Bolivia To Make Compost From Illegal Coca

As a stimulant in humans its properties are well known. Less well documented are the powers of the coca leaf to perk up the average plant.
But now the authorities in Bolivia are experimenting with turning illegal coca harvests into organic fertilizer, and they say the results look promising.
Every year Bolivia confiscates almost 700 tonnes of illegal coca from drug traffickers. The government's coca director, Luis Cutipa, believes that turning this excess into fertiliser will deprive criminals of their raw material for making cocaine, much of which goes to Brazil and on to Europe. He is optimistic that compost made from coca can be made on an industrial scale.
Seized coca is held in warehouses and government buildings, and even in Cutipa's office. Outside La Paz, in a coca-growing region of the Yungas forest, Lucio Copa is working on the pilot project, testing the compost on coca bushes. He says vegetables and fruit trees should also do well with this fertilizer.
Miguel Callisaya, head of the project, claims the coca leaves, when mixed with household rubbish, tree leaves and chicken manure, are the best in world. "It is high in nutrients. It's of better quality than earthworm compost."
Plants seem to thrive on the fertilizer; where it was made, weeds are growing larger and taller than in a neighboring field.
But the project could do little to resolve Bolivia's growing drug problem.
Kathryn Ledebur, director of the Andean Information Network, a Bolivian NGO, says that though the coca compost campaign is laudable it will have little impact on Bolivia's anti-drugs effort, the success of which relies far more on demand in the west than on supply at home.
from The Guardian

Recession-Racked Shoppers Still Spend On Organics

For the past three years, American consumers have been on a shopping diet. They’ve cut nonessentials from their shopping lists. They’ve made do. They’ve thought twice before buying.
And yet they’ve continued to open their wallets for natural and organic products.
Many shoppers say these items remain on their shopping lists because they’re concerned about their health, the environment, America’s agribusiness or all three.
It’s that dedication that has made organics a bright spot for many retailers and is allowing some to expand, including Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, the California-based grocer known for its array of foods without preservatives, additives and other unnatural ingredients. Two Trader Joe’s stores are slated to open this year, at Ward Parkway Center in south Kansas City and Leawood’s One Nineteen.
The commitment to organics has surprised some who predicted at the onset of the recession that penny-pinching consumers would avoid such higher-priced items.
“I think possibly that a lot of organics are bought by a higher demographic that’s a little above average and were not as impacted by the economy as other economic groups,” said Brian Todd, president of the Food Institute, a New Jersey group that studies food prices.
Yet despite the ongoing pressure on some shoppers’ budgets, the results are clear.
Last year, overall sales for the grocery industry were up a modest 1.8 percent, according to the Food Institute. Sales of organic items more than doubled that rate of growth, up 4.4 percent in the 52 weeks ending Feb. 20, according to Symphony IRI in Chicago.
Shoppers like Kris Kirschbaum are behind those figures.
Kirschbaum lives in Greenville, N.C., but drives to Raleigh once or twice a month to stock up on natural and organic items at Whole Foods.
Kirschbaum, uses coupons when she shops and says she learned to live frugally when she was a graduate student making $1,000 a month. Now a healthful diet is her No. 1 priority.
“It’s just a health issue,” she said. “This is where I choose to spend.”
Part of the reason sales are staying strong is that organic products are more widely available than in the past.
Major grocery store chains have also bulked up on organics. That comes on top of a shift in the product manufacturing world, with large companies such as Kraft and Procter & Gamble introducing more natural selections.
That availability has led to a new type of organic shopper: the dabbler.
Catherine Dameron shops at Lowes Foods, Food Lion and Walmart. She often, though not always, selects organic items.
“If it looks fresh and the price is about the same, I’ll do it,” she said, shopping at a Raleigh Walmart last week and loading her cart up with bagged spinach, strawberries and other natural foods. “The quality has improved.”
And, Dameron added, it has gotten more affordable.
“Ten years ago, when I started shopping for more fresh fruits and veggies, I noticed my food bill went up probably about 25 percent. Now it’s evened out.”
The demand for organics is so strong that it is spreading to other areas of the grocery store, particularly health, beauty and cleaning supplies.
Companies like Seventh Generation and Burt’s Bees have experienced success with their natural and organic products.
Clorox credited its Burt’s Bees line with strengthening its overall results in its quarterly earnings release last month. The company reported a 3 percent decline in overall sales but a 3 percent rise in sales in its lifestyle category, driven largely by Burt’s Bees products.
Still, some think demand for natural and organic products may have hit its peak.
Kurt Jetta is president of a Connecticut consumer research firm called the TABS Group. His recent research shows that the percentage of shoppers who bought natural or organic items has remained steady, in the 38 percent to 39 percent range for the past three years.
It’s the number of retailers carrying natural and organic items and the number of products each is stocking that adds to the impression that organic sales are exploding.
“All these retailers are getting on board and expanding their sections and having these big offerings,” he said. “That’s a big explosion in inventory. The retailers have gotten on the hype a bit too much.”
Plus, he said, the fact that an item is organic or natural is just not that impressive to shoppers anymore.
“There will always be this real core of committed people,” he said. “That’s why Whole Foods and similar stores continue to grow. But we would expect that to turn and retailers to start weeding down.”
But some shoppers say they will remain loyal to organics and hope retailers don’t trim their offerings.
Melissa Smith of Raleigh said she started to buy natural and organic items because her pets had special needs and are sensitive to chemicals. The habit has transferred to her family’s food purchases as well.
“I grew up on a farm,” she said. “We raised our own meats. We grew our own vegetables. All that has stuck with me. Yes, it may be a little bit more, but it’s worth it.”
NATURAL VS. ORGANIC
Though product labeling can be confusing, natural and organic do not mean the same thing.
Organic refers to items that are produced, manufactured and handled using organic means and certified by agencies such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA also has different levels of organic certification, from 100 percent organic to Made With Organic Ingredients, which means the product is made of at least 70 percent organic ingredients.
Natural refers to food items that are not altered chemically or synthesized. These are generally from plants or animals.
from The Kansas City Star

