In Business, Creating Sustainable Enterprises & Communities

IN BUSINESS WORLD

In Business, July-August, 2006, Vol. 28, No. 4, p. 4

SUSTAINABLE CITY RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY DULUTH, MINNESOTA
Following an initiative by its mayor, the Duluth City Council approved a resolution that “endorses the guidelines for sustainable community development and agrees to apply those guidelines whenever possible in its planning, policy making and municipal practices. ... This resolution announces policies to

be used in running the city in a manner that is sustainable and consistent with being an eco-municipality.”
Duluth joins two other U.S. cities working under the Swedish-based eco-municipality framework: nearby Washburn and Ashland, Wisconsin. Duluth's sustainability efforts will be spearheaded by the Cities for Climate Protection campaign as well as through the Mayor's Eco-Industrial Development working group. As objectives, resolutions include goals to: Reduce dependence upon fossil fuels, synthetic chemicals, encroachment upon nature; and to better meet human needs fairly and efficiently.

BLANKETS FROM BIODEGRADABLE FIBER AT OLDEST PRIVATE COMPANY
Founded in 1865, Faribault Mills is the oldest private company in Minnesota and the last fully integrated woolen mill in the U.S. Today, the company still produces more than half of the new wool blankets made in the U.S. and keeps up with the latest in textile technology. Several years ago, Faribault Mills began looking for a new fiber that would be environmentally-friendly, not a petroleum-based synthetic. While attending a “Heimtextile Show” in Frankfurt, Germany, its Chief Operations Officer saw Ingeo - a naturally-derived fiber made from corn by Cargill Dow. The process turns out the Ingeo fiber based on the fermentation of simple sugars that creates a polymer then spun into fiber. And that led to Project Ingeo - a fiber that is renewable, fine quality and biodegradable.
Its environmental benefits are listed as follows: It takes 30 to 50 percent less fossil fuel to produce than petroleum-based fiber; Made from corn, Ingeo is annually renewable in the Midwest; Products are biodegradable; Ingeo can be composted at any commercial site; Ecofriendly dyes are used in the fabrics; More than 500,000 pounds of petroleum-based synthetics are eliminated annually.
Faribault Mills expects to recover its costs over the next two to three years, while contributing to further independence from imported oil. Says Dennis Melchert who attended that Frankfurt Show on textiles: “In our world today, we all have to start to do things differently - you have to be willing to be a pioneer! ... we believe we have to stand up for what we feel is right!”

PARTNERING TWO WAYS FOR CO2 REDUCTION
In a progressive program, Organic Bouquet - the nation's first organic floral company - is partnering with Climate Trust, a leading provider of carbon offset programs, to purchase carbon offsets to mitigate greenhouse gases generated from shipping the company's flowers. Organic Bouquet will participate in the Climate Trust's Truck Stop Electrification Program, which reduces diesel emissions at truck stops. The program will retrofit 275 “docking stations” at seven major truck stops with “Shurepower” electrical outlets, allowing truckers to power their rigs with electricity rather than diesel fuel. Climate Trust estimates this program will remove nearly 90,000 metric tons of CO2 over the next 16 years - also saving truckers an estimated 10 million gallons of fuel.

WOMEN WORKING AND WINNING FOR THE WORLD AT 4W
Handcrafted jewelry and handmade African-inspired dresses - along with home decoration items and natural skin care products - are on sale at 4W Circle of Art and Enterprise, a 15-year-old incubator for retail shops in Brooklyn, New York. Explains Joseph Fried of the New York Times: “Occupancy at 4W is intended to be relatively short term and to provide owners of new businesses with the experience and support they need to survive or grow.” One hundred to 125 business owners have operated at 4W since it opened, explains Selma Jackson who operates 4W. Average stay has been two to three years, and current space and service fees average $450/month for up to 50 sq ft.
Jackson knows of eight owners who went on to open their own stores, while many go back to being home-based or move into existing stores to share space. “I think we're a success story,” sums up Jackson. Besides general advice and encouragement, owners also get information about vacant stores and possible financing sources. By building up a track record in a retail setting, entrepreneurs improve their odds for success.

ASSEMBLY PASSES “BIGGER, BETTER BOTTLE BILL” BY TWO-TO-ONE MARGIN
After a 3-1/2 hour floor debate, the New York Assembly passed the Bigger, Better Bottle Bill on May 10, by a vote of 92 to 45, with broad-based bipartisan support. This is the second year that the Assembly has backed the bill, which has six majority Senate cosponsors, and strong support among the Senate minority. The “Bigger, Better Bottle Bill” (A2517D, DiNapoli/S129D LaValle) would extend the current 5-cent container deposit law to include noncarbonated beverages like bottled water and iced tea. It would also require beverage companies to return the unclaimed deposits to the state to fund recycling and other environmental protection programs. The expansion bill has broad-based support, notes the Container Recycling Institute (CRI), with endorsements from more than 350 local governments, small businesses, and a broad range of groups from across New York State. Polls show that most New Yorkers support this proposal. However, the bill faces stiff opposition from well-financed industry groups such as beer wholesalers, soda and beverage companies, and supermarkets and convenience stores.
In a separate release, CRI Executive Director Pat Franklin commented on recycling data released in May by the Aluminum Association, an industry trade group, has a dark side. “The Association reported an increase of less than one percentage point in the national aluminum can recycling rate - from 51.2 to 52.0 percent,” she said, “but they failed to mention that we still are trashing 800,000 tons of aluminum beverage cans a year.” Franklin said this was equivalent to the annual output of three to four major primary aluminum smelters. “Frankly, I was surprised to see how slight the increase was, given the record-breaking prices for scrap aluminum cans in 2005,” she noted, adding that the actual number of cans collected last year (51.4 billion) was 100 million fewer than the number collected in 2004 (51.5 billion).

