If you keep the environment in mind while shopping, your efforts are making a difference.

The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) recently tracked several environmental issues on behalf of the supermarket industry and found that consumers are changing their purchasing habits to help the environment. These findings should help change the way the industry does business.

The institute, a nonprofit research and education association based in Washington, D.C., has conducted similar surveys for the past 20 years. Its member companies operate nearly 20,000 retail food stores in the United States — from large multi-store chains to smaller independent supermarkets.

According to the survey:

– 30 percent of the surveyed shoppers said they already have refused to buy a product because of environmental concerns. And about one in seven shoppers has gone as far as joining an organized boycott against a particular product or store.

– Roughly 60 percent of the shoppers said they would be more likely to buy a product if the label said that the package was made from recycled materials.

– More than half of the shoppers probably or definitely would change supermarkets if a new store opened nearby that promoted environmentally safe products and practices.

The institute has distributed the results of this survey to retailers and manufacturers across the country in a report called, Trends — Consumer Attitudes and the Supermarket, 1991. Although FMI does not recommend changes based on the report, the industry does take notice.

“Supermarkets rely heavily on this information,” said Karen Brown, FMI’s vice president of communications. “It helps them understand their market, which is, of course, very customer-driven.”

This insight into the environmental concerns of customers will help supermarkets develop new programs and promotions, Brown said. In some cases, retailers will even develop new “house” brands based on these emerging shopping trends, she added.

The survey also revealed that nearly 50 percent of those surveyed have refused to buy products manufactured by companies whose policies they disagree with. Additionally, 74 percent said they recycle aluminum and 64 percent recycle newspapers. Just under half said they recycle glass and plastic.

As this study demonstrates, individuals can make a difference in the marketplace. If you haven’t been an environmental shopper, keep these statistics in mind the next time you head to the grocery store.

(Tip/Stat) Whenever possible, buy products wrapped in little or no excessive packaging.

[tags]earth news, packaging, environmental issues, green business, environmental concerns, shopping,

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Wetlands are to nature what kidneys are to the human body.

By using these natural kidneys as filters, a South Carolina county is processing wastewater in an energy efficient manner while leaving the wetlands unharmed.

In Horry County — South Carolina’s fastest growing county with Myrtle Beach as its hub — a sewage disposal system is dumping 450,000 gallons of wastewater a day into wetlands. And the natural settings are thriving.

“Fifty percent of the county is wetlands, so it became a natural alternative to consider,” said Larry Schwartz, an environmental planner with the Grand Strand Water and Sewer Authority, which handles wastewater treatment for the county. “We’re just using the natural filtering ability of the land to renovate wastewater.”

The wastewater is being distributed evenly across one Carolina Bay, an example of the egg-shaped natural depressions unique to coastal regions of the Southeast. These bays, usually filled with peat and shrubs, act as buffers between the uplands and the region’s fragile black-water rivers — so named because they are dark-colored, slow-moving and hold small amounts of dissolved oxygen.

Currently, only one bay is receiving wastewater. But eventually four bays may be used to treat up to 2.5 million gallons a day as the county grows over the next 20 years, Schwartz said.

A series of boardwalks crisscrosses the bay to support distribution pipes carrying the wastewater. Two-inch holes every 15 to 20 feet allow the water to splash on rocks and disperse evenly across the bay.

The wastewater has been treated to secondary levels before it enters the bay, Schwartz said, meaning 85 percent of all organics and wastes have been removed. To finish cleaning the water using man-made treatment systems, large amounts of energy are required.

“But in this case we’re using energy from the sun,” he said. “That’s the beauty of it — the system is cost-effective and energy-efficient.”

A dozen government agencies at both state and national levels are involved in the project. Two biologists work full time testing the water quality and studying the natural habitat, Schwartz said.

“Our goal is to maintain the value of the natural communities in the bays and manage them so they remain the same — and in the process achieve advanced wastewater treatment,” he said.

