going green memphis 3-28-10

8/8/2019 Going Green Memphis 3-28-10

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2 GOING GREEN | S u n d ay , March 2 8, 2010 co mm er ci a l a pp ea l.com

Cleaning and greening

Janet Boscarino organizes teams ofvolunteers to conduct communitycleanups throughout Memphis

Did you BYOB?

The bring your ownba g movement appears

to be growing quickly

Picking up the U.S.

Volunteers cross thenation, cleaning up trash

and pushing alternatives

Banning grocery store bags

City bans plastic bags and requires paperbags to be made of recycled materials

CSA farms are a

win-win situation

Green Ea s t e r

baskets frugal fun

On the cover

Illustration by Shane McDermott/The Commercial Appeal

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Going Green is a special online publication ofThe Commercial Appeal. We welcome your commentsand suggestions. Follow Going Green on Twitter atw w w .t w i t t e r .co m /G o G r e e n M e m p h i s.

Ed i t o r : Roland Klose, 529-2776,goi n gg r e e n@co m m e rci a la pp ea l .com

Whats in this issue ...

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http://www.twitter.com/GoGreenMemphismailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.twitter.com/GoGreenMemphis


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The Commercial Appeal S u n d ay , March 2 8, 2010 | GOING GREEN 3

in Paris, Tenn.,have beenperforming their

song, Trash onthe Ground, avariation on thestrange Internetrap sensationPants on theGround.

Goodwill andLev i s recentlylaunched an initiativeto divert billions of

pounds of unwantedclothing from landfills.

Lev i s jeans now feature a Care Tagfor Our Planet that encouragesowners to donate old jeans toGoodwill when no longer needed.

Green news

There aremore than 50 job

boards on the Webdevoted to greenjobs. The GreenJob Spider attemptsto aggregate thoseboards. Find it atg r e e n j o bsp i d er.co m .

Ice cream brandHaagen-Dazs ispromoting honeybeeswith a nationalcampaign to overturnurban bans on beekeeping.For more information, go toh e l p t h e h o n ey b e es .co m .

Seventh graders from DianeLo w r y s music class at Henry School

The Green Page

Going Green eventsJust in time for Earth Day,

spring planting and all things green,Going Green the environmentaldigital edition of The CommercialAppeal and Memphis BotanicGarden are partnering to bringFelder Rushing to Memphis on April21.

Rushing will talk about usinggreen practices in the garden at 7

p.m. at the botanic garden. Theinformal session, aimed at noviceand veteran gardeners, is titled: Itaint easy going green, cept in thega r d e n .

Admission is $3 for MBGmembers, $5 for nonmembers.Proceeds will go to the care andpreservation of the more than 150species of trees that make up

Memphis Botanic Gardens Certified

Level IV Arboretum.For information, call 529-2372.

For reservations, call 636-4111.Learn more about living green

with a new morning series ofinformational gatherings at MemphisBotanic Garden. The free Thursdaysessions are presented by MemphisBotanic Garden and CA Media,publishers of The CommercialAppeal, commercialappeal.com andgoi n g gr e e n .co mm ercia l a p p eal .co m.

The Going Green Coffee Sceneinformal get-togethers will be heldfrom 8:45-9:45 a.m. on April 22,April 29, May 6 and May 13.

To submit items forThe Green Page, e-mailgoinggreen@commercialappeal .com.
http://greenjobspider.com/http://greenjobspider.com/http://greenjobspider.com/http://greenjobspider.com/http://helpthehoneybees.com/http://commercialappeal.com/http://goinggreen.commercialappeal.com/http://goinggreen.commercialappeal.com/http://goinggreen.commercialappeal.com/http://goinggreen.commercialappeal.com/http://goinggreen.commercialappeal.com/http://goinggreen.commercialappeal.com/http://goinggreen.commercialappeal.com/http://goinggreen.commercialappeal.com/http://goinggreen.commercialappeal.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://goinggreen.commercialappeal.com/http://commercialappeal.com/http://helpthehoneybees.com/http://greenjobspider.com/


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To accomplish this,Clean Memphis dividedthe city into 31 zones,with additional zonesoutside the city limits.

The idea was to createthis cohesive group of

businesses, churches,schools andneighborhoods to do atleast quarterly cleanupevents, work on recycling,

just anything andeverything to improvetheir communities,Boscarino said.

The greening up,refers not only tobeautification projectssuch as tree planting butalso to educatingcommunity membersabout storm water issues,raising awareness aboutrecycling and helpingschools start recycling

p ro g ra m s .All the trash andleaves and debris that gointo storm water drainsgo into creeks andstreams, and end up inthe Wolf River,Boscarino said. T h at san issue in and of itself,

not only from a litterstandpoint, but becauseits an issueenvironment ally.

