going green memphis 10-24-10

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2 GOING GREEN | S u nd ay , October 24 , 2010 com me rci a la pp ea l.co m

What’s in this issue ...

On the cover: Gabby Weiss of 2 Chicks and a Broom

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

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

Community Editor: Emily Adams Keplinger, [email protected]

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8

11

13 15

Time for a good green clean

Fall is when you start to batten downthe hatches and prepare for a bit ofhousebound hibernation.

2 Chicks and a Broom

One Midtown company commits tocleaning houses the all natural way

Giving it back

Former rocker goes country; returns toMidtown to share wealth of produce

Conservation

can be fun

Conference looks

at biofuel’s future

17 20Team GreenZone on go

Protecting worldone seed at a time

mailto:[email protected]






The Commercial Appeal S u n d ay , October 24, 2010 | GOING GREEN 3

The Green Page

Pr o g r a m sClean green workshop: On Wednesday,

Deanna Caswell demonstrates how to

make “green” cleaning supplies that areeasier on the environment and the wallet.Participants should bring five 24-oz. spray

bottles and three 3-cup lidded containersto take home their ready-to-use products.Cost is $15 for MBG members, $20 fornonmembers. Class runs from 1-2:30 p.m.

Call 636-4128 to register. See Page 4 for a guide to fall cleaning.

Ev e n t sAutumn hikes: On Oct. 31, meet at the end of

Old Forest Lane, next to the Rainbow Lakeparking lot, for a free guided-1.5 mile hikethrough the Old Forest in Overton Park. Kidswelcome. Questions? Call 278-2396.

Farmers Markets: The last markets of theseason are upon us. These farmers markets arealready closed for the season: Arlington,Covington, Fayette County, Germantown, SouthMemphis and Southaven.

Here’s the schedule for the last day of theother area markets:Agricenter: Oct. 30Collierville: Oct. 26Cooper-Young: Oct. 30Hernand: Oct. 31Memphis Botanic Gardens: Oct. 27Memphis Farmers Market: Oct. 30Millington: Oct. 30

CelebrationGreenUp Memphis: A new

festival, GreenUp Memphis,celebrating ways to make

Memphis both more eco-friendlyand a more attractive place tolive, will take place from 11 a.m.to 3 p.m. on Oct. 30 on theGreen at South Front adjacent tothe Memphis Farmers Market,behind Central Station inDo wn t ow n .

For more information, call576-6000, or send an e-mail tog r e e n u p @ m e m p h i s t n . go v .

Fall Harvest party:GrowMemphis will host a FallHarvest party on Saturday, from1-4 p.m. at the McMertonCommunity Gardens (at thecorner of Merton and McAdoo)in Binghamton.

Enter homemade pickles,jellies, jams and more in thecanning competition. The eventwill also include food, music and

fun as we celebrate anothersuccessful year of growing foodjustice through communitygardening and policy change.Guests are asked to bring a sidedish or dessert to share.

To RSVP, call 725-4990 orsend an e-mail toj o se p h i ne @ m i d s o ut hp ea ce.o r g.

Hikers maysee a Red-

shoulderedHawk as

they passthrough theOld Forestat Overton

Pa r k .

Mike BrownThe Commercial

Appea l



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By Matt Hickman / Mother Nature Network (mnn.com)

s it just me, or is fall just as good a time — or evenbetter — to commit to household cleaning asspring?

I mean, after all, fall is when you start to batten

down the hatches and prepare for a bit of house-bound hibernation, right?It’s the season for preventive cleaning so that

you don’t spend all winter — when you’d rather becurled up in bed or entertaining holiday houseguests— dealing with mundane household odds and ends.

That said, here are a few eco-cleaning tips and tidbitsto consider this fall.

In need of a

weekend

project?Treat your

home to a

thorough,

e c o -f r i e n d l y

tidy-up

session this

fall that will

improve the

indoor air

quality and

energy

ef f i c i e n cy

of yourhome when

winter

a r r i v es .I




The heat is (almost) onBefore you fire up your furnace

and/or fireplace, it’s crucial toensure that everything is in workingorder. This way, you’ll lessen the

chance of a dreaded “oh my god,something’s wrong and I don’t knowhow to fix it” situation in the dead ofwinter and keep your energy costs incheck.

Start with the fireplace if you haveone. Make sure everything is clean andfunctioning. If it has been awhile sinceyour fireplace has gotten a deep cleanand inspection, consider hiring a

professional chimney sweep to cleanthe flue and tackle any repairs. If yourdamper is damaged or nonexistent,install a chimney balloon to keep warmair in and cold air out of your home.

A less daunting task is replacing orcleaning a furnace filter asrecommended by the manufacturer.Before you do, sweep or vacuum thearea around your furnace. Regularcleaning or replacing of a furnacefilter increases efficiency andprevents dirt and allergens fromcirculating around your home. Whileyou’re at it, sweep or vacuum in andaround heat registers to get rid ofaccumulated dust and dander.

Finally, inspect caulk aroundwindows and doors to ensure that

any leaks are nipped in the bud beforewinter hits. Fall is also a good time toventure up to the attic and check onthe condition of the insulation.

The air in thereSince fall cleaning involves

efficiently buttoning up your home

for the winter, you’ll want to makesure that the air inside your home isas clean as possible — obviously, asfall turns to winter you’re going to bedoing a whole lot less windowopening to let fresh air in.

As described above, ensuring thatyour primary heat sources are cleanis one step, but you should alsoclean or replace the filters of any airpurifiers or humidifiers. It wouldn’thurt to introduce a few new air-purifying houseplants to your home,too.

While you clean, take a good look

at your arsenal of cleaning products.Many conventional cleaningremedies contain caustic chemicalsthat can compromise the indoor airquality of your home — ovencleaners, toilet bowl cleaners, anddrain openers are top offenders — soconsider replacing them with plant-based alternatives or inexpensive DIYconcoctions (more on this, below).

Yes t e r d ay ’s T-shirt, today’shandmade draftstopper

Need to make room for all thosebulky winter sweaters you arebringing out of storage? Fall is anexcellent time to root through yourwardrobe for sartorial castaways andfree up closet space.

Since some of your summerclothes and linens may not havesurvived the season — I’m talkingabout frayed beach towels and whiteshirts bearing the stubborn summerstain trifecta of underarm sweat,ketchup/barbecue sauce and grass— you may not want to donate them



6 GOING GREEN | Su n day, October 24 , 2010 com me rci a la pp ea l.co m

or haul them to a consignment store.For items that don’t make the

donation/resale cut, keep themaround as cleaning rags or incorporatethem into craft projects for whenyou’re stuck inside in January.

Nontoxic DIY cleaners:

Now is the thymeFa l l ’s the time to start prepping the

pantry for the holiday baking seasonand for have-the-munchies-but-too-cold-to-leave-the-house kind of days.While you’re fiddling around withfoodstuffs and taking kitchen cabinetinventory, why not experiment withstaples like baking soda, vinegar,and

lemon juice and make your ownnatural cleaning and launderingsolutions? If you’ve never done itbefore, you’ll be surprised at theireffectiveness (not to mention theirmoney-saving appeal).