Using Bamboo To Fight Climate Change

Bamboo--technically a grass, not a tree--has the potential to significantly offset carbon emissions, and has been the center of discussions this week during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun.
The "grass" is stronger than steel and is a buffer against climate change in two ways: by providing low-income communities with a material to build climate-resistant homes and by sequestering carbon faster than other species such as eucalyptus. It also grows at the rate of 1.2 meters per day.
"Bamboo is a remarkable resource for driving economic development, and is readily available in many of the world's poorest countries," said Coosje Hoogendoorn, director-general of International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) in Cancun.
"Bamboo should be referred to as the wise man's timber," said INBAR regional coordinator Alvaro Cabrera, because it helps support the livelihoods of 1.5 billion people, grows fast, is found across the globe, and is a significant source of trade dollars at about $5 billion per year.
China, India, and Vietnam are the main sources of bamboo for trade and there is talk of developing schemes whereby bamboo stocks come labeled with a sustainability certification and indication of the the source country. The bamboo discussions held today in Cancun indicate the growing effort to diversify climate change tactics.
from Fast Company

A Gift Of Fresh Produce In These Boxes

And now for something completely different — a gift that truly keeps on giving. It comes in a box but has no ribbons. Unlike a new puppy, it takes care of itself. It isn't Godiva chocolates, but it's definitely edible. So, what is this unique and delicious Christmas gift that you can give away or give to yourself?
It's a self-sustaining vegetable garden that requires no watering, no fertilizing, no weeding, in fact, no work at all except picking the bounty. Mike Saraylian, born and raised in Laguna Beach, is the man behind Harvest To Home, a seasonal organic vegetable and herb garden service. Make your choices from a seasonal menu and the pre-planted box(s) will be delivered and installed with optional stand, trellis or self-watering system.
We visited Mike, and he showed us the endless flats of seedlings and garden boxes with young plants, being prepared for delivery. Each winter box contains six to 14 different plants — either herbs, lettuces, vegetables or a mix chosen by the customer. Sitting out on the deck surrounded by edible greenery, Mike told us that after attending UC Santa Barbara, he came home and worked in the RV industry, eventually becoming a manager. He moved on to Blick Industries in Laguna Canyon and worked in sales and marketing. His job involved traveling around the U.S. and Europe.
In Italy, he was amazed by the brilliant flavors of a simple salad made with perfect tomatoes and freshly picked lettuce, and dressed only with oil and vinegar. Mike said he had loved to cook since he was a child, and after his Italian epiphany he found himself thinking about everything he was eating and developed an interest in health and diet.
Every Friday at Blick there was a company barbecue on the rooftop. Mike always made the salads from the 70 boxes of garden produce grown right there on the roof by a retired doctor, Myron Wacholder, who was the father of one of the employees. The doctor became his gardening mentor.
Mike came up with the idea for his business, inspired by those boxes on the rooftop. Although he knew about sales and marketing, he had no clue how to start a business, but he was influenced by his boss, John Blick, who said that if you really want to, you can do anything. Mike had some money saved, got some from his family, then taught himself every facet of business from designing a website to accounting and operations.
In the beginning, he found himself building planters and shoveling dirt. He ate what he grew and lost 15 pounds in the process, but he became addicted to freshly picked vegetables and herbs and hopes you will too. He is filled with passion and energy for what he does and has grown his business like his vegetables: with care. Now, you can see his boxes at a growing number of restaurants around the OC, including: The Cottage and Coyote Grill in Laguna, 118 Degrees in Costa Mesa and Cucina Alessa in Newport, Huntington Beach and now Laguna.
The beauty of these planters is that you can be a great gardener without benefit of a green thumb. They are constructed so they are semi-hydroponic. There is a separate reservoir of water beneath the soil, which the roots eventually reach. You can refill the reservoir yourself or purchase their inexpensive watering device, which is spliced to your garden hose and automatically does the job. Before the plants reach your home, they have been sprayed three times with an organic mixture made from neem oil and hot pepper wax. They also have an organic spray for caterpillars. No additional fertilizer is needed.