RECYCLEMANIA COMPETITION PUTS MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE S TOP ORGANICS “DIVERTER” IN 2006
RecycleMania is a “friendly competition among university recycling programs in the U.S. that provides students with a fun, proactive activity in waste reduction,” notes the organization's website (www.recycle
mania.org). Over a 10-week period, schools compete in different contests to see which institution can collect the largest amount of recyclables, the least amount of trash, and have the highest recycling rate. All participating schools are required to report measurements on a weekly basis in pounds. The university that recycles the most wins. The competition began in 2001 when Ed Newman (Ohio University) and Stacy Edmonds Wheeler (Miami University) decided that something had to be done to increase recycling in residence and dining halls on their campuses - the two areas that are the largest producers of campus waste. The competition has grown and in 2006, 93 colleges and universities around the country competed in the various categories. Those categories include per capita, waste minimization and targeted materials - paper, corrugated cardboard, bottles and cans, and food service organics.
Middlebury College (Middlebury, Vermont) was the winner in the food service organics standings (with 17 competing). Over the 10-week period, 52.72 lbs of food service organics/person were diverted to the college's on-site composting facility. The runners up were: Connecticut College - 42.74 lbs/person; Colby College - 27.92 lbs/person; Harvard University - 16.64 lbs/person; and University of Massachusetts, Amherst - 15.09 lbs/person.

ORGANIC AG DEGREE FROM WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY
Washington State University was approved by the state to offer the first organic farming degree in the U.S., reflecting how the University holds three decades of research in the field and a program that owns its organic research farm. Michigan State and Colorado State Universities are also on the verge of offering degrees in organic agriculture. The new major is expected to appeal to aspiring farmers as well as to people interested in direct marketing of organically grown foods. Cathy Perillo will serve as coordinator of the new degree program.

ESTABLISHING CARBON CREDIT CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS
Carbon credits are a financial commodity representing certified reductions in the emission or accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, explains the Environmental Credit Corp. (ECC) of State College, Pennsylvania. Man-made greenhouse gases (GHG) - produced from industrial, agricultural, and municipal sources - include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and other compounds. Carbon credits form the basic currency for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and can be traded on the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) and similar entities. Federal bills that propose regulation of GHG emissions include the Climate Stewardship Act, Clean Air Planning Act and Clean Power Act. At least 28 states have developed strategies to reduce net GHG emissions.
Four Indiana dairies have signed an agreement with ECC to create more than one million carbon credits from greenhouse gas-reducing projects. Each credit is equivalent to one metric ton of carbon dioxide prevented from entering the atmosphere. The Bos, Herrema, Hidden View and Windy Ridge dairies located in Fair Oaks, Indiana house 17,000 cows producing more than 100,000 gallons of milk daily. With a commitment to sustainable waste management, each dairy has installed biogas digesters manufactured by GHD, Inc. of Chilton, Wisconsin. ECC also is working with the Haubenschild Farm in Princeton, Minnesota (see “Trading Carbon Credits From Methane Digester,” June 2006).
ECC, a member of the Chicago Climate Exchange, will work with the farms to develop protocols, monitor and certify methane emission reductions and manage resulting carbon credits. Carbon credits are currently valued at around $4/ton. More farms are reported to be looking into this new source of revenue from digesters.

“FOOD TO FLOWERS!” SCHOOL PROGRAM ADDS COMPOSTABLE PLASTIC BAGS
Sixty-five San Francisco schools participate in “Food to Flowers,” diverting an estimated 500 tons of organic residuals each school year - including food scraps, napkins, milk cartons and now compostable bags. “The goal is to get all of the city's 260 schools participating,” explains Becky Wike, Environmental Education Coordinator.
All lunchroom compostables are hauled to the Jepson Prairie Compost Facility, for conversion to soil conditioner and fertilizer. Schools are able to reduce their garbage fees by more than half, and subtract from the 3,000 tons of trash generated daily by the city. In June, Cereplast Inc. announced a program to provide the schools with compostable plastic bags certified by the Biodegradable Plastic Institute as required by San Francisco's composting program. Cereplast also recently partnered with Duni Corporation to develop a line of thermoformed food containers as another ecofriendly alternative. For more information on the “Food to Flowers” project, e-mail becky.wike@sfgov.org.