Love Terracycle

When I broke into a bag of peanut MnMs this morning, I noticed a familiar logo on the back of the package, Terracycle, and was reminded that I have not been sending much material their way lately nor have I plugged them enough on the blog. 

So... In case you haven't heard of them, Terracycle is a fantastic, award-winning small business which specializes in "up-cycling," that is, making consumer products from post-consumer materials. Founded by a few guys from Princeton and headquartered in New Jersey, the company that used to produce natural plant products (worm waste products) has diversified to collecting millions of waste units to be transformed into useful products - all while collecting a ton of money for charity. You've probably seen their logo on various back-to-school items on sale at major retailers like Target and Walmart or possibly recognize the name from the Terra-Team's reality show "Garbage Moguls" that premiered Earth Day of 2009 on National Geographic. All this even after the company founder, Tom Szaky, turned down a million dollar prize from the Carrot Capital Business Plan contest because he didn't like the direction Carrot Capital wanted to take the company. Love it. Donate, shop, and learn all about Terracycle here.

First Day Factoids

Today was the first day of school for students throughout the state of Maryland and this blogger was no exception. In an effort to get some street credit in the field we've all been learning about together here on the blog, I enrolled in the Institute of Applied Agriculture at the University of Maryland, College Park, and had a wonderful first day on campus today. In the spirit of spreading the love, here are some fun factoids I brought home:

• 98% of biomass on the earth is plants.
• 60% of the pharmaceuticals we use today are phytoderivative (from plants).
• Wood/timber is a $41 billion industry in the U.S.
• One acre of trees moves six tons of CO2 and produces four tons of oxygen.
• An important ingredient in Aspirin called Salicylic Acid comes from willow.
• Carbon Dioxide concentrations are highest during the winter. (I guess this one is sort of obvious, huh?)
• It takes 10 lbs of corn to produce a single pound of beef.
• It takes 4.5 lbs of corn to produce a single pound of pork.
• Corn holds the biggest market share of any crop in the U.S.
• In the early 1900s, one in ten people were directly involved in agriculture. Today the ratio is one in 140.
• The first records of agriculture (think drawings on cave walls) date back to 8,000BC.

Chevron is worse than BP.

Just came across these clips from the film Crude. The above was posted on 365 Days of Trash. I don't understand how I haven't seen this "Herculean work of investigative journalism" yet but plan to do so soon and suggest the same for our readers. I think we may have linked to an article about its release last year but then lost track. Anywho, the DVD is available for purchase here.



For those of you who may not be able to view videos in the office, the film by Joe Berlinger follows one of the largest and most controversial legal cases on the planet: the $27 billion Amazon Chernobyl lawsuit pitting 30,000 rain forest dwellers in Ecuador against the U.S. oil giant Chevron.

Another reason organic and sustainable farming practices need to be the majority

A new study published in PLoS ONE has found that "nitrate elicits developmental and reproductive toxicity at environmentally relevant concentrations due likely to its intracellular conversion to nitric oxide." In plainer terms, toxicologists at North Carolina State University studied water fleas, often known by their Latin name daphnia magna, and found that the little creatures can convert nitrites and nitrates to the significantly more toxic: nitric oxide. The nitric oxide can then cause developmental and reproductive toxicity in the tiny water fleas which, for example, leads to water flea babies born sans swimming appendages. So where are the nitrates coming from? Farms, golf courses, gardens... It's fertilizer runoff. And it turns out it is even more hazardous than previously thought. Ugh.

Read more here.

I've often said (alongside a bunch of experts) that becoming a vegetarian is the best thing one can do for the environment. Lately, I've been reminded that it is also one of the best things one can do for their own health. VegBaltimore is a great resource for locals looking to make a dietary change or incorporate more green into their lives. Learn more here.

Michael Pollan Talks About Salmonella Outbreak with Dr. Sanjay Gupta

Tillman's "The Chesapeake Watershed" Recognized for Excellence a Second Time

Congratulations to local author Ned Tillman for being named the 2010 Winner of the Excellence in Journalism Award by the Renewable Natural Resource Foundation of Bethesda, Maryland for his book The Chesapeake Watershed: A Sense of Place and a Call to Action. Earlier this year the book was selected as the 2010 Winner of the Best Book on Environmental and Natural Resources by The American Society for Public Administration.

“I am glad so many readers are enjoying the book. I wanted to inspire others to take the time to get outside and re-establish a love for the outdoors. We tend to take care of the places we love. It’s up to each and every one of us to get involved today and take care of this area for our own health and the health of future generations.” — Ned Tillman, Chair of the Howard County Sustainability Board, past chair of the Howard County Conservancy, and a Sustainability Advisor to local businesses, colleges, and non-profit organizations.

Local and national demand for the book has brought it into its second printing by the Chesapeake Book Company right here in Baltimore. Tillman is currently on a book tour promoting the work and conducts fund-raising events to provide copies of this critically important book to schools that cannot afford them in an effort to strengthen environmental education throughout the region. Pretty amazing, huh?

What's also amazing is how much I learned from this book. I think it should be required reading for every developer, farmer and land-owner in the region (which is much more expansive than I realized) as well as for those nationwide who are following and observing the human impact on this region. Learn more about Tillman and his efforts to create a sustainable future through education and consultation here.

BK Whopper Bar

Holy moley meee-oh-my!! These upscale, eat-in, "modernized Whopper-centric restaurants" are popping up all over the place. Orlando, South Beach, Memphis, Spain, Venezuela, Singapore, New York City... And each features "create-your-own Whoppers with over 20 topping choices" available 24/7. This isn't the first we've heard of the BK's latest venture (remember a few months ago we reported about them serving beer?) but having never visited one, this is the first we've heard of specific menu options. SeriousEats reports:

The New York Pizza Burger ($12.99), a 9-and-a-half-inch wide burger made with four Whopper patties topped with pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, marinara sauce, and Tuscan pesto sauce. It'll be available exclusively at the New York City Whopper Bar starting in September to fulfill that longtime desire for a giant burger that sort of tastes like a pizza.

Meat Beast Whopper ($5.54) topped with bacon, pepperoni, mayo, lettuce, tomato, onions, American cheese, and ketchup.

7-ounce BK Black and Bleu Steakhouse XT ($6.30) topped with blue cheese and blackened Cajun sauce.

California Whopper ($5.54) topped with guacamole, crispy bacon, and Swiss cheese.

Check out SeriousEats slide show featuring some of these menu items and a peek inside the venue here.

The Littlest Treehugger

(My niece, Charlotte Anne)

School Lunch

Just stumbled upon a great article on PlanetGreen outlining seven strategies for packing a healthy, green school lunch for your little ones:

1.) Bag the brown bag
2.) Get rid of the plastic
3.) Include accessories
4.) Pack organic
5.) Encourage sustainable sipping
6.) Turn to the experts
7.) Teach your children well

Find the full article here. Nothing super-new but a good refresher and useful links.

Good for them. Good for the environment.