Saturday, May 31, 2014

Chocolate on a diet?


Here's the counterpoint to Beta 5's amazing cream puffs. They also make a 90% dark chocolate bar that has zero grams of net carbs (carbohydrates minus fibre) and zero grams of sugar. So for those of you who are on a low carb / low sugar diet such as the Atkins diet, this may be the perfect treat. It's also the first high cocoa chocolate I've tried that doesn't taste bitter. I wonder how they do that. Clever!

As a footnote, I should mention that the list of ingredients does include cane sugar. How can something that includes sugar indicate zero grams of sugar on the nutrition label? I'll be sure to ask them the next time I'm in Vancouver stocking up on these chocolate bars.

UPDATE: Okay, so I asked. The amount of sugar is so minuscule (less than .5 of a gram) that it is rounded down to zero in accordance with labelling regulations.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

What happens in Vancouver stays in Vancouver


I was one of the people who stood in line for hours at Dominique Ansel's pastry shop shortly after he unleashed his cronut craze on NYC. It wasn't my idea to invest that much time cueing for his cross between a doughnut and a croissant, but my taste buds were glad I did.

Now, another clever idea is surfacing in Vancouver. Beta 5 is selling their new take on the lowly cream puff. This diet-busting pastry is by-far the guiltiest thing I've ever tasted. It tastes way better than skinny feels.


Saturday, May 24, 2014

If CO2 was valuable, would we still emit it into the atmosphere?



Here's a post about sustainable energy that you probably weren't expecting.

A lot has been said about the evils of spewing CO2 into the atmosphere. A lot has also been said about the potential for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). In case you're unaware, the idea behind CCS is that we can capture the CO2 as fossil fuels are being burned and inject the CO2 back into the ground where it had been safety stored for millions of years.

But what if we could capture CO2 from fossil fuels and, rather than trying to bury it back into the ground, create valuable products? In doing so, CO2 capture wouldn't become a cost burden, but a profitable revenue stream.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Heat + water = electricity



I think it's becoming fairly obvious to my readers that sustainable energy is one of my favourite topics. Here's another example. This technology has the potential to generate electricity when the wind isn't blowing and the sun isn't shining (even at night).

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Canada Post takes advantage of the green grid for mail delivery


In a previous post, I suggested that spud.ca might want to consider electric delivery vehicles. In another post, I proclaimed that, although I love the Tesla Model S, I'm not going to buy one just yet. Sounds contradictory? Not really, because in Vancouver where the above photo was taken, the provincial grid is powered by hydro (no carbon emissions). But the electrical grid in my province is powered mostly by coal and natural gas. So I need to deal with my car by purchasing carbon offsets whether it's powered by gasoline or electricity (coal / natural gas). Kudos to Canada Post for taking advantage of the green electricity in British Columbia. 


Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Sustainable produce delivery gets it half right


While I applaud spud.ca for their innovation, it's unfortunate that such a delivery service should need to exist. In a perfect world, people living in dense urban centers like Vancouver should be able to walk or cycle to their neighbourhood store and buy local organic produce. Just one suggestion here: the monster van kind of negates the sustainable theme. Electric vehicles or cargo bikes might be more appropriate delivery methods.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Abilities@Work Program is a clever win-win for employers and employees


Here's a fantastic initiative at the City of Edmonton. The Abilities@Work Program employs people with intellectual disabilities and creates a win-win for employers and employees. The initiative is gaining excellent momentum within the City of Edmonton and other employers are now inquiring how they can do the same thing. Through volunteering to produce this video, we were reminded that great things happen when people delete the word "can't" from their vocabulary.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Korner uses technology to enhance neighbourhood watch security


Here's something clever and useful: an affordable home security system (starting at $100) with no monitoring fees. It uses a smartphone app plus your neighbours and other people in your social network to protect your home.

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Hold the plastic! Butcher's Daughter deli offers boxed water.


The bottled water industry has taken a lot of heat over plastic bottles. Could this be a solution? I trust this packaging is recyclable. Kudos to the Butcher's Daughter deli in NYC for trying something different.