Green Options » Belgium http://greenoptions.com/tag/belgium Posts tagged 'Belgium' Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:58:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 en Beer-a Culpa: Traditional Lambic Brewing How-To http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2008/07/08/beer-a-culpa-traditional-lambic-brewing-how-to/ http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2008/07/08/beer-a-culpa-traditional-lambic-brewing-how-to/#comments Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:58:36 +0000 Meredith Melnick http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2008/07/08/beer-a-culpa-traditional-lambic-brewing-how-to/ Aging LambicsWhat was a “look, cool: wild yeast-fermented beer!” afterthought to my post on sustainable brewing has met an indignant commenter crowd who found my two-sentence description rightfully vague and careless. And so, as penance suggested by commenter koelschip, here is a complete guide to making lambic beer. Whether you are an old Belgian couple who ferments outside or a homebrewing web user with closed wild yeast inoculations in your basement, I think we can all agree that sour beer is delicious. And the greenness isn’t so bad either: reclaimed oak barrels, energy-free inoculation and all natural ingredients (provided you don’t start with the sham fruit syrups and packaged yeast…) contribute to its carbon-reduced diet.

Step #1: Move to Belgium

For purists, this is a must. Only in the Senne valley of Belgium can the brewer encounter the true wild yeasts of lambic beers which contain the essential bacterias, Bretanomyces bruxellensis and B. lambicus. In fact, to move to Belgium is the only way to enjoy an authentic lambic experience without compromising the eco-friendliness of the endeavor with trans-Atlantic shipping.

Step #2: Mash Up

A lambic wort is traditionally comprised of 60-70% barley malt and 30-40% unmalted wheat.

Read more of this story »

]]> http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2008/07/08/beer-a-culpa-traditional-lambic-brewing-how-to/feed/ Life Goggles: Can Your Wear Leather Shoes, and Still be Green? http://feelgoodstyle.com/2008/05/12/life-goggles-can-your-wear-leather-shoes-and-still-be-green/ http://feelgoodstyle.com/2008/05/12/life-goggles-can-your-wear-leather-shoes-and-still-be-green/#comments Mon, 12 May 2008 19:31:45 +0000 Jeff McIntire-Strasburg http://feelgoodstyle.com/2008/05/12/life-goggles-can-your-wear-leather-shoes-and-still-be-green/ Logo for Georgette, an Antwerp-based company specializing in animal-friendly footwear.Editor’s note: Leather hasn’t come under quite the scrutiny of other animal products like fur, but our friends at Life Goggles ask a good question today: should an environmentalist wear the stuff? To answer the question, LG blogger Adam interviews Katleen Baum of georgette, a Belgian store that specializes in “animal friendly footwear.” This post was originally published on Thursday, May 8, 2008.

Katleen Baum and her twin sister Liesbet run georgette, an online and real world shop in Antwerp which specializes in animal friendly footwear. The website is a delight. Handily written in English, you navigate with a flea circus and clicking on a link can give you a nice surprise. Oh, and the shoes are great too. Katleen spoke to Life Goggles about reconciling veganism with wearing leather.

“Ever since we were kids, we were always fascinated with fashion and shoes. And also with animals. From the moment we realized that the animal we saw in the country, ended up on our dinner plates, we did not want to eat it anymore. So we became vegetarian and evolved to veganism. No biggie, right? But as time progresses, you start to question other things…

Every vegetarian or vegan, some day, will be confronted with the same dilemma: how to reconcile a strict vegetarian-vegan diet with wearing leather?

Read more of this story »

]]> http://feelgoodstyle.com/2008/05/12/life-goggles-can-your-wear-leather-shoes-and-still-be-green/feed/ 10 Top Environmental Headlines of the Week http://ecoworldly.com/2008/03/30/10-top-environmental-headlines-of-the-week/ http://ecoworldly.com/2008/03/30/10-top-environmental-headlines-of-the-week/#comments Sun, 30 Mar 2008 20:20:43 +0000 Gavin Hudson http://ecoworldly.com/2008/03/30/10-top-environmental-headlines-of-the-week/ The top 10 headlines in international environmental news for the week of March 24 - 30.

1. World — Earth Hour 2008

earth-hour.jpgAs the clock struck eight in the evening, people across each time zone turned off their lights on March 29. It’s activism en mass and it’s called Earth Hour. The purpose: to inspire people to take action on climate change and to demonstrate that massive and immediate action is possible.

Earth Hour began as a city-wide voluntary blackout in Sydney, Australia, in 2007. This year, they’ve moved the date ahead two days and invited the world to join in. Even Google’s joined in. People from roughly 35 countries participated in this global event, which has become a yearly call to action. Read more: EcoWorldy, CNN.

2. Asia — Japanese Man Crosses Pacific with Wave-Powered Boat

Gas 2.0A Japanese man named Kenichi Horie is attempting to be environmentally friendly by boating across the Pacific without sails and without fossil fuels.

How does he do it? With a wave-powered boat. Wave power has been discussed quite a bit recently, with a lot of applications including traditional grid energy generation. However, Kenichi is taking things to the next level by powering his ocean going vehicle with the very thing it bobs atop. Read more: Gas 2.0.

Read more of this story »

]]> http://ecoworldly.com/2008/03/30/10-top-environmental-headlines-of-the-week/feed/