It's so stimulating!

It's almost time to do your duty to pump up the economy while greening your home.

Texas Comptroller Susan Combs is quite excited about the approaching reservation period for the cash-for-clunkers home appliance program. Check it out, a special Web page that is ever-growing.

She's positively breathless about the opportunity, as evidenced by the countdown clock on the page.

Really, the motivation behind the drive is probably pure, but can't they find better writers to promote a $23 million program? How snappy is "Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program," the federal program or "Texas Trade Up Appliance Rebate Program," here in our part of the world?

The idea is to spend federal stimulus money on rebates to consumers who replace their aging, but functioning, dishwasher, water heater, central air, clothes washer, refrigerator, etc with new, energy efficient models that are ENERGY STAR® or CEE qualified?

The comptroller's office is still working out the details, but they'll start taking reservations April 5, at a time to be announced and the buying begins April 16 for a limited time. Don't jump the gun in your enthusiasm or you'll lose out on your rebate. There will be a recycling aspect that is less than clear, but I'm sure it will be more so soon. It will include a $75 bonus rebate for recycling your clunker.

The comptroller's office is so sure this will have buyers buzzing, it's establishing a waiting list for when the rebates are all reserved.

They're really stimulated.

Now spend - after April 16.

The circle of life or something

This is a new one on me - "upcycle."

An Oregon winery, COWHORN, is promoting not only its early releases, but recycle, upcycle, whatever programs. It's sent its first shipment of 1,000 used wine bottles to be "upcycled" into "heirloom goblets, pitchers, tumblers, vases and votives," according to a news release.

Don't ask me why they spell their name in all caps, but they do.

COWHORN is also partnering with Ashland Food Co-op to covert used corks into compostable wine packs.

On top of that, literally, "At COWHORN, even the soft metal bottle cap covering the cork gets a new life through Rogue Recycling."

And then there's talk of nature flowing in cycles, etc. But the Biodynamic winery seems to be trying. And the end products look pretty nice.

The only rub is they tout their wines as pleasing the James Beard Foundation and people in the Oregon eco-culinary scene.

"Among the new estate’s early accolades is a 90-point rating from Wine Spectator for its 2007 Viognier, now sold out. In their annual round up of most memorable wines, the San Francisco Chronicle featured COWHORN’s 2007 Marsanne Roussanne, also sold out, as one of the year’s top 20 'unexpected pleasures.'”

Please note, two sold outs mean we'll never know how good they might be. Frustrating.

Dreams going up

It was pretty interesting to see several dreamers get their hands dirty to start Mariposa ecoVillage on Friday.

Linda Lloyd, the project manager, Larry Williamson and Gary Hames, of EarthCo Building Systems, and several volunteers were like a tribe with a mission. The sun and wind were typical Panhandle - strong. But the group got started laying columns of compressed earth like giant Lincoln logs to create the hospitality and marketing building for the development devoted to a different lifestyle.

It was messy work - sweat, dust, mud - and then it showered a couple of times just to goo things up. But everyone was smiling and joking, happy to be where they were.

Building the earthen structure is as primitive as any native hut of mud, but they cut the 18-inch-wide columns with electric chisels that work like jackhammers with blades. Then comes the mud, a slurry of water and dirt used to fill cracks, smooth seams and make one column stick to another.

Kind of a humble beginning for a big dream that could include live/work spaces, homes of compressed recycled plastic, car-free zones and people capturing rainwater and the sun's rays. Not far from the day's of half-dugouts in the Panhandle, but miles from today.

A green finale

So I’m looking at a story from The Associated Press about a green trend involving coffins made from banana leaves or woven bamboo. They take up to two years to decompose and give you a chance to do one last green thing for the planet.

Then I start to feel a little weird and almost guilty because my father-in-law recently died and my father is under hospice care. But their problems have had me thinking a lot harder about what I want when it’s my problem.

So a little research takes me to a Sierra Club Web page that starts a story with “Recycle yourself.”

