2 GOING GREEN | Sunday, December 12, 2010 commercialappeal.

com

What’s in this issue ...

Recycling is old news at IP
4 The paper giant has been recycling
for more than 20 years, long before
the green movement began.

Curbside service Broad statement

8 Nearly 70 percent of
10 Livable Memphis gives
Southaven households commercial district a
stick with city program. temporary “new face.”

Downtown building a green LEED-er

15 Court Square annex achieves gold-level LEED
certification, the first in the city.

Critics cry foul

18 Food safety for
the holidays
24 over Volt claims

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Going Green is a special online publication of
The Commercial Appeal. We welcome your comments
and suggestions. Follow Going Green on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/GoGreenMemphis.
Editor: Kim Coleman, 529-5243,
goinggreen@commercialappeal.com
Community Editor: Emily Adams Keplinger,
keplinger@commercialappeal.com
The Commercial Appeal Sunday, December 12, 2010 | GOING GREEN 3

The Green Page

Achievement
The Doubletree Hotel Memphis on
Sanderlin has been named the city’s first
certified green hotel by the Tennessee
Hospitality Association.
The association’s program recognizes
energy-saving, water conservation and
waste-reduction measures such as high-
efficiency light bulbs, recycling programs
and a program that allows guests the
option of not having bed linens and towels
changed daily.
It’s one of 21 certified Tennessee Green
Hospitality hotels statewide, including two
other Doubletree Hotels also owned by
Memphis-based Cooper Hotels.
“The Doubletree Hotel is thrilled to be
the first hotel in Memphis to be certified, “
said general manager Howard Reines. “We
hope to inspire the many other hotels here,
and statewide, to participate in the
important Tennessee Green Hospitality
program.”

Green greetings Green Organizations

Celebrate the holiday
season with friends and loved
ones this year and give back
to the Earth with the help of
the nonprofit Arbor Day
Foundation. Send holiday
greetings and plant a tree –
all at the same time – by
using the Foundation’s Give-
A-Tree Cards.
Give-A-Tree Cards are
unique in that every card
plants a tree in one of the
nation’s forests in honor of
the recipient. By sending
Give-A-Tree Cards, you help
replant forests that have
been devastated by wildfires,
insects and disease.
Give-A-Tree holiday cards
come in 21 varieties, some
of which are available in
boxed sets of 5 or 10 cards.
This year, you can send
Give-A-Tree Cards using your
favorite picture with the
Foundation’s new photo
cards. To purchase holiday
gifts that give back to the
Earth, go to arborday.org.
To find out what other “green” events are happening
around the area, visit the websites of these organizations:
Citizens to Preserve Overton Park (CPOP)
www.overtonparkforever.org
Clean Memphis
cleanmemphis.org
Coalition of Livable Communities
livablememphis.org
Friends for Our Riverfront
friendsforourriverfront.org
Greater Memphis Greenline
greatermemphisgreenline.org
Lichterman Nature Center
memphismuseums.org/lichterman-overview
Memphis Botanic Garden
memphisbotanicgarden.com
Shelby Farms Park Conservancy
shelbyfarmspark.org
Sierra Club — Chickasaw Group
tennessee.sierraclub.org/chickasaw
Strawberry Plains Audubon Center
strawberryplains.audubon.org
Tennessee Ornithological Society
tnbirds.org
Tennessee Trails Association — Memphis Chapter
tennesseetrails.org/memphis.php
V&E Greenline
vegreenline.org/index.html
Wolf River Conservancy
wolfriver.org
4 GOING GREEN | Sunday, December 12, 2010 commercialappeal.com

Long paper trail

IP growing recycling business for 20 years
By Suzanne Thompson
Special to Going Green

Long before the green

movement began,
International Paper was
recycling.
The paper giant has been
recycling for more than 20
years, according to Eric
Evenson, south central zone
general manager for the
recycling operations at IP.
“We have 19 facilities
throughout the U.S. and two
in Mexico,” he said.
The company also operates
15 containerboard mills and
is one of the largest recyclers
in North America.
As the attitude toward
recycling has expanded, so
have the company’s efforts.
“The initiatives out there
and the people who are willing
to support the efforts to recycle
have grown over the years, and
we’ve been able to grow with
them,” Evenson said.
He estimates that the
amount of paper recycled per Photos by Brandon Dill/Special to The Commercial Appeal
day at the Memphis plant is Demetria Cooper (left) and Erica Powell toss
an average of 100 to 150 tons. cases of catalogs in with medicine packets to be
A tractor-trailer filled with recycled at the International Paper recycling
paper weighs 40 tons, so the facility on South Third Street.
The Commercial Appeal Sunday, December 12, 2010 | GOING GREEN 5

