GreenGeezer

New Energy-Saving Milk Jug Causes Consumers to Whine Over Spilled Milk

This isn't really about green building, but still, it's a good indication of just how spoiled the American consumer is, and how averse to change.  The New York Times reports that Wal-Mart Sam's Club has launched a new milk jug that:

• Costs 10-20 cents less per gallon
• Saves labor at dairies by reducing crate-stacking time
• Uses 60-70% less water
• Reduces delivery trips to Sam's to two a week, from five per week, a big fuel savings
• Reduces storage space at Sam's Club devoted to milk

Okay, so maybe this IS about green building; if Sam's Club can now store 224 gallons of milk in its coolers in the same space that used to hold 80, then its building can be used more efficiently.

And yet, in scanning the media coverage of this -- even blogger coverage -- the message focus is that (the Horror) the new jug requires new pouring skills and that big bad Wal-Mart is just thinking of itself. Well I'm no fan of Wal-Mart but it doesn't take a genius to see that in this case, what's good for Wal-Mart is good for us.

“This is a key strategy as a path forward,” said Anne Johnson, the director of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, a project of the nonprofit group GreenBlue. “Re-examining, ‘What are the materials we are using? How are we using them? And where do they go ultimately?’ ”   

Image Credit: David Maxwell for The New York Times

Green Earth Fair this Sunday in Naperville, IL

The 5th Annual Green Earth Fair is scheduled for Sunday, May 4, 2008 from 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM at the Green Earth Institute's organic vegetable farm at 10S404 Knoch Knolls Road, Naperville, Illinois. Bring the family: activities, entertainment and education centered on earth-friendly practices in gardening and farming, tours of the organic farm and organic vegetable seedlings and native prairie plants will be available for sale.  Plus musicians!  exhibits!  A free event. The organic farm endures due to the generous donation of  Mrs. Lenore McDonald, "the stubborn farm owner on the south side of Naperville who—in the face of suburban development on all sides—declared that her land would remain in              agriculture."  Thank God for stubborn landowners.

 

Picky Neighbors Oppose Vast Manure Pond

The above is a photo taken June 2002 in SE Manitoba (Hog Alley) after heavy rainfall. It represents a saturated manure field draining into Rouseau River. Source at this link.

Sunday's Chicago Tribune featured an article about a proposed giant factory farm that will produce milk.  The article was a typical example of journalism by a writer who has not done homework on the damage that these farms do to the cows and the environment.   Thus we get this vapid headline:  "Plan for the state's largest dairy irks neighbors but could help the economy."  Always, always, when something is inherently bad, we hear that it "will help the economy", though the number of jobs the dairy would create was not shared in the article, and the harm that it would do the local area was brushed off as follows:

"[Neighbors] worry about stench from vast manure ponds, potential groundwater pollution and the prospect of even larger dairies blotting the tranquil countryside."

Oh those silly neighbors. To present mega-stench and vast manure ponds as trivial concerns nearly makes my head explode. Here is an excerpt from the editorial written by one of the affected neighbors that followed the next day:

"..People residing in its vicinity will have to live with the constant, choking stench of its football field-sized manure lagoons, as well as risk contamination of their water supply from potential lagoon breaches and manure run-off. Additionally, large-scale, industrialized farms, such as the proposed A.J. Bos facility, pollute surrounding air and adversely affect property values.

Furthermore, given the apparent lack of U.S.D.A. oversight, as we have seen from the Humane Society of the United States' recent expose of Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co., industrialized animal farms are repositories for appalling animal cruelty. Construction of the facility proposed by A.J. Bos will undoubtedly establish new ground for abuse of downer cows spent dairy cows too sick or injured to stand. Even if we fooled ourselves into thinking that there would be no incidence of downer abuse at A.J. Bos' facility, there would still be the reality that a 11,000-head dairy factory would involve cruel, intensive confinement of cattle."

Let's hope the neighbors prevail.

Farm Restaurant Opens in Bloomington, Indiana

FARM Restaurant  has opened in Bloomington, Indiana, bringing to this delightful college town another outpost in the movement to eat local.   Daniel Orr, the chef/owner, was born in Columbus, Indiana, but lived and worked all around  the world, finally becoming the Executive Chef at La Grenouille, New York City's famed French restaurant where he earned a three-star review from the New York Times.  But the best reason to go the Farm is for its food, which will
" focus on the local and fresh ingredients that Orr will incorporate           into his menu items. The fusion of island cuisine and Midwest American           cooking will be the prime focus at FARM."   Can't wait to eat there next time we're in Bloomington.

Happy New Year: Enjoy Some Locally Distilled Spirits to Celebrate

We were glad to hear from Seth Fox, owner and operator of High Plains Distilled Spirits in Kansas, which we included in an earlier post on green business opportunities.   As Seth says,

"I have one of the smallest carbon footprints of any producer of spirits.  I am also installing a biomass boiler to help distill my spirits.  I only have two employees plus my wife so anytime anyone [writes about us it] is an honor......We take great pride in producing our vodka.  Of course it starts from the best grain in the world, right here in the heartland.  If we are going to do it, then we are going to do it right the first time.   That's our philosophy, and this is why we make very small batches and take our time to filter very slow.  Midwesterners work hard and expect an outstanding product without all the frills and expensive packaging. Most Wanted Vodka stands alone for delivering the highest quality and value you can get."