going green memphis 12-05-10

8/8/2019 Going Green Memphis 12-05-10

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2 GOING GREEN | S u n d ay , December 5, 2010 co mm er ci a l a pp ea l.com

Business andconservationworking together

One nonprofit organizationconsiders it an integralpart of the process

Two down and

one more to goWolf River Greenwaycloser to completionwith opening ofShelby Farms bridge

Explore naturethrough books

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!Going Green is a special online publication ofThe Commercial Appeal. We welcome your comments and suggestions. Follow GoingGreen on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GoGreenMemphis.

Ed i t o r : Kim Coleman, 529-5243, [email protected]

Community Editor: Emily Adams Keplinger, [email protected]

Whats in this issue ...

4

16

22

On the cover: i S t o c k p h o t o .co m

His world viewthrough a lens

28

Green holiday

shipping tips18

Winterize the

lawn for spring

21

Skip the sweaters and give a gift thatkeeps on giving after the holidays PAGE 8

Value of conservancy apparent withwith a float on the river PAGE 12


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The Commercial Appeal S u n d ay , December 5, 2010 | GOING GREEN 3

The Green Page

Ev e n t sOverton Park hike: There are two

nature hikes scheduled this month inOverton Park; Dec. 11 and Dec. 26. For eachouting, the public is invited to meet at 10a.m. at the end of Old Forest Lane, next tothe Rainbow Lake parking lot, for a freeguided 1.5-mile walk through the OldForest at Overton Park. The hike will lastabout an hour and a half. Kids are welcome.

Questions? Call 278-2396.

Trail Blazin at LNC: Trail Blazin

Saturday will be held Dec. 18 at LichtermanNature Center, 5992 Quince, from 9 a.m tonoon. Help LNC maintain its 3 miles of trailby fixing edge boards, spreading graveland clearing overgrowth on the trails.

To help, call 523-2425.

Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal files

Jimmy Ogle really gets into a tour ashe climbs into a tulip poplar treeknown as the Gnome Home whilehelping with a free guided hike of theOld Forest at Overton Park.

Pr o g r a m sGreen greetings: Cel e br a te

the holiday season with friendsand loved ones this year and

give back to the earth with thehelp of the nonprofit Arbor DayFoundation. Send holidaygreetings and plant a tree byusing the foundationsGive-A-Tree Cards.

Give-A-Tree Cards areunique in that every cardplants a tree in one of thenations forests in honor ofthe recipient. By sendingGive-A-Tree Cards, you helpreplant forests that havebeen devastated by wildfires,insects and disease.

Give-A-Tree holiday cards

come in 21 varieties, some ofwhich are available in boxedsets of five or 10 cards. Thisyear, you can send Give-A-Tree Cards using your favoritepicture with the foundationsnew photo cards.

To purchase holiday giftsthat give back to the earth,go to arborday.org.

Org a n i z a t i o n sTo find out what other green events are

happening around the area, visit the websitesof these organizations:Citizens to Preserve Overton Park

o v e r t o n p a r k fo r ev e r .o r gClean Memphis

c l ea n m em ph i s .o r gCoalition of Livable Communities

l i v a b l e m e m p h i s .o r g /Friends for Our Riverfront

f r i e n d s fo r o u r r i v e r f r o n t .o r g /

Greater Memphis Greenlinegrea te r m e m ph i s gre e n l i ne.o r g/

Lichterman Nature Centerm e m p h i s m u s e u m s .o r g / l i c h t e r m a n - o v e r v i ew /Memphis Botanic Garden

m e m p h i s b o t a n i c ga r d e n .co m /Shelby Farms Park Conservancy

s h e l by fa r m s p a r k .o r gSierra Club Chickasaw Group

te nn ess e e.s i e r r a c l ub.o r g/c hi c kas aw /Strawberry Plains Audubon Center

s t r aw b e r r y p l a i n s . a u d u b o n .o r g /


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We view it as abusiness, and weapproach it as abusiness, said RexBoner, vice president of

The Conservation Funds

Southeast region.The organization isstructured differentlyfrom other nonprofitpreservation groups.

The ConservationFund, when we werefounded some 25 yearsago, was uniquelychartered by the IRS and

we remain the onlynonprofit environmentalorganization in thecountry that has astraight-up provision forconservation, whichprimarily takes the formof land conservation, anda straight-up provision foreconomic developmentand job creation. So, weare dually purposed, s aid

TCF chief operatingofficer Larry Selzer.

Since its inception,TCF has protected 6.5million acres of land. Itwas involved in thelargest property transfer

in the history of theUnited States and hashelped preserve land inevery state.

One of its largestprojects in Tennesseeinvolved 75,000 acres onthe Cumberland Plateauin East Tennessee known

as the CumberlandForest. The property,which was up for sale byInternational Paper in2002, was wedgedbetween two large tractsof already protected land.State officials wanted toconnect the pieces andcreate a 140,000-acre parkand recreation area. Butthe $20 million price tag

on the Cumberland Forestwas much more than thestate had available.

State officials andmembers of TCF, alongwith representatives fromother public agencies, puttheir heads together to finda way to preserve the land.

There were somepretty innovative things

The Conservation Funddid, recalled Gary Mye rs ,who retired as executivedirector of the TennesseeWildlife ResourcesAgency in 2009.

It required us to puttogether one of the mostcreative conservationtransactions that I have

ever been part of in my 25years, and one thatremains today, a model ofhow to approach verycomplicated propertieswhere no single source ofcapital is sufficient to getthe job done, Selzer said.

Ironically, TCF saved


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6 GOING GREEN | Su n d ay , December 5, 2010 co mm er c ia l a pp ea l.co m

reintroduce elk, which once roamedfreely in the high part of theAppalachian Mountains but disappeareddecades ago.

Because TCF was successful inhelping to protect the entire 75,000

acres, which was renamed the SundquistWildlife Management Area, a herd ofabout 450 elk now roam the countryside.

Repopulating the elkhas also benefited whatSelzer calls one of thefastest growingsegments of outdooreconomics wat c h f u lwildlife, referring to

visitors who go intoforests or parks just toobserve the flora andfauna.

The CumberlandForest landconservation project isjust one of thousandsthat TCF hasparticipated in.

In the 1990s, theorganization wasinstrumental inprotecting the GhostRiver part of the WolfR i ve r.

Forestry is a main focus of TCF and itmanages to fulfill both aspects of itscharter by not only protecting land, but

ensuring that forests are managed in asustainable way. That helps peoplewhose livelihoods depend on the loggingindustry to prosper and be safe.

