Rooftop farming and beekeeping boom in New York May 7, 2010
Posted by Administrator in : kraziness, rustika , add a commentI thought this was pretty cool.
26 Apr 2010 10:11 AM
NEW YORK — Urban farming is a growth industry in New York City’s concrete jungle, and with little open land available, agriculturalists and beekeepers have taken to the rooftops to pursue their passion.
Andrew Cote uses the emergency fire ladder to climb up to the roof of his East Village building, where he tends 
to 250 beehives. Cote, a professor of Japanese literature, doubles up as president of the New York City Beekeepers Association and is happy that the city authorized beekeeping in mid-March after an 11-year ban. The ban forced beekeepers into hiding, fearing a $2,000 fine if caught.
“The city wants to plant one million trees, and the trees need to be pollinated,” Cote said. “Our bees pollinate, and they clean the air. It is a way to connect with nature.”
Bees also produce around 100 pounds of honey per hive per year, he said — honey that he sells at the city’s various farmers markets.
Cote said he has received several requests to install rooftop beehives and has scheduled a course for aspiring apiculturalists.
On the other side of Manhattan, in the posh Upper East Side, Eli Zabar, owner of the upscale Vinegar Factory delicatessen, inspects the crops he is growing on the roof of the old factory bought in 1991.
“I began the greenhouses 15 years ago,” Zabar said. “I grow heirloom tomatoes, lots of different kinds of lettuce, herbs, basil, rosemary, thyme, raspberries, figs, beets. We use the heat of the bakeries and pastries, we recycle the heat. With the use of the heat we have eliminated our [carbon] footprint.”
About half of the items Zabar sells in his deli come from rooftop farms. “You harvest in the morning, you sell in the afternoon, you don’t refrigerate, it tastes better,” said Zabar. “We pick everything ripe and ready to eat. All our products here are organic.”
Depending on the time of day, Zabar says with a smile, “the greenhouses smell of bread, brownie, or croissant.”
From Manhattan to Brooklyn, whether on rooftops, backyards, or in any of the city’s 600 community gardens, urban farming is a growing phenomenon.
The movement is helped along by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who seeks to turn the city into a sustainable development champion. Through “PlaNYC 2030,” a program he launched on Earth Day 2007, people who install “green roofs” can get a tax break.
At Randall’s Island, in New York’s East River, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department is currently testing 16 different types of vegetation that could be placed on the roofs of schools, hospitals, or other public buildings. “These are patches of succulent vegetation, like sedum, which protect the roofs [and] isolate the buildings from the heat because the UV sun is not hitting,” said senior project manager John Robilotti.
The rooftop vegetation also helps maintain a steady temperature inside and captures storm water, which would otherwise run off into the street. “The water that does come out is filtered and kept in tanks, and we use it to water when there is no rain,” Robilotti said.
The roofs “absorb carbon and create oxygen, so we take carbon from the carbon cycle,” he said. “And they attract birds, butterflies, bees. We even saw a red-tailed hawk.”
http://www.grist.org/article/2010-04-26-rooftop-farming-and-beekeeping-boom-in-new-york/
Stand still and do nothing… April 17, 2010
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Adbusters Magazine, the Journal of the Mental Environment, calls for a week of unplugging a little from our multimedia lifestyles, this is how they put it:
We are all living through the digital revolution, an amazing, exciting time where knowledge is free and the world is at our fingertips. But there is a dark side to our digital emancipation. Jumping brain syndrome, decreased creativity, isolation and depression all stem from an overload of instantly accessible media.
Next week during Digital Detox Week we urge you to take some time to pull back from the wired world and assess the damage. Rethink your love affair with technology, stop obsessing over your virtual life, get outside and reignite your relationships with each other. You don’t have to go cold turkey on the screens in your life – we won’t. Simply take a few small steps away from them every day.
Sounds like a great idea to me: between April 19th and the 25th go outside (even if its raining), stretch your back, stand up straight for a change and go and be nice to someone instead of typing on your friends facebook wall!