If DIY cleaners aren’t your proverbialcup of tea and you’re concerned aboutthe presence of back-to-school germs

in your home, try the newly releasedline of Method Antibac antibacterialcleaners, which includes all-purposewipes, bathroom cleaner and kitchencleaner. Like Seventh Generation’sbotanical disinfecting line, Method

Antibac products are “powered” byC l ea n We l l ’s effective, EPA-registeredthyme-based disinfecting technology.

And if you haven’t done so already,purge your home of all antibacterialcleaning and personal care productsthat contain the dastardly chemicaltriclosan.

Not necessarily green,but still a good idea ...Flip mattressesInspect (and clean, if needed) the

guttersVacuum drapes/window

treatments and upholstered furnitureClean the “four C’s”: carpets,

cupboards, chandeliers and(refrigerator) coils

Wipe down outdoor/patiofurniture before storing

Test smoke/carbon monoxidedetectors

Wash the windowsPolish the silverDrain and store your garden

ho s esOrganize your kitchen

Launder all linens and bedding(give cold-water washing a shotand/or line drying outdoors before theweather turns too damp/cold).

Matt Hickman writes about the best ways to go green at home on this blog: www.mnn .com/featured-blogs/greenhome.

Visit the Mother Nature Network on theWorld Wide Web at mnn .com .

Kitchen staples like baking soda,vinegar and lemon juice can beused to make your own naturalcleaning and laundering solutions.




Green fall cleaning:10 tools of the trade

With the fall cleaning season — y es ,fall cleaning season — just around thecorner, consider bolstering your

arsenal of cleaning tools andaccessories with these 10 eco-friendlyoptions that will come in handy duringyour fall cleaning and householdmaintenance tasks.

With an eye toward indoor airquality and preparing your kitchen forthe "busy" season, below you will finda bit of everything.

5. Eco Clean Kitchen CounterTop Cleaner(Orange andRo s e m a r y ) ,A l i ce.co m( $ 3. 9 9 )6. WhiteWizard SpotRemover & AllPu r p o s eCleaner,Gaiam ($8.50)7. Mold ArmorDo - i t-You r s e lfMold Test Kit,

The HomeDepot ($7.97)8. Goodbye Detergent! OriginalSpaghetti Scrub (G e n t l e) ,ChefTools.com ($8.99/2 pack)9. Earthstone Kitchen ScrubS t o n e, Green Depot ($3.95)

10. Stainless Steel Compost Pail,Reuseit.com ($41.95)

1. Full CircleStick 'Em Up

Magnet KitchenTo w e l ,

Re u s e i t .co m( $ 8. 9 5 )

2. Electrolux Ergorapido 2-in-1

Stick & Hand Vacuum, GreenDepot ($119.95)3. eclipse Cleaning SystemBucket by Casabella, TheContainer Store ($12.95)4. Beekman 1802 Honey Barwith Goat's Milk, Beekman 1802Mercantile ($14.75)



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Cleaning seasonThis fall, use natural products in your home

By Suzanne Thompson

Special to Going Green

With the holiday season just aroundthe corner, fall is an ideal time to startpreparing homes for entertaining andout-of-town guests, and the first step isa good deep cleaning.

As you’re getting ready to head into anew season, it’s a good time to de-clutter the closets and get out winterthings and get the kitchen ready for theholidays — like organizing the cabinets,according to Jacquie Janus, office man-ager at 2 Chicks and a Broom.

The change in season is a good time

Brandon Dill/Special to the Commercial Appeal

Gabby Weiss of 2 Chicks and a Broom cleans the fireplace in Bernice Pittman'shome. Many clients of the company view fall cleaning as important as sprucing

up their homes in spring.




to check fire alarms, vacuumout vents and filters, and cleanf i re p l a c e s .

Many of the fall cleaning tasks can be done using eco-friendly solutions.

2 Chicks and a Broom isknown for its use of all naturalcleaning products, and only us-es other products at the re-quest of a customer, who mustprovide the chemicals.

Although some people auto-matically reach for the bleachwhen tackling tough cleaning problems, most jobs can be

done without harsh chemicals.“Bleach kills everything in

its path. It is terrible,” s aidKelly Uhlhorn, who with herhusband, Kip, owns 2 Chicksand a Broom.

“We don’t carry any of it andnot everyone will use it,” shesaid. Her workers are given thechoice of whether they want towork on jobs requiring the useof chemicals.

“I think a lot of green clean-ing is what it does not do —the harmful effects that regularchemicals can cause,” Uhlhorns aid.

People with asthma or otherhealth conditions can be par-

ticularly sensitive to elementscontained in traditional clean-ing products.

Cancer patients are very sen-sitive to chemicals and for thatreason, Uhlhorn developed a“Cleaning for a Reason,” p ro -gram. She offers women whoare undergoing treatment for

Recipes taken from “Real Simple”

V I N EGA R

Coffeem a k e r : Pour equal parts vinegar andwater into the machine’s water chamber, thenswitch on the brew cycle. Halfway through, turn

off the coffeemaker and let the solution sit forabout an hour. Turn it on again to complete thecycle, then run several cycles with clean water.

Wi n d o w s : Mix ¼ cup vinegar, 2 cups water, anda squirt of liquid Castile soap in a spray bottle.Spritz windows and wipe with a sheet ofn ew s p a p e r .

Dishwasher: To disinfect the interior of themachine, pour ½ cup vinegar into the reservoir

and run an empty cycle, says Hunter.LEMON

Countertops: Dip the cut side of a lemon half inbaking soda to tackle countertops; wipe with awet sponge and dry. Don’t use on delicate stone,like marble, or stainless steel (it may discolor).

Cutting boards: To remove tough food stainsfrom light wood and plastic cutting boards, slicea lemon in half, squeeze onto the soiled surface,

rub, and let sit for 20 minutes before rinsing.D is hes: To increase the grease-cutting powerof your dishwashing detergent, add a teaspoonof lemon juice.

BAKING SODA

Garden tools: Dip a moist stiff-bristled brush inwashing soda to scrub trimmers, clippers, andmore. Rinse, then place in a sunny area to dry.(Do n’t use washing soda on aluminum tools.)

Grills and barbecue utensils: To combattough grease stains, dip a moist stiff- bristledbrush in washing soda and scrub away.

Scuffed walls: Erase crayon marks by applyinga baking- soda paste (equal parts baking sodaand water) to white painted walls (baking sodamay dull colored walls). Let dry beforebrushing it off with a clean cloth.




Farmer gives back to Midtown with variety of healthy options

By Angela Knipple

Special to The Commercial Appeal

If you want to know how a rock-and-rollerbecomes a farmer, ask Lori Green, alsoknown as singer Lorette Velvette.

“As a musician, I mostly played inMidtown, and I still do, but we wanted tolive in the country. We started growing vegetables to feed ourselves and help cutdown the bills, but we ended up growing

MEET THE FARMER

Who: Downing Hollow

Fa r m .Where: Co o p e r -Yo u ng

Farmers Market (Saturday).Contact: E- m a i l :

d o w n i n g h o l l o w @ g m a i l .co mWe bs i t e :

d o w n i n g h o l l o w fa r m .co m

Brandon Dill/Special to The Commercial Appeal

Lori Green sells produce and flowers at the Cooper-Young Farmers Market.



