a table to talk about
this is what your leftover ikea boxes want to be when they grow up:
check out the designer, leo kempf’s project statement here.
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incredible and edible
don’t read this, just watch:
amazed? i was flabbergasted!
what you just witnessed was an omurice (japanese dish consisting of fried rice covered by a blanket of soft, yellow omelette) being cut open. although the dish is most commonly dressed with ketchup, the glistening sauce you just saw burst out from between the egg was demiglace sauce, a hearty, savory brown sauce that when done right, makes me want to go dancing in the rain.
want more? here’s a peek at the series that the omurice clip comes from, lunch queen, about natsumi, whose only passion in life is finding delicious and affordable lunches. i’m hooked!
did you know that the way you can tell what color eggs a hen will lay is to look at their side wobbles (cheeks)? if they are red or brown, they will lay brown eggs. white, and they will lay white eggs.
but i digress.
to tie all of this back into the swyyne philosophy, if you’re grateful for the eggs that make our pastas, cupcakes, chawanmushis, breads, quiches and omurices oh so satisfying, buy them in cardboard cartons instead of styrofoam ones. it is such an easy change to make, and using the cardboard ones is a small way of saying thanks to the earth that these yummy yellow and clear wonders come from…well, that the chickens come from…hmm, better stay away from that one.
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bet you didn’t know
many thanks to cenyc for hosting lower east side family portrait day yesterday!
it was smiles all around as professional photographers took pics of families of all different sizes (including my “smallest family possible” of 2) with festive fall foliage as the backdrop.
yes, the smell of the sweet butternut squash and tangy kale and collard greens (all from nyc greenmarkets) sizzling up on an outdoor skillet was certainly enticing enough on its own, but it was a different smell that piqued my interest - the smell of compost!
ermin siljkovic of the office of recycling outreach and education was on the scene teaching both adults and kids how to start our own composting bins at home. everyone was equally delighted as ermin presented the concept as both a smart way to mitigate our waste and a fun way to transform trash into treasure (the worms were a hit too)!
ermin also played a game with us called “the recycling game.” okay, no points there for originality, but the game itself was humbling and surprisingly educational. all of the adults playing, including me, displayed an “i know all of this stuff already” air at first. but as the game progressed, we all shrank sheepishly as we realized that we needed to re-learn everything we thought we knew about recycling!
some of the biggest eye-openers for me were:
1. only plastic containers that are “jug-shaped” can be recycled. that means that the opening of the container must be smaller than the base. i was mistakenly recycling chinese takeout soup containers, yogurt containers and plastics trays this whole time!
2. milk and oj cartons (yes, even the paper ones) should be put in the plastic, metal, glass recycling bins. this is because any liquid residue left on the containers may spill onto the other paper in the paper bin, making it very messy for the paper to be recycled.
3. nyc garbage is no longer sent to landfills in new york and is instead trucked thousands of miles to michigan or south carolina using up expensive and pollution-causing fuel.
check out a list of upcoming cenyc events here for a chance to test your recycling iq.
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icing on the cake: free obama sticker
as if the outcome of last week’s election was not sweet enough on its own, now you can revel in a free sticker designed by shepard fairey (you may know his work from a little brand called obey). moveon.org is giving them away as a thank you to everyone who helped participate in the most momentous election since…well, ever, if you’re a twenty-something american like me.
click here for yours. and don’t look at me funny when you see me making googly eyes at mine.
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i’m in love with a planter (to the tune of t-pain’s “i’m n luv wit a stripper”)
got the body of a potter
got a smooth, minimalistic silhouette, i see you
droppin’ low
comin down from the ceiling
to tha flo
yea she know what she doin’
yea yea yea
she doin that right thang
yea yea yea yea ea
i need to get her over to my crib and do that planting thang
cause i’m in love wit a planter
she droppin’ she drippin’ she usin’ (80% less water than a conventional planter)
she savin’ valuable floor space
i’m n luv with a planter
she drippin’ she swayin’ she swayin’
i’m not goin’ nowhere girl i’m stayin’
i’m in love with a planter
check out boskke’s new sky planter (minus the sad excuse for song lyrics) here.
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byob op: bring their own bags or pay
anyone who has shopped recently at euro furniture superstore ikea has noticed that the plastic bags there are not free. has that deterred people from using them? the short answer is heyl yah! 92% or approximately 64 million less ikea bags were used last year. talk about results!
not to be left in the dust yet again by the rest of the world (ahem: metric system), new york city mayor michael bloomberg has proposed a tax on plastic bags across our city. if the proposal passes, that means that you will save 6 cents on every bag you decide not to take at grocery stores and other retailers. it’s just the extra nudge that people who ask for a plastic bag for a stick of gum or a bag of chips (you know who you are) need to think, yes think, for a moment about whether or not they really must have a bag in order to carry their purchases home.
of the 6 cents, 5 cents will go to the city and 1 cent will go to the participating store as an incentive fee. officials estimate that the plan will generate $16 million a year for our city, which is not too shabby. what they may have forgotten in their calculations is that new yorkers are pretty good at taking action when they know their hard earned bucks are at stake. i estimate/hope that we will actually use less plastic bags even if the city makes less money.
here are some reusable bag options that i’m feeling right now:
baggu bags in a rainbow of colors. the muted jewel tones are very en vogue right now.
flip and tumble’s easy to roll up bags
greenworldbags are sturdy and come in fun patterns
skn has cute designs like tomato and blueberry and will plant a tree for every bag you buy!
shagbags come with cute pouches and have cinches to hold all of your belongings safely inside.
shoutout to dave h for hooking me up with the story.
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verterra plates
how satisfying would it be to gather up all the fallen leaves in your yard and turn them into something beautiful and useful instead of throwing them away or burning them?
the folks at verterra seem to think it is. they collect fallen leaves from plantations, spray them with high pressure water, sterilize them and morph them into these minimalistic disposable plates. they also recapture over 80% of the water they use and the whole process uses only a fraction of energy that recycling does. what a bunch of overachievers!
the smooth, gradiated finishes remind me of those big, wooden salad bowls from the 70s.
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new japanese airport will be “snow cool”
hokkaido, japan’s new chitose airport terminal building will be making the most of its snowy surroundings. the transport ministry plans to collect snow during the winter and preserve it to provide 30% of the building’s cooling needs during the summer!
according to japan today, the practice could save 2,100 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year compared to the building’s existing cooling system.
cool!
okay, i’ll stop now.
image courtesy of wikipedia
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why is this a site?
swyyne has always been an experiment for me. with all of the other super eco sites out there, i've been feeling like i want to contribute something just a bit different. so for now, here are my random musings.
look for stuff
feed yourself