equivalent of three or four

of them is kept out of local
landfills daily.
Every ton of paper
recycled saves more than
3.3 cubic yards of landfill
space, according to the
website paperrecycles.org.
IP recycling facility
employees separate paper
products into sorted
paper, hard white paper,
cardboard and old
newspapers. Once paper
is sorted, it is bundled
into bales about the size Bales of compacted recyclable material sit piled in
of a compact car, and sent the loading area at the International Paper recycling
to the proper mill. facility waiting to be transported to the appropriate
It goes through a processing facility.
process that reduces it to
pulp and is then used to RECYCLING FACTS
make new paper.
Encouraging and In 2009 a record-high 63.4 percent of the paper
helping customers to used in the U.S. was recovered for recycling.
recycle their paper is In 2009 the amount of paper recovered for recycling
something IP does averaged 325 pounds for each man, woman and child in
routinely. the United States.
“One of the first things Every ton of paper recycled saves more than 3.3
we do once we learn of a cubic yards of landfill space.
new opportunity is we 87 percent (268 million) of Americans have access
offer them a waste audit. to curbside or drop-off paper recycling programs.
We look at what’s going — From Paperrecycles.org
on in their waste stream,
and we identify a program
that would work best for sometimes it’s the something that is going
them based on that audit customer who contacts into a landfill right now
and what they have that them about recycling, he and we certainly want to
currently is being said. have the opportunity to
landfilled,” Evenson said. “It’s a two-way street,” keep it out of a landfill and
IP is glad to help Evenson said. “We are run it through our system.”
businesses start recycling open to anybody who International Paper will
and has representatives wants to recycle because send people to pick up
who approach customers obviously, if they want to material for recycling, or
to suggest a plan, but recycle they have customers may make it to
6 GOING GREEN | Sunday, December 12, 2010
Catherine
Jackson
moves piles
of recyclable
material to a
sorting area.
From 100 to
150 tons of
paper is
recycled per
day at the
Memphis
plant.
the facility themselves, Evenson said.
“It’s on a case-by-case basis,” he said.
The American Forest & Paper
Association keeps track of the country’s
recycling efforts, and Catherine Foley,
group vice president of paper, said
results show goals are being exceeded.
“That initial goal set years ago was 40
percent, and the industry association
has continued to ratchet up the number
once the goal was met,” she said.
Recent figures show 63.4 percent of
paper recovered was recycled, Foley said.
“It’s been a real success story for the
industry and one that we are very proud
of,” Foley said.
The forest industry in America
produces more renewable energy than
all the wind, solar and geothermal
energy combined, according to the
organization’s website.
“Compared to some of our competitors,
we are way ahead of them,” she said.
Information from the U.S. Energy
Information Administration shows that
commercialappeal.com
recycling a ton of paper can save up to
17 trees and uses 50 percent less water,
so the recycling efforts at IP save
thousands of trees per day.
Although the AF&PA tracks recycling
efforts of its members, it’s member
organizations themselves, like IP, that
are responsible for making the goal of
recycling a reality.
In fall 2010, IP moved its recycling
facility from Saturn Avenue to North
Third Street, which provided more space.
“Recently, when we made the move
into the new facility two or three drivers
or opportunities came from that,”
Evenson said.
“We’re going to be able to service our
customers more efficiently — that’s not
only outbound and bring it back to the
plant, but also the customers who bring
the material to the facility, because we
have a better facility and obviously from
our standpoint efficiencies will be
improved quite a bit because it’s a much
larger facility.”
The Commercial Appeal
IP aims to demonstrate
green side of paper use
New campaign touts protection of forests
By Toby Sells
sells@commercialappeal.com
A new push by
International Paper
stresses the idea that
using paper is good for
trees and forests.
The Memphis-based
papermaker’s new “Go
Paper. Go Trees.”
campaign is intended to
refute the notion that
“going paperless” is a
pathway to green
salvation.
Teri Shanahan, IP’s
vice president of
commercial printing, said
she knows the idea
seems counterintuitive.
She also readily admitted
that the paper industry
hasn’t done a good job of
helping consumers
connect the dots.
“People think that if you
use less paper, you’ll save
a tree,” Shanahan said.
“While one particular tree
might not be harvested
under that scenario, the
whole forest might not
have an opportunity to
stay as a forest.”
Sunday, December 12, 2010 | GOING GREEN
One-third of the U.S. is
forested, according to the
campaign; of that, 750
million acres are
privately owned and
most of those owners are
tree farmers. These
farmers plant about 4
million trees per day,
about “three to four
times more than they
harvest,” Shanahan said,
to replenish their stock.
According to the
campaign, tree farmers
have a financial incentive
to be good stewards of the
forests, which could
otherwise be leveled for
development.
Shanahan said
electronic payments and
communication are not
“environmentally free”
and that many companies
that are pushing paperless
payments are looking to
get their money faster, not
necessarily trying to be
environmentally friendly.
“I understand why
they want to do it and I
don’t blame them for
trying, but if they just
say it’s more convenient
7
The Commercial Appeal file photo
International Paper’s
100% recycled, 100%
biodegradable Ecotainer.
to bank online or we’ll
give you $10 to bank
online, that’s fine,”
Shanahan said. “They
should not be making the
claims that this will
somehow help the
environment if you bank
online.”
A separate push is under
way by the American
Forest and Paper
Association to toughen
laws on “greenwashing,”
falsely marketing a product
as environmentally
friendly. In October, the
Federal Trade Commission
posted proposed rules for
its Guides for the Use of
Environmental Marketing
Claims.
— Toby Sells: 529-2742
8 GOING GREEN | Sunday, December 12, 2010 commercialappeal.com

