Coffee and Tea Shop Online

Coffee shop business are sprouting like mushrooms around the city. Even here in my workplace there are about 10 local shops that serves coffee, tea and other type of refreshments. To save the environment of AIT from accummulating trash like plastic containers, we have this BYOC or Bring Your Own Cup in buying drinks. As an incentive you will get 5 Baht or 20 cents discount on every purchase.  The biggest shop here is Hom Krun Coffee.  There coffee mugs similar to that of Starbucks are sold for 100 Baht each.  Quite cozy as it has its name imprinted on two sides of the mug.

I think most of the businesses now are getting conscious as to how they are affecting the worsening problem of our environment. It is unsatisfactory to compromise quality with cheap non-biodegrable materials such as plastics or even paper cups. With the use of ceramic cups you can assure health wise benefits are synonymous to it.

Fresh coffee for orders are available at Keurig K-Cups. K-Cups are free of charge for delivery within US for Elite B40, Special Edition B60, and Platinum B70.  For orders you can check greatcoffee.com and see their selections on the following items:

• Lighter Roasted Coffees

• Medium Roasted Coffees

• Darker Roasted Coffees

• Extra Bold Coffees

• Decaf Coffees

• K-Cup Samplers

• Partnership Coffees

• Limited Edition Coffees

• Black Teas

• Herb Teas

• Green Tea

• Flavored Coffees

• Hot Cocoa K-Cups

• Paper Cups

• Condiments

Earth Day 2008

Having lived in a Buddhist country had lead me to a better understanding on the ecological concern of Thai people. It’s not being converted but anonymously practicing their positive ways towards showing respect to nature and its creatures. In today’s Earth Day, some of the reflections and meditations I found from one of the well known channels has caught my attention.

“He who has understanding and great wisdom does not think of harming himself or another, nor of harming both alike. He rather thinks of his own welfare, of that of others, of that of both, and of the welfare of the whole world. In that way one shows understanding and great wisdom.”
Anguttara Nikaya, Fours, No. 18

Nominate your most favorite 7 Wonders of Nature

Here’s a new buzz for everybody specially for the globe trotters. Traveling is one great way of experiencing different culture and a chance to appreciate the beauty of nature. In line with this, the nominations for new 7 Wonders of Nature of the world is being finalized at present. Last July 2007 the winners for the New 7 wonders of the world was announced and the places that grabbed the new title were (in alphabetical order):
1. Chichen Itza - Mexico, El Castillo
2. Christ the Redeemer - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
3. Colosseum - Rome, Italy
4. Great Wall of China - China
5. Machu Picchu - Cuzco, Perú
6. Petra - Jordan
7. Taj Mahal - Agra, India

Me, being a Filipino I support top two nominees from the Philippines: 1) Tubbataha Reef and 2) Chocolate hills. The rest I opted for other natural spots in 5 different continents like North America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, and South America. Only the top 21 nominees among the top 77 candidates will be short-listed.

You can visit www.new7wonders.com and find out what are the magnificent and breathtaking sites that you want to vote. Help support the Tubbataha Reef and Chocolate hills! Mayon Volcano is also nominated. Each voter can cast 7 votes, so there’s plenty of beautiful places to choose from.

This campaign will surely pave the way to the influx of tourist in every single country that was mentioned in the site. A great way to promote awareness of the preservation of environment to perhaps lessen the damage of global warming.

Environmental Advisory: Earth Hour tomorrow!

An environmental buzz for

60 Earth Hour

Time to join the good revolution.

Global warming is now the greatest threat we have ever faced. But we can make a difference if we act together.

Join Earth Hour, Switch off your lights for 60 minutes
on 29 March and stop global warming before it’s too late.

8 pm Saturday 29 March 2008
and see your world in a whole new light.

www.earthhour.org

Be aware and do your share. =)

Photo taken: AIT West End Park

Reduce Harmful Car Emissions by Carpooling

What else could be better than a clean and green environment? According to reports, driving a car is the single most polluting thing people do. In addition to pollution, each gallon of gas burned produces 20 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas, widely believed to contribute to global warming. The average vehicle produces .9 lbs of CO2 per mile.

Among other solution on helping cleaning the air by avoiding miles driven in cars, carpooling is one of them. Carpooling is when the car is driven for more than one person with a common destination. If a car driver takes you and two other friends to a party 6 miles away and 6 back, you used 12 car miles for yourself and saved 12 car miles for each extra rider (12+12=24)! The driver and first passenger are considered to be essential, and therefore, not extra people.

Carpool services are available everywhere. You can find it in ridesearch.com or seek in the community where you belong. In our neighborhood there’s a group of city workers who assigned themselves each day of the week who will take turn to bring his/her own car to the office. It calls for a little discipline though, as you have to wake up early in the morning to be on time for the departure. More so, it makes travel more enjoyable, practical and less polluting.

Contribute Global Solution to Global Warming

Recent report from World Bank showed that Thailand generated more than 40,000 tons of waste every year. Despite the government’s effort to promote recycling waste into electricity, it is still not widely practiced here. This is due to limited technical capacity and capital investment. Given that waste accounts for almost eight per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in Thailand, proper management of solid waste can help the country reduce emissions, earn carbon credit, and contribute to the global solution to global warming.

AIT being part of this country, has implemented a system for its tiny community to reduce, reuse and recycle materials. The amount of waste collected has significantly dropped to 20 per cent. It was made possible through waste segregation and Trash for Cash campaign every first Saturday of the month. Most of the wastes that are collected here in our community are type of HDPE Scrap (recyclable waste consisting of only High Density Polyethylene), paper scrap, bottle scrap, and metal scrap. Small roadside operators are responsible for collecting it and deliver them to huge waste management companies.

The shops inside the campus like AIT bookstore, grocery and Shop 108 has expressed their support to the Clean and Green AIT initiatives. The deal was if you buy goods worth THB 100 or more using your own bag you can get free Lipon F dish washing fluid. And Bring your Own Cup (BYOC) for take away drinks and get a free 3-in-1 coffee mix.

Other cool promotions were portable thermos cups with the Clean, Green AIT logo. Cups cost THB 120 each, with THB 35 going into the environment kitty. Clean, Green AIT canvas shopping bags - it could be taken to Tesco, Carrefour or TOPS supermarket, and say no to plastic. Proceeds are channeled into the Task Force’s activities.