Whether you are local to San Francisco or a tourist, the Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market is something that is worth checking out. Each week, over 100 farmers and 30 artisan vendors setup booths around the Ferry Building and at the Justin Herman Plaza area.

I went there for the first time this past weekend and it was full of people. It was also a really nice day out so the location was great being at the Ferry Building alongside the Bay Bridge and water. The Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market is a California certified farmers market that is run by the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA). All of the farmers who sell at the market are certified as producers by the counties they grow in. The market has plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables, and flowers from local organic farmers. There are also regional specialties such as bread, cheese, jam, and organic meat as well.

The market started here in 1993 and attracts more than 10,000 people each week. The market is actually here every Tuesday 10am-2pm and Saturday 8am-2pm. There is even a Veggie Valet where you can leave all your shopping bags and pull up to load you car. There are also food booths so it can be a great place to make a lunch date out of. The prices are a little pricey, but it is expected since it is in downtown SF at an organic farmer’s market. 

The Ferry Building itself also has plenty of food retail spaces inside, many of which have booths outside in the farmer’s market as well. This will definitely be on my list of places to bring tourists as a San Francisco destination. You can find out more about the event and the farmers here.

There have been a lot of criticism against bottled waters and there are movements that want to eliminate them completely. I am not sure if I would agree with getting rid of bottled waters.

Many City Halls are banning bottled waters such as in San Francisco and in North Carolina but that may not be the best solution. There are good reasons not to drink bottled water, but there are plenty of good reasons to drink it as well if you compare drinking water to juice or sodas since it is much healthier for you. If there are no bottled waters available, people may become more dehydrated or drink less healthier alternatives. I dont think banning bottled water is the solution. The problem is that people are not recycling the bottles, so if we find more ways to promote and incourage that, then the problem would be solved. According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, Americans consumed 8.8 billion gallons of bottled water in 2007, which increased 6.1% from 2006. That number is most likely to increase. 8 out of 10 bottles do not get recycled, and that is causing a problem since standard water bottles are not compostable.

Since bottled water sales were $11.5 billion last year, second only to sodas, I am sure manufacturers would not let any kinds of significant bans happen. They do however need to make better efforts in getting the bottles recycled and find alternatives to the current bottles. What manufacturers can do is to use Biodegradable bottles like the company Biota in Colorado. The water bottles are both recyclable and compostable and use corn based polylactic acid (PLA) so that it will degrade within 75 to 80 days in a commercial composting situation. “BIOTA bottles need high heat, micro-organisms and high moisture levels to break down. A BIOTA PLA bottle will not degrade as rapidly in a home compost pile. When exposed to the necessary conditions, BIOTA bottles will break down into water, carbon dioxide and organic material.”

via FoxNews

The world’s first eco-nightclub has just opened up recently in London England called Club Surya. It is named after the Hindu Sun God and is powered by a wind turbine and solar panels. The coolest part is that the dancefloor is also used to power the nightclub. It uses a concept called piezoelectricity. As people dance, the crystal blocks create a current that powers batteries that then power the ilghts and air conditioning.

The club is owned by property millionaire and head of new climate change organization Club4Climate, Andrew Charalambous or Dr. Earth as he calls himself. He actually reminds me of Dr. Evil and seems a little wierd. The Club4Climate website is pretty interesting especially the section about Dr. Earth’s biography.

The club has furniture made from recycled materials, waterless and low flush toilets, and a lot of other eco-friendly features and products. In addition to the regular drinks, Club Surya also serves bio beers and organic wine. It costs £10 to get in but if you walked, used a bicycle or used public transport, you can get in for free. You can read more about the features in a  review of the nightclub here.

It seems like it is using a environmental theme as the gimmick to attract people to go to the club, but there is nothing wrong with that if it is promoting the idea of being more environmental and eco-friendly. It can’t get any better to feel good about being green when you are dancing and drinking your night away. Another eco-friendly nightclub is also opening up in Hollland called the Sustainable Dance Club so this may be a new trend that we will continue to see pop up all over the world.

