A product that is labeled organic doesn’t necessarily mean it’s environmentally friendly. A study conducted by researchers at the Univ. of Guelph showed that some organic pesticides can have a greater environmental impact than conventional pesticides because the organic product may require larger doses. The study has been published in PloS One.
Researchers compared the effectiveness and environmental impact of organic pesticides with those of conventional and reduced-risk synthetic products on soybean crops. The study involved testing synthetic pesticides (2 commonly-used conventional products and 2 new reduced-risk pesticides), a mineral oil-based organic pesticide and a product containing Beauveria bassiana fungus that infects and kills insects. These 6 products were compared for their environmental impact and effectiveness in killing soybean aphids. Field tests were also conducted on how well each pesticide targeted aphids while leaving lady beetles and insidious flower bug predators unharmed.
A study of conventional and organic pesticides showed that product selection
should be based on the environmental impact quotient rather
USDA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has released its report (“Oversight of the National Organic Program”) of an audit it conducted on how USDA administers the National Organic Program (NOP). The audit was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the Agricultural Marketing Service’s corrective actions implemented in response to an OIG audit of NOP conducted in July 2005. OIG also conducted the current audit because of the size and growth of the organic industry as well as the public’s increased interest in purchasing organic products.
In 2008, the organic industry had sales of $24.6 billion and grew between 14-21 percent annually over the past decade. NOP, created in October 2002, has the responsibility to assure consumers that organic products meet uniform standards and that they are appropriately labeled. Program regulations require that agricultural products labeled as organic originate from farms or handling operations certified by a state or private entity that has been accredited by the USDA.
OIG issued 14 recommendations to NOP officials to improve administration and internal controls. OIG recommended:
Walmart is seeking to eliminate 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from its global supply chain.
Walmart plans to eliminate 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from its global supply chain by the end of 2015. This represents 1½ times the company's estimated global carbon footprint growth over the next 5 years and is the equivalent of taking more than 3.8 million cars off the road for a year. Walmart collaborated with Environmental Defense Fund to develop this approach that looks at the supply chain on a global scale. Other advisers include: PricewaterhouseCoopers, ClearCarbon Inc., the Carbon Disclosure Project and the Applied Sustainability Center at the University of Arkansas. The group will identify projects, quantify reductions, engage suppliers and ensure proper procedures are followed for each greenhouse gas reduction claim. “Like everything we do at Walmart, this commitment ends up coming down to our customers,” said Walmart president and CEO Mike Duke.“Reducing carbon in the life cycle of our products will often mean reducing energy use. That will mean greater efficiency and, with the rising cost of energy, lower costs, making our business stronger and more competitive. And, as we help our suppliers reduce their energy use, costs and carbon footprint, we’ll be helping our customers do the same thing.” The greenhouse gas reduction program has three main components: Selection: Walmart will focus on the product categories with the highest embedded carbon. This approach ensures the project team focuses on the categories that have the greatest opportunity for reductions. Reductions can come from any part of a product’s life cycle. Action: For a project to be included as part of this goal, it must reduce greenhouse gases from a product in either the sourcing of raw materials, manufacturing, transportation, customer use or end-of-life disposal. Walmart must demonstrate it had direct influence on the reduction and show how that reduction would not have occurred without Walmart’s participation. Assessment: Suppliers and Walmart will jointly account for the reductions. ClearCarbon will perform a quality assurance review of those claims to ensure methodology, completeness and calculations are correct. When the claims meet the quality assurance check, PricewaterhouseCoopers will assess under consulting standards whether the defined procedures were followed consistently to quantify the reduction claim.
Members of Generation Y are all for saving the environment as long as it doesn’t cost them any more money. Based on a survey of 18- to 30-year-olds, researchers from Michigan State University found that young consumers won’t pay a premium price for an automobile simply because it is environmentally friendly. The determining factor is the automobile’s fuel efficiency. “It’s all about economic motivation,” said Clay Voorhees, assistant professor of marketing and lead faculty researcher on the project. “While people want to do the right thing – they want to save the world, particularly Gen Y – they need an extra incentive on top of the motivation of owning a car that produces less emissions.” He said the 75 million young adults that make up Gen Y are “maturing into a pragmatic generation that wants to do the right thing for the environment, but also has real economic concerns.” According to the study, young consumers will pay only $1,500 extra for a $20,000 automobile simply because it is a hybrid and considered environmentally friendly. But these same consumers will pay $8,000 more for a vehicle that delivers 15 extra miles per gallon – regardless of whether it’s a hybrid. Jeremy Vanisacker, a Michigan State graduate student involved in the project, was initially surprised that his fellow Gen Y’ers needed such a large economic incentive to buy an eco-friendly car. But he said it makes sense. “We’ve grown up with a green mindset but we haven’t really had to pay for it,” said Vanisacker. “Think about curbside recycling and free social networks. As a generation we’ve come to expect more for less.”