Boner said TCF remains neutral onthe issue of clear cutting. We dont havea position on management positions, hesaid. On our land we use the acceptabletechniques and we have sustainably

the land by, in a sense, splitting it up but vertically, not horizontally.

Selzer likened the concept to a layercake of value. One layer consists of thedirt (the land itself). Other layersinclude the timber on the land, the

recreational and development rights,and the rights to the coal, natural gas orother minerals beneath the surface.

You can actually sellone layer and keep therest , he said.

What we did on thisproperty is, we founddifferent buyers fordifferent layers of this

property. That hadnever been done beforeto that extent.

The land went to thestate of Tennessee,along with therecreational anddevelopment rights.Mineral rights went toanother buyer and thetimber went to a third.The development rightsapply only to specificc o n s e r vat i o n - rel at e dpurposes, such asfarming or forestry; theland can never be subdivided into lotsfor housing or shopping centers.

That was one of the most

complicated, but ultimatelyspectacularly successful projects thatclearly demonstrated how you could usethe economic value and the economicinterest in a property to achieve aconservation outcome, Selzer said.

Another goal of state officials inconsolidating the properties was tocreate an environment where they could

Wade Payne/Knoxville News Sentinel

A bull elk grazes with a cowat the Sundquist WildlifeManagement Area.


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Projects in TennesseeSo far nearly 280,000 acres essential to outdoor enthusiasts and wildlife have been

preserved for the enjoyment of future generations. Below is a list of ongoing projectsThe Conservation Fund is involved in.

FIERY GIZZARD

The Conservation Fund has partneredwith The Land Trust for Tennessee, withsupport of the Friends of the SouthCumberland State Recreation Area, topurchase and protect over 6,200 acresof the western bluff of Fiery GizzardCove and over a mile and a half of theFiery Gizzard trail system.

OPEN SPACE PLAN FOR DAVIDSON

CO U N T Y

Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and The LandTrust for Tennessee selected TheConservation Fund to lead a team todevelop an Open Space Plan for Davidson

County. The plan will be a road map for the

strategic conservation and creation ofgreen spaces in an effort to protect theunique landscape of Middle Tennessee.The recent flooding in Nashville illustrateshow important the strength of naturalinfrastructure is to the well-being of acom m u n ity.

ROCKY FORK

A nearly 10,000-acre expanse of forests,

trout streams, and mountainous ridges isthe largest unprotected tract of land in thesouthern Appalachian Mountains.

Source: conservationfund.org/s o u t h e a s t /t e n n e ss e e

approved and managedplans for these forests.

TCF, which depends ondonations fromindividuals and corporatesponsors to raise capital,will purchase propertyoutright, if necessary,from its $100 millionaverage balance.

We are mostproductive when our

working capital is in theground and not in thebank, anyway, B oners aid.

The organizationdoesnt initiate projectsindependently, but assists

federal, state and localagencies and other

nonprofit organizationswith conservationp ro j e c t s .

We re sort of problemsolvers in theconservation movement,Boner said.

In determining whichprojects to undertake,

TCF tries to identify the

most importantproperties forenvironment al,recreational and futureeconomic value.

Some of theo rga n i z at i o n s money is

being used in its NaturalCapital Investment Fund,

one of the programsBoner designed, to helpgrowing conservationbusinesses by loaningthem money or becomingtheir partners.

It is both an equityand a debt investment.So, we make loans and wetake equity positions in

natural resource-basedcompanies. These are notstart-ups but companiesthat could successfully goto the next level, but theycannot get financing fromthe bank to add more


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8 GOING GREEN | S u n day, December 5, 2010 co mm er c ia l a pp ea l.co m

equipment, more staff and sofo r t h , Selzer said.

The Natural CapitalInvestment Fund is one ofseveral programs TCF hasdeveloped to assist in avariety of c o n s e r vat i o ne f fo r t s .

Boner helped launch a

program with NASCAR driverRyan Newman called Racingfor Wildlife, to promoteprotection of wildlife habitatwithin the community of 75million NASCAR fans, manyof whom are natureenthusiasts.

We are creative and workin a lot of different ways,

Boner said. T h e re s not justone cookie-cutter approach toc o n s e r vat i o n .

For more information aboutThe Conservation Fund, visitconservationfund.org. To learnmore about the Racing for Wildlifeprogram, go toracing forwildlife.org.

Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

NASCAR star Ryan Newmanis working with TheConservation Fund topromote the protection ofwildlife habitat.

By Suzanne Thompson

Special to Going Green

When it comes to charitable giving, thereare a seemingly infinite number of worthycauses in need of funds, including many thatdeal with projects to help the environment.

An organization called Charity Navigator

evaluates and ranks all types of 501(c)(3) (taxdeductible status) charitable organizations.There are many options for donors who are

looking to support environmental orconservation groups in the United States oraround the world. To find out more, visit theCharity Navigator website(charitynavigator.org) and click onEnvironment .

The Conservation FundOne of the highest rated green charities on

the Charity Navigator site is The ConservationFund, which is dedicated to protectingAmericas landscapes and waterways.According to Charity Navigator, 97 percent ofthe funds raised are allocated to programex p e n s e s .

The Conservation Fund is different from

other conservation or environmentalorganizations because it has a dual-purposecharter, explained Rex Boner, vice president ofthe organizations Southeast region. TheConservation Funds purposes are land andwater conservation and economicdevelopment .

We really are about the business ofc o n s e r vat i o n , Boner said. We fill that niche

Options aboundfor giving green


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The Conservation Fund helpedlocal conservationists, the Wolf RiverConservancy and two Tennesseegovernment agencies save 4,500acres the river ran through fromland and timber auctions.

The Nature ConservancyThe Nature Conservancy, one of

the worlds largest eco-charities, hasprotected more than 119 million

acres of landand morethan 5,000miles ofr i ve rswo rl dw i d e .

Since itsinception in 1951, the organizationhas gained more than a millionm e m b e rs .

The Nature Conservancy hasworked in every U.S. state and in morethan 30 countries.

One of its current initiatives isPlant a Billion Trees. One dollarbuys one tree. As of September, the

of understanding the economics andwe focus a lot on helping andworking with local communities onthe economic side throughc o n s e r vat i o n .

B oner said The Conservation Fundrarely spearheads projectsindependently. We always work inpartnership with others. We are in a

partnership mode of helping others,he said.

