San Francisco

Here’s the best page to distribute as you tell your friends about the next Carrotmob: http://sf.carrotmob.org/epicenter/

RSVP here on Facebook, and invite your friends: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=119381212029

Bring your whole office. Best happy hour ever.

Following up on the last post about PLA, there’s no final decision yet, but it’s looking like the mob doesn’t want Epicenter to switch to PLA. So we thought it would be good to do a quick review. Epicenter is already very green, but they can do more.

Here’s what Epicenter Café is going to do now that we’re making them rich:

If enough money is raised, they’ll also try to:

And just to show their love to you:

Again, while these are great things, it seems like most people wanted to come and mob Epicenter as a thank you for all the other things they’ve already done. Let’s show the world how much we value these responsible business practices!

What is the most sustainable type of take-out packaging?

Ah yes, the burning question that keeps many an environmentalist tossing and turning well into the night. On the one hand, PLA, aka “polylactic acid” comes from plants, not petroleum, so it must be good, right? But which plants does it come from? And what part of the plant? Is it waste being upcycled? Is it replacing food crops? It must be good, right, it’s not petroleum!?

Epicenter Café, being a very conscientious Carrotmob winner, wants to be sure they make the right choice. They also want your input, sage readers. So I present to you the options, because even the Green Café Network does not take an official stance on this ever-evolving topic. There is an increasing array of options for eco to-go containers.

While Epicenter already encourages people to stay and enjoy their meal or coffee amid their wonderful ambience, they know that sometimes you simply have to eat at your desk. Hopefully artistry such as this frittata will survive the trip to the office! So I present to you a selection of eco packaging, all of which claim to be competitively priced. We leave it to you to decide what issues matter most to you when considering your take-away packaging.

According to Patagonia, the company long recognized as one deeply committed to sustainability, Corn PLA is “…a technology that may irrevocably alter the balance of life.” Now that’s a heavy charge to weigh on a material so many of us want to believe is better than plastic. Basically, the 2001 article explains that the only real reason they don’t like corn PLA is that at least 30% of the corn used is genetically engineered. At the time that was written, corn wasn’t yet claiming to be the holy grail of sustainability and thus pricing it out of reach for over 2/3rds of the planet’s populace.

But this is about food packaging, so why is corn PLA better than plastic? (In the US, due to our government subsidies, corn is much cheaper than other dextrose sources such as cane and beet sugar) Well, the first argument is that it reduces our dependency on oil. Which matters, since we will run out at some point. Patagonia is able to use recycled plastic, but the FDA approves recycled content for food packaging on a case-by-case basis, as the technology develops, to ensure food safety and not hinder innovation.
This blog post lists the pros and cons of corn PLA, which comes from the kernels, not the cobs. You can read more about it from the primary US manufacturer, Cargill.

So what are the alternatives?

This article from Ecopreneurist January 2008 touts packaging made from sugarcane waste.

The founder of the company touted, Stalk Market, explains what he’s doing to make his products as sustainable as possible.

Here’s a 100% recycled PET that’s recently been approved by the FDA: PPI The good thing about this, is it’s turning non-biodegradable waste into something useful.

I was hard-pressed to find articles about potato-ware, but according to a manufacturer in New Zealand, it’s made from waste starch, not the potatoes we actually eat. This distributor doesn’t specify what type of vegetable starch they use, but it’s in the US: Vegware

So what do you think?

 Loading ...

This is Mark Harris, co-owner of Epicenter Café. Mark and his partner Chris have worked hard to make Epicenter as sustainable as possible. And they’re ready to take it up a notch! They’re interested in joining the Green Café Network to help them become even greener.

While we were talking to Mark about the event logistics, we learned they also have a great selection of beer & wine, plus an off-site license. So we thought it’d be best to do this as a happy hour. For those of you who need to grab n’ go, they are licensed to sell you that six-pack of Trappist monk brew you’ve been craving to crack open at home.

Here is Mark, proudly displaying his awesome selection of craft brews and fine wines. September 10th may be the happiest happy hour he’s ever hosted…

Here is Mark’s specials board- they’re not just about drinking at Epicenter, I’ve had a couple of tasty lunches there myself. In fact, just today I spied the lead organizer of SF Carrotmob 3 toiling away on a big paper due today. She says it’s a great place to study.

That’s right, we have a date! But sadly, we must wait.

…Until after Burning Man, when San Francisco comes back to life! Yesterday Brent and I had a great strategy session with Mark, the co-owner of Epicenter, and we’re really stoked about this event! Time will fly, and you’ll be glad you had enough of it in order to tell all your friends!

The details are:

Epicenter Café 764 Harrison St. San Francisco, CA 94107
Carrotmobbing from 5PM to 8PM, party continues until 10PM

Save the Date! Thursday September 10th

We promise we won’t make you wait in line forever like last time! We have some great things planned to make it fun and easy! As the date gets closer, we’ll post more details.