But not the Green Earth Agri Card Keys made by USFI GreenWorks. It’s made of a durable, but completely biodegradable corn-based (or plant based) plastic, providing the same appearance and performance, but without the chemicals and waste. The product does, however, require industrial composting and not the backyard variety. Printing on the cards employs soy-based inks. The card is meant to be reusable, not to just be thrown away after one use. However, truth be told, millions of hotel card keys never find their way back to the front desk for reprogramming.  According to some in the industry, fewer than fifty percent are returned.  Some key cards get worn out and have to be replaced.

As I write about in ECOpreneuring, green businesses do not want to do less harm to the environment. They want to create products or services and operate in ways that make the world a better place. In much the same way as T.S. Designs re-invented the concept of printing on t-shirts using a completely ecologically safe process, USFI GreenWorks reinvented the form the cards take by creating the cards using plant-based plastics.  To the extend we can, we need to support these companies and push them to continue to innovate.

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Composting is a really green thing to do, right? I’ve always thought so since my Grandfather taught me to do it in the early sixties. Large-scale composting is getting to be quite the rage. The City of San Francisco attracted a great deal of attention with it’s mandatory food scrap recycling program and lots of local wineries are bragging about their use of that compost to fertilize their vineyards.

I just read today about how the Langley Parish Council in England is setting up a village compost and “set an example to small villages as the UK strives to battle climate change.”  Unfortunately, I recently learned that they and San Francisco and the Napa wineries might actually be doing is contributing to climate change.

Climate change science often ends up challenging things we think we know.

Inconvenience

The idea of composting is to provide plenty of moisture and oxygen so that microbes will digest the easily available organic matter and generate a great deal of metabolic heat in the process.  What is left at the end is a sterilized source of more resistant organic matter that can enrich a soil. 

Composting

of wastes is done with very good intentions, but there is the inconvenient truth that even a very well run large-scale compost operation emits some methane.

But if you stop to think about it, as much as you intend to have oxygen available to the whole pile (aerobic conditions), there are definitely going to be micro-sites that are going to lack oxygen (anaerobic conditions) particularly when there is huge oxygen demand during the peak of the process. That is where methane gets made.

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It seems like all I’ve been doing lately is weeding and mulching. It’s taken longer than I wanted, but slowly but surely my garden beds are enjoying a nice layer of straw to help insulate the soil, form a layer that’s harder for weeds to penetrate, and retain moisture. I usually wait until plants are established before mulching, but I’ve recently learned about year-round mulching, which doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.

What is mulch? It’s basically any material (usually organic matter) that is used to cover exposed soil in the garden, and can be used for beds, containers, and even paths. Exposed soil can dry out quickly and be easily eroded by water and wind, so a covering helps keep it moist and healthy. The type of mulch you choose depends on the needs of the area you’ll be mulching, but I recommend staying away from unnatural materials like black plastic and choosing organic materials like straw, hay, decomposing leaves, rice hulls, or even dead & dried out weeds. Organic material will break down slowly and help add humus to the soil, making it richer and healthier for gardening.

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Soil is one of a gardener’s most important resources, and preserving its health and vitality one of our most crucial responsibilities. Nourish the soil sustainably and you’ll be rewarded with healthier plants and bountiful harvests for years to come.

I was reading National Geographic the other day, and came across an article on soil called “Our Good Earth.” The article discusses the problems facing soils all over the planet, and made me realize just how precious healthy soil really is. We’re losing topsoil rapidly as we consume more and more land to house and feed the ballooning human population. It can take nature over a thousand years to produce just one inch of soil, but erosion, compaction, and contamination can wipe it away much faster. This precious resource, the means to sustain and feed us and the entire planet, is often just treated like dirt. It’s time that changed. And it can start in your very own backyard.

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Some people feel that advertising is garbage. London based Curb advertises with garbage. And sea water. And snow.

Calling themselves “The Natural Media Company,” Curb create advertising based on natural elements, the most recent being for the London Aquarium utilizing “sea tagging,” which is using sea water and a stencil to create temporary ads on the sidewalk. Sea water evaporates more slowly then water, but being a completely natural substance, no permit is needed to do it.

Another water based innovation is what they call H2Show, where a waterfall is somehow able to be manipulated to display words, logos, and images, and even accept text messages to display different words.

