Going Green Memphis 5-16-10

8/8/2019 Going Green Memphis 5-16-10

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2 GOING GREEN | S u n d ay , May 1 6, 2010 co m m er c ia l a p pea l.co m

To please the trees

How consumers can identifysuppliers that support sustainableforestry management practices

No to outsourcing

On s h or i n g is the greenanswer to shipping

products long distances

Which woods?

The NRDC advisesagainst buying some

tropical hardwoods

Risk-free spring cleaning tips

Learn to avoid toxic cleaning chemicalsand other hazards when keeping house

Light without

light bulbs

How to be green

from wall to wall

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, 529-5893goi 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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The Commercial Appeal Su n d ay, May 1 6, 2010 | GOING GREEN 3

The Green Page

Ev e n t sMark Bike-to-Work Day Friday, May 21,

at Court Square from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.Activities include live music, free bike

checks and more. At 7 p.m., ride to BrooksMuseum for the Bicycle Film Festival and anafter-party at 10:30 p.m. The festivalcontinues on Saturday with more films atBrooks and a block party at FirstCongregational Church. Contact CortPercer at [email protected].

Take a walk along the river with theSierra Club from 6-8:30 p.m. Saturday, May22. Contact Sue Williams at 274-0524 or goto tennessee.sierraclub.org/chickasaw for

up-to-date information. No pets.See the bald eagles at Shiloh NationalMilitary Park. This Sierra Club-sponsoredactivity will be held at 12:30 p.m. Sunday,May 23. Park entrance fees are $3 per personor $5 per family. Contact Keith Hoover [email protected] or (901) 363-8299.

Groups

Greater Memphis Greenline:Promotes the development of the

Greenline and other unused railway rights-of-way and easements into hiking andbiking trails. greatermemphisgreenline.org.

Greening Greater Memphis:Advocates making the region a nationalleader in parks, parkland, trails andoutdoor recreation.gre e n i ng grea te r m e m ph i s .o r g.

Memphis Botanic Garden: D i s p l aygardens, lakes and woodlands, as well as arenowned Japanese garden and SensoryGarden. memphisbotanicgarden.com or(901) 576-4100.

Mid-South Peace and JusticeCenter: Works with low-income

communities in Memphis to plan and plantcommunity gardens. midsouthpeace.org or(901) 725-4990.

Project Green Fork: A communityinitiative that helps Memphis restaurantowners in reducing waste, loweringoverhead and decreasing theirenvironmental impact.p r o j e c t g r e e n fo r k .o r g .

To submit items, e-mail

goinggreen@commercialappeal .com.

With a spring inhis step GarrettJohnson, 7, leapsbetween rockswhile runningaround DaffodilHill at theMemphis BotanicGarden.

Mike BrownThe Commercial Appealf i l es
mailto:[email protected]://tennessee.sierraclub.org/chickasawmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://greatermemphisgreenline.org./http://greeninggreatermemphis.org/http://greeninggreatermemphis.org/http://greeninggreatermemphis.org/http://greeninggreatermemphis.org/http://greeninggreatermemphis.org/http://greeninggreatermemphis.org/http://greeninggreatermemphis.org/http://greeninggreatermemphis.org/http://greeninggreatermemphis.org/mailto:memphisbotanicgarden.comhttp://midsouthpeace.org/http://projectgreenfork.org/http://projectgreenfork.org/mailto:goinggreen@commercialappeal%20.commailto:goinggreen@commercialappeal%20.comhttp://projectgreenfork.org/http://midsouthpeace.org/http://greeninggreatermemphis.org/http://greatermemphisgreenline.org./http://tennessee.sierraclub.org/chickasawmailto:goinggreen@commercialappeal%20.commailto:memphisbotanicgarden.commailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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4 GOING GREEN | S u n d ay , May 1 6, 2010 com m er c ia l a p peal.co m

By Karen Ott Mayer

Special to Going Green

With the worlds forestsunder siege, consumers areturning to suppliers whosupport sustainableforestry practices and can

prove it through labelingand certifications.