from The Daily Pilot

Sustainable Settings Can't Compost Way Out Of Toilet Issue

CARBONDALE, COLORADO - Sustainable toilets at Sustainable Settings have ironically thrown a wrench into the farm's attempt to comply with health-code requirements.
Brook Le Van, executive director of Sustainable Settings, thought installing composting toilets at the farm and learning center outside of Carbondale would be sufficient to satisfy Pitkin County's requirement for restroom facilities. That has not quite been the case.
The two sides have been at odds for three years over the toilet issue, prompting a two-hour meeting Wednesday between Sustainable Settings' board of directors and Pitkin County commissioners that failed to produce a compromise.
Rather, sympathetic county commissioners told Le Van that Sustainable Settings' ability to host school groups, adult workshops and other programs remains limited, based on the capacity of the two composting toilets that were installed last summer, along with a hand-washing facility.
“No matter how much we support and appreciate and love what you do, you still have to comply,” said Commissioner Jack Hatfield.
“The health issues are very real,” added Commissioner Rachel Richards.
Commissioners essentially directed Sustainable Settings in December 2007 to cease most of its programming because there were no public rest-room facilities available at the farming and ranching operation, located about 4 miles south of Carbondale off Highway 133.
The Sustainable Settings store, where its agricultural products are sold, could continue to operate, but visits by school groups and other programs were suspended.
The board of directors subsequently put the 240-acre property up for sale, intending to move the operation to a place where, Le Van suggested, costly regulatory requirements wouldn't threaten its viability.
The real estate market subsequently tanked, the property was taken off the market and the board agreed last spring that Sustainable Settings would stay put. A commercial well was drilled to comply with a county requirement and the two composting toilets were installed at a cost of about $10,000 — the most the nonprofit could afford to do, Le Van said.
And, the composting toilets meld with the nonprofit's sustainable philosophy, he noted. Having a vault toilet pumped, and the waste trucked elsewhere, would not.
“Are we complying? We thought we were. Now we're finding out, well, we're limited,” Le Van said.
Based on the manufacturer's input on the toilets' capacity, Sustainable Settings remains limited in the size and frequency of groups it can host. Gatherings like community potlucks are not allowed. Neither is camping by visitors.
And, because the toilets are in an unheated building and the hand-washing facility was an outdoor affair, they essentially don't work in the winter months, leaving Sustainable Settings with functioning facilities from roughly May through September or October.
But the farm's representatives suggested Wednesday that the toilets can be emptied regularly, and the contents moved elsewhere at the farm to complete the composting process, meaning they can function all year long and with unlimited capacity.
“It's a litter box, basically,” Le Van said.
State regulations allow for composting of waste elsewhere at the farm, according to Carla Ostberg, county environmental health manager, but that plan assumes that the composting process would occur first in the toilets. If the state is OK with bypassing that step in the process, commissioners indicated they'd agree to it, as well.
Le Van conceded Sustainable Settings needs public restroom facilities, but the cost of installing them is a hurdle. He told commissioners he'd like to work with Ostberg on determining exactly what will be required to meet the needs of Sustainable Settings' future vision, which includes a new barn and a dairy barn, as well as a commercial kitchen where farm products will be made.
The operation currently includes livestock, poultry and crop production, and the farm now has nine dairy cows that will provide members in a co-op venture with fresh milk, he said. Similarly, the farm has members who prepay for a share of the organic produce.
Sustainable Settings had been hosting about 9,000 visitors annually before the county ordered aspects of the operation shut down. Visitation dropped by about half, Le Van said. The drop-off had a financial impact, as some of the programs involved a fee paid to the nonprofit by participants, he said.
The farm also hosts a couple of large fundraising events (with portable toilets) each year, and Le Van asked commissioners to exempt the nonprofit from the county's special events permitting process, which involves time and expense. The commissioners declined. All special events are required to get a permit, said Commissioner George Newman, refusing to set a precedent by letting Sustainable Settings out of the mandate.
from The Post Independent