A link there takes me to an ad for the Ecopod from the Natural Burial Company, made from “sturdy paper-mache made from recycled newspapers and covered in handmade paper of mulberry leaves and recycled silk.” Each one has its own silkscreened design –doves on the blue one, a Celtic cross on the green one, and my favorite, an Aztec sun on the red one.

They say theirs is the pick when “providing for someone’s Last Style Statement.”

Kent Casket Industries offers solid pine coffins and caskets “sourced from sustainable forests” with no stains or “highly toxic glue.” For some reason they also tout no animal products or used, but I’m not going there.

For ease of storage, they are shipped packed as flat panels with easy-to-follow assembly instructions. And don’t forget the rope handles.

But I’m not sure about the NatureBoard™eco coffins from Ecocoffins. They’re “made from a cardboard which contains at least 90% recycled material so if you are looking for an environmentally-friendly funeral ours are accepted at native woodland burial sites, woodland burial sites and traditional graveyards and crematoria. We only use natural starch based glues in assembly.”

No, not cardboard. I played in enough refrigerator boxes as a kid.

Wait a minute

Some guy from North Chili, N.Y., is trying to get everyone to lighten their load by putting stuff out on their curb on Oct. 24 to let other people pick through it.

Okay, first, what’s a New York town calling itself Chili for? Second, this is supposed to let you get rid of useable stuff you don’t really use. Sounds good. But what happens when you go digging through your neighbors stuff and go home with more stuff? You get nowhere or go backwards on the too-much-stuff treadmill.

I’m going to have to think about this one. I know reuse is right in there with recycle, but I’m not sure how this plan would play out in the real world.

Check out the Web site and see what you think. But like supporters of Curb Day say, “What’s rusting in your garage?”

Greenerrific

Packed with product

there's never too much green

Who'd of thunk Office Depot, seller of murdered trees by the ream, would be flexing its green muscles?

The company has redesigned its environmental Web site to better shout its credentials. It sports the Depot "global environmental vision" to "Buy Green, Be Green and Sell Green."

Greened out yet? Impossible.

How about the Green Book catalog with 2,200 of Office Depot's greenest products and tips? How about green rankings of its products from light green for refillable pens to dark green for 100 percent recycled content file folders? Well, how about the Greener Office Guide to going from "green starter" to "green leader?"

But check it out. The company's done a lot of work to communicate its position and make a little money to add to its $14.5 billion sales every year.

Food, fun and a little freaky

There will be some interesting, sometimes even in a good way, stuff in Chicago at three food trade shows June 16-18.

Now, Chicago is a food town deluxe, from that pizza to Mexican, yes Mexican. But the shows, All Things Organic, Expo Comida Latina and All Asia will be showing off everything from hardware to foods that don’t necessarily fit the every-day shopping list.

How about dinnerware made of residue from sugar cane processing or Hawaiian Health’s Ohana-Lavender Noni Lotion for Pets? It’s supposed to be for fungal and bacterial infections, cuts, muscle strains and more. Sounds like what I need for those gardening days gone wild.

And don’t forget the fun. There will be jigsaw puzzles that bring a new meaning to Greenpeace (green pieces, get it?). TDK Games’ Greenpieces puzzles are printed on paper embedded with wildflower seeds. After you finish the puzzle, take it apart, plant and water the pieces for flowers if you’re not embarrassed to be seen planting puzzle pieces.

But the food – everything from purple carrot juice to fruit pastes made with grape skin extract.
Carmelized flax seed, blueberries and basil packed together to top salads, organic and biodynamic wine, green tea beer and a full range of organic spirits, will be on display, according to the shows’ Web sites.

But I’m drawing the line at beer made from green tea, at least until I have a couple of boring beers.

From the Ground Up

What's a shopper to do?

Seems like the marketplace is awash with greenwashing. You know, like whitewashing only renewable. Businesses try to paint their products as green, and the shopper has to figure out how much to believe.

The claims companies make for how nice their products are for the environment came under the scrutiny of Canadian research firm TerraChoice recently, and Joel Makower has an interesting take on the result.