The Forest StewardshipCouncil (FSC) and theSustainable ForestryInitiative (SFI) are twoleading nonprofitorganizations that certifywhen fiber products come

from managed forests.FSC reports on its sitethat more than 17,000manufacturers anddistributors are certified tobuy and sell FSC products.

Jason Metnick, directorof market access andlabeling for SFI, reports thatmore than 2,000 locations

are certified to the SFI chainof custody standard.

The majority of SFIchain of custodycertifications is in U.S. andCanada. Growth isnt justin the COC certificates, butbetween 2009 and 2010

Thomas Northcut

Two nonprofit organizations certify suppliers thatuse or sell wood from managed forests.

Protecting forestsHow consumers can identify eco-friendly fiber


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The Commercial Appeal S u n d ay , May 1 6, 2010 | GOING GREEN 5

the acres certified underSFI grew by about 18percent, and were now atclose to 200 million acrescertified under SFI in theU.S. and Canada.

With internationalnetworks, FSC and SFIhave a broad reach.

Locally, companies withsome connection to thewood industry can seekaffiliation and certification and hopefully ameasure of distinction.

The certification

process, however, involvesa lot of paperwork.

The average cost forcertification by SFI, forexample, ranges from$2,000 to $3,000 a year,Metnick said. And theprocess can be time-consuming for thebusinesses.

A.S. Hospitalitypursued FSC certificationover two years ago at itslocations in Memphis andAurora, Mo. Although thetwo sites have the sameowner, theyre operatedindependently and had togo through the

certification processindividually. That meanttwo sets of paperworkand audits.

Why go through thee f fo r t ?

We view it as aninternal corporateresponsibility to use

resources in an eco-friendly way and tosupport our customerswith the same greeno b j e c t i ve s , said KerryBeaver, vice president ofoperations for thec o m p a n y.

A.S. Hospitality workswith customers from the

hospitality industryincluding hotels, cruiseline and casinos,providing a wide range ofguest-related productssuch as note pads, keypacks and signage, inaddition to administrativeand marketing-related

printed products.Beaver says customerinterest in eco-friendlyproducts increased aboutthree years ago.

When A.S. Hospitalityresearched certificationoptions, they alsoconsidered SFI as a

possibility. We had theimpression that SFIhandled more products inthe lumber and buildingproducts industries andfelt FSC was a better fit

for us, Beaver said.The certificationprocess tookapproximately six monthswith most of the costcentered on internalresources to ensureprocesses weredocumented according toFSC procedures.

We had to create somecustom programming, payan annual fee and anannual audit fee, B eaversaid. The companyabsorbs the costs andreceives no tax credits forcertification, but Beaversays the costs arem a n a ge a b l e .

A. S. Hospitality offerscustomers the ability toprovide to their customersproducts that containmaterials sourced usingsustainable andenvironment allyresponsible forest practice.

Labeling is specific

and reflects thecharacteristics ofmaterials or fibers,Beaver said.

The company displaysthe FSC logo on customerproducts and can ensureproducts came fromresponsibly managed

AREA COMPANIES

CERTIFIED BY

FSC AND/OR SFI

A. S. Hospitality

Whittington Lumber

Graham Lumber Co.

Classic AmericanHardwoods Inc.

Shoemaker Lumber Co.

Mullican Flooring

International SpecialtiesI n c.


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6 GOING GREEN | S u n day , May 1 6, 2010 com m er c ia l a p peal.co m

EARTH TALK

Tro p i c a l

h a r d wo o d sshould beav o i de d

forests or recycledm at e r i a l s .

Whittington Lumber,with two locations inMemphis in Cordovaand on Jackson Avenue,

has earned accreditationfrom the FSC and the SFIsince the start of 2010.

The entire processtook about a year and ahalf, said companypresident JimWhittington Jr.

He said the companychose to pursue

certification for severalre a s o n s .

We knew architectswould spec out morejobs for churches andschools that require thecertification. Itguarantees wood comesfrom a managed forest.