Clean Memphis, alongwith its corporate andcommunity partners,

holds environmental fairsand cleanups periodically.

Some of the communitypartners include MemphisCity Beautiful, The WolfRiver Conservancy andthe Storm Water Divisionof Memphis Light, Gasand Water Division.

Cargill, Coca-ColaBottling Co.,ClearChannel Outdoor,ParkIt Here and PepsiCoare among the corporatep a r t n e rs .

Larry Krebs, manager

of corporate responsibilityand sustainability forCoca-Cola, said it was aWolf River cleanupproject that first drew hisinterest in sponsoringClean Memphis.

Water being such anintegral part of our

Boscarino said Clean Memphis organizes acommunity cleanup somewhere in the Memphisarea on most Saturdays.

You may not be able to reduce crime or bring jobs to the

city, but whether you are 5 or 65, you can help clean up

in your neighborhood.

JANET BOSCARINO

founder of Clean Memphis


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6 GOING GREEN | Su n d ay , March 2 8, 2010 co mm er c ia l a pp ea l.co m

product, thats a huge focus of ours, just asa company in general. Water conservancyand anything related to that is somethingthat we are very interested in, he said.

In the six months since Coca-Colastarted partnering with Clean Memphis,it has sponsored five or six events,

Krebs said, which equates to about 400volunteer hours of work.

Clean Memphis works with students,to try to get them involved in cleanupprojects organized around their schoolsand to promote good stewardship.

The group has worked with about 15Memphis City Schools, includingCentral and Frayser high schools and

Cypress Middle School.To mark this years Earth Dayobservance, environmental fairs will beheld at two middle schools at AirwaysMiddle on April 21 and at CypressMiddle on April 22.

Clean Memphis also helps coordinatevolunteer cleanups with students fromprivate schools.

We keep up with volunteer servicehours, so a lot of kids who are involvedin clubs need those, Boscarino said.

Clean Memphis works with collegestudents, too. One of the zones, knownas the LOC Collaborative, is in theLeMoyne-Owen College area and its

members meet monthly to discussconcerns including litter, code issuesand crime. Clean Memphis helps themorganize ongoing cleanup events.

Boscarino said its important to CleanMemphis that the groups remain organic made up of people who live or workin the communities in which the groupso p e rat e .

It means more to them and will bemore sustainable that way, she said.We help neighborhoods come together,but we dont want to run the show forthem. We want to help them, guidethem, get them organized, expand theirvolunteer base, educate them, but at theend of the day, we want them to be ableto do what needs to be done.

MemphisGrizzlies star

O.J. Mayohoists a bag

of leaves ontoa truck during

a Downtowncleanupsponsored by

CleanMemphis andthe Grizzlies

Academy lastNovember.

Brad Luttrell/The Commercial

Appeal files


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Clean Memphisprovides supplies forthe cleanup events.Volunteers only have tobring good attitude andwillingness to work.

Boscarino said theevents usually are lotsof fun, becausecorporate sponsorsprovide food andre f re s h m e n t s ,sometimes even music.

We really try tomake it fun, she said.

Upcoming events

include the GetwellCorridor Cleanuphosted by SRVS onApril 10 and the RhodesCollege -HollywoodChelsea PartnershipCleanup on April 17.

There is a cleanupscheduled for mostSaturdays, Boscarinosaid. For a list of theevents, visit theo rga n i z at i o n s Web site,c l e a n m e m p h i s . o rg.

People of all ages inall parts of town canfind something to dowith Clean Memphis.

You may not be able

to reduce crime or bringjobs to the city, butwhether you are 5 or 65,you can help clean up inyour neighborhood, andit gives everyone avenue to do somethinggood for the city,Boscarino said.

Pick Up America aimsto inspire, change habitsBy Molly Klinefelter

Mc C l a tch y -Tr i b u n e

Since the greenmovement exploded ontothe scene, people haveincreasingly started to dolittle eco-friendly thingsevery day. But one group

is breaking the mold anddedicating a year and ahalf of their lives to beingall green, all the time.

Last week, this groupbegan trekking acrossAmerica on foot, pickingup trash along the way.

Pick Up America is alocal, regional and

nationwide initiativecommitted to reducingplastic waste in ourcommunities andwat e r ways , according tothe groups Web site.

The goal of the effort isto make a lasting impacton America, as well as toencourage alternatives tothe throwaway mentality.

The mission of PickUp America is to inspireAmericans to reducetheir consumption andwaste habits so trashdoesnt accumulate in thefirst place, said Kelly

Klein, Pick Up Americascommunity outreachc o o rd i n at o r.

