According to this piece in Monday’s New York Times, yes you can.

Apparently, Dr. Michael J. Haas, a research biochemist at the United States Department of Agriculture, in collaboration with a Philadelphia biofuels company turned an 800-pound sculpture of Benjamin Franklin and the Liberty Bell (constructed for the Pennsylvania Farm Show, in Harrisburg) into 75 gallons of biodiesel fuel and a lower-grade bunker fuel.

Unfortunately (or not?), it doesn’t look like the process is economically feasible. “The cost of edible butter is too high,” Dr. Haas said, conceeding “The number of rancid butter sculptures in the U.S. is probably not significant.”

(via New York Times)

“If we start treating people like people, and stop assuming that they’re slower, smaller, better smelling horses; if we get past this ideology of carrots and sticks and look at the science, we can build organizations and work lives that make us better off, and that have the promise to make our world a little bit better.”

An awesome inquiry into why we do what we do, adapted from a lecture by Dan Pink at RSA (the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.) Check it:

(via 18th & Hoyt)

Today is primary day in Colorado. That might not seem related to bikes in Copenhagen, but while those of us with a pound of brains and an ounce of forethought draw encouragement from the example of European cities that are leading the way in embracing the freedom and livability of bike-friendly streets, some in the Governor’s race perceive a hidden agenda in the growing bike movement to spin the US toward UN control and socialism (yes, seriously.)

This film, by Streetfilms’ Clarence Eckerson (whom you might remember from his “Bike Move” film, featured on The Collective), offers a comprehensive look at what bike utopia looks like. Separated bike lanes, dedicated bike signals, considerate drivers: the cycling infrastructure of Denmark’s capital makes Portland look like L.A. And the proof is in the numbers: one counter erected on Copenhagen’s busiest bike street clocks over 30,000 riders per day. Per day.

It’s a model that allows children to ride to school and adults to leave the Styrofoam headgear at home. And best of all, it’s a local solution that each of us can help implement in our own towns and cities. So watch the film; then find your local bicycle advocacy group and get involved. (Or, if you’re in Colorado, go vote). Because, whatever one candidate for Governor might say, that’s how democracy works.

“Dangling”, by Amy Casey

Writing for the New York Time’s Opinionator blog, our friend Allison Arieff recently wondered if, in the wake of the housing bubble’s bursting, we can begin to think of a house more as a home, and less as a resale value:

When did “rm w/a vu” turn into Viking range, cathedral ceiling, granite countertop and four-car garage? At what point did the house become more about the future tenant than the current resident?

It’s a good question, and one that goes to the heart of current home design. Do you really want to lounge in your dressing room? Or is that just something that looks good on the MLS search? McMansions, Arieff suggests, might not be so much a result of people’s bad taste as of the real estate equivalient of ‘teaching to the test’: architecture designed to sell, not provide comfort.

Allison—a GOOD contributor, Refresh Project Ambassador for Food & Shelter and editor emeritus of Dwell—writes regularly for the Opinionator, and is well worth a follow. Check out the article here.

Our friends over at Uncrate recently (like, just now) launched a video aggregator called Devour, with their hand-picked selections of the days best web videos. We’re always on the lookout for high-quality films, and their Documentaries Channel has already compiled some good work, including a couple favorites from California Is A Place and the trailer for Banksy’s Exit Through The Gift Shop. Added to the daily feed.

Looking for a handsome, sustainable way to display your photographs, illustrations or other images? Check out Plywerk, who’ll print your pics on archival-quality paper and mount them on FSC-certified bamboo or maple plywood for an elegant, simple framing solution.

From murky basement impulse to Saturday Market booth to co-op shop to image mounting mavens, Plywerk’s growth has been as organic as their products. “We are part of the local economy,” they say on their site, “and know that growth means the growth of our partners and community.” And they put their money where their copywriting is with a 20% discount to all students, full-time artists and photographers.

So rather than print your next photoset with another anonymous photoprinting dot-com, check out Plywerk; they also offer bamboo blanks and a collection of art photographs made by co-founder Kim Nguyen and others.

As part of the launch of Collective Snapshot—a regular feature in our monthly newsletter, Off The Grid—on nau.com, we’ve teamed up with Plywerk to award the winner of the monthly photo contest a Plywerk-framed print of their pic. To enter, just email your photo to share@nau.com, or visit Collective Snapshot for more information.

Today in the Thought Kitchen, we’re featuring an interview with writer, environmental scientist and sustainable food activist Temra Costa. She is the author of Farmer Jane: Women Changing the Way We Eat, a new book tracking the growth of the sustainable food movement and the role that women are playing in transforming the way we eat and farm. The book profiles thirty-two women in the sustainable food industry, from urban farmers to farm-to-school advocates.

The Thought Kitchen: I suppose it’s appropriate here in The Thought Kitchen that we’re talking about food and the issues around sustainable agriculture. What made you want to write this book?

"Farmer Jane" Author Temra Costa. Photo by Bart Nagel.

Temra Costa: Farmer Jane really provides an alternative lens through which to looking at sustainable food and agriculture. I feel that a lot of issues have been well articulated by other authors, but the whole feminine perspective has yet to be really well explored. Sixty percent of employees at grass roots Ag organizations are women, and moms in homes are the ones cooking meals and controlling upwards of 85 percent of household spending. In 2007 when the USDA came out with their last Ag census it showed that women farmers were the fastest growing demographic by 30 percent since 2002. So women are really making things happen and while they don’t always put themselves in front of cameras, they’re definitely behind the scenes making it happen every day.

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