It’s a matter of education Voorhees said auto manufacturers need to do a better job of educating consumers on the financial benefits of owning eco-friendly vehicles. They typically cost more than their combustion-engine counterparts, but theoretically pay for themselves over time. “Why put the burden on a Gen Y customer to walk in the showroom and figure out how many miles they have to drive this Ford Fusion before they break even?” Voorhees said. “Automotive manufacturers need to make the investment in education to assist consumers in understanding how these technologies work and how they will ultimately help the environment and save them money.” If you expect Gen Y’ers to buy green, then you’re going to have to show them how it’s going to help them save green.
Gen Y’ers said they’d only pay $1,500 extra for a $20,000 automobile simply because it is a hybrid and considered environmentally friendly.
An increasing number of colleges are adding new majors and minors in green studies and the schools are having no problem filling the classes. USA Today reports that colleges across the country created more than 100 major, minors and certificates this year in programs dealing with energy and sustainability. In 2005, there were only three. Paul Rowland, executive director of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, told the newspaper that two factors are responsible for the increase: students want the courses and employers want trained students.
Arizona State University’s Global Institute of Sustainability started an undergraduate program 1½ years ago and now has 600 students who have declared sustainability as their major.
Illinois State University in Normal, Ill., has 65 majors in renewable energy. The program was started in 2008 with a $1 million grant from the Department of Energy. Richard Boser, chair of the Department of Technology, told USA Today the program has received more applicants than it can handle.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology has launched a minor in energy studies. MIT's student energy club, which only had a few hundred members a few years ago, now has 1,700 members.
University of California-Berkeley has seen an increase in its introductory energy class from less than 50 students 10 years ago to nearly 300.
As more cities, towns and counties across the United States consider how to become more sustainable, the effort to develop a plan to accomplish this can seem daunting. To assist jurisdictions in their efforts ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA has released a new Sustainability Planning Toolkit. The toolkit for the first time establishes best practices to develop a local sustainability plan that covers environmental, economic and social initiatives under one holistic vision. The toolkit, which was developed for ICLEI’s 600 U.S. local government members, is based on the planning model pioneered by New York City for its PlaNYC sustainability plan.
“This toolkit draws from the most recent best practices in the United States to help cities and counties take their sustainability planning efforts to the next level,” said Jeb Brugmann, ICLEI Global’s founder and current executive director of ICLEI USA. “With a sustainability plan to guide their actions, cities like New York, Minneapolis, Santa Monica and many others have shown that they can more effectively combat climate change, green their buildings, update infrastructure, invigorate their local economies, and improve public health and quality of life for their community members.”
To reach their chosen sustainability goals, local governments can follow ICLEI’s Five Milestones for Sustainability process, which is the foundation of the toolkit:
Milestone One: Conduct a sustainability assessment
Milestone Two: Establish sustainability goals
Milestone Three: Develop a local sustainability plan
Milestone Four: Implement policies and measures
Milestone Five: Evaluate progress and report results
Inside the toolkit, government employees will find guidance on how to structure their planning process, what types of strategies and measures to include in their plan, step-by-step guidelines to achieve each of the Five Milestones, best-practice examples, checklists, templates and guidelines for organizing a team to develop the plan.
The toolkit is the first of two major sustainability resources offered by ICLEI USA. The STAR Community Index, to be launched in 2011, is a national, consensus-based framework for gauging the sustainability and livability of U.S. communities. STAR will build on the Five Milestones by providing a comprehensive set of goals and measures that standardize how to plan and manage for sustainability at the local level. A soft launch of the set of municipal goals that will comprise this new framework is set for early 2010.
Toyota promotes its 3rd generation Prius as “Harmony between man, nature and machine.” What is far more impressive than this hybrid car is what the auto maker is doing at the Tsutsumi plant where the vehicle is manufactured. The company has established three initiatives for the facility related to using renewable energy, afforestation of plant sites to conserve local ecosystems and to contribute to the local community, and energy and resource conservation activities.
The Tsutsumi plant is equipped with solar panels that generate about 2,000 kW, the highest level for any automobile plant in the world.
Looking to co-exist in harmony with the local environment near the Tsutsumi facility, Toyota is planting native broad-leaved evergreen trees, including camphor, Japanese cleyera and Japanese blue oak. The company also plans to make use of its biotechnology and afforestation businesses to develop plants that absorb nitrogen oxide and to install green walls and roofs.