We live in a culture ofconvenience wherethings are purchased andquickly thrown away andresources are going fast.As young people, we see

that a major change hasto be made soon.Pick Up Americas

founders, a group ofrecent college grads whodubbed themselves thePick Up Artists, st artedtheir walk in AssateagueIsland, Md., and aremaking their way across

13 states. They expect tocomplete the walk inAugust 2011 in SanFra n c i s c o .

Although the foundingteam is small, supportersare encouraged to join thewalk at any point in the

journey. In addition to justwalking and picking uptrash, supporters can helpby coordinatingvolunteers and events,documenting the journeyand providing the teamwith a place to stay.

For information, go topickupamerica .wordpress.com.
http://cleanmemphis.org/http://cleanmemphis.org/http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/http://cleanmemphis.org/http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/


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BYOB, please

The paper or plasticquestion once commonlyheard at checkout standsaround the world is rapidlybeing replaced with Didyou BYOB (Bring YourOwn Bag)?

As with many other

trends in the U.S., SanFrancisco started the bag-ban movement. Its ban onplastic shopping bags,which went into effect inApril 2007, has translatedinto 5 million fewer plasticbags being used everymonth.

Bangladesh outlawed the

petroleum-based productsin 2002, with cities andcountries from China toZanzibar soon followingsuit .

Our nations capital set anexample for the rest of thecountry in January whenlocal officials began levying

a 5-cent surcharge on plasticand paper bags at stores thatsell food or alcohol.

Last June despiteintense push-back fromplastic-bag manufacturers the United Nationsjumped into the fray and

Forget paper or plastic? Bring your own bag


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In San Jose, bag bantargets paper, plastic

called for a global ban onsingle-use plastic bags,the second most commonform of litter aftercigarette butts.

The movement is seen

as a way to protect theenvironment, curb globalwarming and reform adisposable -mindedsociety. The ubiquitousbags are blamed forchoking birds and fish,floating into trees,rooftops and streets, andsticking around years

longer than paper.About 100,000

whales, seals, turtles andother marine animals arekilled by plastic bagseach year worldwide,according to Planet Ark,an internationalenvironmental group.The Chinese call themwhite pollution andtheyre known derisivelyin South Africa as thenational flower.

As a result of all thishue and cry, the BYOB(Bring Your Own Bag)movement is growing byleaps and bounds. RUBs,

or reusable bags madefrom cloth or recycledmaterials, have turnedinto a major industry.Many stores now take 5cents off customers billsfor each RUB they pack.

Excerpted fromcouponsherpa .com

By Tracy Seipel

San Jose Mercury News

The trailblazer behindthe countrys toughestban on grocery bags is a

soft-spoken formerrestaurateur whos madefew waves during histime on the city councilof San Jose, Calif.

What began with anepiphany when a grocerin Taiwan chargedKansen Chu for a plasticbag has turned into an

unlikely crusade thatresulted in a council voteto ban not only plasticbut also most paper bags.

Councilman Chu, 57,wa s n t looking to becomethe local hero in anenvironmental battle thathas stymied greener cities

such as Seattle, whosevoters overturned a fee onplastic and paper bags.

But, as JohnStufflebean, director ofSan Joses EnvironmentalServices Department,said, He was the sparkthat got things started.

The ban, which muststill go through anenvironmental impactstudy that will require thecouncils final signoff nextyear, wont go into effect

until 2011, allowing timefor additional outreach tobusinesses andconsumers. It would barretailers from givingcustomers single-useplastic bags and wouldallow paper bags madewith 40 percent recycledmaterials, but only for a

fee. Restaurants andnonprofit organizationscould continue to usepaper or plastic bags.

Chus interest in theenvironment isnt apassing fancy. In June, thecouncil agreed to adopthis proposal to establish

green building standardson all new buildings.We all have a

responsibility to makeour planet a better placefor our children andg ra n d c h i l d re n , he said.

Chu said the idea of aban on plastic shopping

Grocery bag law is nations toughest
http://couponsherpa.com/http://couponsherpa.com/http://couponsherpa.com/


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bags took shape soon after he was elected to the council in June2007. While visiting his sister-in-law in Taipei, Chu wentgrocery shopping and was surprised to get charged forplastic grocery bags. The next day, he brought his owncloth bags back to the store.

I guess the question, said Chu, was, Whynot San Jose? He began a conversation withthe citys environmental services staff, whichlater moved to council committeediscussions.

My first impression wasthat he was tilting atwindmills, said CouncilmanSam Liccardo, who later

joined Chu as asupporter in the effort.But as I thought about

the issue more andmore, I realized Kansenwas on to something,particularly after we had anopportunity to hear from people in thegarbage and recycling industry who confirmedthat these bags are creating enormous cost burdens on ratepayers, inaddition to all the environmental problems.