12 GOING GREEN | Sun day , October 24 , 2010 com merci a la pp ea l.co m

more than we could eat,” sheex p l a i n s .

Green and her husband, Alex, owna farm in Olive Hill, Tenn., about 20miles east of Savannah, but she comesto Memphis weekly, as much to

maintain contact with people here asto sell her vegetables.As a founding member of the

Cooper-Young Farmers Market,Green has returned to her roots toprovide new options for aneighborhood that still feels likehome.

“I’ve lived in Midtown since I was18. Because I used to live in Cooper-

Young, I wanted to see thecommunity have a market that wouldbe more accessible. It makes acommunity more livable,” she says.

The Olive Hill community madelife on the farm more livable forGreen. Her neighbors are a valuablesource of support and farming k n ow l e d ge .

At the Cooper-Young market,Green is able to return the favor byselling some of the products that herneighbors grow and prepare as ac o l l e c t i ve .

“Their products mainly end up inour CSA (Community SupportedAgriculture) baskets. We’ve beenworking together since 2006, and wedecide what we’ll grow together.

Everything we grow is chemical-free,and we’re able to offer other productslike bread, eggs and canned goods.”

This year, Green offered a spring and summer CSA to 32 people. Forher fall CSA, she serves only abouthalf that number because the volumeproduced drops as the growing season ends.

Caramelized Radish and Goat

Cheese Tart

For the radishes:

1 lb. radishes, roots and greens trimmed2 medium apples, peeled and cored1 tbsp. olive oil1 tbsp. unsalted butter1/2 tsp. saltFor the tart:

1 pie crust, homemade or from refrigerated dough8 oz. soft goat cheese1/2 cup half and half3 eggs3 green onions, green part only sliced thinly

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice theradishes into 1/8-inch thick slices. Cut theapples into wedges and slice into 1/4-inch

thick slices.Heat the oil and butter in a skillet overmedium heat. Once the butter hasmelted, continue cooking for2 minutes or until the butter has turneda dark golden color and smells slightlynutty.

Add the radishes and apples to theskillet and sprinkle with the salt. Cook,stirring frequently, for 12 minutes or until

the radishes are a light gold with darkerspots. The radishes and apples should betender enough to be easily pierced with afork. Remove from heat and set asidewhile you make the tart.

Press the pie crust into a deep piedish. Using a hand or stand mixer, blendthe goat cheese, half and half, and eggsat high speed until light and fluffy. Gentlyfold in the green onions and reservedradishes and apples. Spread the goatcheese mixture into the pie crust. Bakefor 30 minutes or until puffed andgo l d e n .

Allow the tart to rest at roomtemperature for 15 minutes beforeserving.

Source: Angela Knipple



The Commercial Appeal S u nd ay , October 24, 2010 | GOING GREEN 13

Nature lovers

More than 500 attend Shelby Farms event

By Mike Mueller

mueller@commercialappeal .com

Five-year-old Kennedy Nash squealedon the bank as she reeled in a 12-inchcatfish from the large pond near PatriotLake at Shelby Farms.

Though slightly disgusted by thelooks of her first catch, she blew her

slippery whiskered-friend a kiss beforethrowing it back.

“Bye-bye, fishy,” said Kennedy with awave. “I’ll see you soon.”

Kennedy was one of more than 500children and adults who converged onShelby Farms last Sunday afternoon toattend the fourth installment of Con-servation Through Art Family Day.

Conservation Through Art can be fun for all

Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal

Members of Watoto de Afrika performed during the Conservation Through ArtFamily Day on last Sunday afternoon at Shelby Farms. More than 500

youngsters and adults attended.



14 GOING GREEN | S und ay , October 24 , 2010 com me rci a la pp ea l.co m

Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal

Whiskey, an Irish Lab, demonstrates fetching at Conservation Through Art FamilyDay on Sunday at Shelby Farms. The event drew more than 500 children and adults.

Hosted by ArtsMemphis and DucksUnlimited every other year, the freeevent featured family-fun activities, such

as duck-calling lessons, conservationand recreation games with biologists, aLabrador retriever and working-dog demonstration, arts and crafts and,Ke n n e d y ’s favorite, fishing.

Participants were also treated to per-formances by Ballet Memphis, Watotode Afrika and a production of “The UglyDuckling” by Theatre Memphis outside

the park’s Visitor Center.“Not all kids like to hunt, not all kidslike to dance, but there’s something outhere for everybody,” said Susan Schadt,president and CEO of ArtsMemphis.“This is our gift to the city, fromArtsMemphis and Ducks Unlimited andall the other organizations involved.”

Volunteers from those organizations,

including Belz Museum, the Metal Mu-seum and the Tennessee ShakespeareCompany, sat behind tables and taught

participants how to make colorful fishflags, bracelets, and ways to recycle iniambic pentameter, respectively.

Volunteers from Great Outdoors Uni-versity taught aspiring fisherman andwomen to bait their lines, cast theminto the water, and hook the catch-of-the - day.

Jonathan Rich, national director of

gift planning for Ducks Unlimited, saidonce kids are exposed to outdoor ac-tivities, they often like them and wantto do them again, even in today’s digitala ge .

“It gets them away from the Xbox andthat kind of stuff and gets them backoutside,” said Rich.

Baptist Memorial Hospital sponsored




the event, which servedas a kickoff for the thewe ek ’s conservation activ-ities, including a launchparty for Wild Abun-dance, a cookbook chron-

icling stories of theS outh’s hunting clubs,and a dinner at DucksUnlimited headquarters.

Those events weresponsored by Bass ProShops, the presenter forConservation ThroughArt Week 2010.

This past Sunday’s mixof cultural and outdooractivities is a reflection of Conservation ThroughArt, a joint-fundraising initiative betweenArtsMemphis and DucksUnlimited, which wasfounded in 2005. Thoughit may seem like an “un-

likely partnership,”Schadt said the arts andthe outdoors have beentied together for ages.

“When you think abouthow the outdoors andsporting life have beendocumented, it goes allthe way back to cave

p a i n t i n gs ,” she said.After this week’sevents, Schadt said Con-servation Through Artwill have raised $3 mil-lion, which will continueto fund the local artscommunity and habitatc o n s e r vat i o n .

Biomass South exploresalternatives to fossil fuelsBy Jim Coleman

Special to The Commercial Appeal

Assorted interests – all with a stake in the future of biomass technology – took part in a two-day eventthat concluded Oct. 15 in Memphis.

Representatives from farmers’ alliances, conserva-tionists, small businesses and multi-national corpo-rations, were among those in attendance for the

Biomass South 2010 Conference held near the Uni-versity of Memphis.Delivering the keynote speech from the dais in the

Grand Ballroom of the Holiday Inn, Rep. Steve CohenD-Tenn. stressed the importance of finding alterna-tives, like those derived from biomass, for fossil fu-el s .

“We are facing a crisis. We are eating our ownplanet. Al Gore was right,” said Cohen, describing the dire consequences facing the planet due to cli-

mate change.Cohen went on to blame political gridlock in Wash-

ington, D.C., and in particular, a slow-moving Senate,for the lack of progress on the issue and its potentialre m e d i e s .