The project has generated plenty of interest from other states, including some that hope to construct their own wetlands for similar purposes, said Schwartz, who averages at least one tour a week of the county’s wastewater system.

“It’s a major new way to do things,” he said. “With wetlands, if they are selected and managed properly, there is no reason not to use them.”

(Tip/Stat) Carolina Bays are the only place Venus Fly Traps — the infamous carnivorous plant — can be found in the United States.

Technorati Tags: wetlands, South Carolina, wastewater, wastewater treatment, energy, going green, environmental issues

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Can you make it to the recycling center before using your last unit of oxygen? Do you know what percentage of the world’s energy the United States uses?

A new board game that combines environmental trivia with actual planet-saving activities has hit the store shelves. While playing Earth Alert, participants can learn about recycling, rainforests, conservation, pollution, and the ozone layer. And they can also have fun.

Creators Michael Schiller and Michael Stusser say they developed the game to raise consciousness about the Earth and illustrate ways in which individuals can make a difference.

“Along with fun, we offer solutions,” Stusser said. “The game has an active component which gets players to participate in environmental activities.”

At the beginning of a game, Earth Alert players are given six oxygen units. The goal is to advance to three different recycle centers by answering trivia questions, guessing correct definitions (with false ones being created by opposing players) or deciphering roles that are acted out verbally by other participants. Wrong answers cost one oxygen unit.

For example, here is one trivia question: True or false? Each year the United States generates enough garbage to fill a convoy of trash trucks that would reach all the way to the moon. The answer is false — the convoy would only reach halfway.

The active part of the game occurs at the recycle centers. Cards chosen at the centers require action, such as finding a light in the house that doesn’t need to be on, writing a note to a senator or checking for leaking faucets. These activities are rewarded with another unit of oxygen.

“When people finish playing, we want their homes to be more beneficial to the environment,” Stusser said. “And if they want more oxygen, they have to do something. Ultimately, to make a difference, individuals are going to have to change their own behavior.”

To promote even more action, many of the game cards list phone numbers and addresses so players have the chance to follow up on certain environmental topics.

All items included in Earth Alert are made from recycled materials. The game itself is sealed with small adhesive paper tabs, rather than shrink-wrapped in plastic.

Five percent of the game’s profits go to environmental groups, Stusser said — one percent each to the Rainforest Action Network, the Trust for Public Land, the Earth Island Institute, Greenpeace and Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs).

Earth Alert is now available at stores in 40 states, or through the mail-order catalogs of Greenpeace or the Real Goods Trading Co. For more information, call (206) 324-2362, or write Earth Alert, P.O. Box 20790, Seattle, WA 98102.

(Tip/Stat) The United States consumes 33 percent of all the energy used in the world, more than any other country.

Technorati Tags: earth alert, environmental trivia, planet-saving activities, recycling, rainforests, conservation, pollution, ozone layer, green games

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Plenty of products these days claim to be environmentally friendly, recyclable or biodegradable. And the list of buzzwords for environmental marketing claims continues to grow.

But how many of these claims stretch the truth just to sell more product? By creating a set of regulations, Hubert Humphrey III says he hopes to stop what he calls green-collar crime.

Humphrey, Minnesota’s attorney general, has become a national leader in this quest for consistency and accuracy in the use of environmental claims. He currently heads a task force to address the situation with 10 other state attorneys general.

On behalf of all states, this task force prepared Green Report II, a 50-page list of recommendations on green marketing. The report has been submitted to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for consideration and distributed to the corporate world, as well.

“Green Report II goes a long way toward establishing guidelines for marketers,” Humphrey said. “Many companies are trying to do the right thing, but we need to keep the green revolution on the right course by establishing standards and enforcing them at both state and national levels.”

The FTC held hearings on the subject in July. And Humphrey has testified before a Senate subcommittee regarding a bill that calls for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to get involved in green marketing.

“Both the FTC and the EPA have roles to play,” Humphrey said. “The FTC should monitor the day-to-day activities to prevent green-collar fraud, while the EPA has the expertise to define long-term standards. We have a unique situation where consumer protection is merging with environmental protection.”