Chu said his idea met with someinitial resistance from the SantaClara County Recycling and WasteReduction Commission, whichserves as the principal advisory bodyto city and town councils and thecounty Board of Supervisors onwaste planning issues.

We knew that the plastic bagindustry was suing Oakland, andcities were very concerned about thelegal issues, he said. T h at s whenwe started pushing for banningpaper as well as plastic, becausepaper bags arent environmentallyfriendly either.

We all have a responsibility to make our planet a better

place for our children and grandchildren.

KANSEN CHU

San Jose, Calif., city councilman who spearheaded the citys ban on grocery bags


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butts that are lethal tofish and may be identifiedin natural environments.

The tobacco industryfears an alliance amongenvironmental and

tobacco control groupsthat would demand thatthe industry takeresponsibility fordiscarded cigarette butts,according to ElizabethSmith, associate adjunctprofessor at University ofCalifornia, San Francisco.

To avoid re s p o n s i b i l i t y,

tobacco companies havedeveloped numerous anti-litter efforts, according toindustry documents Smithstudied. The companiesresearch found thatsmokers litter cigarette

By Sandy Bauers

The Philadelphia Inquirer

New research suggestscigarette butts arent justnasty; they could qualifyas toxic hazardous waste.

The research is part ofthe Cigarette ButtPollution Project fundedby the California TobaccoRelated Disease ResearchProgram of the Universityof California.

H e re s a summary offindings, which werepresented at the annualmeeting of the American

Public Health Associationlast fall in Philadelphia.When cigarette butts

are allowed to soak inboth fresh and salt water(at a concentration of onebutt per liter), half of thefish exposed to thecontaminated water die,according to Richard

Gersberg, professor ofPublic Health at SanDiego State University.Further research isplanned to identify theorganic and inorganicchemicals in c i ga re tt e

butts for complex reasons,including disgust at thebutts and guilt about theiraddiction, and industryprograms have had littlesuccess at changing

s m o ke rs l i tt e r i n gb eh av i o r.Richard Barnesof the

UCSF Center for TobaccoControl Research andE d u c at i o n describedregulatory policies thatmay help reduce cigarettebutt waste. These includelevying litter fees on

tobacco products,strengthening theenforcement of existingpenalties for illegaldisposal of cigarette buttsand possibly bringinglawsuits against theindustry to recover costs tocommunities of cigarettebutt blight and cleanups.

An economic studybased on a litter audit inSan Francisco found theannual cost to dispose ofcigarette butts was morethan $6 million. Dr. JohnSchneider of OxfordOutcomes said this

justified the imposition by

the City Council of a litterfee of 20 cents per pack ofcigarettes sold in SanFra n c i s c o .

For more information,go to cigwaste.org.Sandy Bauers blogs atgo . p hi l l y. co m /g re e n s p a c e.

Cigarette butts posean environmental risk
http://go.philly.com/greenspacehttp://go.philly.com/greenspacehttp://go.philly.com/greenspace


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1. Choose a location in full sun, whichmeans six or more hours per day of directsun in summer. Producing succulentvegetables takes the suns energy especially for fruiting vegetables such ascucumbers and tomatoes. If you dont

have this much sunlight, either get out yourpruning saw or grow only leafy vegetables.

2. Your site needs soil that is well-drained. Roots have to breathe, whichthey cannot do if water sits in or on thesoil for too long after rains. If grass ormost weeds grow well, the soil is probablywell drained. To be more quantitative, diga hole, fill it with water and measure with

a ruler how fast the level drops. Slowerthan 1 inch per hour is too slow. Chooseanother site or build raised beds.

3. Grow your garden as close aspossible to your door no farther thanyour wife can throw the kitchen sink, goesthe old adage, said when kitchen sinkswere cast iron. The closer to your door,preferably your kitchen door, the morefrequently youll enjoy and work in thega r d e n .

4. Start small. Too much garden maybegin to feel like work. You can raiseplenty of vegetables in even a 10-by-10-foot plot of land. Increase the size of yourgarden commensurate with yourenthusiasm and experience.

5. Fence your garden. A fence,besides keeping out rabbits and otherhungry animals, helps define your gardenvisually. Poultry netting is inexpensiveand effective. To keep animals fromburrowing under your fence, bend thebottom foot of fencing to the outside ofthe garden to lie right on top of the

ground. Unless deer are a threat inwhich case you need a fence at least 5feet high a 2- or 3-foot-high fenceshould be adequate.