“The Senate is the biggest problem to progress inthis world … to get 60 votes. Each one of these guys isa power base in themselves. That’s where the rev-olution needs to be.”

The proper role of biomass technology in the boththe local and American economy, as well as whatshould be the industry’s perceived boundaries, werealso discussed.

Amid all the talk by industry players, busy sharing their latest developments, emerging markets and con-cerns, an underlining theme that ran throughout theday was best summed up by Cohen.

“Biomass energy is all about jobs.”



16 GOING GREEN | Su n day, October 24 , 2010 com merci a la pp ea l.co m

Matt Bush/Hattiesburg American

Matthew Hamilton is the envy of the neighborhood inHattiesburg, Miss. Every afternoon, kids gather in his

backyard to play. Hamilton's yard isn't just grass, trees anda few plants — it's a 9-year-old's dream. Dubbed "Treehaus"

by its creator, Hattiesburg architect Spence Kellum,Matthew is the proud owner of a 40-foot treehouse madeout of recycled materials. Kellum built it around four tall

pine trees that secure the structure.

Green with envy Treehouse inspires young, young-at-heart



The Commercial Appeal S u n d ay , October 24 , 2010 | GOING GREEN 17

Ready for actionBy Jonathan Devin

Special to Going Green

In a home, the first step toward go i n g green may be changing out light bulbswith compact fluorescents or weather-stripping underneath doors. In a busi-ness, the first step is asking questions— lots of questions.

Clay Banks, director of economic de-velopment for the Bartlett Area Cham-

ber of Commerce, has fielded more thana few since the chamber kicked off its

Team Green Zone initiative for busi-nesses.

“The timeline question is always num-ber one,” said Banks. “Why is it such afast timeline to get financing?”

Team Green Zone was the idea of Banks and Clayton Poff, owner of En-ergy Cost Reducers. The plan is to getbusinesses in northeastern Shelby

Kyle Kurlick/Special to The Commercial Appeal

The Team Green Zone for Gyrus ACMI includes Clayton Poff (from left), DebraZingale, Bobby Martin and Clay Banks. Gyrus has signed on to recommission its

building and will have its 25-year-old rooftop air-conditioning system replaced.

Team Green Zone helps companies get out of the block



18 GOING GREEN | S und ay , October 24 , 2010 com me rci a la pp ea l.co m

County including Lakeland, Arlington,Bartlett and Cordova to recommissiontheir existing buildings with green im-provements through a special low-in-terest loan program through PathwayLending of Jackson, Tenn.

The project was announced in lateSeptember and participants will have tostart the application process for funding by Nov. 1. The loans should close byearly December.

“We ’re asking for a basic commitmentthat (businesses) want to undergo somegreen initiatives in whatever time framethey want to, but we need to get a one-page questionnaire filled out quickly

and we can take the data and come outwith an action plan that benchmarks thep ro p e r t y, ” said Banks.

Information on the questionnaire in-cludes basic history and function of thebuilding, 12 months’ worth of utilitybills, and a $500 administrative fee for adiagnostic study of the property.

At that point Banks can begin thelengthy process of filing for various taxbreaks and incentives for the business.

“The biggest thing we find out aboutthese companies is that they’re under-going these projects, but they don’tknow how to document it properly,”said Banks. “Later they have to fixthings paper-wise and it takes longerthan if they did it right in the firstplace.”

Naturally, financing is a big concernfor businesses focused on surviving arecession. But, said Poff, one way to dothat is by saving on operating expensesincluding energy intensity consumption.

“There has been so much attention atthe state and federal levels with in-formation going out to business ownerssaying there are massive amounts of

incentives for going green,” said Poff.“TVA has reached out to the businesscommunity. The major barriers hasbeen financing and knowing where tostart .”

But the interest appears to be there.Banks said that five companies havecome forward since the kick-off meeting

and others have shown interest. Ideally,he’d like to have about 10 businesses onboard for the first round of financing.

“We had one company that said wecan’t fit in that timeline, but we want togo ahead and do the diagnostic study,”said Banks. “Nine months down theroad or a year, they may implementtheir first green initiative, but at least

BB&K Companies replaces oldfluorescents with LED bulbs that areguaranteed for five years but can lastas long as 12 years when used on aneight-hour day.



The Commercial Appeal S u n day , October 24 , 2010 | GOING GREEN 19

they’ve got the paperwork started prop-e rl y. ”

But Poff said that even without taxincentives, the return on investment fora recommissioned building is huge.

“Everyone uses the word ‘g re e n ’ but

the goal is reduction of energy use in-tensity in the building,” said Poff. “Te nto 20 recommissioned buildings of de-cent-size companies would make a dra-matic impact in this area.”

Poff referred to a paper by LawrenceBerkeley National Laboratory, part of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, which said that energy reduc-tion makes a greater impact on the

environment than more popular meth-ods of conservation like researching re-newable sources of energy.

“The effort and incentives and moneythat are being spent on renewables,which still needs to happen, are on thefront burner,” said Poff. “In the state of this economy, it is wiser to recommis-sion buildings. If you look at the de-partment of energy’s strategic sustain-ability performance plan, that’s exactlywhere they’re going. That’s the mostcost-effective and has the greatest im-pact on the environment as well.”

And in a bad economy, it’s easier toask a business to cut its energy con-sumption through general improve-ments than to install expensive solar

“Everyone uses the word ‘green’ but the goal is reduction of

energy use intensity in the building. Ten to 20 recommissioned

buildings of decent-size companies would make a dramatic impact

in this area.”

CLAYTON POFF, Owner of Energy Cost Reducers

panels, for example.Jerry Bechel, president of BB&K

Companies, which installs commercialLED lighting, attended the kickoff meet-ing and said that he and several othercompanies that hope to contract with

loan participants are just waiting for theprogram to create the kind of excite-ment that first-time home buyer creditsand Cash for Clunkers caused over thelast couple years.

“Especially when you tell people youcan give them a tax credit of 40 or 50cents per square foot, the big compa-nies eat these tax credits up,” s aidBechel. “We can lease the products and

the products pay for themselves in sav-ings. After the second payment, you getyour money back.”

BB&K replaces old fluorescent bal-lasts and bulbs with LEDs.

“Doctors love it because you can seecolors and skin tones better,” s aidB echel.

Banks said the five businesses alreadyon board are mostly manufacturers.Whether or not he reaches his goal of 10 businesses, the program is not overon Nov. 1.

“By all means that’s not the end of it ,” said Banks. “There will be anotherphase after that, but we need to find outwho’s interested in taking advantage of the loan program.”



20 GOING GREEN | S u n day, October 24, 2010 com me rci a la pp ea l.co m

Ban k i n g on tomorrow

Former Memphian Cary Fowler takes the lead on

protecting crop diversity and

the world’s food supply

By Toby Sells

sells@commercialappeal .com

Dr. Cary Fowler is helping protect the future of food oneseed at a time.

The Memphis native nowtravels the globe spreading themessage of the importance of crop diversity either while

visiting seed banks in developing countries or working at theSvalbard Global Seed Vault abovethe Arctic Circle in Norway.

