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On my return Amtrak trip from Sustainable Brands 08 in Monterey, I elected to sample life in the sleeper car, with my own little booth and bed: car 1432, room 11. This was a significant up-charge, ($257) although that price includes all meals (worth about $50) and if traveling with another person (or two…?!)  that cost could be shared. The room contains two facing seats, which make into a bed, with a drop-down bunk above. There is AC power, reading lights, climate control, curtains and a door. In these rooms it is completely permissible to bring your own liquor, and a shower is also available further down the car. The staff is friendly and accommodating (as they were in coach) and you have the advantage of exclusive access to the parlour car. This is definitely the way to travel, with the only downside (upside?) being you don’t get the chance to meet as many people. I plug in my laptop and catch up on some work, as the sun sets on Northern California. Folding down the upper bunk I catch a solid 8 hours for the first time this week. Better do some invoicing.

The last in a series of articles on Lorne’s Sustainable Journey to the Sustainable Brands 08 Conference in Monterey CA. Click here for the full list of sessions, or here for the ‘Fear & Loathing’ road trip journals.

Walking through the idyllic seaside burg of Capitola, California, my green sensibilities were assaulted by the flashing colours, gleaming steel, and deafening V-8 roar of the Capitola Hot Rod Show. These were muscle cars in their element, under a California sun, each the offspring of countless hours of hard work, mechanical ingenuity and late-night garage-creativity.

A nervous tic began behind my right eye, as my own high-octane engine-tweaking past struggled to the surface of my consciousness, and for a few hours all thoughts of carbon footprint were roughly shouldered aside by sparkling iron and blue-sky chrome. There is a visceral excitement and respect for the throaty sound of one of these finely-tuned eco-disasters that goes back to the proto-hominid who first witnessed the roar of a caged predator cat. The sheer mechanical overkill embodied in a chrome blower sticking out of a car that was designed before carbon was a crime is something to behold.

So do show cars have a place in a carbon-conscious world?
I would propose that they do. In fact, they may represent the very future of single-passenger automobiles, as over-powered, impractical, beautiful anachronisms. Carbon-spewing sculptures that remind us of the frightening roar and metallic tang of our own weakness for raw power and stark beauty. 

One in a series of articles on Lorne’s Sustainable Journey to the Sustainable Brands 08 Conference in Monterey CA. Click here for the full list of sessions, or here for the ‘Fear & Loathing’ road trip journals.

Let the Sustainable Road Trip continue… at 57.2 mpg.
The first thing I had to do was consult the owners manual for starting instructions. (Hold brake, insert square plastic ‘key’ and press power button) From there it was a bit like driving an electric golf cart with a gas motor that would randomly fire up. As soon as I figured out the big central touch screen, (which features a selectable readout of everything from climate control to climate-saving mileage) I was hooked on exacting as much economy as I could out of this sleek future-mobile. Numerous pick-up trucks and BMW’s cursed me as I drifted along at 55mph, one eye glued to the mileage readout. I averaged 57.2 miles-per-US-gallon over an 82-mile, mostly highway trip.

SUV’s for sale cheap.
In Capitola, one of my associates told me that dealerships were only offering $2500 – $3000 for gas-guzzling SUV’s on trade-in. A harsh wake-up for those who paid $30 – $40K and still owe $15,000.

Hummmmmm……….

One in a series of articles on Lorne’s Sustainable Journey to the Sustainable Brands 08 Conference in Monterey CA. Click here for the full list of sessions, or here for the ‘Fear & Loathing’ road trip journals.

Carmel Sustainable Restaurant Review: Grasings Coastal Cuisine. Chef/Proprietor Kurt Grasing. Although it doesn’t bill itself as an ‘organic’ restaurant, the menu does boast that they support local and organic farmers wherever possible. My waiter Cody also told me they serve only sustainable seafood, and that the catch of the day (Mahi-Mahi) was a farmed fish. Not having heard of a mahi-mahi farm, I asked him to find out where they were raised. A few minutes later, he told me it was a Hawaiian fish. Not sure about that one.

But, served on a bed of thick-cut heirloom tomatoes, couscous, feta and olives, it was delicious. I complemented it with a glass of local central coast wine, the Cycles Gladiator Pinot Noir. Appropriate given the hill I had to climb going back from Carmel to Monterey.

One in a series of articles on Lorne’s Sustainable Journey to the Sustainable Brands 08 Conference in Monterey CA. Click here for the full list of sessions, or here for the ‘Fear & Loathing’ road trip journals.

1. Coffee with all the right adjectives. It was nice to see a departure from the ubiquitous generic hotel swill. This selection by Thanksgiving Coffee had a nice rich flavour, and didn’t leave me with crack-jitters by the afternoon.

2. Innovative disposable dinnerware by Verterra. Pressed leaf plates and starch-based cutlery made an impression. Not to mention they styling look that will go well with your wood-paneled rumpus room.

3. The Usual Generic Hotel Buns. This could have been the most organic, free-range, vegan-victorious pastry in town. But even if it was, you’d never know it. It tasted like pure, high-fructose corn syrup sweetened lard lovin’ to me. Not that I’d know.

4. Individually-Wrapped Multinational Salt Chips. I guess there may have been some arteries going into withdrawal from their usual sodium fix. Maybe one day they’ll figure out how to make an edible starch bag. Then we could just eat them like meds. But seriously, guys. There must be a cracked-sea-salt-organic-spud-farmer version of chips to be had.

5. Free-Range Bike Racks. I didn’t see a real one while I was here. Fortunately, the Hyatt staff seemed content to let me lock up wherever. I live for the day I can pull up to the valet, toss him my helmet and stroll into the lobby, reeking of international intrigue.