Gardeners Trade Grass For Fruit And Vegetables

FLORIDA - Karin Fields of Fort Lauderdale is enthusiastic about the potential of her yard. She's not going for a fluffy, lush lawn. At least not in the usual sense. Instead, she's happily swapping out sections of grass for artichokes, broccoli and onions.
With established vegetable gardens already tucked in back of her house, Fields is adding fresh plantings in the front yard -- perfectly visible from the street.
"I'm putting [vegetables] in front for more people to see,'' she said. "When they're walking dogs at night, when they're driving by the house, they won't miss the garden. They'll stop and look and they'll ask questions. And they'll want to do it themselves.''
Fields, an organic gardening coach by profession, supports a movement to use residential yards more efficiently and productively. She's among those who regard ornamental grass lawns -- which need water and gas-powered mowers for beauty -- as environmentally wasteful.
"Instead of wasting [water] on grass, we're going to put it right into the garden to make the vegetables,'' she said.
Like Fields, many South Florida residents are giving edibles more attention within their landscaping.
"I think it's a real trend,'' said Gabriele Marewski, owner of Paradise Farms Organic in south Miami-Dade County, who speaks on the topic of edible landscaping at public events.
While much of her land produces organic fruits and vegetables for commercial use, Marewski said she's trading out an ornamental hedge on her property for a personal kitchen garden, complete with kale and mustard greens.
Various factors account for the emphasis on edibles, gardening experts say. High among them is a desire for fruits and vegetables that have fresh-picked flavor and are produced without synthetic fertilizers or pesticides.
"The awareness about organic gardening kind of renewed us to look at our yards and see where we could add something,'' said Diana Guidry of NatureScape Broward, a county program that promotes environmentally friendly landscaping.
Another draw, some suggest, is enjoying the outdoors, away from phones, Facebook and Twitter.
"To me, there's nothing more satisfying than being in nature,'' Marewski said.
Lance Gulseth of Hollywood isn't ripping out existing greenery, but when he replaced trees after Hurricane Katrina, he decided that any additions would be edible.
PICKING FRUIT
"I think it's just a nice feeling to walk in your backyard to pick mangoes or pick papayas or pick kumquats,'' Gulseth said. "It gives me a lot of enjoyment to have the yard producing, rather than [just] something that needs to be mowed every week.''
As a novice gardening enthusiast and former Arizona resident, Gulseth is delighted with the variety of food -- including bananas, basil and collard greens -- that's produced in his yard. Much of it, he said, requires relatively little effort and expense. He figures that this year he chowed down and shared about $120 worth of papayas from two trees started by simply tossing some extra seeds into a pot.
In addition to providing flavorful food, enthusiasts say, the variety of edible trees and plants offers the attributes of ornamental landscaping -- texture, color, shade and habitat for wildlife.
Fields said she's especially inspired by Fritz Haeg, a Los Angeles architect who's been a high-profile proponent for replacing traditional lawns with edible landscaping.
"He does it beautifully,'' she said. ``Instead of just a garden, he's turning it into a piece of art.''
For looks, Marewski's favorites include a cranberry hibiscus hedge. "It's gorgeous,'' she said. She tosses the lemon-flavored leaves in salads.
PRETTY PLANTS
Other aesthetically appealing edibles, Marewski said, include jaboticaba, mango and avocado trees. Rosemary makes a nice shrub. And lemon grass works well as a taller ornamental grass.
Another enthusiastic advocate of using organic edibles as landscaping is Desiree Fields (no relation to Karin), a trained master gardener volunteer with the University of Florida -- Broward County Extension Education Section.
Even the hedgerow, she said, looks similar to that of typical hedges in her urban Broward neighborhood. But hers produces such tasty treats as cherries, kumquats, plums and papayas.
Her method of trimming these fruit trees, she said, is specifically tailored to keeping them short and dense.
NOT MUCH WORK
Fields, a personal chef and organic garden designer, is eager to let fellow South Floridians know that when edible landscaping reaches a certain level of maturity and balance, there's minimal work. Basically, she said, her daily effort involves walking around her yard -- in a dress -- and harvesting.
Some of her favorites include strawberry guava, which produces a red fruit and offers dainty white flowers. The Barbados cherry provides her landscape with hot pink flowers with bright red cherries. Even her basil, Mexican sage and tarragon provide flowers. When food is bountiful, outdoor critters are likely to come and help themselves. That's fine, according to many edible enthusiasts. They're happy to share at least some of the bounty. In return, gardeners are treated to music and a show.
"I watch the birds,'' Marewski said. "It's my TV.''
from The Miami Herald

