Warm ice cream?

This is novel.

Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is pondering how to make an ice cream that is made, shipped and sold warm, with the consumer taking the final step of actually freezing the product.

http://www.environmentalleader.com/2009/08/26/fighting-climate-change-with-warm-ice-cream/

I have always thought that we could reduce enormous amount of CO2 by reducing our reliance on cold or frozen foods/beverages. It's almost second nature to us, but there are a lot of things that are unnecessarily cold or frozen. We can reduce or eliminate ice cubes in soda, for example. And it won't change the function of soda that much. Eating less frozen food and cooking by yourself might reduce more GHG than you think, if you think through the supply chain and logistics.

Rethinking cold/frozen food is one of the low-hanging fruits to reduce our carbon footprint.

Thank you Ben and Jerry's for working on this, and thanks for being delicious and green at the same time.

Bright side of economic downturn: People are eating healthier

American Diet Changing Out Of Economic Necessity

Eating healthier is definitely good.

And probably it's time to start thinking about "peak food", just like "peak oil".

We only have one Earth to cultivate yet world's population keeps growing so rapidly. Shouldn't it hit the peak eventually?

If everyone on earth live the same standard of living of Americans, we need almost 5 earths.
Below is the links for ecological footprint calculator.

http://www.earthday.net/footprint/index.html
http://myfootprint.org/
http://www.ecologyfund.com/registry/ecology/res_bestfoot.html
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators/

Haramaki! - tummy warmer -

My sister sent this from Japan and I was very skeptical at first.
It's called Haramaki. It's basically underwear that you wrap around your waist. (sorry it's not explicit with this pic)

This was an old way to get yourself warm - when building heating system wasn't good. Back then, people used to put on anything they could to keep them warm.
Now that we are in the modern society, we thought we didn't need it any more because it's not sexy and we've got whole bunch of cool ways to warm ourselves.

But then, it's back! And it's back with whole new look. (see the website I linked below)

My sister said it was super warm.

And it is! I think it is back because people decided, after all, that this is much more efficient and comfortable than its modern version competitors!
....this is hard to explain. Can you imagine how much such a small piece of fabric can do to your body? It's pretty thin and fits your body, and when your tummy is kept warm, your whole body feels so much warmer!

If you are trying to minimize your expense, this small cloths can save your some dollars because you can lower the temperature of your home heater 2-3 degrees! And obivously it'll reduce your carbon footprint. I am serious.

Well, honestly, you can't wear your hip-hung jeans with this, but if you are done with that phase, it's for you. I found some interesting story on Haramaki: Check this out.

Solar Prius?

http://www.environmentalleader.com/2009/01/02/toyota-reported-to-be-developing-solar-powered-car/