Stan Carroll/The Commercial Appeal files

Ernest Powell, with grandson Darion Powell, was one of the first
Southaven residents to receive a recycling cart in September, when Caleb
Tucker (left), with Bucy Sales & Service, delivered one to his home.

Southaven program gains steam

Nearly By Yolanda Jones / yojones@desotoappeal.com
70% of
customers NEARLY 70 PERCENT of Southaven households
participate are sticking with the city’s curbside recycling program.
in
As of Dec. 1, about 5,000, or 31.2 percent of
curbside 11,000 families, or 68.7 households, had informed
recycling percent of households, had the city that they do not
decided to keep taking their want to participate in the
recyclable items to the curb program.
for a monthly fee, while The program was offered
The Commercial Appeal Sunday, December 12, 2010 | GOING GREEN 9

for free to residents for three certificates and even gift cards at
months — October, November and grocery stores, restaurants, national
December. chains and several local businesses.
The city asked residents to decide In September, the city delivered
whether they wanted to opt in or 16,000, 96-gallon wheeled recycling
opt out of the program by Dec. 1. carts to households throughout the
That date was set as a deadline to city.
decide whether to participate in The city is the first in Mississippi
order to simplify the billing process, and the first in the Mid-South to
said Bradley Wallace, Southaven’s implement a rewards-recycling
director of operations. The city will program.
charge each household Mayor Greg Davis
$6.25 per month for RecycleBank allows said he was happy
curbside recycling. residents to earn with the participation
The fee, added to rate to date.
monthly water bills, is reward points by “This is a good
charged a month in start,” he said. “I’ve
advance for the
tossing recyclable heard from some
service. So, the material, including senior adults, who
January bill for the said they were opting
curbside recycling newspapers and out of the program
program is reflected aluminum cans, into (only) because they
on this month’s water didn’t generate a lot of
bills. a single recycling trash, and didn’t have
“Residents can opt bin rather than in anything to recycle.”
out of the program by Davis said since
the end of this with the trash. since the program
month,” Wallace said. started in October,
“After that time, if the city has kept 50 to
they have not opted out by Jan. 1, 70 tons of trash per week out of the
they will be billed for the program.” landfill.
Called RecycleBank, the program Resident Dexter Varnell said he and
allows residents to earn reward his wife, JuneRose, like the program.
points by tossing recyclable material, “We have a lot of newspaper, and it
including newspapers and aluminum makes sense to recycle them,” he said.
cans, into a single recycling bin Wallace said if residents want to
rather than in with the trash. opt out of the program or have
The material is weighed and questions, they can call the city’s
residents receive points, which can utility department at (662) 796-2490.
be redeemed for discount coupons, — Yolanda Jones:
2-for-1 purchase options, cash-value (901) 333-2014
10 GOING GREEN | Sunday, December 12, 2010 commercialappeal.com

Broad smiles

Brandon Dill/Special to The Commercial Appeal

Working in front of the future home of his business, Lubin Property
Management, Ryan Lubin paints parking spaces next to the new bike lane.