But the consumer has a role to play as well, he added.

“As we walk down the supermarket aisles, our choices are affecting the environment,” Humphrey said. “And those choices need to be driven by more than just price and quality. That’s why I want to see more accurate information presented to the public.”

However, government control isn’t the consumer’s only hope to achieve more accurate and consistent product claims. Humphrey said he is optimistic about the industry’s own self-regulation efforts. Certification programs like Green Seal and Green Cross, which designate products that are beneficial to the environment, also will help the effort, he noted.

“Certification programs can be very valuable in developing an atmosphere of trust,” he said. “These programs should require producers to maximize efforts, where the FTC and EPA will establish minimum standards.”

If Humphrey achieves his goals, the old warning “buyer beware” no longer will be a consumer’s only source of protection from false environmental claims.

(Tip/Stat) Shoppers make an average 2.3 trips to the grocery store every week. Eliminating one of those trips would save time and energy.

Technorati Tags: green business, consumer protection, environmental protection, environmental marketing claims, environmental marketing, green marketing, environmental fraud

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It’s no secret — America’s disposable society has created a landfill crisis. Landfills around the country are approaching capacity, and new sites are difficult to approve.

Portland, Ore., however, is on the right track with an innovative solution. The city has created the nation’s largest composting facility for municipal solid waste.

In April 1991, a unique public/private partnership was struck between the Metropolitan Service District (METRO), a regional waste-management agency serving the metropolitan Portland area, and Riedel Environmental Technologies, an international environmental services company. METRO handles the actual composting process, while Riedel markets the finished product.

Several communities around the country have started composting programs for yard debris and sewage sludge, but only a handful process everyday household garbage.

“It’s the first municipal solid waste composting program of this size,” said Bob Martin, METRO’s director of solid waste. “We can handle 185,000 tons of garbage per year.”

The system currently can handle about 15 percent of Portland’s trash output. Future expansion is dependent on Riedel’s ability to find more customers for the compost, he said.

That, however, shouldn’t be a problem. Riedel already has sold more than three years worth of compost in advance, Martin said. And these sales occurred under contract terms stating the firm is not allowed to compete with METRO’s other compost products — yard waste and sewage sludge — within a 35-mile radius of the city.

One of the keys to marketing the compost is its quality. If it contains too many impurities — inorganic materials such as glass, plastic and heavy metals — it has limited applications.

“That’s why we’re doing a lot of the separation at the front of the system — before we try to compost the organic content of the waste stream,” Martin said.

A system of conveyors moves the trash through the facility. Employees then sort out the inorganic matter, leaving the remaining material to be dropped into a huge composting vat.

Even though municipal composting is a promising alternative to more landfills, households and businesses still need to reduce their demands on municipal garbage systems, Martin said.

“The key for most municipalities is to pass the real cost of disposal on to the people,” he said. “It costs $68 per ton to drop waste at our facility. At that price, a lot of commercial establishments will find better things to do with certain kinds of materials than just throw them away. Once you’ve done that, you’ve created a large incentive for people to recycle and avoid creating waste in the first place.”

(Tip/Stat) The Portland composting facility has created 65 new jobs.

Technorati Tags: recycling, landfills, environmental issues, composting, waste reduction

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The question of cutting down or preserving old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest has been a controversial issue for years. Now a specific tree in the forest — previously thought of as economically useless — is adding fuel to the already heated debate.

Bark and needles from the Pacific yew tree contain the drug taxol, which has achieved remarkable results in fighting advanced cases of ovarian and breast cancer. These cancers are responsible for more than 50,000 U.S. deaths each year.

Unfortunately, the yew tree grows sparsely in the forest. And an estimated six 100-year-old trees are needed to treat one patient for a year because very small concentrations of taxol are found in the yew.

However, ESCAgenetics Corp. recently announced it has successfully produced taxol in the laboratory through tissue culture technology. In this process, cells from the roots, needles and stems of the yew tree are isolated and multiplied using a fermentation process that stimulates the cells to produce large quantities of taxol.