The company has developed two flower species, derived from the cherry sage plant and gardenia, that will be planted around the Tsutsumi plant. According to www.Drive.com.au, the cherry sage plant absorbs harmful gases, and the gardenia’s leaves produce water vapor that helps to reduce the air temperature around the auto plant and reduces the need for cooling which helps to limit the production of carbon dioxide.
In October Toyota celebrated the 10th anniversary of its floriculture business, Toyota Floritech Co. The company was started with Hakusan Co., a seed and seedling import company, for the production and sales of potted flowering and ornamental plants.
USDA has announced that the Oregon Department of Agriculture is now able to offer organic certification. ODA has become an accredited certifying agent for the National Organic Program. ODA inspectors can begin inspecting organic production and handling operations to certify they meet USDA standards. Oregon becomes the 16th state to offer certification under the National Organic Program.
Those interested in getting certified can apply anytime before the April 1, 2010 deadline, to be on the inspection schedule through the coming year. Producers and handlers will need to apply to ODA every year for certification.
Six ODA employees are trained and qualified to conduct organic audits. Inspectors will be located in all ODA district offices across the state to offer regional expertise and close proximity.
“It's not to take away from Oregon Tilth or any of the other organic certifiers currently operating in the state,” says ODA director Katy Coba. “It will still be the choice of the grower or processor. They don't have to use ODA’s organic certification services.”
Many of the inquiries about the ODA certification program are coming from companies that were certified by the Washington State Department of Agriculture. WSDA is phasing out its organic certification services in Oregon. ODA has looked at WSDA's program as a model and a training source.
Part of Oregon’s allocation of federal Specialty Crop Grant funds last year was used to set up ODA’s organic certification program. The agency will focus on crops in the first year and will not conduct organic livestock certification or certify organic wild crops, such as wild mushrooms.
Organic production represents a small percentage of overall agricultural production in Oregon, but it continues to grow. According to the latest U.S. Census of Agriculture, which is conducted every five years, organic production sales in Oregon increased nearly 900 percent, from about $9.9 million in 2002 to $88 million in 2007. More than 92,000 acres are now planted for organic production.
A recent grocery shopping survey of consumers in 10 countries found that among American shoppers, 72 percent prefer to buy local food brands, 49 percent want nothing more than to “get in” and “get out” and 65 percent think items are overpriced. Global market intelligence company Synovate conducted the survey in Brazil, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Netherlands, Russia, Republic of Serbia, the United Arab Emirates and United States. It covered over 6,700 grocery shoppers.
Fifty-seven percent of American grocery shoppers do one big shopping trip a week, and 23 percent do one major buying excursion on a monthly basis. Americans and Malaysians are the least likely to shop for groceries daily, both at 4 percent.
Overall, most respondents chose the supermarket as the place they buy their groceries (64 percent), followed by big hypermarkets/superstores (37 percent) and local non-chain grocery stores (29 percent). The Dutch (97 percent) and Americans (89 percent) are the most likely to shop at supermarkets. Only 10 percent of Americans say they do their grocery shopping at superstores, while 23 percent claim to want a “one-stop-shop” where they can take care of their grocery and other retail needs.
Almost half (48 percent) of Americans would buy groceries online if they could be sure the service was secure and they would receive high quality products. Forty-four percent of Americans also say that loyalty programs are an important incentive when deciding where to shop.
Hold the frills and prices
For all of the countries surveyed, overall, 40 percent of people say they are spending less than they did 12 months ago, including 39 percent of Americans. While 62 percent of people worldwide said they would readily switch food brands if they found a cheaper alternative, the French (81 percent) and Americans (78 percent) were the most likely to do this.
Over 75 percent of the survey participants indicated that grocery products are over-priced and should be cheaper, including 65 percent of U.S. consumers. Americans and the Dutch are clearly more “no-frills” when it comes to their grocery shopping experience.
“When it comes to grocery shopping the only kind of change Americans seem to want is the kind that goes in their wallet,” said Laurel Ashbrook, senior vice president of Consumer and Business Insights for Synovate. “They are not really interested in a modified format for stores and, in a still uncertain economy, the best bet for U.S. grocery retailers is to keep prices and frills to a minimum.”
Increasing interest in sustainability
Sixty-two percent of consumers indicated they would go out of their way to shop at an environmentally-friendly supermarket. The interest in sustainability is led globally by 86 percent of Russians and 85 percent of Malaysians. The Dutch (18 percent) and Americans (22 percent) are least interested in this.