Organizers revel in success of bikable, walkable event

By Tom Bailey Jr.
baileytom@commercialappeal.com
Judging by what happened to the
restaurants and sidewalk food vendors at
“New Face for an Old Broad,” Memphis
has an appetite for pedestrian- and bike-
friendly business districts.
So many people flocked to the event
in November that the food ran out.
“It exceeded our expectations and
then some,” said Emily Trenholm,
director of the Community Development
Council of Greater Memphis, whose
Livable Memphis joined the Historic
Broad Business Association and
Memphis Regional Design Center to
organize the event.
The Commercial Appeal
Livable Memphis
estimates 13,000 people
came. The business
association estimates
16,000.
“There were so many
people they had to stand
in the bike lanes instead
of the sidewalk,” said
Charles “Chooch” Pick-
ard, executive director
of Memphis Regional
Design Center. “A huge
success.”
Part demonstration
project, part festival,
“New Face” temporarily
re-engineered the three-
block district to show
what a more walkable,
bikable commercial
district could be like.
Volunteers painted
lines on the asphalt to
create on-street parking
that slows traffic and
used parked cars on
both sides of Broad to
protect new, temporary
bike lanes. They also set
out planters and antique
light poles to beautify
Broad and calm traffic.
“It was probably one
of the best things to
happen for my business,”
said Katelynn Meadows,
owner of Sweetly.
Her clothing line for
little girls was one of the
temporary or pop-up
businesses that helps
show what a vibrant
retail scene in a
Sunday, December 12, 2010 | GOING GREEN
traditional
neighborhood district
can be like. In return for
preparing and filling
empty retail space,
businesses got free use
of the buildings.
“The ability to have
my clothes out there for
free and the advertising
and still make money,”
Meadows said. “Pretty
incredible. ... There was
a constant stream of
people through the
building all night Friday
and Saturday.”
The Alliance for
Biking and Walking has
given Livable Memphis
a $25,000 matching
grant for permanently
engineering the bike
lanes through the Broad
District and beyond.
Broad will be an anchor
for the Greenline
Connection Project, a
future bike lane linking
Overton Park to the
Shelby Farms Greenline
terminus at Tillman.
Livable Memphis,
working with the
Memphis Regional
Design Center, will start
planning early next year
for a similar “Facelift
Memphis” event at
another, yet-to-be-
determined
neighborhood.
— Tom Bailey Jr.: 529-2388
11
EARTH TALK
States, local
governments
making calls
on recycling
Dear EarthTalk: Given
the environmental and
economic benefits, why
doesn’t the U.S. have a
federal law mandating
recycling nationwide?
— N. Koslowsky,
Pompano Beach, Fla.
The U.S. government
has historically relied on
state and local
governments to handle
waste management in all
of its forms, including
recycling.
Although there have
been a few attempts to
push legislation through
Congress to mandate
minimum national
recycling rates, none have
made it out of committee
hearings. Federal
lawmakers are loathe to
take waste management
regulatory powers away
from individual states
which have vastly
different needs.
For instance, less
12 GOING GREEN | Sunday, December 12, 2010 commercialappeal.com

recycling except to call for

an increase in federal
purchases of products
made with recycled
content. The EPA also
published manuals and
workshops on
implementing curbside
recycling programs,
although funding for such
programs dried up by
1981.
Nevertheless, the seed
had taken root. Pioneering
Nathaniel Brooks/The New York Times (file) programs in
The Nantucket Solid Waste Recycling and Massachusetts and
Composting Facility is a municipal facility run elsewhere led to the
through a public/private partnership on the island development of curbside
of Nantucket, Mass. The facility integrates landfill recycling programs in
cleanup, recycling and composting for island more than 600
residents. Those who live on the island can either municipalities throughout
have their recycling, compost and trash picked up the U.S. — mostly in the
at their home for a fee by a private company or Northeast and on the West
they can drop it off at the facility. Coast — by the mid-
1980s. In addition, 10
states introduced “bottle
populous western states didn’t even mention bill” laws to encourage
with lots of extra land for recycling. “Eleven years recycling of beer and soft
siting landfills might not later, Congress passed the drink containers. Two
be as inclined to push for Resource Conservation states, Rhode Island and
higher recycling rates as and Recovery Act, which New Jersey, both being
those crowded eastern remains the cornerstone small, densely populated
states with less room to of federal solid waste and and short on landfill space,
store their trash. recycling legislation,” implemented
According to Chaz reports Miller. RCRA comprehensive
Miller, director of State abolished open dumps and approaches to recycling.
Programs at the National required the They began requiring local
Solid Wastes Management Environmental Protection jurisdictions to pick up
Association, America’s Agency to create residents’ and businesses’
very first federal solid guidelines for solid waste paper, metal and glass,
waste law, 1965’s Solid disposal and regulations and helped towns and
Waste Disposal Act — for hazardous waste cities set up systems for
itself an amendment to the management, but had pick-up, sorting and
original Clean Air Act — little to say about materials recovery. Most
The Commercial Appeal
of the 8,600-plus municipal
recycling programs in
existence today are
modeled on these early
efforts.
Just a few decades ago,
Americans recycled less
than 10 percent of their
solid waste. Multimaterial
and curbside collection
programs were nonexistent,
paper was only collected
sporadically when a local
scout troop or similar group
organized a paper drive and
family-owned scrap dealers
would occasionally buy
paper and metal scrap based
on limited market demand
for additional raw materials.
Today, the EPA
estimates that Americans
recycle some 32 percent of
the 350 million tons of
refuse they generate
annually. While it still has
no federal platform for
doing so, the EPA, through
its Resource Conservation
Challenge program, is
pushing for Americans to
up that rate. Forty-two
states now have their own
recycling or waste
diversion goals, and 18 are
trying to divert upward of
half their waste via
recycling or composting.
Send questions to
EarthTalk, c/o E The
Environmental Magazine, P.O.
Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881,
or to
earthtalk@emagazine.com.
Sunday, December 12, 2010 | GOING GREEN 13
Graywater report looks
at wastewater’s potential
By Susan Carpenter associate at the
Los Angeles Times Oakland-based research
institute. “Climatic
About 50 percent of changes are occurring.
the water used inside ... We are looking at a
U.S. homes can be future with less of a
reused to irrigate natural reservoir in our
landscapes and flush snow in the Sierras and
toilets, according to a less water available
gray-water report from the Colorado
recently released by the River system.”
Oakland, Calif.-based
In 2009, California
Pacific Institute. modified its plumbing
The Overview of code to allow the reuse
Greywater Reuse of certain types of gray
examined the water. The Pacific
application of gray-water Institute was interested
systems worldwide to in examining how that
determine how the change might affect the
wastewater generated state and aid its
from sinks, baths, development of a “soft
showers and clothes path of water
washers could be reused management.”
to reduce demand for “The 20th century
more costly, high-quality was dominated by a
drinking water. paradigm of water
“In California, there supply and water
are a lot of reasons why extraction which
we’re looking for new focused on large-scale
and innovative water centralized resources
sources, including the like reservoirs, canals
legal restrictions that and pipelines that have
are coming to bear on been very successful at
our ability to move moving water and
water around the state,” providing a higher
said Juliet Christian- standard of living but
Smith, senior research also come with social,
14 GOING GREEN | Sunday, December 12, 2010
environmental, energy
and economic costs that
weren’t apparent from the
beginning,” Christian-
Smith said.
“As we move into the
21st century, we’re
starting to think about
other options ... such as
demand management —
conservation and
efficiency — and to look
commercialappeal.com
wastewater from showers
and sinks to flush toilets
and irrigate outdoor
plants. Korea, Cyprus,
Japan and Germany are
also at the forefront of
gray water technology
implementation.
While there is no
national policy in the U.S.
regarding gray water,
about 30 of the 50 states
have some sort of gray
water regulation, some of
which require treatment
of the wastewater before
its reuse. Other states,
including Arizona and
California, use a
landscape’s soil as a
natural filter to reduce
potential contaminants.
According to the
report, which cited a
study conducted in
Barcelona, Spain, this
year, factors determining
public acceptance of gray
water include a perceived
health risk, perceived
cost, operation regime
at new technologies that and environmental
reuse water.” awareness.
Australia is the most The Overview of
progressive country in Greywater Reuse is a
terms of gray-water starting point, Christian-
policy. The government Smith said, to “a larger
for this drought-prone project that will start to
continent not only outline supportive and
promotes gray-water protective instruments”
reuse but provides for understanding the
monetary incentives for long-term impacts of
systems that recycle gray-water reuse.
The Commercial Appeal Sunday, December 12, 2010 | GOING GREEN 15