Some of those groups include localcommunities, family foundations,local, state and federal governments,and other nonprofit organizations.

The Conservation Fund plays abehind-the-scenes role, Boner said.We dont have a membership, so wedont need to grab headlines to show

our members we are doing goodwo rk .

In 1995, when the Wolf RiverConservancy set out to protect theGhost River section of the WolfRiver near La Grange, Tenn., thatorganization reached out to TheConservation Fund for help.

Mike Martin andMonica Clutchof The Nature

Conservancycanoe theHatchie River tohelp monitor itsecologicalcondition.

The CommercialAppeal file photo


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10 GOING GREEN | S u n d ay , December 5, 2010 co mm er cia l a pp ea l.co m

group had planted more than 7.5million trees.

The Nature Conservancy hasdesigned other programs likeAdopt an Acre, which usess u p p o r t e rs money to protect anacre of endangered habitat in alocation of the donors choosing.Since the program began in 1991,more than 30,000individuals, schoolsand organizations havecontributed more than$22 million.

The Sierra ClubThe oldest andlargest grass-rootsgreen charity in theU.S., The Sierra Clubstrives to protectcommunities,wilderness and theenvironment globally.

The TennesseeChapter of the SierraClub has severalgroups. The ChickasawGroup in Memphis ischaired by longtimeSierra Club memberNancy Brannon.

We are involved in a lot of things,from air-quality issues to water

issues, she said. Its real easy to getcontamination in your streams eitherfrom trash that people throw out oroil that is dumped into drains.

Another water-pollution issue TheSierra Club addresses is the illegaldumping of tires.

One of the things that Memphisruns up against now is the problemwith tires. Tires are dumped inillegal dumps, they end up instreams. Weve found it verydifficult to set up a recycling center.

T h e re s a company in the Midwestthat takes old tires and makesbricks out of them, but there arent

any resources like thath e re , Brannon said.

GreenpeaceInternational

Gre e n p e a c e

International, foundedin 1970, uses peacefultactics to fight t h re at sto ecology from globalwarming to toxicwa s t e .

While it ispredominately acampaigning group, itsmembers do takenonviolent action whencircumstances demandit .

Greenpeace memberssailed ships intonuclear test sites in

France to stop nuclear bombsduring the 1970s, and pressured theInternational Whaling Commission

to issue a moratorium on whalingby interrupting whale hunts in the80s. To stop ocean dumping,members boarded the Brent Spar, aShell-owned oil storage facility inthe North Sea before the worn-outunit was sunk.


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based in the United Kingdom.Given the name Sunny Money, the

g ro u p s innovative solar products giveentrepreneurs in underdevelopedcountries a way to lift themselves outof poverty by becoming franchisees.

The main focus is povertyalleviation. In terms of microsolar, wedo this by developing businesses froma base level, training entrepreneurswith the marketing and sales skills to

generate incomeas Sunny Moneyf ra n c h i s e e s , s aidRalph Greenland,

m a rke t i n gassistant atSolarAid. Thegoal is to provide

power by using solar panels as asource of energy.

SolarAid focuses mostly onAfrica, where most of theimpoverished people in rural areasuse kerosene lamps, which heavily

pollute the atmosphere with carbondioxide. Some resources also fundprograms in South America.

Individual or corporate donorscan choose a specific project towhich they dedicate their resources.

Ea r t h j u s t i c e

Earthjustice also earned a highrating at Charity Nativator.

Originally founded as The SierraClub Defense Fund in 1971,Earthjustice helps environmentalistswith legal issues at no cost. Itadopted its current name in 1997.

From community-basedorganizations to the Wilderness

Society, Earthjustice hasrepresented more than 700 clients.Its employees work in regional

offices around the country withheadquarters in California.

So l a r A i dAn international charity that

focuses on alleviating poverty byusing solar power, SolarAid seeks to

ensure that everyone has access toclean, affordable power.

Two billion people in the worlddo not have the infrastructurenecessary for electricity, accordingto the website of SolarAid, which is

MORE INFORMATION

Charity Navigator: charitynavigator.orgThe Conservation Fund: co n se r va ti on fu n d .o rgThe Nature Conservancy: n a t u r e.o r gGreenpeace International: g r ee n p ea ce.o rgEarthjustice: earthjustice.orgThe Sierra Club Tennessee Chapter: t e nn es s e e.s i e r r a c l u b.o r gSolarAid: s o l a r - a i d .o r g


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River riches

Photos by Frank A. Gibson

The natural beauty of the Ghost River was stunning, especially as the fallcolors were starting to peak.

By Emily Adams Keplinger

keplinger@commercialappeal .com

Recently I set off in a canoe for the first time sinceI was a teenager at summer camp in East Tennessee.

Unlike the placid lakes of my youth, this trek was onthe demanding Ghost River section of the WolfR i ve r.

In a trip planned by the Wolf River Conservancy,the adventure began from a seldom-used site inFayette County near Moscow, Tenn. Our guide wa sKeith Kirkland, the conservancys director of

Jo u r n e ydown

Ghost, Wolf

teachesvalue,

conservancy


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membership and outreachp ro g ra m s .

A genuine enthusiastfor the wonders of theriver, Kirkland had morethan a scenic route inmind when he plannedthis trip. He hoped toenlighten participantsabout the threatenedwilderness of the WolfRiver, and encouragerenewed interest in itsc o n s e r vat i o n .

Our group included 10

people in four canoes. Wewere counted off into ourrespective canoes, andwith Kirkland in the lead,we began paddlingthrough theunchannelized riversection. Our journeymeandered through three

distinct eco-areas; first abottomland hardwoodforest, then a cypressswamp reminiscent of aLouisiana bayou, andfinally through openwetland meadows.

The natural beauty wasstunning, with fall colorsstarting to peak. Bluetrail markers showed the

way for paddlers throughthe disorienting maze ofwillow, cypress, tupelosand stunted pumpkin ash.

In 1997 the river wasdesignated an American

Heritage River bypresidential proclamationunder a special UnitedStates EnvironmentalProtection Agencyprogram. According tothe Wolf RiverConservancy, the WolfRiver serves the Mid-South in four distinct

ways :Flood/erosion control:

During heavy rains, theWolf Rivers floodplainand wetlands temporarilystore floodwaters.Without an adequatefloodplain, floodwatersand the erosion caused bythem threaten property,transportation and lives.

