Project: Green Industry

This green issue is really a greenback initiative

Today, guest blogger Steven C. Boody responds to Yale Youngblood’s Project: Green Industry blog entry of April 21 on sustainable projects at Eagle Creek Growers in Mantua, Ohio.

I read Yale Youngblood’s interesting comments on Eagle Creek’s “self-sustainability and green operations,” and being an environmentalist from the 60’s, I thought I would provide you with an alternative position. First it would seem the words “self-sustainability and green operations” are an oxymoron in that I paid for their “self-sustainability.” I believe that we should all conserve our resources and be good stewards, and with that in mind I have a couple of questions for you:

What is the total dollar value of the energy consumption for Eagle Creek on an annual basis?

What did the project cost the taxpayer?

At x-dollar based on a kilowatt hour (electric) or on a cubic foot (gas), how many years will it take for the project to provide me with a return on my money – that is to say, for a break-even point – and are they paying the taxpayer back for the money we invested?

I think projects of this nature are great, but I also think that if it is so great and that Eagle Creek is going to pocket the gain or profit from the project, they ought to pay for it. If it makes sense economically to save our resource consumption (and it does), don’t you think Eagle Creek should have paid for it?

Throwing money at a green project is senseless if it will not pay for itself – and if it will pay for itself, why am I paying for it? What was the carbon footprint to manufacture the windmill and other components, to truck the components to the site, to install it; did the materials come from the United States and produce employment for Americans, are the light bulbs coming from the U.S. or China, etc.?

How many green projects will it take to offset one volcano eruption, and how are you going to stop them from happening? Are you willing to go to India and tell them they have to get rid of their cows? Have you voiced your outrage at [former] vice-president Gore for his huge house or his flying around the world in a private jet (wasting untold carbon credits)? Have you called the Kennedys and told them what hypocrites they are for not wanting windmills on their area of the coast? When the greenies start walking versus wasting our resources by driving, not air conditioning their homes or using it in their cars, and flying around the world in their private jets, I will start listening to them.

-- Steven C. Boody
Associate of Arts in Botany
Bachelor of Science in Forest Management (minored in Urban Forestry)
Master of Landscape Architecture (minored in Natural Resource Economics)
Master of Science in Public Administration
Office of Administration, State of Missouri, (5 years - environmental, natural resources, land use planning, agriculture, transportation and legislative issues)

New book tackles “The ABCs of Green Industry Communications”

Sylvia Hoehns Wright, author of The ABCs of Green Industry Communications, is the recipient of the 2008 Turn America from Eco-weak to Eco-Chic Award & 2005 VA Horticulture Foundation Educator Award. She has also volunteered as communications and public relations chairperson for the Virginia Green Industry Council's GoGreen project, www.virginiagreen.org. Details of her business, communication or environmental activities are available at www.TheWrightScoop.com  or contact Sylvia@TheWrightScoop.com.

Do you struggle to establish an easily recognized industry presence? If you answered ‘yes,’ you are not alone.

For more than two years, the above question was posed to the industry. As a result on March 1st I am honored to announce the publication of my book, The ABCs of Green Industry Communications (ID #6083320): http://www.lulu.com/content/6083320.

Through the encouragement of a teacher, a venue, the opportunity to be an instructor for green industry communications, occurred. It was during an industry event that I met Leonard O. Morrow, a Dean of Horticulture for a central Virginia community college. As we talked, he said, “A colleague told me, you are a good writer and speaker. I’ve read your material and recently heard you speak.” Somewhat embarrassed by the encounter, I said ‘thank you’ and attempted to change the subject; but persisting, Len inquired, “Can you analyze your communication style and share it with my students?”

Overcoming the snags of success

Jeff Collard with Eberly Public Relations recently talked with Ed Overdevest, president of Overdevest Nurseries about the challenges he faced when developing Footprints, a line of sustainably grown plants.

Consumer demand for eco-friendly products and services from the horticulture industry is driving the exciting, rapid innovation and development of truly “green” plants and merchandising techniques. In keeping with this growing need, Overdevest Nurseries, the founder of the Garden Splendor brand of plants, just launched a line of sustainable plant products under its new Footprints brand.

However, with any new endeavor, there are hurdles. Footprints is considered to be among the first product lines in the industry to be fully sustainable, and Ed Overdevest, president of Overdevest Nurseries (Garden Splendor plant brand and Footprints plant brand), knows firsthand how a step forward in environmentally sound products must first be met with a few challenges.