Sources: Environmental Graffiti and ABC News

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is an environmentallly friendly substitute for gasoline or diesel. It is made by compressing natural gas (mainly methane) and is stored and distributed in hard cylindrical or spherical containers to maintain the constant pressure of about 200/220 bar. Refuelling CNG requires special pressure regulator devices that convert the natural gas from storage pressure to metering pressure.

The drawbacks of compressed natural gas are that it requires a lot of fuel storage space since it requires a  specific storage system unlike gasoline. The same amount of gasoline (gallon of gas equivalent) in the form of compressed gas takes up more space so it is not as efficient in terms of storage space. This makes it a better substitute for buses and trucks as opposed to personal smaller vehicles. However, due to the cheaper price of CNG compared to gasoline and the environmental benefits, even rickshaws in New Delhi have been converted to CNG vehicles.

CNG usage is increasing worldwide as Argentina and Brazil are the countries with the largest amount of CNG vehicles. In New Delhi, The Delhi Transport Corportation operates the world’s largest fleet of CNG buses and all public transportation vehicles in Punjab, Pakistan are mandated by the government to use CNG. In the US, CNG is not as popular but there are CNG public transportation vehicles in various states and local cities and counties.

In order to implement a system like the CNG technology, it would require government intervention in creating a plan to implement it  since it requires abundant refueling stations in order for it to be useful.

China Natural Gas Inc, owns and operates a high pressure natural gas pipeline in China’s Shaanxi Province and is the sole authorized provider of natural gas to the residential customers of the Xi’An area. China Natural Gas is also a U.S. public company (CHNG) registered in Delaware. China Natural Gas sells compressed natural gas (CNG) to filling stations all around Xi’An and the stations are used by taxis and buses that operate on the CNG. There are currently about 5,000 buses and 20,000 taxis in Xi’An that currently use CNG. With the cost effectiveness and environmental benefits of CNG, the government hopes to have over 46,000 CNG vehicles by 2010.

China Natural Gas has also recently entered an agreement with the Xi’An Internal Port Administrative Committee to participate in the development of both Xi’An International Port District and Baliu Ecological Park.  The sites will have natural gas fillings stations in the surroundgin areas and China Natural Gas will be doing the installation and construction for the CNG delivery systems. The Xi’An International Port is one of the major construction projects listed in the 11th Five-Year Plan that will establish an inland and logistics center that will serve as a logistics and commerce hub linking the eastern and western parts of China. The 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010) is China’s plan to promote alternative energy resources. Baliu Ecological Park is combination of tourist attractions and residential/commercial areas developed based on sustainable ecological standards.

refs: Reuters and Wikipedia

Dubai has recently been on the forefront of technology and advancements for quite some time now. Dubai has also strived to achieve breakthroughs in architecture and this will definitely be a sight to see when it is completed. Architect David Fisher and the firm Dynamic Architecture have revealed plans on building the first spinning residential skyscraper in Dubai. A second and third will follow in Moscow and New York. The Dubai Tower will have 80 floors at 1,380 feet tall.  It is expected to be completed in 2010 and will cost $700 million to build. Each floor spins independently and large wind turbines are mounted horizontally between floors to generate electricity for the whole building and possibly even power neighboring buildings. It will be a luxury residence with prices starting at $3,000 per square foot. The largest unit will be under 12,900 sq ft at around $39 million while the smallest will be 1,330 sq ft and cost $4 million. The tower is circular and the middle core is stationary as the outside spins at a slow undetectable motion. It also has a car elevator so that your car can go up to your floor. This makes it easy for your butler or chauffeur to carry your groceries from your Maybach to the kitchen for your master culinary chef. The chicks that feed you grapes on your thrown do not come with any of the units but I am sure getting that would not be a problem. It sure is nice to dream and imagine how the other half lives. More design images are here.