Each product,Whittington said, has acertification numberand they are required tostore the materialsseparate from all otherstock. They workedthrough a Frenchcompany in Houston,but really had no

direction or education.You basically tell themwhen youre ready. Wewent online to figure outwhat to do, W h i tt i n g t o nsaid. He said theextensive paperworkincluded missionstatements and

p ro c e d u re s .W h i tt i n g t o n

customers can receive atax credit for usingproducts and canaccumulate points

t owa rd LEEDcertification. We get notax credits at all,Whittington said.

Certified material cancost 20 to 30 percenthigher than standardproducts andW h i tt i n g t o n s wood hasto come from within a

400-mile radius.As far as hes aware,

no other local dealer isSFI certified.

Whittington believesthe value and guaranteeare worth the extra coston the front end.

We re on the

forefront of this thing.Eco-certification, as

these processes havebeen called, aims toprotect resourcesthrough accountability.For organizations likeFSC and SFI, thechallenge remains ingarnering increasedsupport from companiesthat are also guardingtheir bottom line.

For more information onthe Forest StewardshipCouncil, go tofsc.org. TheSustainable ForestryInitiative is atsfiprogram .org.

Dear Earth Talk:Which woods are OK topurchase, and which arenot, in the interest ofpreserving forests and notharming those whodepend upon them?

Deforestation continuesto be one of the worlds

biggest environmentalproblems, especially infast-developing regionslike South America,Southeast Asia and Africa.Cutting down largenumbers of trees erodesland and silts waterways,displaces native people and

wildlife, and releases tonsof carbon dioxide (which isstored in living wood fiber)into the atmosphere,contributing to globalwa r m i n g.

Of course, woodproducts are essential tomodern life. T h at s why
http://fsc.org/http://fsc.org/http://sfiprogram.org/http://sfiprogram.org/http://sfiprogram.org/http://fsc.org/


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protecting sources of wood has

become a leading concern amongnot just environmentalists buteveryone else as well.

In response to the problemswrought by increasingdeforestation, some forward-thinking wood productsprofessionals teamed up withenvironmentalists, native peoplesadvocates, community forestrygroups and responsible corporationsto form the nonprofit ForestStewardship Council in 1993.Previous attempts to stem the tide ofunchecked logging were having littleeffect, so the council vowed to usethe power of market forces to createchange for the better.

The council promotes responsible

management of forests by certifyingforestry operations around the globeand promoting its certificationsystem at every step of the woodproducts distribution chain.Whether youre shopping forwooden furniture, building materialsor other items, one easy way to tell ifthe wood you are considering buying

was harvested from sustainable

sources is to look for the ForestStewardship Council label on it or itspackaging. If you dont see theg ro u p s logo, you should inquire asto where the wood came from andwhether or not it was harvestedsust ainably.

The nonprofit Natural ResourcesDefense Council warns consumersto avoid purchasing some tropicalhardwoods unless they can beassured that it came fromsustainable forestry operations.Many of these woods includingBig Leaf Mahogany, Spanish Cedar,Caribbean Pine, Ipe, Rosewood,

Teak, Ramin, Merbau, AfricanMahogany, and Okoume a redifficult to manage sustainably as

they regenerate poorly after logging.Even better than purchasingsustainably harvested new wood isto seek out reclaimed or salvagedwood, as it precludes the need forlogging altogether.

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

The nonprofitFo r es tStew ard s h i pCouncil wasformed in 1993to fight against

d efo res t a t i o n .Giles Douglas,courtesy Flickr
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Onshor ing grows as trend to

counter business outsourcingBy Carolyn SaidSan Francisco Chronicle

SAN FRANCISCO San Franciscos Green

Toys makes all its toddlertea sets, building blocks

and toy trucks out of plas-tic recycled from milk jugs.It uses minimal packaging just simple cardboardwith no twist ties, shrinkwrap or plastic bubbles.

But its biggest g re e n feature lies behind thescenes. Unlike most toymakers, the small firm

carries out all its oper-ations domestically.