Roman Greene/Looney Ricks Kiss

The CA2 building used the foundation walls of the old Court Annex and the 124-
year-old Lowenstein Building as a fourth wall as part of its design that achieved the
city’s first gold-level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification.

By Wayne Risher

Annex risher@commercialappeal.com

THE SLEEK, MODERN cube of glass,

LEEDs steel and concrete overlooking Court Square

got a lift from the distant past on the way to

in green becoming the city’s greenest new residential

building to date.
Designers incorporated the old Court
Court Square building Annex building’s foundation walls into the
paces energy planning new CA2 building’s footprint and backed the
16 GOING GREEN | Sunday, December 12, 2010
five-story structure up
against the 124-year-old
Lowenstein Building.
The recycled foundation
and savings associated
with eliminating a fourth
wall helped boost CA2 to
gold-level certification
under the U.S. Green
Building Council’s
Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design
program.
It’s the highest LEED-
rated new building in
Memphis so far under a
program that serves as a
yardstick of green
building practices, said
architect Jason Weeks of
Looney Ricks Kiss.
CA2 was completed
last fall, the new
construction piece of
Court Square Center in
Downtown Memphis,
which includes the
renovated Lowenstein
and Lincoln-American
Tower buildings.
Original plans called for
the Court Annex building
to be rehabilitated, but it
was destroyed by an Oct.
6, 2006, fire attributed to
wind-blown embers from
a blaze that leveled First
United Methodist Church.
Developers John Basek,
Willie Chandler and Yorke
Lawson brought in Looney
Ricks Kiss to design the
new building. The firm
designed the county’s first
LEED-certified building,
Independent Bank’s
Germantown branch, a
silver-level project.
“It’s something we were
all familiar with, and it’s a
little bit of ‘Do the right
thing,’ to be attentive to
the environment, to be
attentive to energy
consumption,” Chandler
said.
“The natural
lighting, peaceful
color scheme, and
flowing floor plan
can show everyone
that a LEED
building can be
beautiful and very
functional.”
REGINA HUNT
council member
The LEED gold honor
was announced recently
to local members of the
Green Building Council,
which met at the New
Consortium of Law and
Business, tenant in CA2’s
commercial space.
“The natural lighting,
peaceful color scheme,
and flowing floor plan can
show everyone that a
commercialappeal.com
LEED building can be
beautiful and very
functional,” said Regina
Hunt of Central Sales Co.,
a council member. “I was
very impressed with the
project as a whole,” Hunt
said.
The design took
advantage of the site’s
brownfield status and
various energy-, material-
and water-conservation
features.
About 35 percent of
project cost went to
“reused resources” such
as concrete from the old
building, which was
crushed and reused as
aggregate. The project
diverted from landfills a
whopping 99 percent of
rubble left by the fire and
debris generated by new
construction.
Placing the structure,
like the Court Annex
before it, against the
Lowenstein provided a
thermal mass to support
more efficient heating,
ventilation and cooling.
The exterior’s
dominant feature, a glass
curtain wall that faces
Court Square, uses
energy-efficient glass and
coatings to guard
interiors against
ultraviolet rays and
swings in temperature.
In addition to high-
efficiency plumbing,
The Commercial Appeal Sunday, December 12, 2010 | GOING GREEN 17