New York Dog Park Composts Waste

ITHACA, NEW YORK - Several years ago, dog owners in the college town of Ithaca, N.Y., began worrying about all the plastic bags filled with dung that ended up in the landfill.
Leon Kochian, a professor of plant biology at Cornell and, more to the point, the owner of a yellow lab, recalled the thinking at the time: “This is Ithaca. There’s got to be a more environmentally sensible way to do this.”
This year, with Mr. Kochian’s nudging, one of the city’s dog parks — part of the Allan H. Treman Marine State Park — became a dog waste composting park.
Special corn-based bags, made by the Biobag Company, based in Florida, are available at several stations in the park. Dog owners put the bag and its contents into large bins near the park’s entrances, which are removed once a week by a company called Cayuga Compost.
At its composting facility, Cayuga dumps the waste into a pile — mixed with a bit of yard and wood waste — quite separate from the company’s regular food-waste compost.
And there it will sit — until the company figures out what it might be good for.
Late next year, Cayuga plans to run tests to determine the composition of the dog waste (after all, a dog’s diet is arguably more varied than virtually any other animal’s, in accordance with the whims of their owners). If it matures into nutrient-rich compost, it might be applied to potted plants or landscaping, said Mark Whittig, Cayuga’s operations manager. If the compost is of poorer quality, it could be used for blending with topsoil, he said.
The Ithaca group believes that theirs is the first such dog composting park in the nation, though it is not certain. A similar program is in place in the large Pacific Spirit Regional Park in Vancouver, and an experimental program is also under way at a dog park in Montreal, where the compost is processed on-site with the help of sawdust.
The Ithaca program costs roughly $6,000 a year, according to Mr. Kochian, who said that more than enough money for the first year has already been raised in donations. So far, the Ithaca compost organizers are delighted with the enthusiasm their project has generated.
“Imagine if they started doing this in Central Park,” said Bruce Stoff, the communications manager for the Ithaca/Tompkins Convention and Visitors Bureau, in an e-mail message.
from The New York Times