So, naturally, we were curious to learn about some of the more difficult obstacles he faced while conceiving and creating the new program – truly developing a plant line that is green, from start to finish. Surprisingly, it appeared the most difficult obstacle was simply thinking outside the norm and reaching for untraditional, sustainable solutions.

One of the first obstacles was searching for the right biodegradable container source and the researching of potential manufacturers. The matter was not a shortage of sustainable containers or attractive pots. It was the combination of both that proved to be a matter of some time and energy. Overdevest worked to find an elegant natural-fibered container that would serve as an eye-catching draw for customers and still meet viable sustainability requirements.

Perhaps a more telling challenge which led Overdevest to think outside the box was settling on how to use and display the new Footprints tags. The original plan was to stick the tags in the potting soil for herbaceous items and hang them with string for woody items. But, for presentation’s sake, Footprints wanted to switch to utilizing label stakes similar to those used with other Overdevest Nurseries plant lines which have been successful in the past.

Unfortunately, using traditional label stakes was a short-lived plan. No sooner had Overdevest thought of this, he quickly dismissed it since that particular stake would have been an inherent contradiction of plastic versus sustainable. This led to the testing and use of a bamboo stake as a simple and striking alternative. The eventual inclusion of the bamboo tag stake simply added to the overall “all-green” concept. With creative brainstorming and innovative measures, the Footprints plant brand is one of very few fully sustainable plant brand options on the market.

-- Jeff Collard

3 E’s of sustainability help growers with the bigger picture

Lynette Von Minden, a public relations counsel from the Swanson Russell agency in Lincoln, Nebraska, has close ties to the green industry. Through her work with a variety of green industry clients, she has observed a major shift toward sustainable products and business tactics. Today, she talks with The Scotts Professional Group about how growers can make sustainable business decisions based on a balanced combination of three primary elements: efficiency, economics and ecology.

Over the past few years, the concept of sustainability has virtually exploded within the ornamental horticulture industry. Many companies are trying to capitalize on a pervasive consumer trend favoring products perceived as environmentally safe or as leaving behind a negligible environmental footprint. Is this trend here to stay -- and are we heading toward fundamental changes in both the products we use and in our growing practices?

Is the future here already?
Chris Buchheit, marketing manager of ornamental horticulture for the Scotts Co.’s Professional Business Group, is acutely aware of the challenges growers are now facing.

“Sustainability is already affecting how growers produce, market and sell their crops,” Buchheit said. “For instance, some large retailers might demand an official sustainability label on any growers’ crops before accepting them for sale, and these growers might be required to undergo a periodic business review process to maintain the ability to claim that they are using sustainable practices.”

Buchheit’s team developed its own take on sustainability within the horticulture industry by challenging the belief that inorganic fertilizer and chemical use are not sustainable.

“We’ve come up with our own definition of sustainability that we call our ‘e3’ approach,” Buchheit said. “It focuses on what we truly feel are the primary elements of sustainability -- efficiency, economics and ecology -- and how these elements can work together effectively.”

New, efficient diesel trucks could be a boon to nursery industry

David Kiley is a senior correspondent at BusinessWeek. Kiley is based in the Detroit bureau and writes frequently about the auto industry. He is also the author of 2 books: “Getting The Bugs Out: The Rise, Fall and Comeback of Volkswagen in America” (2001. John Wiley & Sons); “Driven: Inside BMW, The Most Admired Car Company in the World” (Wiley, 2004). Today, Kiley talks about a new line of diesel-powered light pickup trucks that could be a good choice for nursery operations.

Global Vehicles, a company in Alpharetta, Ga. is planning on introducing the Mahindra brand to the U.S. in late 2009 or early 2010. Mahindra & Mahindra is a leading auto manufacturer in India. It is known to some in the U.S. as a maker of tractors. In fact, it has the 3rd highest market share in the tractor category in the U.S.

On the surface, it appears that Global Vehicles and Mahindra are leaning into a windmill in the U.S., launching diesel-powered light pickup trucks in the teeth of a recession, high gas prices and a housing meltdown. To launch a largely unknown brand into those headwinds seems a little nutty. Doesn’t it?

Maybe not.

An inconvenient truth of green products

Adrian Gonzalez with ARC Advisory Group recently wrote about the tradeoffs consumers face when buying green. You can read his original post on the ARC Web site here.