6. Make your garden pretty. Wo o d e n

pickets can obscure and dress up apoultry netting fence. An arbor, withclimbing beans or grapes, can dress upyour garden gate. Soften the fence linewith an outside border planting of shrubs,perhaps something decorative and ediblesuch as red currants or blueberries.Beauty will also draw you into your garden.

7. Planning your garden in four

dimensions is a way to harvest morefrom limited space. Rather than single,widely spaced rows, plant in wide (3-4 feet)beds (a second dimension). Rather thankeeping everything at ground level, let yourvegetables those that can grow up (athird dimension). Pole beans and tomatoescan be trained up bamboo or metal poles,and peas and cucumbers can be trained upfences even that fence that enclosesyour garden. For the fourth dimension time use transplants for tomatoes,peppers, eggplants and cucumbers, andplant shorter-season vegetables to followthose that finish early or start late, such aslettuce following early bush beans.

8. Pay attention to fertilizing andwatering. Spread a balanced organic

fertilizer over the ground in late winter atthe rate suggested on the container. Or, ifexisting vegetation is growing well, usesoybean meal at 2 pounds per 100 squarefeet. Or apply an inch depth of compost. Setout a straight-sided can to measure water,and turn on the sprinkler once a week sothe combination of rain and sprinklingequal an inch depth of water in that can.


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Gardening books helpyou grow a little greener

9. Weed regularly andfrequently. Weeds aremuch easier to kill andh av e n t had time to spreadmany seeds when theyare small.

10. Grow vegetablesthat you like to eat, andchoose the best-tastingv a r i e t i es .

So get a tiller or shovel,and dig up your newgarden area, or use thenewer method of

smothering existingvegetation beneath a fewlayers of newspapertopped with compost orother mulch, then planti m m e d i at el y.

For future successes,thoroughly clean up oldplants when theyrefinished or at the end of theseason, and move plantsaround the garden so theydont grow in the same spotfor a couple of years.

Finally, read aboutgardening. I suggestVegetable Gardening:From Planting to Picking The Complete Guide to

Creating a BountifulG a rd e n , by Fern MarshallBradley and Jane Courtier(Readers Digest, 2006);The Vegetable GardenersBible, by Edward C. Smith(Storey, 2000); and myown Weedless Gardening(Workman, 2001).

By Deb Wandell

San Francisco Chronicle

With the arrival ofspring, thoughts turn tothe garden. Here arefour new books that willhelp you grow a littleg re e n e r :

The New Low-Maintenance Gardenby Valerie Easton(Timber Press; $19.95).We re gardening in anew millennium, withchallenges such aslimited space, dwindlingnatural resources andless free time, yet most

of us do it the way ourgrandparents did, saysEaston.

A garden columnistfor The Seattle Times,she weeded and wateredher own intenselyplanted quarter-acre foryears, before realizingthat all the work left herlittle time forenjoyment. Eastonssolution: Go the low-maintenance route witha minimum of lawn andplants that need pruningand dividing, sprayingor staking. She assures

readers that lowmaintenance doesntmean boring orsomething created bypeople who tend topark trucks on theirl aw n . Its all aboutthoughtful design andediting, smart plantchoices that includeboth ornamentals andedibles, and workingwith natures rhythms.

Jacqueline M. Kochsphotos accompanyEastons profiles of

innovative gardens andtheir creators.One Magic Square:

The Easy Organic Wayto Grow Your Own Foodon a 3-Foot Square byLolo Houbein (TheExperiment; $18.95).Despite the lack of


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soil rehab to tackling pestcontrol (including the b i gge rcrunchier pests) tolandscaping with edibles.Plant recommendations arefollowed by Spiegelmans

Universal Botanical Whaaa-Whaa Rating, which ratesplants on their botanical meritand level of whining, frommost low-maintenance andbest-performing (1) to theneediest (10). Bonus: a 20-minute iPod set for weeding.

Succulent ContainerGardens: Design Eye-Catching

Displays with 350 Easy-CarePlantsby Debra Lee Baldwin(Timber Press; $29.95).Sculptural, easy to care for andforgiving, succulents are thedarlings of drought-tolerantlandscaping. In this richlyphotographed book, Baldwinshows how to use these plantsto maximum effect indoorsand out by combining shapes,textures and colors. Thechapter on pairing succulentswith containers will show youhow to elevate a plant to a workof art.

diversity in the worlds foodcrops, there is one place wecan encourage biodiversity ona small scale: the yard.Houbein takes that literally.Starting with a 3-by-3-foot

plot, she says, allows those ofus who are new to foodgardening to decide how farwe want to go. A 1-yard plotrequires minimal effort whilestill being productive and funto tend. Houbein starts fromthe ground up, withinformation on how to preparesoil, compost, mulch, start

and save seeds, and rotatec ro p s .