His organization, the GlobalCrop Diversity Trust, helpedfound and build the seed vaultmore than two years ago. Now,more than half a million unique

Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal

Dr. Cary Fowler created the Svalbard Global Seed Vault to protect the geneticdiversity of the world’s future food supply. The vault holds one-third of theworld’s seed varieties and is located in a remote, arctic location in Norway.




seed samples are stored in the remote“d o o m s d ay ” vault, which makes it themost diverse collection of crop seedsever amassed.

The vault has been the focus of thenumerous news stories, with features on

“60 Minutes” and an upcoming piece inNational Geographic. Fowler has givenpersonal tours of the facility toluminaries like Jimmy Carter, MadeleineAlbright and Ted Turner.

Fowler was recently given theprestigious Heinz Award for his work asit focused on environmental issues. Hewas also given the Russian Academy of S ciences’ Vavilov Medal for his work in

a g r i c u l t u re .He now lives in Rome, Italy, but was

at home this past week for a visit to hisfamily’s home near Brighton.

Q: What do you tell people you do?A: My father used to ask me the same

question. The job I have is to try toconserve crop diversity. Crop diversity isa term for all the different varieties thatwe have of our agricultural crops.

Q: Why is that important?A: They contain all the traits that all

the plant breeders have used in the pastand will need in the future. We need tosave the diversity because we need cropsthat are adaptive to new conditions. Newconditions happen every planting seasonand we’re losing a lot of that diversity.

(Right now) there are more than200,000 kinds of wheat. There are inbetween 200,000 and 400,000 kinds of different varieties of rice and 40,000different varieties of beans.

We need all that diversity because wedon’t know what’s coming in the future.(Diversity) is cheap to conserve and if just a fraction of 1 percent turns out to

be useful, then it will pay for the entireexercise for all crops forever.

Q: What is the Global DiversityTr u s t ?

A: The organization is established asan endowment fund. It’s just like afoundation or an endowment RhodesCollege would have but our endowmentfund is for wheat and potatoes.

Q: What else does the organizationdo besides run the seed vault?

A: We ’re working on two differentinformation systems that will be like aGoogle.com for plant breeders. Onesystem is for seed bank managers sothey can manage their facilities. Theother is a kind of an umbrella systemthat will tie together all the seed banksin the world. We’re translating all of (theinformation) and getting it connected sothat a breeder can do a common search

of all the seed banks.Q: Is the idea of climate change theonly reason we need crop biodiversity?

A: It’s not but, in the future, (climatechange) will be the biggest thing thatagriculture will face. There may bedebates among your readership whetheror not climate change exists. I don’t hearplant breeders about “if” (it exists).

DR. CARY FOWLER

Or ga n i z a t i o n : Global Crop DiversityTr u s t

Address: c/o FAO

Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153

Rome, ItalyOnline: c r o p t r u s t .o r g

Global Crop Diversity Trust

E- m a i l : ex e c u t i v e d i r e c t o r @c r o p t r u s t .o r g




They’re already working on it. You can already seeit. Growing seasons arelengthening, for example.

But it doesn’t matterwho is right or wrong on

this one. Both sides of thisdebate are going to needbiodiversity if onlybecause of the pests anddiseases that are involvedin the intake can change.

Q: Is there a messagefor farmers in yourwork?

A: Absolutely. I mean,this is all for them. This isnot a hippie conservationproject. Farmers knowbetter than consumersthat the variety of cornthey have in the field thisyear is different than itwas five years ago. Thedifference is attributable

to plant breeders finding these new traits andpackaging them togetherand farmers depend onthat for better yields andbetter productivity.

Q: What is it like tocome home to Memphisas you live in Rome andtravel the globe?

A: Memphis is home. Ican see it changing in somegood ways and in some not-so-good ways. But thereare not that many places inthe world quite like sitting out on this porch.

— Toby Sells: 529-2742

By Adam Schreck

AP Business Writer

DUBAI, United Arab

E m i rat e s — A $22 bil-lion clean-energy citybeing built in the desertoutside Abu Dhabi willno longer aim to pro-duce all its own power.

Plans originally calledfor Masdar City to be-come a self-contained“c a rb o n - n e u t ra l ” com-munity of 40,000 resi-dents and even morecommuters. Cars wouldbe banned. Waste andwater would be recy-cled.

It is meant to be amarked environmentalcontrast to other cities

in the Emirates, wherefuel-guzzling SUVs andyear-round air condi-tioning powered by fos-sil fuels are common.

The Abu Dhabi Fu-ture Energy Co. alsobacked away from orig-inal plans to power the

city solely on powerproduced on site. Thelatest plans still call forthe project to rely solely

on renewable energy,h oweve r.

Chief Executive Sul-tan al-Jaber insistedthat the project is in noway being scaled downor scaled back. Rather,he said, Masdar isadapting its plans to ac-count for new researchand technologies asthey become available.

“By us actually doing it and investing money,we had access tolessons learned that noone had access to,” hetold The AssociatedPress. “We have to

learn, adjust, adapt andmove forward. We can’tbe rigid,” he said.

Masdar said it is ex-ploring a range of clean-energy sources for thecity, including geother-mal energy and solarthermal cooling, but

Abu Dhabi shifts

plans for $22Bclean-energy city




Courtesy of Masdar

The first students have started to move into the dome or the Library building ofthe Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi.

that it will also consider buying re-newable power from other locations.

Vast solar arrays were originally slat-ed to provide the bulk of Masdar City’sp owe r.

As part of its new plans, Masdar saidit is going to limit the development of ahighly publicized network of personal

podcars that would shuttle tens of thou-sands of Masdar City residents and vis-itors around the six square kilometer(2.3 square mile) development.

The “personal rapid transit” p o d c a rs ,which would travel on fixed tracks, weremeant to replace personal vehicles in acity that promised to be entirely car-f re e .

Masdar now says the podcar systemwill be limited to an “ongoing pilotproject ,” and that other types of electricvehicles may be allowed in the future.

Gulf energy expert Robert Bryniak,chief executive of Golden Sands Man-agement Consulting in Abu Dhabi, saidit made sense for Masdar to re-examine

its plans. He described the original tar-gets as “extremely aggressive” given thetimeframe involved.

“Trying to get to a zero-carbon foot-print is extremely difficult. To try tosupply all the energy internally was go-ing to be a pretty tough challenge,” hes aid.

Some parts of Masdar City are al-



24 GOING GREEN | S u n d ay , October 24, 2010 com merci a la pp ea l.co m

ready up and running.

Students and faculty be-gan moving into six build-ings housing a research fa-cility known as MasdarInstitute last month. While

Masdar does not claimthose buildings are carbonneutral, it says they useabout half the water andelectricity than other build-ings in the Emirates thanksto rooftop solar panels andhot water heaters.

Al-Jaber told reporters inJune that the overall aims of the project were not in jeop-ardy amid reports that thecompany had shed jobs andwas looking to cut costs.

Abu Dhabi is the capitalof the UAE, a Gulf feder-ation that has the world’slargest ecological footprintper capita, according to the

World Wildlife Fund. Thatmeans each of its residentsuses more of the world’s re-sources on average thanthose living in any other na-tion.

Masdar City is at theheart of efforts by AbuDhabi, one of the world’s

biggest exporters of oil, toposition itself as a worldleader in renewable energy.