Everything we dofrom recycling throughmanufacturing, assemblyand warehousing is inCalifornia, 99 percent inthe Bay Area, said co-founder and president

Robert von Goeben.Its reverse globaliza-tion. Keeping the supplychain local is part of anew trend called on-shoring, a push backagainst the offshoringand outsourcing that hassent jobs and manufactur-

ing overseas, and gobbledup fossil fuels.You cant be green if

yo u re shipping from Chi-na, von Goeben said.

The local flavor hasother advantages, too. Hecan hop over from thecompanys small San

Francisco office to theplastics factory in San Le-andro, the assembly plantin San Carlos or the ware-house in Hayward. Thefour-person firm contractsout for all those servicesto other companies. Theactual recycling turn-


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ing milk jugs into plasticpellets happens at acontract company in LosAngeles, the only stepnot in the Bay Area.

Last Christmas, whenone customer sold out ofGreen Toys products inearly December and or-dered more ASAP, the

company was able toramp up and churn outthe toys in just eightdays. Overseas shippingwould have added weeksto the turn-around time.

Green Toys has beenable to cut its lead timesignificantly by produc-ing here, so thats a

strategic advantage,said Danny Grossman,CEO and founder of SanFra n c i s c o s Wild Planet

Toys. Grossman has act-ed as a mentor to vonGoeben, who started histoy career as an inventorand sold a couple of

ideas to Wild Planet.When von Goeben andfellow University ofSouthern California alumLaurie Hyman startedGreen Toys in 2007, Ithought wed have aclubby little niche, hesaid. Its first sales were

to mom-and-pop toystores. But soon it start-ed selling to upscale re-tailers like Pottery BarnKids, Gap Kids, WholeFoods and Garnet Hill.Its gotten lots of mediaattention, from Oprahmagazine to the To d ay s h ow.

The two partners boot-strapped their startupwith $200,000 of theirown money and haventtaken any outside financ-ing. Sales have grown 70percent annually sincethe founding, and arenow under $5 million.Green Toys has eked out

a profit from the begin-ning, although most ofthe money gets plowedback into the company.

Green Toys tapped in-to the next wave of con-sumer consciousnessabout environment-friendly products.

Parents are treatingtoys like they treat food they want to knowwhat the materials areand where they comef ro m , von Goeben said.

Still, its likely to staysmall. It has just 20 dif-ferent products and

doesnt have the re-sources to grow tooq u i c k l y.

Its ahead of its timein terms of mass market,but its very well re-ceived in the appropriatemarket niches, Gro s s -man said.

At The Ark, a small

Bay Area chain of toystores that has carriedGreen Toys p ro d u c t ssince the companys in-ception, owner GeraldJohnson said the toysenvironmental focus isthe icing on the cakefor parents, but at core, atoy has to have good

play value; otherwise thechild wont want it and itwo n t sell.

Marianne Szymanski,president of Toy Tips, anindependent researchgroup, said she gives theproduct line a thumbs-up.

A lot of toy compa-nies say theyre green,but this is one of the trueones, she said. Theproducts are durable,they can be washed eas-ily. Weve had them inthe sandbox and theyhold up well.

You cant be green if youre shipping from China.

ROBERT VON GOEBEN,co-founder and president of Green Toys


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10 GOING GREEN | S u n d ay, May 1 6, 2010 com m er c ia l a p peal.co m

By Emily Main/SimpleSteps.org

SPRING IS HERE AND WITH IT comes the traditional bout of

spring cleaning, but what do you know about avoiding toxic cleaning

chemicals or handling the hazards in dust?

Test your cleaning credentials with our quiz.

Spring cleaning without riskAvoid hazards from chemicals, dust

Q U EST I O N S

1. True or false: Spring cleaning is oneway to boost your energy efficiency.

A. TrueB. False

2. Which room in your homeharbors the most bacteria?

A. BathroomB. KitchenC. Your sons bedroom

3. Whats the most reliable label ona cleaning product?

A. Environmentally friendlyB. BiodegradableC. Green Seal CertifiedD. Kills germs

4. What is one of the mostunderutilized cleaning tools in thekitchen?

A. Baking sodaB. Plain waterC. Your freezer

5. True or False: Dry cleaning your

winter woolens prior to spring storageis the best way to keep moths fromattacking them.

