For the third year in a row I’ve missed the Boston Vegetarian Society’s New Year’s Day dinner. They try to make it easy on people, too, with seatings at 12:00 and 3:00, but after New Year’s Eve I just can’t make myself get out of the house that early. I curse myself for this every year.

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I’ve also never been to the BVS’s monthly seminars/dinners at Grasshopper, but I have been to some of their other dinners, and they’ve all been great. The special menu nights at Veggie Planet are especially delicious. They remind me of the ONCE vegetarian that Jason and I went to (where we actually ended up sitting with some BVS members!). It can be a little pricey, but the food is thoughtful and seasonal, and it’s really fun discussing each course with your seatmates. Seating is all family style, and, as antisocial as I am, even I enjoyed meeting new people there. It’s reassuring to know we all have at least one thing in common.

BVS also puts on the Boston Vegetarian Food Festival in the fall, as well as cooking classes and other events throughout the year. Sign up for the BVS newsletter to keep up to date. I feel like they’re a valuable resource that I’m not using as well as I could.

One year ago: Looking back at 2009

Christmas has snuck up on me this year, and I’ve had to squeeze all my holiday preparations into just a week. One thing that’s helped me save time (and paper): electronic Christmas cards.

Isn't it lovely?

I discovered Paperless Post through my friend Lesley. The company mostly does paperless invitations for weddings and the like, but they’ve expanded their line to include holiday cards, birthday cards, etc. The graphic design is to a higher standard than most e-cards. Because of that, they’re not free—each card costs at least $0.17 to send, more if you want to customize certain aspects, like the envelope. Mine came to about $0.50 each. Granted, I did send more, since I figured that couples would view them separately on their computers, rather than together at home, but still cost less than if I sent paper cards. And for each of the cards that I chose, Paperless Post donates a pound of food to a food pantry (City Harvest).

But here’s where we come to the real savings—time. No searching through address books and hand writing addresses. Paperless Post imported my Gmail address book, and I just clicked on the people I wanted to send it to. And since the post office isn’t involved, I could send them out late without worrying that they wouldn’t arrive in time!

There were a few people on my list (mostly older people) who don’t have easy access to computers, so I sent them paper cards. But I think as more and more people get comfortable with computers, e-cards will be the way to go.

There are lots of other good e-card sources: Native Energy cards fund alternative energy generation, someecards are really funny, and World Wildlife Fund cards feature animated animals. So many choices… Is there an e-card company that you really like?

One year ago: Switching Cat Food . . . Again

If you bike in the Boston area, take a minute to fill out the City of Boston bike survey. Let’s show the city exactly how much interest there is in bike-friendly roads.

I missed a lot while I was away, so I apologize for the number of links today. But they’re all so interesting I couldn’t cut them down any more…

• Which is the greener gender? – Slate. We win! Suck it, Jason.
• JD Kemp Bridges the Gap Between Local Food Buyers and Sellers – JP Patch. I’d read about the Northeast Food Exchange before, but my friend Lesley actually got to interview the founder.
• Some Frugal Ideas for Holiday Gifts – The Greenest Dollar. Generally I bemoan the economic inefficiency of gift-giving, but Groupon might convince me otherwise. (And I do have a deep affection for my reusable bags…)
• A portrait of state’s population – Boston Globe. Census data shows that Massachusetts residents have the sixth-longest commutes in the country.
• Cambridge Public Library receives LEED silver certification – Cambridge Chronicle. This is the same architect designing Berklee’s new building!
• The Green Mom’s Carnival Takes a Look at Cement – Retro Housewife Goes Green. Cement is a horribly carbon- intensive material, and people don’t talk about it that much. Thanks, Lisa!
• Standing up to the surge – Boston Globe. A new building in Providence is designed with a break-away first floor in expectation of future sea level rise.
• The FDA finally reveals how many antibiotics factory farms use—and it’s a shitload – Grist. If we want super-cheap meat we also have to deal with super-bacteria.
• Cyclists Pedal Faster On Wednesdays, Reveals Smart Bike Data – Technology Review. My biggest question from this: why do French women stay home to take care of their children on Wednesdays in particular?
• LED Holiday Lights: Extravagance Sans Guilt – Energy Circle. Jason really wants to do a National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation to our house with LEDs.
• Conscious Shopper Challenge: Bank Sustainably – Green Phone Booth. My bank, Wainwright, was bought by Eastern Bank, so now I have to do research on them, too.

Did you make it all the way to the bottom? Congratulations! As usual, if you see anything interesting next week, send it my way.

It looks like I’ve finally found the limits of my Crystal deodorant—in two different ways.

First off, the heat and the stress of my first day in Cuba overwhelmed it, and I had to switch to an antiperspirant. (You’re welcome, Roya and Debbie!) This is the first time I’ve had to do that in the whole year that I’ve been using it, and, admittedly, it was in very special circumstances.

Ouch

I also think I’m ready to get a new stick. There’s still quite a bit of the old one left , but it’s started to melt in an uncomfortable way—there’s a hole in the center now, with jagged edges. I can still use the sides, but I have to be very careful about it, and sometimes when I’m hurrying I jab an edge into my armpit.

I’m amazed that this one stick has lasted almost a year. When I first started using it last January, I thought it would just be a crazy experiment I was doing for the blog. I never imagined I’d like it so much that it would replace my old antiperspirant!

One year ago: The Least Toxic Way to Melt Snow and Ice