The emirate is investing heavily in solar and nuclearpower, and was picked lastyear as the home of the In-ternational Renewable Ener-gy Agency.

5 reasons to like

the Nissan Leaf By Jim Motavalli

Mother Nature Network

NEW YORK CITY — Surprise, the NissanLeaf is great fun to drive. Well, it’s not all thatmuch of a surprise: I’d driven two other carswith the Leaf technology under the hood, butthis was my first go-round (through CentralPark, of all places) in the actual productionLeaf, one of just 17 in the U.S. right now.

We ’re on a countdown to delivery — the firstLeafs, costing $25,280 after a $7,500 federaltax incentive, will be delivered in December.

Those owners are in for a treat, because theLeaf is a delight on nearly every level:

It’s really fun to drive. The car is almostpreternaturally quiet — you can’t even hear the

gentle motor sound it makes to warn pedes-trians at speeds of 20 mph or less. And yet itsurges ahead like, well, Lance Armstrong at thestart of a bike race, on or off steroids. (Arm-strong, the official spokesman for the Leaf, isthe only American to actually have one rightnow.) The Leaf offers faster acceleration thanyo u ’d expect from 107 horsepower, a factor of its relatively light weight and aerodynamic de-

sign. There’s very little regenerative braking effect unless you engage “Eco” mode, but thereis a bit of comforting “c re e p ” when you releasethe brakes at a stoplight. The handling is quitesharp, and the ride is nicely balanced.

The graphics and interface are cool. If youlike cutting-edge video games, you’ll be right athome. My favorite screen showed a map with acircle that encompassed your driving range —




your performance at the wheel helpsdetermine how far you’ll get. There’s anicely designed app for the iPhone (orany computer) that allows the driver toremotely stop or start a charge, as wellas pre-heat or cool the car’s cabin. Ascreen-based timer can be set to startcharging late at night when rates or low,but you can override it with a touch of abutton to start charging immediately.Does it have USB iPod access? Of course — did you have to ask?

The incentives are in place. S omeLeaf owners will be luckier than others.Luckiest are in California, where a$5,000 cash rebate gets the price downto around $20,000. California is also

doing more than any other state to putin a charging network. But other statesare also getting involved: EV purchasesubsidies of one form or another arealso in place in Tennessee (where theLeaf will be built starting in model year2013), Hawaii, Georgia and Colorado.Anyone can get the federal $7,500 taxincentive, and also an up-to-$2,000 taxcredit to install a 240-volt charger. Butthat one expires Dec. 31 unless thedithering Congress manages to renewit. It’s too bad we’re not Chinese, be-cause over there you can get $8,800 forbuying an EV.

The economics make sense. A c c o rd -ing to Paul Hawsom, Nissan’s product

The first Leafs are expected for delivery to U.S. drivers by December — rollingoff the line at $25,280 after a federal tax break.



26 GOING GREEN | S u n day, October 24 , 2010 com merci a la pp ea l.co m

planning manager for sports cars andEVs, a 25-mpg car running on $3 agallon gas will cost 12 cents per mile tooperate, or $1,800 over 15,000 miles.

The Leaf or comparable EV operating on electricity at the national average of

11 cents per kilowatt-hour will cost 2.6cents per mile. That means $396 over15,000 miles. “The advantage existseven if gasoline drops below $1.10 perga l l o n , ” Hawsom said. And since there’sno real purchase penalty to a subsidizedLeaf, the savings start immediately.

There are charging options. The Leaf will come with a 110 charger for any walloutlet, but that’s a 16-hour slog. Nissan,

with partner AeroVironment, will equipyour garage for 240-volt charging that canbe subsidized by that disappearing federalcredit. Luckily, 240-volt charging (sevenhours from when the warning light comeson) is standardized with the gun-shapedJ1772 plug. Less sure is 480-volt fastcharging, which takes just 30 minutes.Leafs in selected markets will be equippedfor the Japan-developed CHAdeMO fast-charging standard, but the U.S. is still de-bating whether to go with that or not.

The Leaf and its ilk aren’t for ev-e r yo n e . “If you do a lot of camping, it’sprobably not the vehicle for you,” H aw -som said. Likewise if you tow a boat orneed seven-passenger seating (though itseats five comfortably, with OK but notgreat rear legroom). And you’ll need to

live with the limited, 100-mile range,which could be less in weather extremes(when the heater or air conditioner arecranking, and the batteries are perform-ing less than optimally). A lot of high-way driving will affect range, too.

Nissan has 20,000 reservations in theU.S. In the first year, global productionin Japan is set at 50,000, which could

mean that the allocation and the reser-vations line up neatly. Production ca-pacity should ramp up quickly, becauseNissan is planning to add both batteryand car plants in Europe and the U.S.Battery capacity in conjunction withNEC will far exceed car capacity, be-

cause the companies are planning tosupply battery packs to other carmakers.All in all, it sounds like a workable plan.

Jim Motavalli, a regular contributor to the New York Times, is the transportation blogger for MNN (www.mnn.com/featured-blogs/jmotavalli). the United States, callTribune Media Services International at +1- 312-222-4444 or e-mailtmsisales@ tribune.com .

The lithium ion battery in the NissanLeaf will take around 16 hours torecharge, unless you are doing a

higher power charge.




Labels to tell the tailpipe tale

Under one proposal,the feds would assignall new cars a lettergrade based uponenergy efficiency andtailpipe emissions. Thelabel also would outlineprojected annualsavings in fuel costs.

By Sandy Bauers

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Does your car makethe grade?

If it’s an electric vehi-cle, you probably get anA-plus.

If it’s a sports car, holdyour horsepower.

Under a federal propos-

al for new labels — thosewindow stickers that alsoshow miles per gallon —the snazzy red numberwith shiny hubcaps andhair-straightening acceler-ation might rate as low asa D.

That would be becauseof its emissions, whichthe feds would love to seeus pay more attention towhen the 2012 modelsdebut .

The current info —miles per gallon, city andhighway — will still bet h e re .

But the new labels also

will show the tailpipeemission rates for carbondioxide and “other airpollut ants” — notably theparticulates and chemi-cals that contribute tos m o g.

So if you want to knowhow much hotter your

car is making the planetand how much more yourasthmatic neighbor is suf-fering because of yourcar, here it comes.

The government is

floating two options; they

want to know which con-sumers prefer. Both willrequire a tad more brain-power than the currentlabels, but the clear im-plication is that the gov-ernment thinks we wantthe information and willuse it to make betterchoices.

One is similar to thecurrent labels, with theextra information addedon graphics that look likega u ge s .

The other label simpli-fies everything by incor-porating a giant lettergrade, everything from anA-plus to a D.

Why no F? All vehicleshave to meet basic emis-sions requirements; if they flunk, they shouldn’tbe on the market.

Derisively dubbed the“guzzle grade” by some,it has elementary-schoolovertones that may grate.

“I don’t need a nannytelling me what’s goodfor me,” one persongrumped online in re-sponse to a recent Na-tional Public Radio re-port .

On another front, Therese Langer, a trans-



28 GOING GREEN | S un d ay , October 24 , 2010 com merci a la pp ea l.co m

portation expert with the AmericanCouncil for an Energy-Efficient Econ-omy, a nonprofit advocacy group, saidthe A for electric vehicles is misleading.

