• Buy local meat and veggies whenever possible
• Cook with gas or charcoal briquettes such as those made by Lokkii that burn much more efficiently an clean than traditional briquettes
• Use a barbecue chimney instead of toxic liquid chemical "starters" to get the fire going
• Drink locally brewed beer
• Use washable dishes and silverware when possible. If using disposables, make sure they are Earth friendly (StalkMarket's family of products for example)
• Use no plastic or polystyrene -- ever

StalkMarket

• Suppress plant diseases and pests
• Reduce or eliminate the need for chemical fertilizers
• Promote higher yields of agricultural crops
• Facilitate reforestation, wetlands restoration and habitat revitalization efforts by amending contaminated, compacted and marginal soils
• Remove solids, oil, grease and heavy metals from storm water runoff

A few weeks ago, StalkMarket announced that a number of its products were certified as compostable by the Biodegradable Products Institute. We also blogged about some of the recent new laws in California that the BPI strongly supports. In addition to promoting the use of compostable paper and plastics, the BPI is a huge proponent of programs that divert biodegradable and organic waste from landfills to commercial composting projects. According to Environmental Protection Agency, 25 million tons of food scraps end up in landfills or incinerators in the United States each year. That’s 16% of the total waste produced. In this very useful article, Steve Mojo, executive director of the Biodegradable Products Institute outlines all of the benefits of making sure this waste is composted.

StalkMarket is proud to offer an environmentally superior alternative to traditional single use tableware and food packaging, but we also recognize that we are really offering part of the overall solution. As individuals, there is a lot we can do and a lot we must do. Supporting home composting, institutional composting and commercial composting is one of the most important actions we can think take.

Dean Rodgers

We are often encouraged by the fact that more and more people seem to be taking environmental stewardship to heart these days.  We are also frequently blown away by the breadth and depth of information that environmentally-minded folks seem to be consuming. One just needs to look at some of the comments readers of blogs like www.treehugger.com

On the other hand, we do get enough off the wall questions to indicate that there are still plenty of eco myths and misconceptions bouncing around. To date, the most amusing question came from a guy that wanted to know if the sugarcane stalks we use were “clear cut.” Try as we might, we were never able to get the point across that sugarcane is basically a grass that is cut and grows back in a matter of months and clear cutting isn’t a relevant issue.

One of the most common misconceptions we encounter is about bleaching. Bleaching is viewed as environmentally problematic across the board and is reinforced by the fact that many green of the first paper products were brownish rather than white.

Fortunately, there are a number of other bleaching agents that are environmentally friendly. For example, StalkMarket uses hydrogen peroxide which is an excellent choice for our needs. So, when making green buying decisions, the question should not be “is it bleached?”  The question should be “how is it bleached?” And that is a very good question indeed.

Dean Rodgers

I'm an avid reader of Waste News. It is an important industry trade publication and I've gained a lot from it over the years. As you can imagine, a publication about garbage is not necessarily the fist place I turn to read about national politics (though we've all seen political rhetoric get bad enough from time to time that it does seem appropriate). Regardless, I was struck by a recent piece by editor Allan Geralt about the next President of the United States:

I'm cynical about politics, about the continental divide between well-intentioned promise and hard reality. But I find a lot of reason for hope with the election of Barack Obama as President, and his political views are the least of it.

My memories of presidents go back to John F. Kennedy, and I believe Obama is the first person elected president to inspire and generate real enthusiasm since JFK. Certainly, that's in the immediate flush of an election and of a candidate that hasn't spent a moment on the job managing realities.

But I believe this time just might be different. Obama won over a disparate group of prominent people, from the Kennedys to Colin Powell to Warren Buffet. But even more, he's shown the ability to get people to do things they might not have done before. Maybe part of it is his historic breaking of racial barriers. Maybe it's his oratory, maybe his calm demeanor. But he shows signs of just the leadership the country badly needs right now.

We're nearly in the same climate we were in immediately following 9-11, where a calamity brought us together and prompted us to put aside our own agendas to meet an overriding challenge. Now the challenge isn't so much terrorists but a stack of serious problems led by a frightening and bewildering economic situation.

Obama may steer a centrist path, which makes great sense in these times. Business may fear that he'll raise taxes and increase regulation, making it more difficult to operate. But Obama realizes making the economy work again is his most critical immediate task, which should direct him away from partisanship. Conversely, the economic climate and Obama's charisma just may make businesses and consumers alike have the confidence to spend money and make sacrifices that need to be made.

Energy and global warming concerns have been big issues for Obama. Those issues might be a big part of his economic recovery plan, but the economic plan needs to come first. I hope with the combination of the times and the man, environmentalists and business alike will accept it if the approach is different than it would have been a few months ago.

While I was not yet not close to voting age when JFK became President, I do remember the election vividly. The hope and promise he brought to the country at the time rings very similar to our current situation. I appreciated Geralt's level-headed and even-keel commentary and his keen observation of our current times and share his sense of optimism.

Buzz Chandler

As you will see, the overall carbon footprint of our product is fairly low – far less than taking a 10 minute shower or driving a fuel-efficient car one mile. It is also worth noting that transportation makes up only 1% of our product’s total footprint. There is a common misconception that products must be developed locally in order to be green.

In many cases, this is accurate. It is better to drink local beer than trucking it across the country (and, in Portland, drinking locally is not really a sacrifice). In StalkMarket’s case, there simply isn’t a viable local option.  There is not enough sugarcane production in the United States to make this possible. Our products are manufactured near the sugar refineries overseas. They are sent to the US via container ship, which is one of the most efficient forms of transportation available in the world (a container ship can move a thousand pounds of cargo 450 miles on a single gallon of gas).

Buzz Chandler

The Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) is an organization that promotes the use of biodegradable paper and plastics via composting. BPI certifies products that will biodegrade swiftly, safely and completely in large professionally managed composting facilities according to the standards set by ASTM International. BPI certification has become a de facto industry standard.  It is recognized by the leading North American commercial and municipal composters in the country including those in San Francisco, Seattle and Prince Edward Island.

Today, StalkMarket announced that its entire line of Ingeo PLA- and sugarcane-based products received BPI certification. You can read the official news release here. Our goal is to have every single one of our products BPI certified and we have already come very close to making that a reality. As a company that is committed to helping promote an environmentally responsible lifestyle, we have an obligation to our customers to provide them with the information they need to make an informed decision about the products they use.

The Biodegradable Products Institute is committed to helping ensure words like "biodegradable" and "compostable" maintain their meaning and value. This is something that is becoming harder and harder to do at a time when marketeers seem intent on exploiting words like these to the fullest.

Recently, BPI provided strong support for California state assemblypersons DeSaulier’s and Karnette’s labeling legislation to minimize misleading use of words like “biodegradable” and “degradable” on plastic bags and food service items. Testimony and letters written by BPI members became a critical component in the successful passage of two new state laws. 

The new laws, AB 1972 and AB 2071, place strict requirements on plastic products that may be labeled "compostable" and "biodegradable" and give local governments the authority to fine companies that do not comply with these guidelines.

We applaud the efforts of the BPI, the California legislature and all of the other groups and supporters that helped make these regulations a reality.

Buzz Chandler

• Starting a home composter
• Putting pressure on your local government to handle waste responsibity
• Taking your own mug to Starbucks (or supporting coffee joints that promote commercial composting)