention to environmental issues. I sincerely hope that this is changing.

In anticipation of Earth Day, Whole Foods has launched at program called "The Whole Earth Weigh-in-30 days in 30 ways"

But what's cool about this is that it includes a carbon calculator and coupons (and you know I love coupons)

See it here: Whole Foods