Talking Dirt: The DirtD i va s Down-to-Earth Guideto Organic GardeningbyAnnie Spiegelman (Penguin;$15). A California mastergardener and columnist for thePacific Sun in Marin County,Spiegelman gets down toorganic-gardening basics in afun, breezy style that appealsto beginners and seasonedgardeners. She coverseverything from how todecode snooty plant names to

Just one thingDo you have a whole collection of unwanted CDs or DVDs gathering dust

around the house? Recycle a big collection into a functional dumbbell. Buy a 12-inch threaded rod from the hardware store and four nuts that will fit snugly on therod. Attach two nuts on each end of the rod and twist until they are about 3 inchesin. Thread 25 CDs on each side of the rod and then secure with another nut. Usethe 5-pound dumbbell when doing crunches its soft enough to rest on yourstomach during a sit-up to add just enough resistance to your workout routine.


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16 GOING GREEN | Su n day , March 2 8, 2010 co mm er c ia l a pp ea l.co m

By Jennifer Biggs

biggs@commercialappeal .com

A CSA community supportedagriculture is a thoughtful way tosupport your local farmers and ensurethat you and your family get the bestyour farmer has to offer through theseason.

The way it works is you buy a seasons

worth of produce early in the year. Thisgives the farmer money to get crops in

the ground, hire help or whatever else isneeded to get your food off to a goodstart, without having to borrow from thebank and pay interest on a loan. It keepscosts down.

There are several farms in the areathat offer a CSA. Prices vary a bit, asdoes the produce.

discount given to CSA membersat redemption at markets or onyou-pick at the farm.Pick up: Saturday mornings atthe planned GermantownFarmers Market and Wednesdayafternoons at the MemphisBotanic Garden Farmers Market.Pick at the farm at 3060

Woodhills Dr.Contact: Ken and Freida Lansing,386-2035, winfarms.com.

WHITTON FARMS,WHITTON, ARK.

Cost: Full share, $780 for 27weeks or $520 for a half share(you pay for 26 and one week isf r e e) .Pick up: Any day by pre-arranged schedule at the TrolleyStop Market, soon to open at704 Madison, or at the MemphisFarmers Market on Saturdaymornings or at the MemphisBotanic Garden Farmers Marketon Wednesday afternoons.Contact: Keith or Jill Forrester,(870) 815-9519,w h i t t o n fa r m s .co m .

DELTA SOL FARM,PROCTOR, ARK.

Cost: $550 for 23 weeks; sharesof $200, $250 and $300available to use at booths with 10percent discount at redemption.Pick up: Bagged shares at aprivate residence in West

Memphis, Ark. (members will begiven the address); per-itemshares at the Memphis FarmersMarket, Central Station at S.Front and G.E. Patterson, andMemphis Botanic GardenFarmers Market, 750 CherryRoad, on Wednesday afternoon.Contact: Brandon Pugh, 288-8478, deltasolfarm.com.

DOWNING HOLLOW

FARM, OLIVE HILL,TENN.

Cost: Whole shares, $540 for 18weeks (spring and summer);$270 for fall (nine weeks) or$810 for both seasons.Pick up: Saturday mornings atthe Cooper Young CommunityFarmers Market (opening May 1)

in the parking lot of FirstCongregational Church, 1000 S.Cooper; Wednesday afternoonsat the Memphis Botanic GardenFarmers Market.Contact: Lori Greene, (731) 925-6083, downinghollowfarm.com.

MAMMAW MELTONS

HEIRLOOM GARDENS,WHITEVILLE, TENN.

Cost: Full share, $30 per week;half, $20; quarter, $12. Pay for26 weeks in advance and getone week free, or pay monthlywith a $40 deposit.Pick up: Tuesdays at theCollierville Farmers Market, 167Washington, or Thursdays at theJackson (Tenn.) Farmers Market.Contact: Susan Melton-Piper,378-8214, mammawmeltonsh e i r l o o m ga r d e n s .co m .

WINDERMERE FARMSAND APIARY,MEMPHIS

Cost: $250, $250 and $300 per-item shares available; 10 percent

LOCAL CSA FARMS

Foodies and farmers win with CSA
mailto:[email protected]://winfarms.com/http://whittonfarms.com/http://deltasolfarm.com/http://downinghollowfarm.com/http://downinghollowfarm.com/http://downinghollowfarm.com/http://heirloomgardens.com/http://heirloomgardens.com/http://downinghollowfarm.com/http://deltasolfarm.com/http://whittonfarms.com/http://winfarms.com/mailto:[email protected]


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Home-grown baskets enhance the Easter tableThis Easterba sk e tfe a t u r es

WheatBerry grassandflowersplaced inwaterpicks.