A. TrueB. False

6. Researchers have detectedeverything from flame retardantchemicals to phthalates to outdoorpesticides in household dust. Whatsthe best way to get rid of that dust?

A. VacuumingB. Buying an air purifierC. Throwing out all your dust

collectors and learning to live like aminimalist

7.Whats the best way to dispose ofconventional and potentially harmful

cleaning products?A. Use them upB. Pour them down the drainC. Throw them in the trash, bottle

and allD. Take them to your local

household hazardous waste site
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The Commercial Appeal Sun d ay, May 1 6, 2010 | GOING GREEN 11

hydrogen peroxide and let it dry. Thiscombo has been found by food safetyscientists to kill a variety of foodbornebacteria, including E. coli and salmonella.

3. C.Green Seal is an independentagency that has the most stringent

requirements for the environmentaland health impacts ofcleaning productsand is considered thebest available measurefor truly green cleaningproducts. The termenvironment ally

friendly isnt definedby any independent

agencies and istherefore meaningless,and although theFederal TradeCommission hasstated that anything

labeled biodegradableshould degrade whenexposed to air, moistureor microorganisms,products that are

biodegradable cansometimes degrade into

even more harmful ortoxic byproducts. Kills

ge r m s does mean that theproduct contains EPA-approved

antimicrobial ingredients, but thoseingredients could include triclosan, achemical found to disrupt hormones inanimals and which interacts withchlorine in tap water to form chloroform.

4. C. In your kitchen, spring cleaningprobably involves more than justscrubbing your cabinets and vacuumingdust from your refrigerator coils. It also

1. A. You may feel like the mainpurpose of spring cleaning is to clean outall that grime thats been accumulatingover the course of the long, dark winter.

But its also a good opportunity to shavesome pennies off your utility bills. Dustcollects on your refrigerator coils, whichlowers its efficiency, and dryer lint canbuild up inside your dryer, increasingdrying times and serving as apotential source of fires.Overhead light fixtures thathave accumulated dustmay make your lights

seem dimmer. Keepingelectrical equipmentclean allows it to operatemore efficiently, andcauses you fewerheadaches down thero a d .

2. B.Those crustydishes and smelly gymshorts piling up underyour kids bed may infact make his room thegermiest in yourhouse, but in mostcases, its the kitchen.But rather than utilizingharmful antibacterialchemicals, which aretechnically registered as pesticides

by the Environmental Protection Agencyand are suspected of contributing toantibiotic resistance by some medicalorganizations, use hydrogen peroxide,white vinegar or ordinary rubbing alcoholto kill bacteria in your sink drain and onyour countertops and cutting boards. Oneeasy trick is to spray surfaces withundiluted vinegar followed by undiluted

A N SW E RS


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may involve purging yourfridge and cabinets ofthose wilted veggies,moldy fruit and last bits ofcereal that have all gonestale. Scientists at the

National Institutes ofHealth estimate that 40percent of all the foodproduced in this country iswasted. Thats equivalentto an astonishing 1,400calories per day n e a rl ythe number of calories theaverage person needs tosurvive on a daily basis.

T h at s where your freezercomes in. Nearly allleftover vegetables, greensand fruit can be frozen andused later in soups orcasseroles with no changein taste. Or make disheswith what you have turnapples into applesauce andleftover herbs into pesto pop those into the fridge,and youve got the makingsof easy meals no TVdinners required. And,yo u ll have less to clean outcome springtime.