Across the 10 countries surveyed, 79 percent of respondents found the idea of recycling facilities in supermarkets and grocery stores interesting. Ninety percent of Brazilians (the highest among all markets surveyed) agreed it was a good idea compared to 72 percent of Americans.
Philadelphia is making a major commitment to storm water—a $1.6 billion commitment. Dealing with a sewage system that cannot handle the millions of gallons of rainwater the city receives annually, city officials have proposed a 20-year plan that would divert the water to other outlets. The 3,000+ page plan would establish rain gardens and green roofs in both public and commercial locations along with the installation of thousands of trees and porous pavement. Although the proposed plan is currently under review by regulators and environmental groups, the initial comments have been positive.
Jon Capacasa, regional director of water protection at EPA, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the plan “is the most significant use of green infrastructure” that he has ever seen, as well as being the largest.
Patrick Starr, senior vice president of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, told the newspaper that the plan is the most significant investment to transform the city ever proposed. He expects that it will change the look of neighborhoods, city blocks and streets.
It is estimated that the city has to deal with 14 million gallons of storm water overflow a year. Rather than trying to manage the storm water, city officials decided to look for ways to deal with rain water where it lands. The plan is to replace the city’s concrete and asphalt with plants including rain gardens, green roofs, landscapes curb extensions, vegetative swales in parking lots and mini wetlands. Streets and parking lots would be repaved with porous asphalt that lets the rainwater flow through to prevent the formation of puddles.
The city has already begun to require commercial developments that disturb 15,000 square feet or more of land to install capture systems for runoff. For some projects this will mean the installation of green roofs, similar to the one on the city’s Museum of Art parking garage.
The city’s Water Department has also begun phasing in storm water rates for commercial customers based on the amount of impervious surface area they maintain rather than on how much water they use.
Homeowners who are trying to be more environmentally friendly are finding some of their efforts are being considered not so neighbor friendly by surrounding residents and homeowner associations. Simple conservation efforts such as installing rain barrels and hanging clothes on outdoor clotheslines are being frowned upon by some neighbors. Installation of solar panels and wind turbines, which are being encouraged with federal and state tax incentives, are running into roadblocks because of homeowner association regulations.
The Baltimore Sun reports that while some of this opposition is related to safety and security, a lot has to do with aesthetics. Alexander Lee, executive director of the Project Laundry List, a non-profit organization that promotes air drying and cold water washing, told the newspaper that although some people consider air drying to be something done only by poor people, it is becoming an eco-chic activity. Some states, including Florida, Maine, Vermont and Hawaii, have passed legislation requiring homeowner associations to allow the use of clotheslines. Similar legislation in Maryland, Virginia, Oregon and New Hampshire has failed.
USA Today reports that these new laws are considered intrusive by some associations, whose officials and members feel these decisions should be made by local association boards. Bruce Benton, an association board member of a Tamarac subdivision in Horse Shoe, N.C., told the newspaper that the recession has caused property values to decline and they could drop even more if residents have to watch someone’s drawers blowing in the wind.
A 2001 report by the U.S. Department of Energy indicated that nearly 6 percent of home electricity goes to operate clothes dryers.
Florida residents and tourists driving through the state will soon see some changes to the eight gas-and-food rest areas along the 312-mile turnpike. Four of the eight are being torn down and rebuilt and others will be updated and remodeled to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. USA Today reports that Florida Governor Charlie Crist has promoted efforts in the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase energy efficiency.
When the Florida Turnpike Enterprise awarded a 30-year concessions agreement to Areas USA FLTP this spring to operate the fuel, food and retail operations along the state’s turnpike the new contract included a construction commitment of about $162 million by the company. The agreement features a combination of renovated, expanded and newly constructed restaurant buildings and new convenience stores and fuel stations. The existing gas stations were originally constructed between 1957 and 1964, while the restaurant buildings were last reconstructed in 1988. Areas USA has hired Miami-based Zyscovich Architects to handle the designs of the renovated and new rest stops.
“The buildings have been registered with the U.S. Green Building Council and will pursue LEED Silver Certification,” said project manager Kricket Snow.
Snow said the building designs will focus on a modern architectural approach that changes both the presence of the plazas and the expectations of travelers who visit them. With an eye toward enhanced customer service, the designs will incorporate outdoor seating, an indoor sit-down restaurant, high ceilings, an abundance of natural lighting and a variety of seating/lounge environments where travelers can relax. USA Today reports that the outdoor seating areas will be landscaped with indigenous plants that don’t require irrigation.
Architect Bernard Zyscovich told the paper that each rest plaza is considered to be an oasis.
“They’re going to be places more oriented to leave a lasting image,” he said.