The story of the grocery bag

I am hopeful that today's young people - the future engineers, business owners, and leaders - can design a grocery bag that is biodegradable and made from sustainable products.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDBtCb61Sd4

Meatloaf Cupcakes - how cute!

This is great - maybe I can get my 4yr old to love 'em

After all the high-end desserts we've covered over the years, it's become mouth-wateringly clear that there's no limit to the heights of beauty masterfully prepared food can achieve. Recently, however, we came across a Chicago 'bakery' that has found a novel way to tap into the cake shop's appeal.

Whereas most visually tantalizing confections are desserts, Chicago's Meatloaf Bakery brings beauty to one of America's favourite — and yet perhaps most homely — comfort foods. The innovative store features an assortment of ready-to-go meatloaf “cupcakes,” full-size meatloaf “pastries” and bite-size “Loafies,” all prepared as beautifully as a high-end sweet. Mashed potato is typically the “frosting” used to decorate a meatloaf base, though vegetables and even pasta sometimes stand in instead. A variety of meats underlie the Meatloaf Bakery's many offerings, and there are even salmon, chicken and gluten-free vegetarian versions. Sides and desserts are available too. Pricing on a single-serve meatloaf “cupcake” begins at USD 7.95. Most of Meatloaf Bakery's business is carry-out, it says, but in-store dining and delivery are also possible.

If there's any better proof of our “everything can be upgraded” mantra, we sure can't think of it. Meanwhile, the Meatloaf Bakery is working on developing shipping capabilities so it can spread the beauty of meatloaf nationwide. One to partner with toward that end — or beyond..?

New York City Department of Transportation employees to use ZipCar

Great Idea!

Through a yearlong pilot program, 300 New York City Department of Transportation employees will share 25 Zipcar vehicles — 23 hybrids and two vans — for daily official business between the hours of 7 am and 6 pm on weekdays. The vehicles will be stored at several private garages in Lower Manhattan so as to reduce the number of City vehicles using on-street parking; participating employees will reserve them online and then retrieve them via Zipcard. Perhaps even more interesting, however, is that outside working hours, the vehicles will be made available to the general public through Zipcar. Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan explains: “Car share is an innovative way to do more with less and address the City’s environmental and fleet-reduction goals. This strategy helps meet those goals while opening up curbside parking, and by letting the public use the same cars that we use, it helps stimulate the Lower Manhattan car-share market.”

With potential savings of more than USD 500,000 over four years in reduced City costs for vehicle acquisitions, fuel and maintenance, the pilot could be expanded if it's successful — which it's hard to imagine it wouldn't be. Seems like only a matter of time before something like this comes to every thriving metropolis; how about getting involved and helping to make that happen? (Related: Green car-sharing by the hour at Hawaii hotels — More P2P car-sharing, now in London — P2P car-sharing comes to Australia — Person-to-person car-sharing service — Smart use of the Smart brand: car-sharing by Daimler — Zipcar and Zimride join forces on college campuses — Parking operator launches car-sharing service.)

Website: www.nyc.gov