Water quality:TheGreater Memphis areaand other Mid-Southcommunities receive

Blue trail markers, posted on trees, showed theway for paddlers through the disorienting maze ofwillow, cypress, tupelos and stunted pumpkin ashas they floated down the Wolf River.

Ke i t hKirklandta kesJerry andBo b b iGillis foranafternoon"float."


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drinking water from a pureunderground aquifer beneath the WolfRiver basin. The Wolfs fragile wetlandshold water long enough for it to beabsorbed into the ground and serve asnatural filters to cleanse polluted watersbefore they reach the aquifer.

Wildlife habitat:The Wolf Riversupports a variety of animals andwaterfowl. Some of the wildlife that callthe Wolf River area home are deer,otter, mink, bobcat, fox, coyote, turkeyand beavers, as evidenced by the damand lodge that we spied. We also sawwhite egrets, and bald eagles have beenspotted along the river as well.

Low-impact recreation: Whilecivilization has long surrounded theWolf Rivers floodplain, its wetland andbottomland trails provide Mid-Southerners with scenic wildernessexperiences from the Holly SpringsNational Forest all the way toDowntown Memphis. Hikers, runners,sportsmen, cyclists and paddlers

experience nature on or near the riverevery day.

Kirkland adds, The Ghost Riversection of the Wolf River is also hometo large trees, include cherrybark, water,willow and swamp chestnut. The lowridges above the river bottoms support

tulip poplar, beech and white oak withnorthern red oak infrequently occurring.

The natural area also includes otherecologically significant uplands andsandy hills adjacent to the floodplain.

Although these trees are easily foundelsewhere, this area is a watery, matureforest growth, with numerous older,undisturbed trees. And their future has

been in question. In 1995, a 4,000-acresection was purchased by a timberdevelopment company and asubdivision development company.

At the time, the Wolf RiverConservancy approached the companiesto buy the land back in hopes ofconserving it. The state of Tennesseepledged $3 million (the property value),

As the day'souting came to

an end,members of

the Wolf RiverConservancy

hoped paddlerson a recent"float" hadgained new

insights aboutthe wonders ofthe Wolf Riverand the need

to protect thisthreatened

w i ld e r n es s.


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The Commercial Appeal S u n day , December 5, 2010 | GOING GREEN 15

Make every step count: New app promotes land conservation

with the stipulation thatthe conservancy raise theremaining $1 million.Babe Howard, former

owner of the MillingtonTelephone Company, cameforward with a loan tomake the deal successful.

Then Scott Ledbetter led acampaign to raise themoney necessary to repayH owa rd .

T h at s how the pristine

section of the Wolf Riverwas s aved. But the fightcontinues today.Although an additional

3,000 acres has beenadded to the originalacreage, making the totalarea 7,000 acres, thereare still 2 miles of riverbank that are not yetprotected. Thec o n s e r va n c y s goal is toprotect the entire length

of the Wolf Riverwaterway, from its sourcein Holly Springs NationalForest to its mouth where

it flows into theMississippi River at thenorth end of Mud Island nearly 100 miles.

For more informationon how you can help,contact the Wolf RiverConservancy at 452-6500or visit wolfriver.org.

Like to hike and give back? Theres an appfor that. Green Boot Media recently launchedthe Green Boot app, available for download onthe iTunes website. This new app functions asa pedometer for users while simultaneously

allowing them to put their steps to good use.The more steps you accumulate throughGreen Boot, the more you candonate to a land trust, naturepreserve, or conservationorganization of your choice.

Just how does the Green Bootapp work? The user starts theapp while running, hiking orwalking in the wilderness or evenon the treadmill. The app records

the steps as a pedometer. Oncefinished, the user submits his orher steps and chooses theprogram that should benefit fromthe donation. As Green Boot tellsit, There are no actual fundsgiven by the user. The funds aredonated from the proceeds from the adstream that is running while the user is signedin to the program. Therefore, the more usersusing the app, the more possible donations

there are for organizations that really need it.Green Boot is a media company supporting

green initiatives and charities throughinteractive media exposure. By promoting landand fitness conservation through technology,the company allocates 15 percent of its annualproceeds to protecting parks, wetlands and

m o r e.John Kelly is the founder and CEO of thecompany. He says that eventhough the Green Boot iPhone appwent public just over a month ago,it already offers donations to morethan 75 organizations. Further, thecompany intends to have localorganizations across the countryregister with Green Boot so thatusers will be able to find a

beneficiary in their local area.The Green Boot app is not the

only eco-initiative for the iPhone.The National Parks ConservationAssociation App provides acomplete view of park wildlife, aswell as a comprehensive

ecosystem review of 50 national parks. ProjectNOAH offers an app to help turn yourhandheld device into a wildlife-spotting tool.And theres even an app to help people with

their recycling. Katherine Butler, Mother Nature Network


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Greenway Phase 2 opensFlooding left project under water, behind schedule

Once this greenwayopens, it will get a tonof use, the 54-year-oldReed predicted beforelast weeks opening of anew 11/2-mile greenway

section.Those who live near

Humphreys and WolfRiver boulevards n owhave a new section ofthe greenway to walk,run or bike on. Inaddition to the pavedpathway, Shelby Farmstoday is opening apedestrian bridgeacross the Wolf withthe new section thatleads to myriad dirtand gravel trails in its4,500 acre park.

The paved pathwaysits between Walnut

Grove and Shady Groveroads and parallelsHu m p h re ys .

Wolf River GreenwayPhase 2 took longerthan expected.

Dignitaries brokeground in February forthe $1.4 million six-month project. Floodingfrom the rainy month ofMay left the greenway 7-feet underwater andbehind schedule.

The greenwayopened on Wednesday.Officials with ShelbyFarms plan to open thenew 200-foot spanpedestrian bridgetoday. The bridge andthe connector trailscost $1.85 million.

Now that Phase 2 is

a reality, Planning andD evel o p m e n tadministrator MikeFlowers with MemphisPark Services is takingaim at Phase 3 of thegreenway where it leftoff at Shady Grove.

When constructionstarts next summer,Flowers said, We willstop our trail at theGermantown citylimits. Phase 3 shouldbe finished by early2012.

Germantown Parksand Recreation director

Pam Beasley said shewill include theg re e nway s missing linkas a part of herdepartments proposedcapital improvementprograms for nextye a r s budget. TheGermantown Greenway

is now 2.3 miles long.Germantown will needto pave a pathwayseveral hundred feet toconnect to theMemphis section.