Basically he starts with the question "Is everybody lying?" because the firm looked at more than 2,200 products making environmental claims in big box stores and found 98 percent to be sinners who make misleading or false claims. The problem is TerraChoice doesn't name names and may be lumping companies who let their marketing people get carried away in with companies that don't have a problem lying for a dollar.

"More sloppy than sinister," Makower describes the companies that might not deserved to be cast into eco-hell.

Is a poisonous product labeled "green" as big a sin as a product that truly is made of recycled waste but carries the claim "the greenest ever?"

Check it out.

From the Ground Up

Lighten up

If you miss the Get Fuzzy comic that the paper deleted, check today's strip out. It's free, but you have to register. These get me through the day... usually.

As we join our fuzzy friends, they are discussing renewable energy. Bucky assures naive Satchel that wrapping a monkey in copper wire, putting it into a metal can and rolling it down stairs will create electricity, just like a battery. A revolution in energy!!!

"100% clean power from 100% filthy monkeys," Bucky declares.

I won't ruin the punch line, but poor Satchel.

From the Ground Up

The final word

The city commission formally named the members of the committee today that will look at environmental issues, but specifically what the city can do to enhance recycling.

They added Chris Bunnett, Mina Johnson, Rosemartha Cates and Linda Lloyd to the list of nominees released earlier. Commissioner Brian Eades will be a nonvoting member, serving as a link between the city and the committee.

The rest of the members are Jacob Breeden, Anette Carlisle, Mary Emeny, Rachael Kelly, Cathy McClendon, Kim Vincent, Rhoda Breeden, Jenny Clark, Kevin Guttenplan, Warren McCarty and Gina Dillon Podolsky.

From the Ground Up

Making green with green

There are plenty of products out there, and surely more on the way, to help people feel like they are living the green life. Food, cosmetics, clothing, caskets.

Caskets?!?! Of course. You find that surprising?

The Albuquerque Business Journal recently printed a quick bit about French Funeral and Cremation Services which is offering everything from "eco-friendly wicker caskets" lined with natural fabric to "professional preparation of the deceased without embalming."

Tom Antrum, general manager of French, said he thinks the market for all this will just keep getting bigger, according to the story.

I get the point. And it's not like I've really figured out the details of my own disposal. In fact, I'd tend toward the it's-somebody-else's-problem solution. But what do you think? It kind of takes your commitment to recycling to the next level.

From the Ground Up

Earth Day kumbaya?

Grist, an online publication that calls itself "a beacon in the smog," looks to be trying to start a fight.

On its Web site, search it for "Earth Day amateurs," Grist is promoting an anti celebration of Earth Day (April 22 this year). I can't write what it calls the celebration because the teachers and parents of school kids who will be planting trees for the warm and fuzzy Earth Day might not take it too well.

The upshot is Grist's writers portray Earth Day is a joke. "You think this is a bit of kumbaya for your karma?, they ask. "You think this is a worldwide love fest? You think you can make up for a lifetime of excess in one day?"

Well, you get the drift. The publication might or might not mean any malice. It prides itself on being irreverent and being "your resource for making every day earth-tastic." And the title of a book it's selling hints at that - "Wake up and smell the Planet."

I'm not endorsing the site. I haven't read enough of it to say anything too gushy, but it does look interesting if you take your green with a side of snide.

From the Ground Up

Carnage has ensued

After all the seed catalog shopping on winter afternoons and planning more projects than a team of landscapers could finish, it's time for the digging.

Actually, the recent rude reminders of winter, complete with six-foot snow drifts kind of delayed things, but last night I got the garden fork out and ripped into a bed. No rototiller, just handpower to turn over the straw mulch and loosen the soil. That means less gas burned and better soil texture. A seemingly noble task.

But not so fast. Apparently, over the years the roots of elm trees 30 feet away have crept to the bed. I guess the regular doses of water tasted good.

No, it wasn't the roots from last year's cucumbers that stopped me from getting a fork full of dirt. The entire bed is filled with tree roots. Not large in diameter, but very tenacious. With dreams of finishing one bed, I struggled to do half of it before it got dark. And the whole time I was getting madder.