6. Complimentary Post-Consumer Waste. I guess a free newspaper is a traditional hotel thing. But when they start to stack up, it just looks like blue-box fill waiting to happen.

7. My New Wind-Powered Phone. A company called CHOICEgadget had these peel-and-stick business cards that purported to provide a year of free carbon offsets for the manufacturing and use of a typical cel-phone. Funny, my battery doesn’t seem to last any longer…
 

8. Great Green SWAG from ECOimprints. Hemp, organic cotton, biodegradable pens, and a trade-show booth that ECO imprints Partner John Borg made himself from reclaimed materials. Share the love.

9. Lighting lightly on the earth. Pulse Staging and Events provided LED lighting systems for SB08 that looked great (subtle colour-changing towers provided soothing entertainment for the patient psychadelic tripper) and use 20% of the energy of traditional lighting systems. They also run cool, which can save even more on A/C energy. President Michael Karp says they also make sure their electronic equipment is as carefully sourced, and complies with ROHS guidelines wherever possible.

10. Having a conference at all. Wouldn’t it be better just to get together over webcams? Or hold local conferences wired together with big real-time videoconferencing video walls? Or plug ourselves in like The Matrix and meet in a freaky virtual world filled with chaos and mayhem? Perhaps. But there is something innately inspiring about sharing a room with over 500 other intelligent, committed, focused professionals who share a goal to make the world greener. I know I will return to my zone much more energized and prepared to take on the forces of inertia. Until next conference, Dear Readers, stay tuned for a day of Sustainable biking in Monterey, and a return  Amtrak Trek which will likely sport some sort of adventure.

One in a series of articles on Lorne’s Sustainable Journey to the Sustainable Brands 08 Conference in Monterey CA. Click here for the full list of sessions, or here for the ‘Fear & Loathing’ road trip journals.

On my way back from the Sustainable Brands 08 opening night shmooze I decided to seek a warming evening beverage to nurse me through my homework for the night. A drive-through Starbucks loomed on the horizon, so I rode up to the speaker.

The zit-faced voice coming through the black grill was promising at first. “Welcome to Starbucks… I’ll be right with you.”

Moments later, it returned with a message of doom. “Sorry, sir, I can’t serve you on a bike.” I looked around. The night was quiet. No cars were looming. “Why?” I countered. “I don’t know.” the voice said, “My manager told me. Insurance or something”.

I looked up at the security camera and waved. “No problem. I’ll see you inside.”

“We’re not open.” the voice squeaked. 

I played my last card, struggling to appeal to his American values. “But you’re denying a guy his Starbucks fix… that’s… unconstiutional!”

He was unfazed. I was uncaffeinated. 

One in a series of articles on Lorne’s Sustainable Journey to the Sustainable Brands 08 Conference in Monterey CA. Click here for the full list of sessions, or here for the ‘Fear & Loathing’ road trip journals.

The stampede for the Taste of California shmooze fest at the Hyatt’s TUSCA Restaurant was perhaps more restrained than other conferences, but otherwise was pretty indistinguishable.

On the patio looking out to the golf course, propane heaters blazed, keeping the 65-degree weather mercifully at bay for the Sustainable Brands 08 attendees. A small thing, perhaps… but isn’t this whole conference about the small things? A disappointment to be sure.

Inside the restaurant a jazz band shuffled comfortably and the restaurant put on a great spread of California-style foods. Absent was any signage or information identifying organic, local or otherwise sustainable aspects of the buffet. I took a risk and wolfed a bunch of it down nonetheless.

Fetzer Wines and Finlandia vodka sponsored the bar, and Boterra organic white wine was also available. So I was able to drown my disappointment somewhat.

One in a series of articles on Lorne’s Sustainable Journey to the Sustainable Brands 08 Conference in Monterey CA. Click here for the full list of sessions, or here for the ‘Fear & Loathing’ road trip journals.

Sunday June 1, 2008

6:00am – Mouth tastes like reclaimed greywater. Amtrak coffee changes this taste, but does not substantially improve it.

8:00 AM – Breakfast of high-fat French toast with high-corn-fructose syrup and nitrate-preservative-drenched sausage patties may help. I wolf this down as we rumble by the abandoned asbestos-laden rusting battleship hulks and refineries of Martinez on our way to Oakland. I love train travel for the more complete visual slice of life it offers when compared with the roadside views. 

10:30 – After a few hours of slow cruising through fertile farmland, we arrive on-time in Salinas. The town itself has a southwestern feel to it, and the small train station carries this motif rather nicely.

A small bus is waiting to take us to Monterey. (The Amtrak train/bus routine. connections have certainly been good) He ends up taking me right to my little Oceanside Inn Hotel, instead of the scheduled stop at the Hyatt.

The Oceanside Inn is like an old-school roadside motel but smaller. It’s beside a busy road, but the sound is not too bad inside. It is closer to the ocean than the Hyatt, soI walk into town along the beach. The air is quite crisp, especially with the brisk wind whipping up the chop. Somewhat cool and hungry, I arrive at the Fisherman’s Wharf, and ingest a bread-bowl full of clam chowder, which hits the spot brilliantly.

Cannery Row is like Monterey’s Gastown, historical roots of the city etc etc. Located in this neighbourhood is Bay Bike Rentals and they set me up with a Brodie hybrid bike. I now have my freedom back! I scope out the location of the Hyatt (about 3 bike-minutes away) and am now ready to overfill my brand brain.

One in a series of articles on Lorne’s Sustainable Journey to the Sustainable Brands 08 Conference in Monterey CA. Click here for the full list of sessions, or here for the ‘Fear & Loathing’ road trip journals.