This has been almosta decade in the making,Flowers said. Once

By Lela Garlington

garlington@yourappeal .com

WHEN CYCLIST JIMMY REED hops on

his bike from his home on Shady Grove Road,

he often ends up checking out the Wolf River

Greenway and the new Shelby Farms bridgethat crosses the Wolf.


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The Commercial Appeal Sun d ay, December 5, 2010 | GOING GREEN 17

WolfR

iver

E.ShadyGroveRd.

Shelby Farmshelby FarmsShelby Farms

Hump

hre

ysBlvd.

WolfRiverBlvd.

WalnutGroveRd.

Kirb

yP

P

B

B

Wolf River GreenwayA new 1 mile greenway section and a pedestrian bridge leading to Shelby Farms is now open.Memphis will finish another mile-long section by early 2012 ending at Germantowns city limits.

Shane McDermott/The Commercial Appeal

BaptistMemorial

Hospital Phase 2 is complete

Phase 3 construction expected to beginsummer 2011 and open early in 2012

Existing 2.3 miles of GermantownGreenway that runs to Nashoba Parkpast Germantown Road

Parking Pedestrian/bikewaybridge

Wolf River Greenway phases

P

Missing link

betweengreenways

B

Sources: Cities of Memphis and Germantown, Shelby Farms and the Wolf River Conservancy

Memphis andGermantown areconnected, users willhave almost 5miles ofpaved greenway.Germantown completedits first section in 1999.

The trail will extendan opportunity formany to see nature upclose and personal for

the first time, with justa few steps from theirneighborhoods. Weexpect to have a lotcitizens use this trailfor exercise as well as aplace to simply enjoy,said Memphis ParkServices director Cindy

Bu c h a n a n .Within a projected

six to seven years, localofficials want the WolfRiver Greenway to run22 miles from theMississippi RiverDowntown to ForestHill-Irene Road inG e r m a n t ow n .

Technically, the

greenway is notparkland. Instead, it is aconservation easement.While there will belimited parking, Flowerssaid residents need tostick to the trails and notcamp, fish or wander offinto the privately owned

woods alongHu m p h re ys . Enjoy thescenic view, heinsisted, from the trail.

What is exciting forReed is that thegreenway is connectingwith Shady Grove,which is a major cyclingeast-west route. Abiker can hop across

Humphreys, get on theWolf River Greenwayand bam there youare at Shelby Farms.

This is opening up thepark. The psyche of thecity is changing.

Lela Garlington:529-2349


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18 GOING GREEN | S und ay , December 5, 2010 co mm er c ia l a pp ea l.co m

By Jim Coleman


Shipping g re e n this year will beeasier than ever.

Several of the largest retailers arewaging a campaign for consumer dollarsand free shipping is the bait they areusing to lure customers.

Free-shipping offers are a great wayto reduce your carbon footprint thisholiday season. Buying online reducesthe use of fuels when items are shippedfrom local stores. It also eliminates a lotof the packaging material usually need-ed to ensure that your packages arriveintact. Much of the common packagingmaterials like plastic bubble wrap and

GREENING UP THE HOLIDAYS

Lisa Poole/Associated Press filesWal-Mart Stores Inc. is going for the jugular in the holiday retailing war. It isoffering free shipping on nearly 60,000 online items.

Eco-savvy ways to ship


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The Commercial Appeal S u nd ay , December 5, 2010 | GOING GREEN 19

polystyrene peanuts are made frompetroleum and dont biodegrade.

Leading the way is the worldslargest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

The big-box giant is offering free ship-ping on more than 60,000 holidayitems, with a heavy emphasis on elec-tronics and toys. The offer extendsthrough Dec. 20.

Online retailer Amazon recently saidthat it would match or beat any free-shipping offer on a limited number ofitems.

Other retailers like Best Buy andToys R Us are also offering compet-

itive free-shipping incentives this year,so deals are to be had for those lookingto save a few bucks this Christmas.

This year we expect shoppers totake advantage of the free-shippingdeals more than any year. The offersare better this year than ever, s aidLuke Knowles, founder of the websiteFre e s h i p p i n g. o rg.

Started in 2008, the website is a

clearing house of free-shipping offersand other incentives that retailers areoffering this year. Over 1,000 mer-chants have signed up to take part inthe websites Free Shipping Day.

If online purchasing is not an option,or if you just like the personal touch ofhand-wrapped gifts, here a few tips toget started with:

1. Always reuse packaging materials,if possible. This not only saves youmoney, it also prevents new materialsfrom being produced, so dont throwaway those peanuts and bubble wrap ifyou have them. Old boxes, if in goodenough shape, can also be reused.

2. Look for items around the houseto use. Crumpling newspaper and stuff-

ing it in a plastic grocery bag is a greatway to reuse and goes a long way. Afteryo u ve done this, simply tie off the bagand its good to go. These materials arealso common recyclables, making themeasy to get rid of on the other end.

3. Use the smallest box possible.This reduces the need for packagingmaterials and ships more efficiently, al-lowing the carrier more packages perload.

4. If possible, use the gift as pack-aging material. Some clothing, like thatChristmas sweater Aunt Peggy knitted,works just as well as bubble wrap. Why

not use it?5. Popcorn is lightweight and makesgood packing material for smaller items.It also tastes great with salt and butter.

If you need to purchase new ma-terials, boxes made from recycled ma-terials and biodegradable peanuts, forexample, are available at many retailersand online.

Once youve packed everything away

snugly and have taped up your boxes,its time to give some thought to car-r i e rs .

Although all major shipping compa-nies have made efforts to become moreefficient and environmentally friendly,some stand out more than others.

Memphis-based shipping giantFedEx, for example, was recently rated

No. 2 among shipping companies byClimate Counts, a nonprofit environ-mental advocacy group that rates cor-porations on their efforts to reducetheir environmental footprints. So itmakes good sense to keep those dollarsin Memphis and go with the local com-pany. Just dont forget that the deadlinefor shipping is Dec. 23.


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20 GOING GREEN | S u n day, December 5, 2010 co mm er c ia l a pp ea l.co m

By Jenn Savedge

Mother Nature Network

Every year its the same thing.Zillions of toys crowd store shelves inthe hopes of grabbing my attentionand finding their way home to mykids. I dont know if its the eggnogor the holiday music blastingthrough the store, but every year, Ifall into the trap of believing that if atoy is made for a child, it will be

manufactured with materials that aresafe for a child.

But then the caroling fades, theeggnog wears off, and Iremember that as muchas I wish that weretrue, its simply notalways the case.