heating, cooling and

lighting, interior
finishes included
paints, sealants and
coatings of the low
volatile organic
compound variety, said
architect Bill Davies of
Looney Ricks Kiss.
Chandler estimated
the green effort added The Philadelphia Eagles’ Lincoln Financial Field
2-3 percent to overall
cost.
Architect Frank Eagles hope stadium goes off grid
Ricks, principal in
Looney Ricks Kiss, By Michael d’Estries the 7.5-megawatt co -
said more clients are Mother Nature Network generation plant.
clamoring for The energy to be
sustainable design and The Philadelphia generated is comparable to
building practices. Eagles, already the annual electricity
The firm is recognized in the NFL as a usage of over 26,000
designing the new sustainability leader, have homes. In the off-season,
FedEx Family House at announced a massive the organization expects to
Le Bonheur Children’s renewable energy send over 4 megawatts of
Hospital with LEED installation that will energy back into the grid.
certification in mind. catapult them ahead of any “The Philadelphia
Melissa Thomson, sporting club worldwide. Eagles are proud to take
26, graduate student at At a gathering at Lincoln this vital step towards
the University of Financial Field, the Eagles’ energy independence from
Memphis, signed on management team fossil fuels,” Eagles owner
for a second year at announced a partnership Jeffrey Lurie said. “It
CA2 in October. with renewable energy underscores our strong
Before moving in, company Solar Blue that belief that environmentally
she was concerned the will effectively take the sensitive policies are
south-facing wall of NFL stadium off-grid. consistent with sound
windows would spell The plan, scheduled to business practices.”
high utility bills. “I be finished in time for the Solar Blue will pour
know the first time I start of the 2011 NFL $30 million into the
got my utility bill, I season, will see 80 spiral- project in an effort to get
thought it was a shaped wind turbines the retrofit ready for next
mistake it was so low,” attached atop the stadium season. The Eagles expect
Thomson said. and 2,500 solar panels the deal to help reduce
— Wayne Risher: installed. Natural gas and energy costs by almost 25
529-2874 biodiesel fuel will power percent in the first year.
18 GOING GREEN | Sunday, December 12, 2010 commercialappeal.com

Food safety for the holidays

By Merry Young
and Paul McRandle
SimpleS teps.org

Nothing gets you into the

holiday spirit like a feast with
family and friends. But even
the healthiest foods can be
harmful when food safety
basics are neglected.
While consumers can’t
stop these outbreaks from
occurring, proper food
handling at home will
help keep you from
exposing guests to
dangerous food-
borne pathogens
such as E.coli,
salmonella,
campylobacter,
staphylococcus and
listeria. These
organisms pose health
risks ranging from a sick
stomach to very serious, and
sometimes life-threatening, illness.
Here are a few tips and resources to help
make your holiday meals safe and healthy.