Crop carving, once the province of aliens and pranksters, is now being put to use in  a smart way, as in their Shredded Wheat logo carved out of, yes, a wheat field.

In the clearest example of green marketing I’ve heard of,

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One of the first steps to starting an organic garden should be to begin a compost pile. Composting will break down organic matter into nutrient-rich material that builds soil and nourishes plants. And just like anyone can garden, no matter their situation, there are composting possibilities for everyone! Read on to learn how to close the loop and start composting…

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The weather in Atlanta felt like Spring this weekend, which got me thinking about our Spring garden and, of course, our compost bin. Composting is a fabulous, cheap source of fertile soil. On top of that, keeping a compost bin prevents your food scraps from heading to the landfill where they break down and produce methane, a more powerful greenhouse gas than CO2.

While some communities offer curbside composting, most do not. Luckily, it’s really easy to get your own bin going! Whether you’re living in a house or an apartment, there are great composting solutions out there. Here’s a roundup of some options, so you can have your compost ready in time to get that Spring garden going!

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Happy trash can makes police angry. Police arrest happy trash can. Twice.

These photos are from a Greenpeace campaign against plans to build a waste incineration plant was held in Zelenograd, Russia. The campaign, in addition to costumed antics, has collected around 90,000 signatures in opposition to the plan.

But the real story is these photos, just now starting to make their rounds online. The police first try to fit the man in the can into a police car, then next time they try to shove him in a bus. I’d cry police brutality, but first I’ll have to stop laughing.

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Okay, we probably won’t often claim that burning anything is sustainable as the CO2 wafts into the atmosphere. However, some firelogs present a greener way to warm up a room while creating that sexy atmosphere that only fire can offer.

We checked out some firelogs to see what makes up these bad boys.

What’s in a name? The Java-Log contains recycled and spent coffee grounds and all-natural vegetable wax. Historically, fire log makers used wax derived from petroleum - paraffin wax.  Many firelog makers have gotten with the program and switched off the petroleum base.

We like the industrious thinking to use coffee grounds for create this log instead of using the grounds for compost (or yikes) the dreaded landfill. Better yet, the coffee Java-Log grounds are post-industrial (not post-consumer: e.g. coffee shops) that come from companies that manufacture coffee flavored beverages, ice creams, syrups, etc.

The Pine Mountain log comes from more traditional recycled sawdust and 100 percent natural vegetable wax which, although isn’t as creative as the Java-Log, still cuts the emissions release by up to 80 percent versus natural wood.  About a year-and-a-half ago Duraflame took the smart step to dump their petroleum base wax in favor of a bio-wax. They also use recycled sawdust for their firelogs.

Since we’re not scientists we checked out some of the results by Omni Environmental Services that studied many aspects of the various logs including the fact that dioxin/furan emissions (g/hr) from burning Duraflame firelogs in a fireplace are significantly less than burning Douglas fir cordwood. But what about versus other logs?

Their study of emission rates indicated that the Duraflame Easy Time and Xtra Time products produced about twice as much carbon monoxide as the Conros Northland and Pine Mountain products.  They noted that the Conros Northland (which we could not find in our local stores) product is about half the size of the Duraflame Easy Time and Xtra Time (1.4 kg vs. 2.3 kg), however it produced the same level of CO as the other Conros product, while Pine Mountain eqauled the same size as the Duraflame products.

The study noted that Biowax-fiber firelogs reduce Green House Gas emissions by more than 63 % and 82 % as compared to either natural gas or Liquid Propane Gas burned in dedicated vented gas fireplaces or vented gas firelogs installed in open-hearth fireplaces, respectively.  Biowax-fiber firelogs also emit 22% fewer green house gases than equivalent cordwood fires.

For esthetics, most people like to warm their tootsies in front of a fire. On the health side, these non-oil based firelogs in general released less emissions than burning pure wood, but the amount of metals such as aluminum, barium and copper varied from log to log which can’t be good.  There’s proabaly no winning to buring anything but if we want to sit with a glass of single malt by a fire, we will proabaly take our chances with one of these non petroleum based bad boys.

This year I decided to continue the tradition by asking the writers at Eco Child’s Play to share their green resolutions for 2009.

Here’s what a few of our writers shared:

• Jessica  Gottlieb

I’m only walking the grocery store in 2009. Driving meant that I could pile more in my car that we’d needed to consume, and, of course, I was in the car.  Less stuff will come in or I’ll get stronger. Whole Foods is a half a mile away, and I run marathons so it’s inexcusable that I’d drive there.

