The Atlantic - Ocean to Plate with a game to play

The Atlantic at Crown, the latest addition to Crown's monstrosity, has been in the works for a number of months but as we were told by one of the visiting managers, it was only a couple of weeks ago that it officially open. While the place looked beautiful, I do question whether it has been all smooth sailing (excuse the pun).

Even though I may call Crown a monstroscity, I am however rather curious to find out if what the Atlantic prides itself on, "a team who hand selects an unrivalled selection of wild and sustainable fish, unique oyster varieties and pristine shellfish", truly justifies the price and the hoohar surrounding its arrival. I do give it the benefit of the doubt since the intention to be sustainable is there, right?

Conclusion, overated. Quality, decent but for the price and teamed with inexperienced staff makes this over priced dining experience quite laughable. Seriously. Watching my brother get taken on a tour of the restaurant unintentionally, taking away the place setting when we were still waiting on one, placing the napkin on all laps but mine, watching bimbos juggle plates, even with all this, the piece of resistance was the game we played or rather I played. Counting the number of times dishes went back and forth from table to table, an unintentional game of musical dishes perhaps?!

This of course has nothing to do with chef Donovan Cooke. The menu is crafted with great thought and does cater for all. Those with acquired taste to cashed up bogans who not surprising will alway pick the seafood platter (at $85 per person and requiring no skill at all to cook..hmmm...). The unfortunate thing however was we had to send a plate back for it was undercooked.

On a better note, desserts were of a fine selection. Much to choose from, I wanted them all! But if given a choice, I could probably do without them, as my heart still belongs to Dai Noi.

This is a place to be seen and possibly the "green" intention is there (though I am not fully convinced). Sadly these two factors just doesn't cut it in my books. Billy Kwong can you please come to Melbourne... pretty please.

Sweet Lochie

I am the second child as is Lochie, the second grandchild, the second nephew, the second everything. My point is we both are not the first. Not that he and I are bitter about it but let's face it, shall we say the novelty wears down after the first. I love nephew number 2 as do I love nephew number 1, but I am a bad aunty for it was Lochie's birthday on 13th January and it is only until now that I blog about it. The intention was always there but not so the urgency.

So what "green" gift do I give a one year old? To start him on his green path, a Baby SIGG bottle of course. With removable handles, good habits aka sustainable behaviour are instilled in this bub from get go!

Happy Birthday Sweet Lochie!

While you may have started life differently to most, you have however ended up being the most gorgeous, sweetest bub ever.

Earth Hour - some candles are bad eggs

Tonight is Earth Hour.

At 8:30pm, Earth Hour will sweep around the globe as people switch off their lights and celebrate a worldwide commitment to protect our planet

Initally, the idea behind Earth Hour was to make a bold symbolic statement about the critical issue of climate change and to engage Australians in taking action. 2007 was the first year of the campaign with approximately 2.2 million people and 2,100 businesses in Sydney taking part, switching off their lights in a clear signal to government and industry that there's a demand and a need for change.

Since then, Earth Hour has rapidly gained momentum and burgeoned into a worldwide, community-driven sustainability movement.

Those switching off their lights may opt for candle light. But there is a catch. If we are doing this for the purpose of saving the environment, we need to make sure the candles we use are made from soy/natural beeswax/vegan and NOT paraffin. Paraffin candles in fact does more damage than turning on a light as paraffin candles produce a number of byproducts when they are combusted, including greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. Paraffin is also a petroleum product, making it a nonrenewable resource and adding to pollution through oil spills and other issues associated with the oil extraction process.

SOY CANDLES are BEST!

Local Vs Imports: The Show Down

There's this belief that buying local is best. While I can see the arguments for buying local, ie supporting local farmers and the local economy, and less travel miles, it was only recently that I started to question this idea. You see I was at Aldi supermarket the other day where I was faced with the decision as to whether to buy a bottle of olive oil made in Australia or one made in Itay. Naturally I went for the Australian one. But looking at the carbon label and Aldi's website, if I am to choose an olive oil that is good for the environment and will reduce my carbon footprint, I have selected wrongly.

The ALDI everyday range of olive oil products has undergone a comprehensive assessment to determine the total carbon footprint, which encompasses all the life cycle stages, from raw materials and manufacturing right through to disposal or recycling of packaging.

Each olive oil product has been assessed and certified by the Carbon Trust as meeting all requirements of the Publicly Available Standard 2050 (PAS 2050). The PAS 2050 is a consultative document that specifies standard best practice for the assessment of the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of goods and services.

Judging from Aldi's carbon assessment chart, the olive oil from Italy has a lower overall carbon footprint of 300 as oppose to the one from Australia which has a footprint of 320

This then leads me to the question, have we been naive and too trusting to believe everything purchased "local" is best?

Buying local food does not guarantee that it is sustainably produced. Pesticides, chemical fertilizers, factory farming, hormone use, and non-therapeutic use of antibiotics can all be involved in local food production, so it's important to make sure that the local food that is bought is from farmers or gardeners using sustainable methods.

Thus it is important to know the true carbon footprint from the things we buy. Fortunately, Aldi has taken the lead by working with Planet Ark, to introduce the carbon reducation label.

Aldi maybe internationally owned, they do however strive to operate with a sustainable conscience and will always endeaviour to support local farmers who just need to offload their goods.

The Great Debate - Is Environmentalism Failing?

One of the highlights from the 2011 Sustainable Living Festival.
A sold out event, naturally. If you missed it, here's your chance to catch up or if you were there, a chance for you to take a trip down memory lane!



Starring - David Suzuki, Ian Lowe, Christine Milne MP, Anna Rose, Clive Hamilton, Phillip Sutton, and moderated by the one and only Julia Zemiro

Selling out to travel

I have a confession while I try to live a "green" sustainable life, there is one thing I just can't give up. Travel. I absolutely adore traveling. Immersing oneself in another lifestyle, another culture, knowing that there is so much out, is something I constantly crave, that is to seek out the unknown. So what can I do? I can offset my travel.

While I do see purchasing offsets as a cop out, it is necessary when there is no other option. Well the other option is to take a year off and gradually make my way to each desired destination, but that's not possible... well not at this point in time.

So how do I make my travel the greenest it can be? Take my weekend away to Sydney and Canberra.

Flights:

• Melbourne to Sydney [.23 tonnes = $5.75]
• Canberra to Melbourne [.15 tonnes = $3.75]
  

Shared car travel:

• Hawthorn to Burnley to Tulla Airport (return) [7.4kms]
• Sydney car rental to National Gallery of Australian Canberra [288.1kms]
• NGA to Food to Canberra Airport [7.1km]

=> Total car travel per person = 302.6km = $62.75/3 = $20.92

TOTAL travel offset $5.75 + $3.75 + $20.92 = $30.42

Offset calculations via Climate Positive

[I've only offset my flights as I'm not too sure how to go about offsetting my portion of vehicle travel, or whether I have to offset the whole lot ie $62.75]

*Car travel 3 peeps
*Staying in the area we want to hang avoided any car/taxi travel as most things were within walking distance. Tho we did take the bus twice!
*Eating organic. An abundance of choice in Surry Hills, so that's where we stayed!

yes that's Anne Hathaway, she too paid a visit to Collector Store (tho not @ the same time as moi!)