GREEN EASTER BASKETS

Materials Costba s ke t $0

from your own collectionplastic basket liner $ 0.79

from Home Depotstyrofoam packing p ea n u ts $0

from your own stashWheat Berry Grass seeds $ 0. 5 0

from Whole Foods (in the bulkitems section)plant mister $1

from The Dollar Storewater picks $ 1 . 27

12-pack from Hobby Lobbyfresh cut flowers $0or per 10-stem bundle $ 1 .6 6

at Whole Foods

If you recycle items that you have onhand, like a basket, packing peanuts,potting soil and cut flowers from yourown yard, you can make this project forabout $5. Your final cost will bedetermined by the items (candies) youchoose to place in your Easter basket.

Story and photo by

Emily Adams Keplinger

keplinger@commercialappeal .com

Cute and clever were my firstthoughts when I saw the home-grownEaster baskets of East Memphian CindyPowell. But then G R E EN was whatstayed on my mind as I realized theeconomical and environmentally friendlyaspects of these seasonal projects.

For less than $5 per basket, you, too,can have these green Easter baskets

decorating your holiday table. That is, ifyou are into recycling items that you arelikely to have around your home.

The night before you want to assembleyour basket, soak the Wheat Berry grassseeds overnight in warm (not hot) water.

Then start with a basket, any size orshape will do, and fill it halfway full withStyrofoam packing peanuts.

Next top the peanuts with a layer ofpotting soil. Tamp it down by hand andsprinkle a layer of prepped Wheat Berrygrass seeds over the top of the soil. Noneed to work them into the soil, just makean even layer on top. Lay a wet papertowel over the surface of the seeds andwait. Thats it. Wait, but only for about aweek and a half, keeping the paper towelmoist and in place. Once the grass seeds

begin to sprout, remove the paper toweland move the basket to a sunny site, like awindow with a southern exposure.

Once your basket has greened up, youcan decorate it with fresh flowers bycutting single stems and placing them inwater picks. Use the picks to anchor yourblossoms, then add Easter candies of yourchoice.
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18 GOING GREEN | S und ay , March 2 8, 2010 co mm er c ia l a pp ea l.co m

By Barry Shlachter

McClatchy Newspapers

Sara Lees EarthGrainsbrand has launched anenvironment allyfriendly line of breadwith a marketing blitzthat describes itself as aplot to save the earth,one field at a time.

But not everyonebuys Sara Leesgreen credentials.

Its triggered afuror by critics whocite a claim by SaraLee on its Web site

since deleted t h atsome wheat in itsnew EarthGrainsEco -Grain bread ismore sustainably grownthan organic wheat. It alsoalleged that organicfarming d e s t roye dundeveloped land.

While the nationssecond-biggest baker isbusy clarifying itsposition, an organicwatchdog group namedthe Cornucopia Instituteblasted Sara Lee foradvertising malpracticeand g re e nwa s h i n g

using questionableenvironmental claims topromote products.

Climate Counts, anotherwatchdog group that fightsglobal warming, says SaraLee ties for last among 11major food manufacturersrated on green practices.

T h at s despite some

improvements after payinga record $5.25 millionsettlement in 2003 because57 of its 67 EarthGrainsplants leaked ozone-depleting chemicals.

Jon Harris, a Sara Leespokesman, said hiscompany has vastlychanged since 2003, withnumerous green initiativesaround the world. Sara Leeacquired EarthGrains in2001, inheriting problemsfrom its previous

management that werequickly corrected, Harriss aid.

Sara Lee has launched aTV, radio, print andInternet ad campaign,harnessing Facebook and

Twitter, to promote am ove m e n t w h e reshoppers help the planet

with every purchaseof a loaf made withEco -Grain wheat ,its promotionalmaterials say.

Sara Lee alsoacknowledges thatthe packaging for its

environment allyfriendly b re a dcannot be recycled bymost curbside pickup

programs. The companycalls it an industrywidedilemma despite efforts tofind a green alternative toplastic bags, which mustbe taken to specialreceptacles. Even then,less than 5 percent areestimated to be recycled.

Eco -Grain is a Sara Lee-trademarked name it gaveto wheat grown in Idahousing precisionagriculture. This approach

Sara Lees claims on Eco-Grainwheat products raise ire of critics


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includes satellite imagery andcomputer-guided applicationof fertilizer, herbicide andpesticide, aiming to avoidpotentially harmful over-spraying while boosting

yields. Its a hard white springwheat sold by HorizonMilling, a Cargill affiliate, thatcan lighten and providetexture to typical whole wheatf lours.

