Garden Planning: It’s All About When

Many lawn and garden plants are pretty resilient, so maybe you don't worry too much about knowing the exact right time to take care of each and every garden task. But you will undoubtedly achieve the best results, the biggest harvest, the prettiest flowers, the least disease problems (you see where I’m going…) by paying attention to timing. Knowing when to plant, water, weed, fertilize, mulch and harvest can get pretty overwhelming when the season’s in full swing, so here are a few resources to help with garden planning. Now, go out and grow your best garden ever! ...continued
 

State of Green Business 2010

Packaging issues have been of concern ever since the advent of "green" as a business issue. Early efforts were to create packaging from recycled or recyclable materials, then to reduce or eliminate packaging altogether. Packaging from biodegradable materials has had several false starts, probably because few packaging actually degrade in landfills or anywhere else. A variety of newfangled materials have come to the fore, though few passed muster, in terms of meeting price and performance characteristics. In the end, most of these products were -- well, sent packing.

At last, genuine packaging innovations appear to be in the bag. In 2009, a new generation of materials and products emerged with the intentions of being used in large quantities by big companies. Coca-Cola announced it developed a bottle made with 30 percent plant derivatives, intended for use initially for bottled waters. The company says the bioplastic container can be recycled through typical recycling systems without contaminating other plastics. Coke says it wants to make bottles with 100 percent plant materials eventually, and is eyeing wood chips, corn stover and wheat stalks as possible bottle materials.

There were other innovations. Dell started shipping two of its products padded with bamboo cushioning, a part of the company's broad plan to reduce its packaging while using more recyclable material. Amazon.com launched a private label brand called AmazonBasics, shipped in what it calls Frustration-Free Packaging: minimal, easy-to-open and recyclable. Kraft Foods UK introduced resealable plastic coffee  ...contintued

Second Girl Dies in Apparent
Pesticide Poisoning in Utah
by Linda Delp

As reported here an elsewhere in the national media (although not loudly enough) two days ago, a 4-year-old girl died of apparent pesticide poisoning after her parents hired a company to rid their lawn of voles. On Tuesday, the girl’s 15-month-old sister also passed away.

The environmental and health community is aghast that the EPA ever allowed the pesticide in this case — Fumitoxin, or aluminum phosphide — to be registered for home use in the first place. The product releases a toxic gas, phosphine, that according to the EPA is not allowed to be used within 15 feet of a home.

When the tablets or granules of the product are dropped into a vole or mole hole in the lawn, however, it is virtually impossible to predict where the tunnels might lead underground. It is quite possible, in fact, that a tunnel originating 15 feet or more from the home could lead directly into the structure — thereby releasing the gas directly into the living area, which is apparently what happened in the Utah case.

We hope this serves as a wake-up call for the EPA  ...continued