Green Options

The state of Wisconsin has long served as the national focal point of all things dairy.  However, Wisconsin is also the epicenter of another American food culture niche, and that is alcohol.

My oh my, do people in Wisconsin love to drink. I live the capitol city of Madison and, at least once every weekend, I see snapshot of that state-bred love, either through an embarrassingly sloshed University of Wisconsin undergraduate or a too-tipsy townie. When I found out the actual statistics— that Wisconsin has the highest percentage of drinkers in the population and that, person for person, the state has three times more taverns than anywhere else in the country—I hardly blinked.

Still, I’ll admit that sometimes I find Madison’s hyper-boozing culture to be intimidating. At a lot of college parties, my three-drink limit is everyone else’s warm-up drill, and I’ve met more than a few Badgers whose Thirsty Thursday extends through Wednesday night. However, I’ve never tried to keep up with the crowd. I’m sure some of my peers think it’s lame that my personal bar time is midnight, and not two a.m., but I bet I look a lot cooler the next morning when I haven’t succumbed to their same fate: the head-stinging, stomach-churning, regret-inducing experience that is the hangover.

A Swedish inventor has unveiled a solar-powered water purifier that could provide billions of the world’s poorest people with access to clean and disease-free drinking water [video].

The device, called the Solvatten, (Swedish for ’sun water’), looks much the same as a standard jerrycan and can be filled with up to ten liters of water, opened out, and left in the sun. A simple indicator shows either a red or green face to let users know when the water is safe to drink (typically after 3-4 hours), thus avoiding the risk of contracting water-borne diseases.

Alcohol isn’t necessarily unhealthy for you, unless you overdo it. But you went ahead and had that extra drink (and maybe another as well) at the party last night, and now you’re hurting. Hangovers can be hell. Here’s a few tips to get you back on the road to recovery.

Prevention:

Curing a hangover really starts with prevention, so if you know you’ll be hoisting a few drinks in the evening (strictly socially, of course), prepare yourself. Drink lots of water during the day and eat a good meal before the first drink. Try to put away as much H2O as you can, maybe even adding a pinch of salt to it for electrolytes. If you take a multi-vitamin, make sure you’ve had yours for the day (and perhaps take an extra). Grab some B6 tablets and vitamin C and dose yourself throughout the day (follow manufacturers dosage guidelines).

Local Indian governmental officials have announced that a new 100-million liter per day desalination plant is nearing completion. Located on India’s southeastern coast, the plant is currently 80% complete, and expected to begin operations January 2009.

The plant will process a hundred million liters per day, the equivalent to 26-million US gallons.

What 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.

Environmentally Friendly Biofuel?

A Swedish bus company is marketing it’s use of environmentally friendly biofuels by depicting humans drinking from petrol pumps.

Needless to say the Swedish Poison Information Center is up in arms over the Flygbussarna Airport Coach company’s advertisements.