Project: Green Industry

Green cities

Mother Nature Network named its top 10 green U.S. cities, with a couple of surprises in the mix. Here’s the criteria MNN used: air and water quality; efficient recycling and management of waste; percentage of LEED-certified buildings; acres of land devoted to greenspace; use of renewable energy sources; and easy access to products and services such as organic products, buying local and clean transportation methods.

10. Austin Texas
9. Chicago
8. Seattle
7. Berkeley, Calif.
6. Cambridge, Mass.
5. Eugene, Ore.
4. Oakland, Calif.
3. Boston
2. San Francisco
1. Portland, Ore.

-- Kelli

Got weeds? Getta’ a goat

An increasing number of government agencies, municipalities and homeowners are using goats and sheep to control weeds and invasive plants, reports USA Today. Conservation or targeted grazing is increasingly being considered as a more environmental way to control plants, replacing machines that burn fossil fuels, herbicide applications or the use of manual labor.

The animals have multiple uses. Goats and sheep are being rented by California homeowners to reduce vegetation around their homes which could pose a risk during wildfires. Animals have been used to remove the invasive kudzu plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Maryland State Highway Administration chose goats and sheep over heavy lawn equipment to avoid damage to a wetland area that is home to the Big Turtle, which is considered a threatened species. Transportation departments in multiple states have used the animals to control roadside vegetation.

Karen Launchbaugh, an associate professor in the department of rangeland ecology and management at the University of Idaho, told the newspaper that choosing the appropriate animal for the job is becoming more refined. She said that goats do a better job on shrubs and trees and sheep are the animal of choice for herbaceous weeds. For dense grasses, it’s time to bring in the heavy feeders—cows and horses. Launchbaugh is co-author of the “Targeted Grazing” handbook, which discusses this natural approach to vegetative management.

-- Dave

Va for victory!

Here’s a hip, another hip and even a hurrah for Mike Goatley, associate professor and turfgrass specialist at Virginia Tech University. Goatley recently joined the Virginia Green Industry Council to issue a statewide challenge to Virginians to become environmental stewards in turf management practices.

 

On Sept. 12, during the 2009 Virginia “GoGreen Garden Festival (and more),” Goatley and colleagues will host an all-day lawn clinic. To support the effort, staff from the Turf Store and the Smart Lawns Program sponsored by Henrico County Extension will be on site to teach event goers to safely manage lawns while protecting Virginia’s water resources.

 

In the meantime, Goatley is providing current and archived tips in management practices for homeowners and their lawns through the “Turf and Garden Tips” Web site.

 

The Virginia GoGreen Garden Festival (and more …) will be held rain or shine from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sept. 12 at the Garner Pavilion in Richmond, Va. For details, click here.

 

-- Yale

 

San Francisco working to eliminate all waste by 2020

If San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom gets his way, his city will soon have “the best recycling and composting programs in the nation,” reports the San Francisco Chronicle. On June 9, the city’s Board of Supervisors approved the mayor’s proposal to cut the amount of waste sent to the city’s landfill and to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The goal of the Mandatory Recycling and Composting Ordinance (081404) which is expected to take effect in the fall, is to stop sending waste to landfills or incinerators by 2020.

The ordinance would require every city residence and business to sort waste into three separate color-coded bins: green for compost, blue for recycling and black for trash. Citizens or companies that fail to properly dispose of waste after several warnings could face fines. These fines, said officials, would only be levied in flagrant cases. Fines would initially be capped at $100 for residents and small businesses that generate less than a cubic yard of waste a week. Fines could be as much as $500 for businesses that don’t have the proper bins. No fines would be imposed until July 2011 for residents and operators of multifamily buildings or multitenant commercial properties. In building locations where recycling carts won’t fit, owners and tenants can receive a waiver.

Jared Blumenfeld, head of the city’s Department of the Environment, told the newspaper that the ordinance won’t create trash police. He said violators would receive numerous notices and phone calls before any fines were issued. Blumenfeld said the owners of apartment buildings are the ones most likely to skirt the ordinance, reports SFEnvironment. “We’re mainly focusing this new law at multitenant buildings; only 25 percent of those building owners provide recycling for renters.”