So how can we allmake sure that thetoys we purchasethis year for theholidays wont showup on Januarys toyrecall list? Here are a few tips forfinding safer toys for your kids thisholiday season:

Do look for toys made withnatural materials, such as unpainted

wood, and natural fabrics such aswool and cotton.Do look for products that are

painted with nontoxic paints or dyes.Do take a quick look at web

sites like Healthystuff.org andGoodguide.com to find out whichtoys to avoid. You can also sign upto get e-mail alerts of recent toy

recalls at the Consumer ProductSafety Commission.

Dont buy costume jewelry forchildren. It might contain either leador an equally toxic cousin, cadmium.

Dont purchase toys made withvinyl products, or PVC (for polyvinylchloride). According to safetyadvocates like HealthyStuff.org,PVC is more likely to containhazardous additives compared withother plastics. Items made with

synthetic leather, such as kids bookbags and baseball gloves, and other

flexible items like certain ballsand bracelets may contain

vinyl. Some v i n ylproducts are labeled with

a recycling trianglethat includes a 3with a Vunderneath the

symbol.Dont buy

brightly coloredplastics that could contain

lead, cadmium or toxic pigments.Dont buy products bearing the

California Proposition 65 label withwording similar to this: Wa r n i n g :This product contains chemicals

known to the State of California tocause cancer and birth defects orother reproductive harm.

Dont purchase toys with smallmagnets that can be swallowed.

Jenn Savedge has written three bookson eco-friendly living. Read more on hergreen parenting blog: mnn .com/featured-b l ogs /g re e n p a re n t i n g.

Finding safe toys for the holidays


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Exploring theworld, one

book at a time

13; younger ones willbenefit with help from an

adult or older sibling.Explore this: Younger kids

can walk through theirneighborhood and choose a

favorite tree. Then, over thecourse of the year, visit itregularly to see and document

the seasonal changes that occur.The Practical Naturalist

(DK, $19.95): A bit beyond thereach of small children, butperfect for older kids andparents, this book is packed

with good information. It

begins with tips on equipment,safety and recording

observations, then gets to theheart of the matter: visitingvarious settings (grasslands,bogs, your backyard) andteaching about the plants andanimals theyll encounter.

Explore this: Visit a lakeregularly to see how thefreshwater wildlife changes.

The still water of lowland lakesis especially rich in plants and animals.

Natural History: The Ultimate VisualGuide to Everything on Earth (DK,$50): Starting with an overview of Earthand climbing the evolutionary ladder for648 glossy pages, this reference bookpresents thousands of plant and animal

species. In addition to a photo, a shortcopy block offers descriptions and tellswhere theyre found.

Explore this: This is an explorersdelight, the type of book that cancaptivate kids for life. Today theyreporing over 14 pages of frogs and toads;tomorrow theyre studying thesplashback poison frog in Brazil.

By William Hageman

Chicago Tribune

One of the joys of parenting isseeing wonder in the eyes of a childdiscovering something new. One ofthe most fertile areas for discovery

is nature. With the right book as aguide, a kid can enter and explorea new world and becomec a p t i vat e d . Here are fourrecently published nature-related books worth exploring.

Nature Explorer (DK, $14.99):Birds, stars, the weather and moreare covered here. There are lessons(why are birdseyes on the side oftheir heads?) and interesting projects,including how to make your own fossils.Parental assistance is recommended,making the projects something an entirefamily can work on.

Explore this: A section looks at fungiand explains how to make a spore print ora semipermanent record of a mushroom.

The Nature Connection ( S t o r ey ,

$ 14. 9 5 ) : By Clare Walker Leslie andsubtitled An Outdoor Workbook forKids, Families and Classrooms, thisbook encourages young people tobecome naturalists. The year is dividedinto months, giving kids a plethora oftopics to study year-round. Theres alsoroom for notes and sketches. TheNature Connection is aimed at ages 8-


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22 GOING GREEN | Su n day , December 5, 2010 co mm er cia l a pp ea l.co m

Prepare now for next years lawnBy Suzanne Thompson


Everyone with a yard wantsit to look lush and beautiful,and to help achieve that goal,its important to care for yourlawn properly to prepare it forthe winter months ahead.

Ben Hamza, director of technicalservices for TruGreen, said fallfertilization is especially importantthis year because of the drought inlate summer.

Fall fertilization is going to help thelawns recovery very quickly from the

drought, and pull up nutrients,and store them up as reservesfor the following season. NextFebruary, or early March,when the lawns start greeningup, they use reserves that werepresented in the fall to growhealthier and better.

T h at s really the purpose of fallf e r t i l i z at i o n .

Most of TruGreens customers useone or two applications in the fall,which are measured based on thepounds of nitrogen per 1,000 squarefeet .

Chris Cooper, horticulture agent for

Soil testingkits are

availableat UT

ExtensionO ffice

Coms t oc k


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The Commercial Appeal S u n day , December 5, 2010 | GOING GREEN 23

the University ofTennessee ExtensionOffice, said before peopledo anything to theirlawns, its best to test thesoils pH level.

Soil testing kits areavailable at the extensionoffice, located inside theB-Wing of the Agricenter,for $7.

I tell people its thebest $7 investment foryour lawn, Cooper said.We dont want yourunning out buying some

kind of fertilizer when youmight not need to buyany. Were all about savingthe customer money.

Once a soil sample isboxed and ready to go the kits are just a littlelarger than a school milkcarton they need to bemailed to the lab inNa s hv i l l e .

Fall is the ideal time totest soil, because in thespring, farmers aresending their soil samplesin and theirs are given toppriority, Cooper said.

Results for samplessent in during fall may be

back within the sameweek they are mailed,while spring sampleresults may take weeks.

The results, and whatto do with them, are veryspecific, Cooper said.

When you get the soilanalysis back, it will tell

you what you need to do.It will let you know if youneed to add lime orfertilizer and it actuallytells you what kind offertilizer you need to go

and get, he said.A neutral soil has a pHof 7. Soil for growingplants and shrubs needs apH balance of between6.0 and 6.5.

To lower the pH, sulfurshould be applied in theform of a fertilizercontaining sulfate.

Raising the pH requiresan application of lime,Cooper said.

Fall is the best time toput lime on the lawn,because it takes four tofive months for the limeto be fully incorporatedinto the soil and the yardwill be primed for springgreening .

Hamza said eventhough fall seems like atime of endless raking,keeping leaves and pineneedles off the grass, its avital part of readyinglawns for winter.