Read the Label! Natural Cosmetics September 19, 2009
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Men! Read on! This is something that affects us all: conventional personal care products like deodorant, moisturisers or wet wipes for babies all contain ingredients which can have a negative effect on your health. It’s time to start reading labels and using chemical-free products so you don’t absorb harmful substances that may cause serious health problems.
Considering 60% of what we put on our skin goes into our bloodstream we really should be paying as much attention to the cosmetics we use as we do to the food we eat. A typical Spaniard uses an average of 4 personal care products a day, every day - a considerable amount of toxic contact over the years. The essence of bio cosmetics is that their active ingredients stimulate the body’s natural functions such as cellular nourishment and detoxify the body. A conventional paraffin-rich moisturiser dries the skin in the long run since it eliminates water from the inside out – making your skin unable to moisturise itself. Don’t be fooled by the immediate effects of these cosmetics, you need to look after your body in the long term. Just because a product is described as “Aloe Vera shampoo”, for example, you’re not guaranteed that it’s really natural since it probably contains petroleum derivatives, dyes, artificial perfumes and synthetic preservatives.
Aside from excluding the unsafe ingredients listed below, other key factors in organic cosmetics are their certification (look for the Ecocert, BDIH or Nature et Progrés labels), only given to brands who farm their ingredients without the use of chemicals. They are therefore respectful of the environment, and don’t use animal testing since they check their products dermatologically on human volunteers. Whilst these products may seem more expensive than conventional ones in the short run, you can use smaller quantities since they are so rich – so they last longer without harming you or your family. Since they’re biodegradable, they won’t hurt the planet we live on either.
Here are a few star products:
SUNSCREEN SANTÉ This pure mineral-based sunscreen works by creating an invisible film on the skin that reflects the sun, quite the opposite to synthetic sunscreen which penetrates into the blood stream, therefore avoiding the allergic reactions they often produce. Buy it at health food shops. info@naturcosmetika.com - 93- 784.85.86 - 93- 784.85.86
SKIN TREATMENT DR.HAUSCHKA Activates your skin’s metabolism and inner rhythm. Stimulates healthy skin
renewal, balances moisture and oiliness, tones and rejuvenates. Achieves spectacular results, skin becomes radiant, wrinkles are softened and elasticity regained. You’ll find this line at health food shops and El Corte Inglés. www.drhauschka.es
OCEÁNICO SOLID SHAMPOO LUSH Solid shampoos save on packaging and work just as well as liquid ones. This one contains two types of conditioning algae (Japanese nori and Irish moss) as well as sea salt, lemon, jasmin and orange blossom: the fragrances of a tropical garden. C/ Nueva, 8 - Málaga Venta por correo - www.lush.es - 91-522.88.09
ORANGE BLOSSOM OIL CÍTRICA PIZARRA The olive oil base restores the body’s natural moisture levels whilst 
relaxing and tonifying your skin. Orange blossom improves your skin’s elasticity by regenerating skin cells. It can also act as an anti-depressive, aphrodisiac, circulation enhancer and regulates cardiac rhythms. Buy it direct: citricapizarra@yahoo.es 952 483 066
SEDATIVE S&Ros Aceites This formula includes vegetable extracts and essential oils from aloe, cypress, willow, mint, red grapes, gingko biloba, lime and Indian chestnut. The gel helps tired legs by freshening them up and making them feel more agile. Ideal to relax muscles after doing sports or standing up for a long time. srosaceites@telefónica.net - 954 163 418
WHAT TO AVOID! We all need to get used to reading the list of ingredients on the products we use. AVOID using cosmetics that contain:
Aluminum – Will appear on the label asAluminum Oxide, Aluminum Chlorhydrate and Aluminium Zirconium. Main ingredient in most deodorants, the debate over its relation to breast cancer is nothing new – best to avoid it.
Paraffin - masking agent with an osmotic effect thus dehydrating the skin. Example: using chap stick creates an addiction whereby your lips are dry without it.
