The Food Section: Appetizers

Innovations in Packaging

Could a paper bottle spell the end of plastic?

The Carbon Imprint of Kung Pao Chicken

Which is better for the environment, cooking a meal at home or ordering Chinese food?

Shame and the Supermarket Plastic Bag

The French offer us a lesson: don't just charge people for using plastic bags, you must shame them for slowing everyone else down.

Food Critic Jonathan Gold and Brother Duke it Out Over Sustainable Seafood

Sustainable Seafood: This Time It's Personal [CHOW]

1.5 Million Recycled Bottles Used to Build Thai Temple

Thai Temple Built From One Million Recycled Bottles [inhabitat]

New Guide to Ocean Friendly Sushi

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is expanding its "Seafood Watch" card, a pocket guide to sustainable fish choices, to include a new version for selecting sushi.

The sushi selector card will be available online and in print beginning October 22.

Seeking guilt-free sushi and sashimi [Los Angeles Times via CHOW]

How Green Are Reusable Bags?

While reuseable shopping bags are becoming more mainstream, the Wall Street Journal reports that "well-meaning companies and consumers are finding that shopping bags, like biofuels, are another area where it's complicated to go green." Many of the cheaper reusable bags are made from nonwoven polypropylene, have no recycled content, and require up to 28 times the energy used to produce a disposable bag. There's also the cultural problem of people failing to use the bags consistently. Because of reuseable bags' heavier material, when they do end up in landfills, they are more likely to sit for longer than disposable bags.

An Inconvenient Bag [Wall Street Journal]

Living Without Plastic

A British woman lives without plastic for a month and blogs the challenges of consuming and shopping for products without disposable bags and containers: "I drew the line at homemade toothpaste."

"Water Conscious"

A number of New York restaurants have signed a pledge with the "Take Back the Tap" campaign to stop serving bottled water.

Greener Gastronomy

From the New York Times Magazine "Green Issue": Michael Pollan considers the impact of small, individual choices; plus, new ideas about food and the environment, from "mob stocking" on dairy farms to hay-box cookery.

Feel-Good Fast Food

So-called "green fast food" chains like Burgerville and Chipotle boast their commitment to cooking with renewable power, using recyclable packaging, and sourcing natural meats.

Edible Tableware Only a Sailor Would Love

Japanese designer Nobuhiko Arikawa has created edible plates, bowls, and chopsticks made from hardtack. They may be sustainable, but who would want to eat them? Via boing boing.

Colbert's Carbon Imprint

If you missed the Colbert Report last night, do yourself a favor and watch this clip for Aqua Colbert, the world's most wasteful premium bottled water.

Mulch and Massage

What's the latest in eco-friendly spa treatments? A bath of fermenting mulch made of ground cedar, rice bran, and plant enzymes. "The mixture, which heats naturally, sends you into a warm dream state that's oddly exhilarating," reports Sunset magazine. Via The Grub Report.