According to a USA Today Snapshot, each American generates an average of nearly 5 pounds of trash per day. Of the trash generated, 54 percent goes into landfills, 33 percent is recycled and 13 percent is burned.

--Dave

Get out and play

Charter Homes & Neighborhoods is creating a 1.5-acre TerraPark natural playground in a Mechanicsburg, Pa., development. TerraParks are playgrounds made of natural landscape elements.

Natural playgrounds are designed to let kids climb trees, roll down hills, scramble up rocks, make mud pies, hide in the grass – the things many kids used to do when our society spent more time outside playing. TerraParks combine landscape elements, sun paths, drainage courses and plant groupings. “Few places other than the outdoors can create the same sense of wonder and imagination as a great place to play,” said Rob Bowman, president of Charter Homes & Neighborhoods, an independent homebuilder.

The Mechanicsburg TerraPark was designed by architect Ron King, founder of the New Hampshire-based Natural Playgrounds Company. He said manufactured playgrounds challenge children’s physical development, but natural playgrounds challenge their emotional, social and cognitive creativity. It sounds a little deep, but I know my kids ultimately love digging in the dirt and climbing trees better than any toy in their closet.

-- Kelli

‘Not so fast, my friend …’

OK, maybe skyscraper greenhouses AREN’T the wave of the future. We reported in our most recent Weekly Dirt that a Swedish company wants to develop a “vertical greenhouse” in the heart of a major city. According to AFP, the masterminds behind the plan said an urban greenhouse would give city dwellers better access to fresh food and cut down on transportation and shipping costs. For now, the greenhouse plans are still on the drawing board, though several cities in China and Scandinavia have expressed interest.

Reader Gregg Short, a greenhouse engineer, thinks the vertical greenhouse idea isn’t built on the firmest of foundations:
“You've got to be kidding about this vertical greenhouse thing...right? Did you catch the part about 30 days from seed to tomato? Light is the constraining value, and going vertical doesn’t solve that problem – rotating or not – especially if the neighbor building is the same height and is shading you out. Now, if we really want to talk seriously about growing produce in an urban setting, then we should be talking about green roofs and hydroponic greenhouses on the roofs.That makes some sense.”

So does Gregg’s e-note. And we appreciate him letting us share it here.

-- Yale

Locally grown is gaining momentum

The number of small farms is increasing in the United States and more importantly they are succeeding. John Ikerd, professor emeritus at University of Missouri-Columbia, told the St. Louis Dispatch that a fundamental change is occurring within the United States when it comes to smaller farmers. The newspaper reports that from 2002 to 2007, many of the nearly 300,000 new farms started in this country were small and operated by young farmers.

The 2007 USDA Census of Agriculture, which is conducted every five years, shows a continuation in the trend toward more small and very large farms. Most of the growth in U.S. farm numbers came from small operations, where sales of no specific commodity accounted for more than 50 percent of the total value of production. The number of small farms earning under $50,000 has risen 6 percent over the last 10 years.

The census showed that the top five industries in terms of net cash income produced were: grains and oilseeds, milk, poultry and eggs, fruits and nuts and nursery and greenhouse.

Mary Hendriksen, a professor of rural sociology at University of Missouri and a coordinator of the Food Circles Networking Project, told the newspaper that small farms are seeing an opportunity and they are a real growth sector within agriculture.

The locally grown concept is not being lost on large corporations. In May, Lay’s Potato Chips, launched a nationwide marketing campaign focusing on the people and communities across the country that produce its line of chips. The “Lay’s Local” marketing campaign puts a spotlight on potato farmers from California, Florida, Maine, Michigan and Texas as the faces for the iconic brand in 30 second national and regional television spots.

The St. Louis Dispatch reports that farm equipment manufacturer John Deere is seeing shifts in demand and is promoting its smaller scale product lines. Barry Nelson, Deere’s public relations manager, told the newspaper that the company has seen an increase in the rural lifestyle and part-time farmer market. He said the small tractor category is the one of the fastest growing U.S. markets.

--Dave

‘Green living’ doesn’t mean ditching the lawn

Here’s yet another article, this time on Examiner.com, discussing how downsizing the lawn is the ‘green’ way to go.

