In.gredients a new way to shop, and new way to think

There is a new grocery store that is opening up soon in Austin, Texas, it is called in.gredients. It has already started getting plenty of buzz in the mainstream media so I thought it would state a few words about it. In.gredients is offering all local, all organic food to the customers. That is nothing new at all, right? Not really, but it is what else they aren't offering that is new. In.gredients is striving to be the first non-waste food store in America right now. Non-waste? What do you mean? Well, there will be no packaging for their food. You will have to bring in your own containers, weigh your food, and then pay for your food. Only buying what you really need, with no packaging to deal with. According to their video:

Americans throw away 1.4 billion pounds of waste every day, and 40% of it comes from one-time packaging. But it's hard trying to be a conscious recycler after a while because of the double or triple wrappings for every product.

Wow! That's a lot of waste! One of the biggest challenges we have in America right now is over-packaging. Unfortunately, where we get our supplies to live on (i.e. food), is one of the worst culprits in this problem (in my mind shipping, especially for big business seems to be the worse, but I have no states, just personal observations). In.gredients is slated to open this year, and is already getting a lot of attention. I am hoping other companies start paying attention to this new delivery method, which almost ensures that we have to start thinking about slow food (something I will talk about soon in a later article).

Let's see what they have to say for themselves:

Wow, I will have to check this out when it opens!

---Justin J. Stewart

A quick look into Patriotism

Today is the Fourth of July, and a day to celebrate the birthing of this nation. Through many of this county's difficult times, many of them were reflected in the propaganda poster art during World War II. Obviously we all know Rosie and Riveter and Buy War Bonds poster, and an art project has taken up roots to try and make battling climate change and other environmental issues being the new rallying cry for Americans. Green Patriot Posters is an off-shoot of The Canary Project, which is a non-profit organization, that focuses on using art and media to help bring awareness to climate change. Green Patriot Posters encourages people to make their own pseudo-World War II era posters to become rallying cries for the 21st century.

Taken directly from their website:

During World War II the United States was able to mobilize industry and motivate its citizens in breathtaking speed. Factories were overhauled and consumption habits transformed. Strong, graphically compelling posters played a crucial role in the success of this campaign.

These posters presented the actions of individual citizens as vital for the nation and portrayed those who took part as attractive, dynamic American heroes.

Today a similar mobilization is required to address the crisis of global climate change and achieve energy independence. That’s why The Canary Project and its partners have launched Green Patriot Posters.

Green Patriot Posters is a communications campaign centered on posters that encourage all U.S. citizens to build a sustainable economy. These posters can be general (“We Can Do It!”) or can promote a specific sustainability action.

These posters look pretty slick, and it's a pretty cool thing to try and get people involved, and remind us the sacrifices that our previous generations had to make during times of strife. Something that should be reflected on this 4th of July.

---Justin J. Stewart