It reminded me of a long-forgotten Greek play some high school teacher thought I should read. The one line that stuck with me and a few of my friends was "carnage ensued." We used it for a while to describe even the smallest upset, then it went away for 30 years.

It's back.

I cut and pulled and cut and pulled, ripped and tore and ripped and tore.

More of that action is on tap for tonight, but only if my back holds out.

See, there's a priority here because during the aforementioned snow storm, what should arrive but a box of 25 raspberry plants intended for that bed. Two weeks in the coolest, darkest closet I have has probably been too long for the plants. I've been afraid to look, so the carnage needs to pick up the pace.

From the Ground Up

Who will ask the green questions?

Today, the Amarillo City Commission talked about the committee that will research shrinking the city's trash stream.

"We want them to see what the recycling pulse is right now," said Mayor Debra McCartt. "Where do we see it going?"

Only 11 people volunteered to serve compared to the approximately 700 who previously signed a petition asking for better recycling opportunities.

After the commission appoints the members, possibly at next week's regular meeting, the committee is supposed to do its homework and come back with recommendations. That could take a year.

Here are some questions McCartt hopes the green squad will consider:

• Could a recycling plant be built in Amarillo to process the products?
  
• How to get the schools involved?
  
• Do we need more drop-off sites?
  
• What makes sense for the entire city, not just a small group?
  

The big challenge is cost. Dallas and San Antonio have partnered with private companies and make money on recycling, in addition to the money they save on reduced landfill operations and trash pickup. Austin is losing lots of money because the company it contracted with ships recyclable waste to Dallas for processing.

The cost problems for Amarillo include the distance to processing plants and the personnel and equipment it would take to start curbside pickups.

It doesn't help anyone that the current prices for many processed materials stink worse than garbage.

Those nominated for the committee are: Jacob Breeden, Rhoda Breeden, Anette Carlisle, Jenny Clark, Mary Emeny, Kevin Guttenplan, Rachael Kelly, Warren McCarty, Cathy McClendon, Gina Dillon Podolsky and Kim Vincent.

From the Ground Up

Eco-party promises fun and smarts

Wildcat Bluff Nature Center and some partners are hosting Earth Fest 2009 April 18. The family event will have exhibitors educating on energy conservation; clean air, water and soil and recycling.

The event kind of coincides with Earth Day on April 22.
According to a news release, there will be "environmentally friendly" games (I have no idea what that means) and arts and crafts for the kids, guided hikes and other events.
Bring cardboard, newspapers, magazines and aluminum cans for recycling.
The event runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sponsors are Xcel Energy, B&W Pantex and Allied Waste. I know, a coal burner, nuclear weapons processor and a landfill operator, but they're making the effort here and it's not their only one.
The center is about three miles north of Interstate 40 on Soncy Road.
For more on the center, go to http://www.wildcatbluff.org/.

From The Ground Up

Welcome to my world and yours

I call this neighborhood From The Ground Up because it's all about where we all live - water, wind, plants, food and all the other topics that spring from thinking about resources like cooking, recycling and generally trying to live leaving a lighter footprint on the Earth.

I'll try to give peeks behind some of the topics I cover for the Amarillo Globe-News like energy, water, agriculture and the environment in general. But there will also be those tidbits floating around that are just interesting because the are.

Some of the stuff may be fun, and some troubling, but hopefully it will all be at least a little informative. Let's start with one end of the spectrum and then let the conversation begin. I want to hear from you so don't be shy.

From the "it doesn't taste like chicken" area of the spectrum, researchers report in the International Journal of Food Science & Technology that sausages made using jumbo squid mantle (head) muscle "performed well in sensory tests."

That could "open up a range of possibilities for product development," according to the report. The only things testers criticized were the color, aroma and texture. Oh yeah, and the possibility of a wretched death. Researchers cited an "unfavorable microbial profile" or a tendency to grow a lot of bacteria while in storage.

They couldn't be satisfied with perfectly acceptable bison/chipotle or chicken/spinach/asiago.
For the tasty details, go to www.foodnavigator.com/Science-Nutrition/Scientists-edge-towards-squid-sausages.