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Giving it back
11 Former rocker goes country; returns to
Midtown to share wealth of produce
Conference looks
13 Conservation
can be fun
15 at biofuel’s future
Protecting world
17 Team Green
Zone on go
20 one seed at a time
In need of a
weekend
project?
Treat your
home to a
thorough,
eco-friendly
tidy-up
session this
fall that will
improve the
indoor air
quality and By Matt Hickman / Mother Nature Network (mnn.com)
energy s it just me, or is fall just as good a time — or even
I
better — to commit to household cleaning as
efficiency spring?
I mean, after all, fall is when you start to batten
of your down the hatches and prepare for a bit of house-
bound hibernation, right?
It’s the season for preventive cleaning so that
home when you don’t spend all winter — when you’d rather be
curled up in bed or entertaining holiday houseguests
winter — dealing with mundane household odds and ends.
That said, here are a few eco-cleaning tips and tidbits
arrives. to consider this fall.
The Commercial Appeal Sunday, October 24, 2010 | GOING GREEN 5
or haul them to a consignment store. in your home, try the newly released
For items that don’t make the line of Method Antibac antibacterial
donation/resale cut, keep them cleaners, which includes all-purpose
around as cleaning rags or incorporate wipes, bathroom cleaner and kitchen
them into craft projects for when cleaner. Like Seventh Generation’s
you’re stuck inside in January. botanical disinfecting line, Method
Antibac products are “powered” by
CleanWell’s effective, EPA-registered
thyme-based disinfecting technology.
And if you haven’t done so already,
purge your home of all antibacterial
cleaning and personal care products
that contain the dastardly chemical
triclosan.
Not necessarily green,
but still a good idea ...
Flip mattresses
Inspect (and clean, if needed) the
Kitchen staples like baking soda, gutters
vinegar and lemon juice can be Vacuum drapes/window
used to make your own natural treatments and upholstered furniture
cleaning and laundering solutions. Clean the “four C’s”: carpets,
cupboards, chandeliers and
Nontoxic DIY cleaners: (refrigerator) coils
Now is the thyme Wipe down outdoor/patio
Fall’s the time to start prepping the furniture before storing
pantry for the holiday baking season Test smoke/carbon monoxide
and for have-the-munchies-but-too- detectors
cold-to-leave-the-house kind of days. Wash the windows
While you’re fiddling around with Polish the silver
foodstuffs and taking kitchen cabinet Drain and store your garden
inventory, why not experiment with hoses
staples like baking soda, vinegar,and Organize your kitchen
lemon juice and make your own Launder all linens and bedding
natural cleaning and laundering (give cold-water washing a shot
solutions? If you’ve never done it and/or line drying outdoors before the
before, you’ll be surprised at their weather turns too damp/cold).
effectiveness (not to mention their Matt Hickman writes about the best
money-saving appeal). ways to go green at home on this blog:
If DIY cleaners aren’t your proverbial www.mnn.com/featured-blogs/greenhome.
cup of tea and you’re concerned about Visit the Mother Nature Network on the
the presence of back-to-school germs World Wide Web at mnn.com.
The Commercial Appeal Sunday, October 24, 2010 | GOING GREEN 7
1. Full Circle
Stick 'Em Up
Magnet Kitchen
Towel,
Reuseit.com
($8.95)
Cleaning season
This fall, use natural products in your home
By Suzanne Thompson As you’re getting ready to head into a
Special to Going Green new season, it’s a good time to de-
clutter the closets and get out winter
With the holiday season just around things and get the kitchen ready for the
the corner, fall is an ideal time to start holidays — like organizing the cabinets,
preparing homes for entertaining and according to Jacquie Janus, office man-
out-of-town guests, and the first step is ager at 2 Chicks and a Broom.
a good deep cleaning. The change in season is a good time
The Commercial Appeal Sunday, October 24, 2010 | GOING GREEN 9
Nature lovers
Conservation Through Art can be fun for all
By Mike Mueller slippery whiskered-friend a kiss before
mueller@commercialappeal.com throwing it back.
“Bye-bye, fishy,” said Kennedy with a
Five-year-old Kennedy Nash squealed wave. “I’ll see you soon.”
on the bank as she reeled in a 12-inch Kennedy was one of more than 500
catfish from the large pond near Patriot children and adults who converged on
Lake at Shelby Farms. Shelby Farms last Sunday afternoon to
Though slightly disgusted by the attend the fourth installment of Con-
looks of her first catch, she blew her servation Through Art Family Day.
14 GOING GREEN | Sunday, October 24, 2010 commercialappeal.com
Hosted by ArtsMemphis and Ducks including Belz Museum, the Metal Mu-
Unlimited every other year, the free seum and the Tennessee Shakespeare
event featured family-fun activities, such Company, sat behind tables and taught
as duck-calling lessons, conservation participants how to make colorful fish
and recreation games with biologists, a flags, bracelets, and ways to recycle in
Labrador retriever and working-dog iambic pentameter, respectively.
demonstration, arts and crafts and, Volunteers from Great Outdoors Uni-
Kennedy’s favorite, fishing. versity taught aspiring fisherman and
Participants were also treated to per- women to bait their lines, cast them
formances by Ballet Memphis, Watoto into the water, and hook the catch-of-
de Afrika and a production of “The Ugly the-day.