While they have no emissions directlyfrom the tailpipe, if the source of the

juice is an outdated coal plant, shouldn’tthat count?Kevin Mazzucola, executive director

of the Automobile Dealers Associationof Greater Philadelphia, says that if alltrucks get the same grade, what hasanyone gained? Don’t we already knowthey’re not as efficient as hybrids?

What buyers might want to know, hesaid, is which truck has the better rank-

ing, compared to the others. To getthat, they have to look at the finer print.

The big unanswered question iswhether buyers care about the environ-mental aspects of their cars to beginwith. All those SUVs on the road sug-gest otherwise.

A Consumer Reports survey in Au-gust showed that the most importantconsiderations are quality, safety, price,value, and fuel economy.

While fuel economy isn’t preciselyemissions, it’s related. So we can hope.

A national survey of likely voters’ at -titudes toward fuel efficiency — fundedby environmental groups — s h owe dthat car-buyers want more from Detroit.

Among 1,000 people surveyed, 74percent favored requiring automakers to

meet a 60 m.p.g. “f leetwide” average by2025. Astonishingly, 66 percent claimedthey would still favor it even if it added$3,000 to the vehicle’s price. Easy tosay that now. I wonder what will hap-pen in the real world.

For perspective, the current goal is34.1 m.p.g. by 2016.

Those who favor the boost felt it

would be good for the environment, theeconomy, and national security.

So weigh in, car-buyers. Go toepa.gov/fueleconomy to say what youwant. And to learn more about how tosave fuel, a companion website is fu-el e c o n o m y. gov.

Either way, I suppose we have to givethe federal agencies an A for effort.

Visit Sandy Bauers’ blog at h tt p : / /go . p hi l l y. co m /g re e n s p a c e .

A second proposal calls for justupdating the current stickers. Electricvehicles (top) would show energy useby translating electricity consumptionto miles per gallon equivalent. Theredesign is meant to make it easier forconsumers to compare the fuelefficiency and emissions between cars.




ASK MNN

Go vintage for eco-friendly jewelry By Chanie Kirschner

Mother Nature Network (mnn.com)

Q: Is there such a thing as eco-friendly jewelry? How can I be sure the necklace I’m buying doesn’t have any Earth- killing karma?

A: Good question. Any industrial jew-elry mining can have numerous harmfulnegative impacts on the environment,

ranging from erosion of the land, toleakage of harmful chemicals intothe water supply, to the alterationof an entire ecosystem. And let’snot forget about the carbonfootprint of the heavy machin-ery that’s used in the process.So yes, there most definite-ly is such a thing as eco-friendly jewelry — that is,any jewelry that wasmined with the least possiblenegative impact on the environment, ornot mined at all.

Take gold for example. To d ay ’s commercial gold mining is

hardly as benign as dipping pans intostreams of running water. The mining for one gold ring creates 20 tons of

mine waste. Not only that, gold mining virtually obliterates the natural land-scape. The largest gold mine is a craterin Utah and is so big, it is actuallyvisible from outer space.

So what’s a girl to do?First, a few retailers out there offer

recycled gold jewelry. By recycling gold jewelry, you’re not only being environ-

mentally responsible; you’re also low-ering the demand for newly mined gold.Greenkarat .com is a site that will acceptyour old gold jewelry, and will even turnit into new jewelry custom for you.

Other eco-friendly jewelry sites in-clude BrilliantEarth (brilliantearth.com)and GreenORO ( g re e n o ro . c o m / ) . Siteslike these track their jewelry from mine

to market and ensure it has

been procured in the mostenvironmentally responsi-

ble way. Another inter-esting eco-friendly jew-elry site is Eco-Artware(eco -artware.com/cata-l o g / b ra c el e t s . p h p ) ,

which features eclecticitems such as bracelets made

from subway tokens or watch faces.Another option is to consider vintage

jewelry, which recycles valuable resourcesand doesn’t require new mining. And avintage necklace or ring is always in style.

Another eco-friendly jewelry option:Pearls. Pearls aren’t mined at all and aremore eco-friendly than your averagemined gem.

That being said, aqua-culture can be

damaging to the environment becauseof the use of high-powered hoses toclean the oysters. However, some pearlfarmers use tropical fish to scrub theoysters clean.

So you see, eco-friendly jewelry iseverywhere. It’s just a matter of looking under the right rock, or for that matter,not looking under a rock at all.



30 GOING GREEN | S u nd ay , October 24, 2010 com me rci a la pp ea l.co m

Wine on tap? Refillable bottles make for greener wine experience

By Michelle Locke / The Associated Press

SANTA ROSA, CALIF. — Forget the cellar; everyday winesare meant to be poured, not stored. Which has led a handful

of wineries to turn to the refillable approach in hopes of

putting a cork in their bottles’ environmental impact.

Or, as Idaho vintner Stephen Meyer puts it, “Think green,

drink red.”




Meyer is president andwinemaker at PendD’Oreille Winery inSandpoint, Idaho, wherea red blend called BistroRouge is sold in 1.5-liter

glass bottles thatcustomers can bring back, well washed, andget a refill at a discountfrom the regular price.

“It’s turned out to be just an awesomep ro g ra m , ” Meyer says.“It’s a good deal for thecustomer, but more

importantly it’s taking solid waste out of thelandfills.”

The winery refillsabout 350 bottles amonth — quite highconsidering Sandpoint’spopulation is about 8,000— and the program hasproved so popular they’veadded a white blend,Bistro Blanc.

One winery has bootedthe bottle altogether.

The NPA (NaturalProcess Alliance) wineryin Santa Rosa sells itswines in Kleen Kanteens,a BPA-free stainless steel

bottle more commonlyused for water.“We wanted to have a

package that was as cleanas what we consider ourfarming and ourwinemaking to be,” s aysHardy Wallace, whohandles sales and

marketing for the winery.Wine from The NPA is

made with minimalintervention, and notweaking or overtmanipulation of thegrapes. As part of thatphilosophy, the wines aresold only within a 100-mile radius. Wallacedrops off a little morethan 100 Kanteens aweek, including many torestaurants in nearby SanFra n c i s c o .

Why steel?It’s easier to clean andtougher than glass, saysWallace. “We haven’t hadto retire one yet.”

At Out the Door, amini-chain of Asianfusion restaurants in SanFrancisco, wine director

Gus Vahlkamp sells fourwines drawn from tapsbehind the bar.

T h at ’s right: wineserved from taps. Justlike beer. And Vahlkampsays he has soundecological and financialreasons for the setup.

“It’s better to reusethan recycle,” he says.“Our recycling has beenreduced by at least half.”

Plus, it’s cost-effective:“The producers aren’t

adding on the cost of thebottle, the cork, thecarton and thetransportation it comesin,” Vahlkamp says. “I’mable to buy these wines at25 percent off thewholesale bottle cost, andI can offer the consumer

Some restaurants are experimenting with wines onof tap and are seeing the value in reducing thewaste and cost from bottles.




The NPA

winery sellsits wine onlyin these

uniquereusable

canteens --each holding

the sameamount as a

standard

wine bottle -- or in larger

kegs forr es t a ura n t s

who want toserve from

the tap.

a discount and still make money.