In the winter, they mat

down and prevent thegrass from greening upearly in the spring.Sometimes, consumerskind of give up on theirlawns, as they start goingdormant. Raking all theleaves and put them in acompost pile or a mulch

pile would be therecommended practice,Hamza said.

Cooper said the leavesdo need to be dealt with,but what to do with them

depends partially on whatkind of grass is growingin the lawn.

If a lawn containswarm-weather grass, suchas Bermuda or Zoysia,Cooper said the leavescan be a great source ofnutrition.

You can grind the

leaves up, he said. Itadds nitrogen to the soil.

Grinding can beaccomplished by simplymoving over the leaves acouple of times, Coopers aid.

I did that just a coupleof weeks ago with myown yard, he said.

If uncertain what kindof grass is in the lawn,simply take a sample tothe extension office andsomeone on the staff willidentify it at no charge.

One other piece ofadvice Cooper offers is toremember that when

winter comes, dont hangup the hose and put awaythe sprinkler, becausegrass needs wateringye a r- ro u n d .

Lawns still need to bewatered during thewinter, just not as often,Cooper said.


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24 GOING GREEN | S u n d ay, December 5, 2010 co mm er c ia l app ea l.co m

By Joe Lampl

Scripps Howard News Service

Vegetable gardeners have discovered its notnecessary to arm yourself with an arsenal ofchemicals to grow great produce. As many ofus have realized, we need to be more en-

vironmentally conscious both inside and out-side our homes.

Gardens are living systems. A healthy gar-den starts from the ground up. In our quest tofind examples of eco-friendly gardens aroundthe country for my PBS show, Growing aGreener World, we featured the garden ofone of Americas most famous organic gar-

Photo courtesy Joe Lamp'l/Scripps Howard News Service

One of the central techniques contributing to the success of the ThomasJefferson garden is the focus on soil health and fertility by regular additions oforganic matter.

G a r de n e r s

learn fromJe f f e r s o n sexample


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The Commercial Appeal Su n d ay , December 5, 2010 | GOING GREEN 25

deners, Thomas Jefferson.Monticello is on a mountaintop,

just outside Charlottesville, Va. Jef-f e rs o n s 5,000-acre plantation servednot only as his food supply, but alsoas a living laboratory. Jefferson grew

plants from all over the world, in-cluding interesting vegetables such assea kale, cardoon, Caracalla beans,Florence fennel, fava beans and crow-der peas.

While we can learn many lessonsfrom Jeffersons gardening tech-niques, a central principle involvesregularly adding organic matter forsoil health and fertility. Think of soilrich in organic matter as a savingsaccount for your plants. The nutrientsyou deposit are released back to yourplants much like a steady income.Regular additions are necessary tomeet the demand. Nutrients found inorganic matter stay in the soil longerthan water-soluble synthetics, whichrapidly leach well beyond the root

zone.Jefferson was one of the first tomake the connection between healthysoil and healthy plants. Monticelloskitchen garden is legendary for thevariety and scope of its vegetable pro-duction. Jeffersons garden was sit-uated on a sunny southern slope. Hetook meticulous notes about every-thing, including when he sowed his

crops and when they were harvested.He noted crop conditions, observedpests and diseases and recorded howhe solved problems. Jefferson hadmany failures, but this did not deterhim from continuing to work in hisbeloved garden.

Jefferson was willing to experi-

ment. While he grew 330 varieties ofvegetables and 170 varieties of fruit,they werent all successes. Jeffersonwas not afraid of failure. He believedthat if one thing failed, it is replacedby the success of another. In fact, he

embraced every failure as a learningopportunity something we mod-ern-day gardeners should appreciateas well.

Jefferson believed in adding soil-building components such as com-post, manure and decomposing leavesto his soil because he noticed that theplants flourished in that environment,

suffered from fewer pests and dis-eases, and were more drought-resis-tant. Today we know that organicmatter promotes healthy biological ac-tivity within the soil, a complex webof life ranging from microbes to earth-wo r m s .

We can learn a lot about organicgardening from various resources: theWeb, an organic garden gardeningclub, a lecture or your gardeningn e i g h b o r.

Jefferson has educated us on a va-riety of techniques still used today.But it all begins with healthy soil anda positive can-do attitude. In spite ofmany challenges, Jefferson showed usthat while some of our gardening en-deavors may fail, others would flour-

ish as long as we persevered andlearned every step of the way. Thatsa great philosophy we can all use inour everyday lives.

Joe Lampl, host of Growing a GreenerWo rl d on PBS, is a Master Gardener andauthor. For more information visitjoegardener.com .


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26 GOING GREEN | S u n day, December 5, 2010 co mm erci a l a pp ea l.com

Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. Long af-ter the gulf crisis reached an

end, the ripple effects continueon local beaches andeconomies as well as in Amer-icas waning confidence aboutthe readiness of corporate lead-ership to respond to environ-mental issues. A recent nation-al survey shows that only 13percent of U.S. adults are con-fident that corporate America

has the knowledge to make de-cisions that consider long-termimpacts on the environment.

The Sustainable LeadershipCensus was conducted by tele-phone within the United Statesby Harris Interactive on behalfof the University of Wisconsinamong 1,006 U.S. adults.

Its becoming increasinglyapparent that sustainable man-agement is not confined to alimited segment of green jobs.Every job confronts sustainabil-ity issues, said DavidSchejbal, dean of the Univer-sity of Wisconsin-ExtensionContinuing Education, Out-

Lessons from the gulfAmericans believe

business leaders needto be well-versed insustainability

Gerald Herbert/Associated Press

The Deepwater Horizon oil rig burns after anexplosion last April in the Gulf of Mexico, offthe southeast tip of Louisiana.


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The Commercial Appeal Sun d ay, December 5, 2010 | GOING GREEN 27

reach and E-Learning division. Edu-cating all business executives about pro-tecting the environment not justthose in green jobs is the key to oursustainable future.

The Sustainable Leadership Censusshows the American public supports theneed to retool and learn more about thee nv i ro n m e n t :

A vast majority (82 percent) of U.S.adults agree that company leaders needto learn more about the environment in

order to make better decisions.Nearly four out of five U.S. adults(78 percent) agree that its time forcorporate America to go back to schooland retrain in the basics of how toprotect the environment.

About four out of five people (82percent) agree that educating businessexecutives about sustainable manage-

ment will help America remain com-petitive with the rest of the world.