“After nine months of effort, we derived the technology to produce taxol — and we’re now improving on it,” said Walter Goldstein, vice president of research and development at ESCAgenetics. “The company has a history of producing many products through similar processes.”

When the San Carlos, Calif.-based firm heard about taxol, Goldstein said he attended a meeting on the subject in Washington, D.C., then started a development program with a group of top-notch scientists. A series of breakthroughs followed.

And best of all, the scientists knew that very little plant material would be needed in the process.

“Because the supply of the drug is so scarce, we wanted to demonstrate that we could accomplish this without affecting the yew,” Goldstein said. “We don’t have to go back to the forest — that’s the beauty of tissue culture technology.”

The company plans to begin commercial production of taxol within two years. At that point, the Federal Drug Administration will need to review the situation, he said.

But even with a lengthy timetable and plenty of work in front of him, Goldstein is still excited.

“In terms of common good, we have a tremendous opportunity to help both cancer patients and the environment,” he said. “We hope we can be helpful on both counts.”

(Tip/Stat) The National Cancer Institute estimates that 750,000 pounds of bark from the Pacific yew is needed this year to produce enough taxol for its needs.

Technorati Tags: taxol, yew tree, save the trees, earth news, earth news media, environmental news

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A revolutionary watering system that can save up to 60 percent in water costs for park systems and golf courses continues to grow in popularity — just as awareness of water use continues to grow in the American mind.

By using computers to determine just how much water different sections of land need, the system can quickly save millions of gallons of water. And when rains come, no labor is needed to manually turn off the sprinklers.

Although computerized watering systems have been around for several years, interest in them has just recently grown, said John Williams, product manager for Toro’s Irrigation Division. The company now has systems in every state, and their value is being noticed around the world.

“We have seen savings in water bills of up to 60 percent,” he said. “Typical savings are in the range of 35 to 40 percent, which is still significant.”

Toro’s Network 8000 was the first automated system to use agronomic principles in determining watering needs, he said. Similar products by other manufacturers are now on the market, as well.

By monitoring the environment, the Network 8000 can pinpoint water needs. Its computer calculates an evapo-transpiration value (E.T.) based on information it receives from a weather station. This E.T. value takes into account evaporation from the soil and the amount of moisture given off, or transpired, by plants.

Several different factors are figured into this E.T. value every day, Williams said, including humidity, wind speed, temperature and solar radiation. Additionally, the soil type, compaction and slope of the land for each sprinkler grouping are added in before the computer determines final watering needs. Rainfall is automatically added to the calculation.

The city of Denver, Colo., is the largest municipality currently using Toro’s Network 8000, said Dorothy Borland, senior water conservation analyst. And the savings in one year alone has been impressive.

The city placed nine of its parks on the system last summer. Compared to a base period from the three previous summers, the new system saved about 30 percent on water usage, she said, or a whopping 30 million gallons of water.

This spring alone, by shutting down the system during a rainy 17-day stretch, the city saved another 19 million gallons. Before the new system was installed, park superintendents had to decide whether to expend the eight hours of manpower needed to turn off all the sprinkler systems manually, she said. And a day or two later, without more rain, the process would have to be repeated.

Now, a flick of a switch accomplishes the same thing.

“From a public relations standpoint, it’s been great,” Borland said of the new system. “People just hate to see sprinklers going during a rain storm.”

Nine more city parks went on the system this summer, she said, bringing a total of 4,000 acres onto the Network 8000. And three of the city’s golf courses now use the system. Eventually, plans are to have the entire park system computerized.

Watering parks and golf courses may seem a simple process, but when technological advances are added, the dynamics grow. And when combined with water-saving practices at home, that means a lot more water for everyone in the future.

(Tip/Stat) Water your lawn during the mornings or evenings to reduce evaporation loss.