Cleaning
To prevent the spread of bacteria and
food-borne illnesses like E.coli and
salmonella poisoning, always wash
hands in hot soapy water before
preparing food and after using the
bathroom, changing diapers, blowing
your nose, sneezing and coughing, and
after handling pets.
Always wash hands before and after
handling raw meat.
Also wash cutting boards, knives,
utensils and countertops in hot soapy
water after every use, taking extra care to
keep meats, eggs and vegetables separated
while you work to avoid cross-
contamination.
The Commercial Appeal
Ideally, separate cutting
boards should be used for
raw meats and for breads
and produce, and they
should be replaced once
they develop deep
grooves, scratches or cuts
where bacteria can hide.
Sponges and towels are
also breeding grounds for
harmful pathogens and
should be freshly washed
with soap and hot water.
Cooking
Meat-free options avoid
many of the health perils
presented by undercooked
poultry, ham or beef. But
if meat is on the menu, be
sure to cook it properly.
Turkey: Before
choosing a turkey, keep in
mind that pathogens run
rampant in factory farms
and slaughterhouses and
animals raised in these
conditions are more likely
to be exposed to food-
borne bacteria. For a
safer option, look for
local, pasture-raised
poultry and labels like
UDSA Certified Organic,
Free Farmed or Certified
Humane. If you plan on
purchasing a fresh turkey,
bring it home no more
than two days in advance.
When preparing a
frozen turkey, it should be
thawed in the refrigerator
at 40 degrees, never left
out at room temperature
Sunday, December 12, 2010 | GOING GREEN
(allow 24 hours for every
five pounds of turkey). It
can also be defrosted in its
original wrapper in cold
water, as long as the water
is changed every 30
minutes. (Allow about 30
minutes per pound with
this method, and cook it
immediately after
thawing.)
When cooking, use a
food thermometer to
check that the internal
temperature of the inner
thigh and the thickest part
of the breast reach 165
degrees before removing
the turkey from the oven,
and let it stand 20 minutes
before serving. Always
wash the thermometer in
between temperature
checks. Cooking turkey to
a temperature of 165
degrees is especially
important when serving
children, the elderly,
pregnant women and the
immune compromised.
The safest way to cook
stuffing is to prepare it
separately, but if it is
cooked inside the bird it
should be moist, and
packed loosely. Whether
cooked separately or
inside the bird, stuffing
should be cooked to at
least 165 degrees. Place
turkey in oven
immediately after stuffing
(avoid fresh pre-stuffed
turkeys altogether).
19
Ham: Ham is often
labeled “fully cooked,” and
these can be eaten right
out of the package. All
ham must be processed to
USDA guidelines to kill
trichina, a worm that is
sometimes present in
hogs. Fresh hams will bear
a safe-handling label and
must be cooked to an
internal temperature of
160 degrees, in an oven
set to at least 325 degrees,
before eating. Fully
cooked hams may be
reheated to 140 degrees.
Beef: Roast beef and
steaks may be safely
cooked to 145 degrees for
medium rare, 160 degrees
for medium and 170
degrees for well done. Raw
beef should be refrigerated
at 40 degrees and cooked
or frozen by the “Use by”
date. Marinating in the
refrigerator is safe for up
to five days, but be sure to
boil any used marinade
before it comes into
contact with cooked beef.
Never reuse uncooked
leftover marinade.
It may be tempting to
rinse meat under the tap
before cooking, but it’s not
safe. Rinsing raw meat can
spread bacteria to areas
around your kitchen, like
the sink and counter space.
For more on meat safety,
see the USDA’s meat
preparation fact sheets.
20 GOING GREEN | Sunday, December 12, 2010 commercialappeal.com

Drinks
Unpasteurized apple cider can carry
harmful bacteria, which can be a risk
to the elderly, young children
and individuals with weak
immune systems.
Pasteurized cider is
available in most grocery
stores, though some find it to
be less flavorful. However,
unpasteurized cider is still safe if it
is heated to 160 degrees before serving.
Homemade eggnog also can be a risk
due to salmonella in raw eggs. Again,
pasteurized eggnog is safe and
available in most stores, but if
you prefer to whip up a batch
from scratch, use pasteurized
egg products instead of shell
eggs, or gradually heat the egg-
milk mixture to 160 degrees,
measuring the temperature with a food
thermometer.

Serving
If you’re having a buffet-
style feast, make sure hot
foods are kept hot (above
140 degrees) in a warming
tray, chafing dish or slow
cooker. Likewise, cold
foods should be kept cold
(below 40 degrees) over
ice. Perishables, especially
dishes containing meats
and cheeses, should not be
left out for more than two
hours.
It’s a good idea to
divide large portions of
cooked foods into smaller
portions, serving some
and storing the rest to
maintain safe
temperatures.
Hot food can either be
kept warm in an oven set
to between 200 and 250
degrees, or it can be
cooled and reheated
before serving.
To cool foods evenly,
transfer items to shallow
containers and store them
in the freezer or
refrigerator until they’re
served. Any reheated food
should be brought to 165
degrees before serving.
As your buffet platters
empty, clear them away
and serve fresh food on
fresh dishes with clean
serving utensils. Desserts
made with eggs and milk,
like pumpkin pie, must be
refrigerated after baking.
The Commercial Appeal Sunday, December 12, 2010 | GOING GREEN 21