Parabens - according to scientists these preservatives are linked to breast cancer and endocrine system problems. Examples include Butylparaben, Ethylparaben, Methylparaben and Propylparaben.
1,4-dioxane - present in 57% of baby soaps and 34% of all body creams. Studies show it is easily absorbed by the skin and causes cancer. It is officially considered cancerous for animals.
Teflon, PTFE, synthetic perfumes, artificial colouring agents, SLS (sodium lauryl sulphate), Phthalatos (DBP / DMP / DEP) and Sillicone.
Originally published in La Chispa Magazine 05-09-2008
Your Dog versus Your Dinner October 10, 2008
Posted by Administrator in : kraziness , add a commentPublished October 05, 2008 @ 06:05PM PST
It’s a point made often in animal rights advocacy. Often, the same people who treat—and love—their dogs and cats like members of the family, who buy them toys and treats and kiss them and cuddle them and do whatever they have to do, both practically and financially, to make sure their dogs and cats are happy and healthy, also sit down to a dinner of dead pig, cow, or chicken in the evening. They see no discrepancy in these two behaviors: dogs are pets and companions; pigs are dinner.
But are pigs (and cows and chickens) truly that different from domestic cats and dogs in any way except how we think of and treat them? We recognize that our companion animals certainly do have individual personalities and experiences. They feel happiness and sadness, playfulness and fear, affection and dislike. And the same goes for the animals that humans eat.
We know that our dogs would go mad if locked, day and night for their whole miserable lives, in a barren interior space in which they could barely move, with no stimulation and no affection. We would never dream of impregnating our beloved family dog, over and over again, for the sole purpose of snatching away all her puppies the day after their birth despite the crying protests of the mother and her young, so that we could bottle her milk and consume it, after selling her puppies to be slaughtered, sautéed, and served by a neighborhood restaurant. We would never let someone neuter our dog or cat by simply cutting at him with a pair of scissors while he thrashes and cries out in pain; we would not accept the excuse that painkillers cost too much and that this is the fastest way to do it (but look how many dogs we can neuter each hour—and how cheaply—when we do it this way!). Never could we find any excuse for hanging our terrified cats upside down by their hind legs, sending them rapidly through a machine designed to cut their throats (a machine that sometimes fails because of the speed), and then lowering them into vats of scalding water, alive and conscious or not.
And even if we were told that our beloved companions would be killed in so-called humane fashion, would that make it any better? Would we be any less horrified that someone intended to kill and eat our unique, thinking, feeling, loving dogs and cats—just because that person likes the way dogs and cats taste?
Pigs are smarter than dogs (and at least as smart as three-year-old children). Cows and calves feel the same natural mother–child bond and affection as other animals. Chickens are intelligent and social creatures with a language all their own, in which they use more than twenty distinct calls to communicate with one another.
The creators of the powerful A Life Connected video remark, “How can it be that 95% of Americans feel it is wrong to unnecessarily hurt and kill helpless animals, yet 95% of Americans continue to unnecessarily hurt and kill helpless animals—so they can eat them? Why the disconnection?”
On the topic of cognitive dissonance, defined by Merriam-Webster as a “psychological conflict resulting from incongruous beliefs and attitudes held simultaneously,” William Saletan wrote the following in the Washington Post:
Where were you when Barbaro broke his leg? I was at a steakhouse, watching the race on a big screen. I saw a horse pulling up, a jockey clutching him, a woman weeping. Thus began a worldwide vigil over the fate of the great horse. Would he be euthanized? Could doctors save him? In the restaurant, people watched and wondered. Then we went back to eating our steaks.
Shrinks call this “cognitive dissonance.” You munch a strip of bacon, then pet your dog. You wince at the sight of a crippled horse but continue chewing your burger. Three weeks ago, I took my kids to a sheep and wool festival. They petted lambs; I nibbled a lamb sausage. That’s the thing about humans: We’re half-evolved beasts. (“Dilemma of a Carnivore”)
But fortunately, we don’t have to be.
Published on change.org