I'm learning that green doesnt go with everything, like those strange-shade-of-green pants abandoned in my closet. The last time I wore them, all it took was a raised eyebrow from my wife for me to head back upstairs, head-down defeated.

These days, it's me doing the eyebrow raising, as I'm bombarded with ads and press releases linking 'green' (as in "environmentally friendly") with all sorts of products and services.  Is Bubble Wrap, for example, a 'green' product?  The folks at Shoplet.com think so.  The product is included in the "Shop Green" section of its website (tagline: "Save Money, Save the Planet"), along with telephones, cameras, pens, and other items that contain recycled or recyclable materials (apparently, recyclability is the only criteria Shop-let.com used in making its 'green' selections). 

On the one hand, Bubble Wrap allows companies to protect their products with less packaging material compared to alternatives such as loose fill or paper.  Sealed Air, the manufacturer of Bubble Wrap, also encourages customers to reuse the material as much as possible to "delay [it's] final disposal and reduce the amount of materials needed to manufacture new products."  On the other hand, Bubble Wrap is a petroleum-based material, a co-extrusion of nylon and polyethylene that can't be processed at many municipal recycling locations.  Sealed Air has seven sites where customers can ship used material for recycling, but customers have to pay for shipping, and the wrap must be free of tape, labels or any foreign materials.  (In this case, it's important to note that the product is being promoted as 'green' by the retailer, not the manufacturer).

This example illustrates an inconvenient truth of many 'green' products and initiatives: there are tradeoffs that companies and consumers must acknowledge and address.  Negatives may still exist, even if the net results are positive.  It’s like prescription drugs: you can take a little purple pill to treat your heartburn, but you may have to deal with headaches, diarrhea, and dry mouth in the process.

Tradeoffs exist because most products, manufacturing processes, and supply chains were not designed with sustainability in mind.  Although sustainability is weaving its way into the industrial world, change will occur slowly, so companies and consumers will have to manage these tradeoffs for many years to come.  But what are the tradeoffs?  Unfortunately, you won't find the answer in most articles about 'green' and sustainability.

Adrift in an organic world

Tish Llaneza, owner of Countryside Gardens in Hampton, Va., is one of many retailers attempting to navigate the sustainability rapids. Today she offers some insight on the challenges she faces in selecting products and educating consumers.

Here are my thoughts on organics as a garden center owner: We can lead or follow.

I live on a peninsula and many who people live near the water are seeing beach closings and fish dying in ponds. Although some customers will settle for products labeled as Earth friendly, I believe true organics will rule for a sizable segment of the population in a few years.

We researched the difference between “organic,” “Earth friendly,” “natural” and “environmentally friendly.” Organic product licensing is still pending in Virginia, so true organic products are not easily defined. The plan was to read labels, compare ingredients, test each one and come up with the best of the best for my customers.

An avalanche of new products
When I decided to really take on organics, I didn’t think I would end up with nine organic deer and rabbit lines and 15 pesticides to test. I attended four major horticultural shows this season and got information and samples from many green companies.

So many new companies are on the market that we have a lot of product to test. It would be great if people with no hands in the kitty could test these products for us, and if several groups did this around the nation it would be even better.

We have tested a variety already, and we think we may end up with the product we had originally, which is Espoma. As our research continues there will be a few product additions.

Espoma is an established company with decades of experience and testing. I wrongly assumed that older companies wouldn’t be up with the latest. To my surprise they were on top of things.

I am disappointed with some of the new kids on the block. Here is an example.
Many of the organic animal deterrents are products we already have on our shelves, such as dried blood and sulphur. I’m left with a moral issue -- do I charge $24.99 for one particular brand or $5.99 for 5 pounds of dried blood from Espoma?

On the box of the more expensive brand, it says in small print, “proven effective on dormant plants.”

Dormant plants don’t have flowers or sometimes even leaves. Does that mean the product won’t work when plants aren’t dormant, which is when the deer, rabbit, etc., do the most damage?

It may be a bad business decision, but after a discussion with my employees, we will not carry the repellents that are already on the shelf for another use.

The more expensive brand, by the way, listed us as a distributor after they sent me a sample. It is listed as a top pick by the National Home and Garden Club. I bring this to your attention because I think it is really important to understand what is in the box or bag we are selling.