Technorati Tags: earth news, water saving practices, environmental awareness, earth news media, environmental blog, eco-news, irrigation, global warming

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Salmon meat is enjoyed by millions of people around the world. And now a natural by-product of the fish is becoming a big hit. Anyone need a fishskin wallet?

By taking salmon skins ordinarily dumped on the ocean floor and turning them into striking leather products, an Alaska company is both helping the environment and turning a profit.

Although the art of tanning fishskins has been practiced by the state’s natives for centuries, a handful of Alaskan entrepreneurs have revived and refined the ancient process. It’s fashion gone environmental.

The Juneau-based Alaskins Leather Co. expects to use more than 700,000 fishskins in its products in 1991. That’s more than 150,000 pounds of the previously unwanted material.

Fishskins cause disposal problems for the fishing and canning industry. Typically, the skins are mulched and dumped onto the ocean floor, said Jerry Garner, president of Alaskins.

Unfortunately, the skins are 50 percent pure protein, composed mostly of scales. This protein does not break down, he said, and ends up on the ocean floor, smothering whatever it lands upon.

“We are allowing for complete utilization of the species,” Garner said. “And we’re proud of that.”

An added benefit for Alaskins is its clean tanning process. Because most of the chemicals used in the tanning are absorbed into the fish skin and only small amounts are used, Garner said their tanning by-products are no more toxic than normal household cleaners.

Four partners started the company in 1987 by tinkering with a tanning process using plastic trash cans and wooden paddles. After 18 months of effort, they created a viable commercial-scale tanning process for fishskins.

They produced samples and discovered they would sell at a local trade convention. The first official batch of products sold out at a Juneau craft show during Christmas, 1987.

By the end of 1988, Alaskins products were in more than 100 Alaska stores, including every J.C. Penney outlet in the state. Sales have doubled every year, Garner said, and 1991 figures are projected to top $900,000.

While the products are only scattered across the lower 48 states, he said the company is contacting national retail chains and looking into export opportunities. Alaskins now produces 26 different items from three fish species — salmon, halibut and sea bass.

Products include wallets, checkbook covers, boots, jewelry and business-card holders. Former President Gerald Ford uses a set of salmon-skin golf club covers, given to him last year by the governor of Alaska. And Alaskins fish leather was used for costumes in Columbia Pictures’ Return to the Blue Lagoon.

Garner couldn’t be happier about his firm’s jump into the green side of the fashion world.

“We’ve had very good success with the product,” he said. “The acceptance for it has been tremendous.”

(Tip/Stat) Reduce your junk mail by writing: Mail Preference Service, Direct Mail Marketing Association, P.O. Box 3861, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163-3861. Or call (212) 689-4977.

Technorati Tags: fishskins, eco-fashion, Alaska, earth news, earth news media, environmental fashion eco-friendly fashion, green business, green ideas

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Learning about ways to help the environment is one thing. Turning that knowledge into action is another thing altogether.

David Gershon understands this and has developed a plan to move people on to this next step by turning their awareness into action.

Gershon’s Global Action Plan for the Earth (GAP) involves a six-month program to bring households into environmental balance. The plan also entails forming eco-teams among groups of 10 or 12 neighbors, friends or family members to work together in completing the program.

“Earth Day woke everyone up,” said Gershon. “But questions arose — ‘Where do I start and does what I do make a difference?’– so I built this program aimed at those questions.”

Gershon has written a workbook outlining various ways households can make a difference. The book is broken into six different sections, each describing a month’s worth of tasks to help the environment.

During the first month, an eco-team looks at reducing their garbage. Month two, homewoners consider water efficiency and delve into changing both plumbing fixtures and water-wasting habits. Other topics include boosting home energy efficiency, improving transportation practices, being an environmental consumer and, during the sixth and final month, empowering others.

During a pilot program, 500 U.S. households went through the program, Gershon said. Another 500 are in the middle of the GAP workbook now, and currently programs are being developed in Australia, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the Soviet Union and Great Britain.