Idaho farmer MattMickelson says his fertilizeruse has dropped 15 percentthrough precision growing,

Sara Lee reported.But Cargill said Mickelson

and the four other Eco-Grainproducers do not use no-tillplanting, the one precisiontechnique that some soilexperts say is superior toorganic farming in terms ofpreventing soil erosion andrunoff.

The cynic in me says thisis just a marketing gimmick,because about 20 percent ofall (commodity) crops arenow precision-farm grown,said Steve Ford, a precisiongrower in Alabama who alsoteaches economics at theUniversity of the South-

Sewanee. Several crop systemexperts say Fords estimate isre a s o n a b l e .

Its our first small step,and we know that more canbe done, which is why werelooking to expand thep ro g ra m , said Sara Matheu,a Sara Lee spokeswoman.

Dummies book offersprimer on green jobsBy Siel Ju

Mother Nature Network

What exactly does it mean to have a greencareer? Thats one of the first questions tackledin Green Careers for Dummies, a book forwould-be participants in the new greene c o n o m y.

Instead of simply jumping into how much

money you could make in this growing jobmarket, Green Careers for Dummies begins byexplaining the nebulous definition of green jobsand careers since, after all, almost any careercan be made greener than it is now.

Written by Carol McClelland, Green Careersfor Dummies encourages readers to take a morewhole-person approach to the job search. Incontrast to The Complete Idiots Guide to GreenC a re e rs which mostly focuses on providing a

big list of jobs, their descriptions and expectedsalaries Green Careers for Dummies is lowon salary figures but heavy on eco-mindedreflection, encouraging readers to reason out whythey want a green career and what exactly theyreseeking in a job.

Its sections are organized by motivating desires,like managing natural resources or reb u i l d i n gthe infrastructureor shaping the greene c o n o m y. Each section includes a generaldescription, an overview of the industrys currentstatus, anticipated future trends and sample jobs as well as lists of relevant industry associationsand Web links for further exploration.

Green Careers for Dummies is available inbookstores for $19.99.

Visit the Mother Nature Network atmnn.com.
http://mnn.com/http://mnn.com/


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20 GOING GREEN | S u n day, March 2 8, 2010 co mm er c ia l a pp ea l.co m

EARTH TALK

Trading oil for coal isnt the answerDear Earth Talk: Wont electric cars and plug-in

hybrids increase our reliance on coal as a powersource and is that really any better than petroleum?

be enough to powerAmericas electric cars inthe near future, but dontrule out the possibility ofnew coal plants (or newnuclear power plants)coming on line to fill thegap if we dont make hastein developing alternate

sources for generatingelectrical energy.And while proponents

of energy efficiencybelieve we can go a longway by making our electricgrids smarter t h ro u g hthe use of monitoringtechnologies that can doleout power when it is most

plentiful and cheap, o t h e rsdoubt that existingcapacity will be able tohandle the load placed oneven an intelligent smartgriddistributionn e t wo rk .

Environmentalists andmany policymakersmaintain that the onlyviable, long-term solutionis to spur on thedevelopment of renewableenergy sources.

Send questions to EarthTalk at P.O. Box 5098,Westport, CT 06881 or e-mailearthtalk@ emagazine.com.

Its true that the adventof electric cars is notnecessarily a boon for theenvironment if it meanssimply trading our

reliance on one fossil fuel oil, from whichgasoline is distilled fo ran even dirtier one: coal,which is burned to createel e c t r i c i t y.

The mining of coal is anugly and environmentallydestructive process. And,according to the U.S.

Environmental ProtectionAgency, burning thesubstance in power plantssends some 48 tons ofmercury a knownneurotoxin intoAmericans air and waterevery year. Furthermore,coal burning contributes

some 40 percent of totalU.S. carbon dioxideemissions. The NationalAcademy of Sciencesestimates that coal miningand burning cause awhopping $62 billionworth of environmentaldamage every year in the

U.S. alone, not to mentionits profound impact onour health.

Upwards of half of allthe electricity in the U.S.

is derived from coal, whilethe figure is estimated tobe around 70 percent inChina. Several countriesin Europe are alsostockpiling coal andbuilding more powerplants to burn it in theface of an ever-increasingthirst for cheap and

abundant electricity.On top of this trend,

dozens of electric andplug-in hybrid cars are inthe works from the worldscarmakers. Unless westart to source significantamounts of electricityfrom renewables such as

solar and wind, coal-firedplants will not onlycontinue but may actuallyincrease their dischargesof mercury, carbondioxide and other toxins.

Some analysts expectthat existing electricitycapacity in the U.S. may
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