• Jamie Ervin and The Polka Dot Family

Our green New Years Resolution is to grow and preserve enough food to carry our family through next winter. Our family also hopes to continue spreading the “green love” through outreach, education and implementation of change, especially in our local schools and among our neighbors.  We hope to continue growing little green people who have a strong social conscious. Most of all, our family resolves to keep living green one step at a time!
Jamie has also written about her New Year’s resolution to make soap!

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VerTerra has made doing the disposable dishes a flip of the wrist — and not into the trash can bound for the landfill. We Heart World has given the VerTerra compostable dishware the thumbs-up approval. We Heart World says:

With Verterra dinnerware, you can:

• Microwave them
• Use them in the oven
• Re-Use them (even though they are billed as a single-use product)
• Use them when guests are over for dinner (they are stylish and help boost your “eco-cred”)
• Help your garden

VerTerra says its product is “100% renewable and compostable plant matter and water.”

Image: VerTerra

Look at this genius kitchen set up by Dutch designer John Arndt via design sprout. It uses the genius inner workings and complex yet simple systems in nature as a beautiful example of how to go about sustainable design. This marvelous piece of furniture was engineered to use the waste from one process to fuel the others. For example, the mini ecosystem design includes

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Her approach is very accessible and not aggressive, the writing style is friendly and inspiring, and the hand-spun illustrations are not only descriptive, but fun.

As I read through this book, I started applying sticky notes to areas I want to not only reference for myself, but share with my fiancee who is starting to become somewhat obsessed with our compost experiment in the back yard. There are like 50 sticky notes already . . .

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The challenge, launched last year, honored its first winner this past June: a plan for a “Comprehensive Design for a Carbon Neutral World: The Challenge of Appalachia,” submitted by John Todd, a research professor at the University of Vermont and founder and president of Oceans Arks International. And just last month, the institute unveiled its Idea Index, which provides details on entries in every area from community and energy to transportation and water. It’s too much to take in all at once, so today, let’s look at some of the innovative ideas in one area alone: food.

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The good thing about the economy sucking cheese right now is that it’s given me some free time to catch up on my reading. I moderate a discussion forum called “The Green Room” and  while catching up on what people are sniping about I came across an interesting thread that included many questions.

The primary question being, What are we really supposed to do to be more green? My contribution to the group was that I believed people wanted to do the right thing but that it was truly unclear to them exactly what is better.

For example, after reading E the Environmental magazine’s recent issue, I felt ultimately that we should all be vegetarians. I’m not a die-hard meat lover but I’ve read enough credible writing that lead me to believe that it’s impossible for the earth to produce enough veggies to do this. Meanwhile, pondering the question, I still eat Slim Jims and summer sausage.

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And as someone who loves gardening, from the toil of clearing a plot and weeding the rows to the belly-filling delight come harvest time, I thought I would share some tips on how you can be a compassionate, caring, careful gardener.

This is particularly important, too, since even small family gardens can become places of profound natural tragedy, places of mass murder and intensive pollution, places of blood, sweat, and tears. Ironically, gardens can often be the least “green” when the plants in them are shining with the deepest, richest shades of green.

And the main reason for these instances of terror and destruction and death? One word: VARMINTS.

Yessir, critters, pests, thieves…call them what you will. They come in many forms, and they seem to come at every moment, nibbling and draining and infesting and infecting and basically ruining everything that you plan to enjoy. Yes’m, the varmints launch a perpetual (seemingly organized and strategic) assault on your goodly little garden…and so appropriate countermeasures surely seem justified.

But, alas, most of these countermeasures employed on any scale are far from careful, far from compassionate, and extremely far from sustainable or natural or eco-friendly. Just go into any garden center or hardware store and look at the panoply of pesticides, sitting there as an ingredient in a witches’ brew with other chemical fertilizers and enhancers. You may start to feel dizzy even before opening one and inhaling the fumes!

So, then, how can you make your garden green in the healthiest, most sustainable and ecologically friendly ways? How can you be a careful gardener and a small-scale steward on your own little plot? How can you save lives even as you nourish your and your family’s (and maybe even your whole neighborhood’s!) lives? Here are just a few ways you can garden green to get a green garden.

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