5. B. Who doesnt lovethe day when we can finallypack away those winter

woolens for good? Butpacking away dirtysweaters can attract moths,which feed off of body oilsduring the summer. Drycleaning can expose you tothe hazardous chemicalperchloroethylene, andeven so-called o rga n i c

dry cleaners may usepetrochemical solventsthat pose similar healthhazards asperchlorethylene. If youcan find a carbon-dioxide-

based dry cleaner nearby,use it to clean yourwoolens. Otherwise, handwash them in cold waterand line dry them in the

way of dealing withchemical-laden dust.When youre springcleaning, pay particularattention to surfaces youdont normally vacuum:

furniture cushions, thetops of cabinets,bookshelves (books aremarvelous dust traps) andeven your mattress. Notonly will you be cuttingdown on dust mites,yo u ll be lowering yourexposure to chemicalsthat can interfere with

your hormones, triggerasthma attacks, and evencause cancer.

7. D. If theyre accepted,conventional cleaningproducts are best disposedof at a local householdhazardous waste site. Butnot all sites take seeminglybenign products likelaundry detergents or yourleftover toilet bowlcleaner. If thats the case,your next best option isA use them up.Provided you arent havingan allergic or asthmaticreaction to the products,its best to use them up and

then recycle the container.Using small quantities of aconventional product ismuch less hazardous to theenvironment thandumping half a containerdown the drain or sendinga recyclable container to alandfill.

sun before storing them inairtight containers to keepmoths from using them asdinner for the spring andsummer months.

6. A. Air purifierscapture a fair amount ofdust, and ditching all

your beloved knickknacksso dust has no place toland can help. But regularvacuuming, particularlywith a HEPA-filteredvacuum, accompanied byregular damp-mopping ofhard surfaces, is a moreeffective, and practical,


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When no bulb

is the best bulb

By Paul McRandle

SimpleS teps.org

Cheap energy has brought us uglylight ceiling lamps that flatten roomsby casting out every shadow. Yet beforethe invention of the light bulb, peoplefound inventive and aestheticallypleasing ways to bring light into theirhomes and supplement candles andlamps, which were expensive to fuel.Every school child knows that theancient Egyptians used mirrors toreflect sunlight deep into the interior ofthe pyramids. And the white marble,high-arched porticoes and reflectingpools of Moorish architecture scatteredlight deep within buildings. Optics arethe same whether you live in a palace ora bungalow, so as you replace your nextburnt-out bulb, consider the following

a l t e r n at i ve s :

Pa i n t

A fresh coat of a soft white interiorpaint will not only renew the look ofyour interior but will help bounce lightfurther into your home. The glossier,the shinier the paint the more light it

will reflect, says David Bergman,founder of David Bergman Architectsand Fire & Water, a lighting andfurniture design firm. A completely flatpaint is easier to put on the wall, but ifyou put at least a bit of a sheen l i kean eggshell finish that will help abit . And you dont need to avoid color,but Bergman recommends using deeper

colors as an accent surface, for exampleon a single wall or column after all,t h e re s no law that says every wall in aroom must be the same color.

Mirrors

Living in a dimly lit New Yorkapartment for years, the only sunlight

J u p i t e r i m a ges

Creative use of paint, mirrorscan help bring light into yourhome without electricity
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14 GOING GREEN | S u n d ay , May 1 6, 2010 com m er c ia l a p peal.co m

that actually made itinside was what reflectedoff of my neighborswindows. However whenthe sun set the resultscould be striking as fiery

reds filled the space.Well-placed mirrors cantake advantage of the sunat different points on itsdaily path, bouncingdawn light into dimrooms or scatteringafternoon light fromskylights through a livingroom. Its worthexperimenting with alightweight mirror or twoto see where they workbest before you buy more.For aesthetic reasons,Bergman recommendsavoiding large mirroredspaces but thinks framedmirrors can be beautiful.