Only one-third (32 percent) of theemployed respondents reported thattheir managers have had some trainingon the subject of sustainable manage-ment business practices.

To compete as this new economysurges forward, todays corporate lead-ers must be environmentally agile, eco-literate, and able to respond quickly,said Schejbal. We must educate ex-

ecutives already on the job. Future suc-cess rises and falls on access to ed-ucation. Our job as educators now is tofocus on delivering environmental andsustainability education to leadersacross a company not just to those ingreen jobs.

Visit sustain.wisconsin.edu for moreinformation .

Crews work toclean up oil fromthe DeepwaterHorizon oil spillwashed ashore at

Pensacola Beachin Pensacola, Fla.The Obamaadministrationsays it will notpursue offshoredrilling in EastCoast waters,including theeastern Gulf of

Mexico, for atleast the nextseven years.

Michael SpooneybargerAssociated Press files


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28 GOING GREEN | S und ay , December 5, 2010 co mm er c ia l app ea l.co m

By Tyrone Beason

The Seattle Times

Seattle conservation photographer DanielB eltras work is so visually stunning that it alwaysbegs a second glance.

It is only then, once youre seduced by the sheerbeauty of the pictures, the mesmerizing play onpatterns both natural and man-made, the birds- eyesense of scale, that youre struck with the outragehes really trying to provoke.

Beauty in the most

tragic sense

Beltra spottedthis river boatstuck on a sand

bank east ofBa r r e i r i n ha ,Brazil, in 2005during one of theworst droughtsever recorded inthe Amazon.

Courtesy of Daniel Beltra


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The Commercial Appeal S und ay, December 5, 2010 | GOING GREEN 29

That picturesque shipwreckin a patch of sand? Lookagain. Its a functioning boatmired in silt where themighty Amazon River would

be, were it not for droughtattributed to climate change.That psychedelic expanse

of June-bug greens andmidnight blues with perfectwaves of rust-colored streaksrunning across it? MotherNature had nothing to dowith it. Thats oil from theBP undersea pipeline rupture

in the Gulf of Mexico.Beltra, 45, has made a

career out of traveling to thewo rl d s precious ecosystemsto document settings most ofus conjure only in daydreams.From the thick rain forests ofIndonesia to the icy reachesof the Arctic to the swelteringwaterways of Brazil to thelabyrinthine marshes ofLouisiana, his subjects arethe stuff of travel adventures.

But his images of thoseplaces are beautiful in themost tragic sense.

They are snapshots of rawnature hobbled by the folly ofman, scenes of environmental

devastation so artful in theircomposition that they take ona bizarre loveliness.

B eltras work isnt intendedto make you visit theseplaces. He wants you to helpsave them.

Beltra himself is anunassuming man, not so


Oil-soaked pelicans huddle at a bird rescueand research center in Fort Jackson, La., thispast summer, victims of the BP oil disaster inthe Gulf of Mexico. The center was one ofmany locations conservation photographerDaniel Beltra visited to document the oil'simpacts on the fragile gulf ecosystem.

Its very easy to convince a certain

segment of society on certain issues

that are probably much closer to my

way of thinking, but Im more

interested in convincing the other side.


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30 GOING GREEN | S u n d ay , December 5, 2010 co mm er cia l a pp ea l.co m

much an agent provocateur as a humblecraftsman who lets his work speak.

Hes on assignment six to ninemonths a year, an absence from homethat happens with the blessing of hiswife, Shoshana Beltra, an ultrasound

technician from Seattle.In the field, Beltra says hes a single -

man band, lacking a crew of assistants.Actually, in the field isnt quite

accurate. Some of his most famous imageswere taken high above the scene from anairplane or helicopter, which allows himto pan out and capture the scope of clearcuts, forest burns and melting ice. Aerial

photos have been his signature since anassignment in Spain in the mid-90s, notlong after he stumbled intophotojournalism by shooting amateurpictures of a Basque-separatist bombingscene in Madrid when he lived there.

Something clicked in my brain Iwas very comfortable up there, and Icould see things differently, in a waythat was really appealing to me, hesays of that first aerial shoot. I alsofigured out rapidly that people respondvery well to those images.

His physical distance from the groundor water works in his favor, revealing to


Deforestation has been used to create new palm-oil plantations like this one shotfrom the air over Kuala Kuayan in Indonesia. Felled trees litter the scene. I dontpretend to be objective I try to be fair, Beltra says. I hope that people seewhat I see and feel they need to do something. But I dont want to tell them what.


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him illustrative patterns, textures andcolor variations that the photographeron foot cant possibly detect.

At ground level, a forest being burneddown to make way for agriculture lookslike a wilderness on fire. But seen from

above, the deforested blackness menacesthe landscape like a slow-moving monster.

With his work on the Amazon, thescale depicted in the aerial shotsbecomes a part of the story. Theimages take on their own life, he says.Its sometimes scary, really scary, howmuch power the images can have.

The scenes that unfold in Beltras

viewfinder do not make him sad aboutthe trade-offs we accept for energy, foodand economic development.

I get more pissed than depressed,he says.

The possibility of making a differenceserves as motivation.

This summer, Beltra and colleagues inthe International League ofConservation Photographers (ILCP)

traveled to northern British Columbia tocapture the landscapes, wildlife andpeople of a region threatened by aplanned transcontinental oil pipelinethat will bring millions of barrels of oilfrom the tar sands of Alberta through theGreat Bear Rainforest for pickup bytankers plying the narrow passages alongthe coast.

Beltra was assigned to documentvulnerable B.C. waterways from the air.

Daniel is one of thosephotojournalists whos notcompromising about what he does; hesnot out to make pretty pictures, ILCPpresident Cristina Mittermeir says. Hesa journalist in the real sense of the word,

d h d h

Gavin Newman

Daniel Beltra poses while on the job inthe Southern Ocean.

photography should be done.On his first and second trips to the

gulf, assignments sponsored byGreenpeace, Beltra snapped about27,000 images, mostly during four-hour

stints in a low-flying airplane.Through his oil-spill work and other

projects funded by Greenpeace, Beltrahas a constant international platform toraise awareness about conservation. Infact, his pictures have been used innearly every major Greenpeacecampaign for the past 20 years, saysTim Aubry, visual communicationsdirector for Greenpeaces Americandivision.

One thing that stands out almostmore than any other environmentalp h o t o g ra p h e r s work is his work bringsan element of art he brings anotherdimension to it, Aubry says. Itsstriking, and thats what brings you in

going green memphis 12-05-10

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