You can count me among the gardeners out there who have converted a portion of the lawn to a flower garden. The island bed I created in my front yard almost three years ago is now firmly established, and I’m pleased with the results. But I wouldn’t dream of sacrificing any more of my precious green grass for two reasons:

1. My husband would loudly rebel. Like many men, he has a love affair with his lawn. (It must be attached the Y chromosome or something. I don’t know.) Last night we were looking through photos of our kids hunting Easter eggs earlier this year. He commented about how the children grow up so quick, etc. Which he followed up with, “And just LOOK how good my grass looks! HA!” And he’s right. Our lawn was thick, beautiful green turf. In contrast, the next door neighbor’s was a patchwork of crusty, dead Bermudagrass and dandelions.

2. The kids have to have somewhere to play. You can’t easily kick a soccer ball, play tag or smack balls off of a T-ball stand wedged between two mixed perennial beds.

So the lawn stays. Which means it has to be watered. And mowed. And fertilized. Three activities that are considered “less than green” these days. But I don’t believe choosing to maintain a lawn means you have to sacrifice your eco-friendly credentials. My creed is based on two criteria.

Be realistic. My husband and I both know when the wretched Texas heat descends in July our lawn will turn into a crispy carpet. We’d rack up an enormous water bill if we tried to keep it green. It’d be a futile effort anyway. So we let it go during the summer, and look forward to it greening up again in the fall.

Practice moderation. Whether you use organic or conventional methods, I think fertilization is best done in moderation. It works for us at least. ALWAYS read labels and follow application instructions. You don’t want to create a bunch of runoff, period—whether it’s from organic or synthetic sources.

Retailers—what “real life” advice are you giving customers about maintaining their lawn? Or do you think ditching the turf is the way to go?

-- Sarah

Get on board with pot recycling efforts

This just in from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Minnesota Nursery & Landscape Association has brought back its popular pot recycling program. Almost 20 retail garden centers will accept plastic pots for recycling all season (through Nov. 1). Other retailers will accept pots June 20-21 and Sept. 19-20. The plastic will be re-used after it is processed and distributed to manufacturers looking for recycled plastic.

Now that’s what I like to hear! I guess everyone has their pet causes. Pot recycling is definitely mine. In my opinion, it’s the most straightforward effort the green industry can engage in to show concern about the environment. I’m lucky that in my neck of the woods, most horticulture plastics can be tossed in my curbside recycling bin. I wish that was the case in more locales.

Here are some programs that are stepping up to keep horticulture plastic out of landfills:

• Missouri Botanical Garden

• University of Illinois Extension

• Washington State Nursery & Landscape Association

• Houston Arboretum & Nature Center

What’s the recycling scene like in your part of the world? Are you taking part in collection campaigns? Post a comment and let us know.

-- Sarah

Spray … just a little bit longer

Spraying is believing – at least where Liquid Fence’s award-winning containers are concerned. The National Association of Container Distributors recently awarded Liquid Fence’s Liquid Net for Pets a gold medal, noting that the 360-degree sprayer gives Liquid Fence a marketing advantage over its competition.

The revolutionary sprayer, developed by The Liquid Fence Company and distributed by Zuckerman-Honickman Inc., helps pet owners protect even the toughest-to-reach places on the four-legged family member.

Another Liquid Fence product, Yard Net, also received accolades for its innovative sprayer. This silver medal winner was praised for making it easier to use than trigger sprays. Judges noted that the hand-operated sprayer dispenses continuously without overkill. The container’s clear area on its label to show maximum fill level was also praised. Yard Net is an all-natural, outdoor insect repellent.

The National Association of Container Distributors (NACD) is a professional association of rigid packaging distributors who supply bottles, tubes, pumps, sprayers and other closure systems. Judging for the 46th Annual NACD Awards was based on packaging innovation, sustainability, graphics, decoration, shape, closure, texture, ease-of-use, consumer appeal and technical merit.

The Liquid Fence Company manufactures innovative, eco-safe and cruelty-free animal repellants and lawn products, including Liquid Fence Deer & Rabbit Repellent, the No. 1-selling repellent in the country.

While there was ample whoopin’ and hollerin’ over the recent awards at both The Liquid Fence Company and at Zuckerman-Honickman, the Project: Green Industry blog staff could not get a firm confirmation that Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt are in negotiations to play the lead roles in the upcoming blockbuster super hero flick, “Zuckerman & Honickman.”

-- Yale