Everyone wins on it.” T h e re ’s another benefit: The wine

always tastes fresh. Restaurants oftenpour their by-the-glass selections frombottles that sit for days, until thecontents inside have staled. Tapsystems, by contrast, use an inert gaslike argon or nitrogen to push the winethrough the lines. Being inert, the gasdoesn’t react with the wine; in fact, itprotects the wine for weeks or monthsagainst oxidation. (Wineries blankettheir wines with the same gases for thesame reason during the tank-storagephase of the production process.)

Refilling wine bottles is common inEurope. So far, the refillable approachisn’t widespread in the United States,

but Meyer’s heard from a number of

wineries in California “who think it’s agreat idea and are interested in doing it .”

There are some issues with refillables.For one thing, a regular label won’tsurvive the washing process. Pendd’Oreille gets around that by using asilkscreened label. And while the systemworks well for direct-from-winery sales,“we haven’t solved quite how we couldtake it into a larger format, like agrocery store,” Meyer says.

The process is intended for a “drinkn ow ” kind of wine. Like the otherwineries using refillables, Pend d’O re i l l eis still putting its premium wines — thekind that age well — in one-time-useb o tt l e s .




On the roadBy Paul McRandle

SimpleS teps.org

Green travel isn’t only about the jour-ney — it’s about the destination, too.Here are 11 great picks, selected for sus-

tainable practices (including the use of least-toxic cleaners, energy and watersavings and recycling efforts), sense of place, community involvement and gen-eral ambience.

Pinehurst Inn, Bayfield, Wis: Thisserene inn cuts down on its

environmental impact without skimpingon the guest services. Complete withwhirlpools, fireplaces, and a full organicbreakfast, it also includes solar paneledroofs and energy-efficient appliances(pinehurstinn.com, 877-299-7651).

Inn by the Sea, Cape Elizabeth,Maine: The first hotel in Maine to becarbon-neutral through offsets alsooffers plenty of luxuries to its green-seeking guests. Stroll down the privateboardwalk to a mile of sandy beach orstay in and indulge at the LEED-certifiedspa. (innbythesea.com, 800-888-4287).

Eco-friendly travel destinations in the

United States



34 GOING GREEN | Su n day, October 24 , 2010 com merci a la pp ea l.co m

Sadie Cove Wilderness Lodge,Homer, Alaska: This eco-lodge puts upa maximum of 12 guests per night andgroups of 6 or more can have the entirelodge to themselves, so it’s a trueescape. The lodge relies entirely on wind

energy and hydropower and works hardnot to interfere with the untouchedwilderness on its doorstep. You mighteven be lucky enough to spot a whale,seal, porpoise or one of many other seacreatures right outside. (sadiecove.com,8 8 8 - 2 8 3 -72 3 4 )

Vero Beach Hotel and Spa, VeroBeach, Fla.: This Green Seal-certified

beachside resort not only makes greatefforts to save water and energy, butalso rewards guests for doing their part,including offering parking discounts forhybrid vehicles(verobeachhotelandspa.com, 772-231-5666).

Camp Denali, Denali National Parkand Preserve, Alaska: The starattraction is Mt. McKinley, the tallest

peak in North America. The phrase“unspoiled paradise” won’t seemhackneyed as you step out of your cabininto spectacular parkland (DenaliNational Park, 907-683-2290; also seen p s . go v /d e n a ) .

Orchard Garden Hotel, SanFr a n c i s c o : This LEED-certified hotel isin the heart of what is arguablyA m eri ca ’s greenest city. Skip the carwhile in town and take a stylishrefurbished tram, or rent a Prius to visitnearby Point Reyes National Seashoreand dine at Alice Waters’s Chez Panissein Berkeley(theorchardgardenhotel.com, 888-717-2881).

Rock Harbor Lodge, Isle Ro y a l e

National Park, Mich.: Hidden on aremote island in northwest LakeSuperior, Rock Harbor Lodge is about asfar away from it all as you can get(rockharborlodge.com, 906-337-4993).

Sundance Resort, Sundance, Utah:With access to 6,000 wilderness acresat the base Mt. Timpanogos, Sundanceprovides excellent skiing and hikingwhile maintaining a keen attentivenessto the environment(sundanceresort.com, 800-892-1600for reservations).

Buttermilk Falls Inn and Spa,Milton, N.Y.: 90 miles from New York

City, this inn on the Hudson Riverserves local, organic foods grown onsite and relies on geothermal and solarenergy to warm its spa waters(buttermilkfallsinn.com, 877-7-INN-SPA).

Asheville Green Cottage, Asheville,N .C. : Sleep on organic cotton sheetsand natural latex mattresses duringyour visit to Asheville, a city

chockablock with organic restaurants,fa r m e r s ’ markets and mountain views.Come the last weekend of July for BeleChere, the Southeast’s largest free artsand music festival(a sh ev il le g r e en co t t a ge.co m ;8 0 0. 3 3 1 . 9707 ) .

Dunton Hot Springs Resort andSpa, Dolores, Colo.: This resort, in aformer ghost town located in the SanJuan Mountains, is close enough to thedesert for trips to Monument Valley andCanyon de Chelly(duntonhotsprings.com, 970-882-4800).

For better health and sustainable living tips, articles and how-tos, visit simplesteps.org




MEATLESS MONDAY

Coleslaw Tempeh JoesTopped with cool coleslaw,

these saucy sandwiches are

a great way to try tempehfor the first time. Try it on avariety of whole wheatbreads or multigrain seededsandwich rolls. This recipecomes to us from ourfriends at myrecipes.com.

1 tbsp. olive oil1 cup chopped onion (about

1 medium)1 pound organic tempeh,crumbled3 tbsp. tomato paste2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar2 tsp. brown sugar

1 tsp. smoked paprika1 tsp. salt, divided

1/2 tsp. freshly groundblack pepper, divided3 cups water2 tablespoons lightm ayo n n a i s e

2 tsp. water3 cups thinly shredded

ca b ba ge1/2cup shredded carrot(about 1 medium)6 (1 1/2-ounce) hamburgerbuns or rolls

To prepare the tempeh:Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet

over medium-high heat. Add onionand sauté 2 minutes, or until soft.

Add tempeh and sauté 6 minutes,or until tempeh begins to brown.

Combine tomato paste, vinegar,brown sugar, paprika, 3/4 t ea s po onsalt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in asmall bowl. Add tomato mixture totempeh and stir to combine.

Stir in 3 cups water. Simmer,stirring often, for about 20 minutes,or until mixture is thick and liquid isalmost evaporated. Remove from

heat, but cover to keep warm.To prepare the coleslaw:Combine mayonnaise, 2

teaspoons water, remaining 1/4

teaspoon salt and remaining 1/4

teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl.Add shredded cabbage and carrot,tossing well to combine.

To complete the tempeh joes:Top each of 6 bottom halves of

buns with about 3/4 cup tempehfilling. Top each serving with about1/3 cup coleslaw, and cover with tophalf of each bun. Serveimmediately. Serves 6

Just do one thingWhen baking, don't preheat the oven too soon when making a batch of cookies.

Ovens can be energy hogs, so it pays to prep first, then heat. Also, if your oven needs

going green memphis 10-24-10

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