Duckling” by Theatre Memphis outside Jonathan Rich, national director of
the park’s Visitor Center. gift planning for Ducks Unlimited, said
“Not all kids like to hunt, not all kids once kids are exposed to outdoor ac-
like to dance, but there’s something out tivities, they often like them and want
here for everybody,” said Susan Schadt, to do them again, even in today’s digital
president and CEO of ArtsMemphis. age.
“This is our gift to the city, from “It gets them away from the Xbox and
ArtsMemphis and Ducks Unlimited and that kind of stuff and gets them back
all the other organizations involved.” outside,” said Rich.
Volunteers from those organizations, Baptist Memorial Hospital sponsored
The Commercial Appeal Sunday, October 24, 2010 | GOING GREEN 15
By Toby Sells
Banking sells@commercialappeal.com
Courtesy of Masdar
The first students have started to move into the dome or the Library building of
the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi.
that it will also consider buying re- Masdar now says the podcar system
newable power from other locations. will be limited to an “ongoing pilot
Vast solar arrays were originally slat- project,” and that other types of electric
ed to provide the bulk of Masdar City’s vehicles may be allowed in the future.
power. Gulf energy expert Robert Bryniak,
As part of its new plans, Masdar said chief executive of Golden Sands Man-
it is going to limit the development of a agement Consulting in Abu Dhabi, said
highly publicized network of personal it made sense for Masdar to re-examine
podcars that would shuttle tens of thou- its plans. He described the original tar-
sands of Masdar City residents and vis- gets as “extremely aggressive” given the
itors around the six square kilometer timeframe involved.
(2.3 square mile) development. “Trying to get to a zero-carbon foot-
The “personal rapid transit” podcars, print is extremely difficult. To try to
which would travel on fixed tracks, were supply all the energy internally was go-
meant to replace personal vehicles in a ing to be a pretty tough challenge,” he
city that promised to be entirely car- said.
free. Some parts of Masdar City are al-
24 GOING GREEN | Sunday, October 24, 2010 commercialappeal.com
The first Leafs are expected for delivery to U.S. drivers by December — rolling
off the line at $25,280 after a federal tax break.
your performance at the wheel helps doing more than any other state to put
determine how far you’ll get. There’s a in a charging network. But other states
nicely designed app for the iPhone (or are also getting involved: EV purchase
any computer) that allows the driver to subsidies of one form or another are
remotely stop or start a charge, as well also in place in Tennessee (where the
as pre-heat or cool the car’s cabin. A Leaf will be built starting in model year
screen-based timer can be set to start 2013), Hawaii, Georgia and Colorado.
charging late at night when rates or low, Anyone can get the federal $7,500 tax
but you can override it with a touch of a incentive, and also an up-to-$2,000 tax
button to start charging immediately. credit to install a 240-volt charger. But
Does it have USB iPod access? Of that one expires Dec. 31 unless the
course — did you have to ask? dithering Congress manages to renew
The incentives are in place. Some it. It’s too bad we’re not Chinese, be-
Leaf owners will be luckier than others. cause over there you can get $8,800 for
Luckiest are in California, where a buying an EV.
$5,000 cash rebate gets the price down The economics make sense. Accord-
to around $20,000. California is also ing to Paul Hawsom, Nissan’s product
26 GOING GREEN | Sunday, October 24, 2010 commercialappeal.com
ASK MNN
Wine on tap?
Refillable bottles make for greener wine experience
The NPA
winery sells
its wine only
in these
unique
reusable
canteens --
each holding
the same
amount as a
standard
wine bottle -
- or in larger
kegs for
restaurants
who want to
serve from
the tap.
a discount and still make money. but Meyer’s heard from a number of
Everyone wins on it.” wineries in California “who think it’s a
There’s another benefit: The wine great idea and are interested in doing
always tastes fresh. Restaurants often it.”
pour their by-the-glass selections from There are some issues with refillables.
bottles that sit for days, until the For one thing, a regular label won’t
contents inside have staled. Tap survive the washing process. Pend
systems, by contrast, use an inert gas d’Oreille gets around that by using a
like argon or nitrogen to push the wine silkscreened label. And while the system
through the lines. Being inert, the gas works well for direct-from-winery sales,
doesn’t react with the wine; in fact, it “we haven’t solved quite how we could
protects the wine for weeks or months take it into a larger format, like a
against oxidation. (Wineries blanket grocery store,” Meyer says.
their wines with the same gases for the The process is intended for a “drink
same reason during the tank-storage now” kind of wine. Like the other
phase of the production process.) wineries using refillables, Pend d’Oreille
Refilling wine bottles is common in is still putting its premium wines — the
Europe. So far, the refillable approach kind that age well — in one-time-use
isn’t widespread in the United States, bottles.
The Commercial Appeal Sunday, October 24, 2010 | GOING GREEN 33
On the road
Eco-friendly travel
destinations in the
United States
MEATLESS MONDAY
Coleslaw Tempeh Joes
Topped with cool coleslaw,
these saucy sandwiches are
a great way to try tempeh
for the first time. Try it on a
variety of whole wheat
breads or multigrain seeded
sandwich rolls. This recipe
comes to us from our
friends at myrecipes.com.