Task lightingUse of multiple

sources of light is bigbecause it allows you toput light where you needit , Bergman says. And itmakes for a much morepleasing room a singlesource of light makes theroom very dull in mostcases. In many cases adesk lamp or floor lampwith a lower wattage bulbwill do the job as well as ifnot better than overheadlighting with high wattagebulbs. For a study, kitchen

and garage workspacesits more important forthe task at hand to beilluminated properly thanfor the entire room to beflooded with light. Often

a compact fluorescent willserve well for thispurpose. However,Bergman points out thatlighting controls are

Indirect lightCompact fluorescent

lights generally lack thefull warmth ofincandescents, but itsinteresting to note thatthey are much morecommonly deployed inhomes in Asia w h e reindirect lighting isstandard than in theUnited States. Bergmansays that he employsindirect or cove lightingabove kitchen cabinets

and has used shelves nearthe top of the living roomwalls because it creates avery pleasing ambientlight. You would use itwith task lighting, hesays, adding that suchlight gives you anothertool and if its dimmable,with a reading lamp, it

can be a more efficientway to light a space.

Although not commonyet in homes, manyoffices use light shelves horizontal surfacesusually above eye levelthat serve to bouncesunlight further into the a

building. They are bestused in tall windowswhere they wont blockviews and exteriorshelves have theadvantage of blockingdirect light during thesame which helps reducesolar gain.

Well-placed mirrors

can take advantage

of the sun atdifferent points,

bouncing dawn

light into dim

rooms or scattering

afternoon light

from skylightsthrough a living

room.

important p a r t i c u l a rl ydimmers, which will helpsave energy. Most CFLs

cant be dimmed so lookfor dimmable on thepackage. And its worthkeeping in mind thataging eyes need morelight for reading tasks, alimit that office lightingspecialists are running upagainst .


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Do just one thingRemove the screen saver off your computer. When those flying toasters are

activated on your screen, the computer is still running on full power. Instead, putyour computer in sleep or s t a n d by mode, so the stroke of a key will wake upyour PC right away. P.S. Make sure your co-workers arent leaving theircomputers on all night. Ask that your company change its policy and have allcomputers shut down at the end of the workday.

Wallpaper wows withglamor, sustainabilityBy Molly Klinefelter

M c C l a t ch y -Tr i b u n e

Green living. Its a new concept filled withoptions for transitioning your lifestyle fromhurting to helping the environment. Fromfurniture to lighting, there are ways to makeyour home eco-friendly from the floor to theceiling. And now you can go green from wall

to wall with chic green wallpaper.These designs take green wallpaper to anew level of glamorous and theyre sus-tainable, too. Some use grasscloth, a wallcovering made from Asian grasses and fibers,while others use a crushed, nonwoven paper,with designs ranging from floral to damaskand coming in a variety of colors. Wallpaperdesigns everywhere are upping the wow fac-tor, adding velvet, sand and glass beads to the

surfaces, and these designs are no exception.Our personal favorites? The Grasses in Green

print, which is hand-printed with water-basedinks ($126 per single roll;ThibautDesign.comor 1-800-223-0704), and the Floral in Creme-on-Creme print, which features large floral pat-terns outlined in crushed velvet ($250 per linealyard; arteforkoroseal.com or 1-866-943-2783).

Blinds, drapes andflooring

Although we usually useblinds to keep light out of ourhomes, its important to

remember to pull them back upwhen the sun is out instead ofreflexively reaching for theswitch. If you have woodflooring or tiles that reflectlight, dont cover them up withcarpets allow sunlight tobounce off the floor up into theroom. For that matter, in darkhalls leave a door open on a

room that gets good sunlight.Some people also use birdbathsor fountains outside of windowsto reflect their rippling lightindoors, though these obviouslyrequire more maintenance andare a matter of taste.

Finally, shadows arent alwaysa bad thing. The human eye isvery capable of distinguishingforms and colors even in lowlight and its not alwaysnecessary to flip a switch as youputter about picking up afterthe kids or retrieving a bookyou want to read in bed.

For more sustainable living tips,go tosimplesteps.org.
http://thibautdesign.com/http://thibautdesign.com/http://arteforkoroseal.com/http://arteforkoroseal.com/http://simplesteps.org/http://simplesteps.org/http://arteforkoroseal.com/http://thibautdesign.com/


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16 GOING GREEN | Sun d ay , May 1 6, 2010 com m er c ia l a p peal.co m

A call to organicPublishing empire heiress carries on family cause

By Sandy Bauers

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Not long ago, Maria Rodale got fedup and decided to speak out. The resultis Organic Manifesto, a feisty, I-cant-take-it-any-more diatribe about the illsof chemical farming.