The final piece in GAP’s overall program involves feedback. Results from the actions of all eco-teams will be collected and compiled. To that end, Cray Research, a Minneapolis-based computer company, is building an environmental-feedback data system for GAP.

“With the feedback, we can know that our actions are actually helping,” Gershon said. “And that exposure will empower further action by demonstrating that progress toward global goals is possible — and that it is happening.”

Cray Research also has ordered 5,000 GAP workbooks for its employees. The company is the first major corporation to commit itself to the GAP program, Gershon said.

“Cray Research’s leadership in this area provides an exciting opportunity for us to again set standards for other corporations to follow,” said Rick Magyar, an engineering writer with the firm.

In another effort to spread the word about GAP, Whole Foods Markets, a natural foods supermarket chain based in Austin, Texas, has purchased 10,000 workbooks to distribute through its stores. Still more possibilities for distribution are in the works, Gershon added.

“The program is designed as a tool to move the wheel,” he said. “We want to make it available to all environmentally oriented groups. I see it expanding exponentially over the years.”

GAP is a non-profit organization, funded through grants, donations and sales of its workbooks. For more information, write the Global Action Plan, 57A Krumville Road, Olivebridge, NY, 12491. Or call (914) 657-8081.

(Tip/Stat) Recycled aluminum requires about 90 percent less energy to produce than when using virgin materials.

Technorati Tags: earth news, home energy, energy efficiency, environmental actions, earth news media, earth day, global action plans, eco-friendly, greenhouses, eco-team

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Transforming useless, black rooftops into prosperous, green gardens — that is the goal of Dr. Paul Mankiewicz.

As director of the Gaia Institute, an environmental research group in New York City, he has designed a unique greenhouse which solves the complexities of gardening on rooftops and will provide fresh produce for thousands of residents below.

By using a lightweight soil, a simple steel-frame structure wrapped in plastic, and a unique planting and harvesting system, this new greenhouse could add a new facet to agriculture. And that has the biologist excited.

“If we have a system that can purify the air and lower the amount of traffic needed to ship produce — and have that system in cities where pollution problems are serious — that is certainly a big improvement for society,” he said. “And by having a new center of economic activity right in the cities, it makes for a much greater increase in wealth for those urban areas.”

After seven years of research and development, Mankiewicz has applied for a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to build a prototype greenhouse on a building owned by the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City’s fifth most popular tourist attraction.

Tied to the grant is New York City’s Recycling Division, which will help supply the ton of solid waste the greenhouse will use every day. Food scraps and other waste material will be composted in large bins, Mankiewicz said, then slurried up to the roof where the material will be used in both the soil and the nutrient system.

The greenhouse’s soil is the unique feature that makes the system work. Most soils are too heavy to use on rooftops, he said, and building additional reinforcement is too expensive.

However, he has created a super lightweight soil by using both synthetic and organic materials, including recycled styrofoam. The styrofoam works as filler — the purpose sand and clay serve in most soils.

Feeding the crops involves a series of underground tubes linked to a controller, which delivers precise amounts of water, nutrients, microbes, carbon dioxide and oxygen to maximize plant growth.

Covering the plants will be a lightweight steel frame covered with a thin glazing of plastic. By his calculations, Mankiewicz said the amount of petroleum needed to produce all the plastic used in the greenhouse would get a truckload of produce only 300 miles down the road from California.

For planting and harvesting, a space-saving gantry system will span the garden and roll over the top of the growing space. Workers will be able to work from above, he said, eliminating the need for aisles and increasing crop yields by 30 to 90 percent.

On a larger scale, Mankiewicz envisions rooftop greenhouses eventually adorning the tops of shopping malls. With tens of thousands of square feet available, a shopping mall greenhouse could supply all the produce for an entire community. And by increasing the profits of both store and mall owners, he said the technology could leap ahead, becoming a new green layer of the urban environment.

(Tip/Stat ) Composting can reduce solid waste by more than 15 percent.

Technorati Tags: rooftop greenhouses, environmental protection, pollution, recycling, green houses, environmental issues, earth news, earth news media

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