The Green Font Choice - Garamond

Concerned about ink usages but still required to print documents out? 14 year old scientist, Suvir Mirchandani, reveals a simple way to save ink - change ink font.

Mirchandani, who published two studies on topic, recommends the use of Garamond to reduce your ink usage.  The table below, taken from his 2013 paper, compares the ink usage of 4 different fonts for 5 different letters.

[Image from Mirchandani and Pinko, 2013]

Mirchandani's studies wish only to be useful, he calculated the savings a school and the government could make by simply changing fonts and the results are astounding. He estimates the government could save $394 Million a year by making the switch, that's a significant amount that could be reinvested in other sectors such as education.

As a teacher, I will definitely be making the switch on my handouts.

Take care!

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Sources:
Mirchandani, Suvir, and Peter Pinko. "The effect of font type on a school’s ink cost." Journal of Emerging Investigators March (2013): 1-7. 
Web. 30 Mar. 2014. Mirchandani-2013.pdf>.

Mirchandani, Suvir, and Peter Pinko. "A Simple Printing Solution to Aid Deficit Reduction." Journal of Emerging Investigators 
March (2014): 1-5. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. Mirchandani-2014-Ink-Cost-2.pdf>.

{Ultimate Cuteness} Olinguito

Welcome to Ultimate Cuteness, the sporadic themed post where I get to share the cutest nature pictures found on the internet.

This week we discover the Olinguito (pronounced oh-lin-GHEE-toe), a new species of tiny mammal discovered in 2013 in the Andes canopy. This relative of the racoon may have been observed before 2013 but confused with the Olingo.

Oh its cute enough as an adult, but as a baby... it's to die for! Look at those fluffy ears!!!

Just soak in the cuteness...
Take care!

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For more information: 
http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/15/world/americas/new-mammal-smithsonian/
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/10/29/cute-pictures-baby-olinguito-found-in-colombia/

BYOB #bagitnyc

[Picture Credit]

Have you heard of Bill No.1135? How about the Ban the Bag movement? Well, it's happening in NYC and it might be happening or has happened where you are...

The objective is simple, reduce the number of single use plastic bags used - you know the ones, the ones that are so thin you need to double or triple bag in order to carry home some apples (... or candy... no judgement).

Did you know that NYC spends 10 MILLION DOLLARS a year just to get rid of plastic bags? Ridiculous, right? Don't believe me? I hear it from NYC Deputy Commissioner for Recycling and Sustainability, Ron Gonen himself.

These plastic bags are such a low quality of plastic "film" that they are not worth recycling because no one is really interested with the resulting plastic product. (This being said, there are some very creative individuals out there...) So our bags end up in landfills somewhere or for many of them they remain in our environment floating around our streets, and wrapping around tree branches. These bags won't degrade for years and they release toxic particles in the environment. Either whole or in particle form, these plastic bags frequently end up as very unhealthy and in many cases deadly snacks for marine organisms.

Instagram #bagitnyc

The bill proposes the add a convenience fee of 10 cents for every bag you use. Why? In hopes that this 10 cent fee will motivate us shoppers to bring reusable bags with us.

Whether or not you think this bill should be put in place, using reusable bags is a good idea - not just for the environment but also for the sake of your hands that may have to carry heavy bags up all the way up to your oh so quaint 5th floor walk up.

BYOB can also mean Bring Your Own Bag...

Take care!


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Want to take action?
http://www.citizensnyc.org/sign-bag-it-nyc-petition

Participate on Instagram by geo tagging pictures of plastic bags seen around NYC, add the #bagitnyc for it to add it to the ever growing community map

Bring it to the classroom! http://www.bagitmovie.com/downloads/EducationPacket_7.pdf

Need more info? 
https://bagitnyc.org/

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/bag-it-nyc-plan-sees-dime-charge-plastic-or-paper-f6C10974920

http://www.bagitmovie.com/

http://vimeo.com/19755590

Want to read opposing views? 
http://stopthebagban.com/Why-bag-bans-are-wrong.php

Interested in alternative uses for plastic bags? 
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/02/12/those-much-maligned-plastic-grocery-bags-can-run-your-diesel-truck-or-car/

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Sources: 
Bag it. Dir. Jennifer Abbott and Mark Achbar. Perf. Ray Anderson and Noam 
     Chomsky. Docurama, 2011. Film. 
Gonen, Ron. Hewitt's Ban the Bag Even. The Hewitt School, New York. 1 Mar. 2014. 
     Address. NYC Deputy Commissioner for Recycling and Sustainability 

Pesto Pesto Pesto

The calendar tells me it's spring although the weather is not really supporting these claims here in the big apple. Although most days still require me to bundle up, there are other signs around: the ducks are back, most of the snow is gone, and I suddenly have the urge to cook!

This resurgence of the domestic goddess may only be a result of being on spring break but regardless of the reason, I'm on a mission to master the art of PESTO.

[Picture Credit Inspired Taste - my own to come]

What you will need:

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
2 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste  


Let's get cooking.

Method

1 Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.
2 Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Makes 1 cup.
Serve with pasta, or over baked potatoes, or spread over toasted baguette slices.

(based on a recipe from Simply Recipes.com)

I'm off to the grocery story because I am missing most of these ingredients.

Take care!!