She shows her radical stripes as early

as Page 4: We are all being poisoned,contaminated, sterilized and eventuallyexterminated by the synthetic chemicalswe have used for the last 100 years togrow our food.

The alternative the imperative is to insist on organically grown food,which she says will cure our bodies andsave the planet.

Ro d a l e s organic passion runs deep.S hes the granddaughter of J.I. Rodale,known as the father of organic gar-dening. Her father followed suit.

In September, at 47, she took overthe Rodale publishing empire. And shesco-chair of the Rodale Institute, a Kutz-town, Pa., nonprofit that in 1981 starteda farm systems trial to compare organic

and conventional farming techniques.She bases a lot of her conclusions onthe institutes research.

The mother of three children, shelives in Bethlehem, Pa., and wakes upmornings in a house that has solar hotwater, solar electric and roof shinglesmade to look like slate but are recycledt i re s .

Ken Lansing, ofWi n d e r mer e

Farms and

Ap i a r i es , setsup his tablewith some of

his freshlypicked organic

s t r aw b er r ies.

Mike BrownThe Commercial

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The Commercial Appeal S u n day , May 1 6, 2010 | GOING GREEN 17

She starts with three cups of coffee.Black. Organic. Preferably sitting qui-e t l y.

Then, look out.When Rodale was a kid, people made

fun of her organic family, and thats OK.

Then came the hippie days, which pro-pelled organic food closer to the main-stream. Except that lately, Rodale says,people are getting confused. They thinkthat organic means vegetarian. Or thatlocal is better than organic.

At its simplest, organicmeans no toxic chemicals wereused. If its livestock, no an-

tibiotics or growth hormones.And now, genetically engi-neered crops often calledGMOs, for genetically modi-fied organisms are prolif-erating, along with the seedcompanies claims that thecrops will save money and pre-vent world hunger.

More than 80 percent of corn, cotton

and soybean acreage in the UnitedStates is growing genetically engineeredcrops. Rodale worries that one day, wellno longer have real food, just GMO food.

In researching the book, which hercompany just published, Rodale metwith farmers from Pennsylvanias Lan-caster County to Iowa.

She loved how they talked about thesmell of good hay and paid close at-tention to nature. But she hated howthey spoke of their chemical dealer astheir most-trusted source of information.

She thinks theyve been tricked by bigbusiness. She calls chemical farming asubprime crisis, unsustainable.

Organic farming, on the other hand,yields higher crops during drought and

wet weather, she says. It creates jobs(because its more labor-intensive). Ituses 30 percent less fossil fuel. It re-plenishes the soil instead of depleting it.Best of all, she says, organic farmingboosts the soils mycorrhizal fungi,

which stores carbon, a greenhouse gas.S hes also angry that organic food is

more expensive and blames the gov-ernment .

Aiming to keep things simple andreadable, Rodale writes inpassionate gushes, but she al-so provides nine pages offine-print footnotes.

She praises U.S. Secretaryof Agriculture Tom Vilsackbecause he dug up the lawnof the agencys D.C. head-quarters and planted an or-ganic garden. But in page af-ter page of zingers, Rodalelambastes the farm bill for fa-voring conventional farmers

and chemical companies for not being

transparent about their products.GMO seed giant Monsanto gets a

multipage drubbing.She says the company has w ro u g h t

dis aster with all its chemicals andlikens the contamination of non-GMOcrops with GMO pollen to rape.

Ro d a l e s lashing of Monsanto does notcompletely jibe with a National ResearchCouncil study released recently t h atfound eco-benefits for GMO crops, includ-ing less use of insecticides and herbicides.

Rodale wants us to know were nothelpless in all this. She thinks we shouldapply the most basic law of the mar-ketplace: Vote with our wallets. What-ever we start demanding and buying,industry will produce.

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