Storage
Poorly stored foods make food
poisoning all too easy. Follow these
recommendations to keep foods fresh.
Boxed wine
Separate leftovers into shallow
containers and cool quickly in the
refrigerator, rather than leaving them
has come a
out on the counter.
All prepared foods should be
covered to prevent cross-
long way
from tacky
contamination.
Be careful not to overload the
fridge, as there must be enough room
for cold air to circulate.
Do not store perishable foods on
By Libby Volgyes
the door of the fridge where the
Cox Newspapers
temperatures fluctuate more often.
Turkey should be carved off the
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — I
bone and stored in smaller portions,
admit it. Perhaps, occasionally, we
separate from stuffing and gravy.
might have turned up our elegant
Try to eat turkey leftovers within
noses at the concept of “boxed wine.”
four days; stuffing and gravy within two.
Maybe it was a bad experience in
When reheating leftovers in the
college or just a general pooh-poohing,
microwave, put them in ovenproof glass
but we’ve never really given boxed
or ceramic containers — even
wine the time of day. Or night. Or in
“microwave-safe” plastic containers may
between.
leach chemicals into food when heated.
All this changed when Octavin
Leftovers can also be covered
brought a whole new kind of boxed
efficiently with freezer-recommended
wine to the table: four bottles of wine
materials and frozen at 0 degrees for
squeezed into one big, value-minded,
two to six months.
eight-sided box with a spout. The
Avoid slowing the freezing
packaging design guarantees freshness
process by stacking packages until
up to six weeks after tapping (turning)
they are frozen throughout.
the box.
Only defrost food in the
They save oodles of money by
refrigerator, in cold water or in the
eliminating cork, glass and closures
microwave, never on the kitchen
and it’s better for the environment.
counter. Any items thawed in the
Their website boasts reducing
microwave should be cooked
packaging waste by 85 percent and
immediately.
carbon emissions by 55 percent.
And once all the work and preparation
I can see this concept being perfect
are out of the way, don’t forget to relax
for two situations: the casual drinker
and have a great holiday meal.
who likes to have just one (or one and
22 GOING GREEN | Sunday, December 12, 2010 commercialappeal.com

a half) glasses of wine every night, reminded me of everything bad that

and for a big party. I decided to face can happen to good grapes. I was
my prejudices and put the box to the almost going to give up on a glass of
test at a recent party. wine with dinner completely when I
I served Bodegas Osborne Seven, remembered the box.
which I received as a sample. It’s a It was the perfect solution. Still
Spanish red comprising seven good, interesting, reliable. A
varietals: 25 percent cabernet steadfast relief and downright tasty
sauvignon, 25 percent merlot, 18 with our roasted veggies and pork
percent syrah, 8 percent petit verdot, chops.
8 percent tempranillo, 8 percent Octavin currently makes six types
garnacha and 8 percent graciano. Its of wine, everything from a New
alcohol level is a sensible 13.6 Zealand Silver Birch Sauvignon
percent, and it Blanc, a Big
sells for about House from
$20 for a 3-liter California and
container. a Pinot Evil (a
That’s around blend of pinot
$1 a glass, noir and pinot
people. grigio) from
The first Hungary.
night I had it, I This is not
found the nose necessarily
pleasant and what I’m going
very berry: to whip out to
cherries, the sound of
raspberries, oohing and
blueberries and Octavin boasts that the company ahhing at my
mixed berries. reduces packaging waste by 85 percent next fancy
It’s dry in an and carbon emissions by 55 percent. dinner party.
Old World style But I wouldn’t
with a smooth mouth feel and hesitate to buy this wine for another
medium body. The finish was casual kegger with friends.
surprisingly spirited, the tannins And if you’re the type who takes a
under control but just a touch while to finish a bottle and are
unbalanced. satisfied with the same wine every
It was an easy, uncomplicated night, this might be the best thing to
drinker that was absolutely perfect happen to your pocketbook in a long
for a crowd. time.
But it really won me over a few The Swirl Girls — J. Gwendolynne Berry
days later. I had opened up a couple (Dry), Lynn Kalber (Bold), Jennifer Podis
of bottles of wine and dumped both of (Earthy) and Libby Volgyes (Sweet) —
them down the drain because they write about wine for The Palm Beach Post.
The Commercial Appeal Sunday, December 12, 2010 | GOING GREEN 23

Out of the
garden and
onto the
windowsill
By Robin Shreeves
Mother Nature Network

If you still have some

herbs growing in what’s
left of your garden, it
may not be too late to
transplant them into
containers that can
grow inside all winter
long.
These five frequently
used herbs grow well in-
doors on sunny win-
dowsills:
Parsley: So many Chives: Chives are reach into the spice cab-
recipes call for parsley, versatile, and you’ll be inet for dried basil this
and this hearty herb will glad to have them close winter.
grow in full sun or a bit by to snip whenever you Thyme: Dig up
more slowly in partial need instant flavor. Find your thyme and bring it
sun. a very sunny window indoors. You can use it
Oregano: Oregano for this herb. for seasoning poultry,
is perfect for all those Basil: Fresh basil spicing up breads and
comforting pasta dishes can make all the differ- more. It will do best in
you’ll cook during the ence in a dish. Keep full sun, but it will still
cold weather. It likes full basil in full sun, and grow in less-sunny win-
sun best. you’ll never need to dows too.
24 GOING GREEN | Sunday, December 12, 2010
Chevy gets a jolt over Volt fuss
Technically, car
isn’t all electric,
critics point out
By Jim Motavalli
Mother Nature Network
Flame wars! The
blogosphere got incredibly
heated up recently by the
incendiary charge that
General Motors “lied”
about the Chevrolet Volt
when it claimed that the
car runs on electricity all
of the time. In fact, it
doesn’t — the gas motor
partially drives the wheels
at speeds above 70 mph.
But the difference is
pretty technical. GM
should use every trick in
its arsenal to get maximum
range, fuel-efficiency and
reduced emissions from
the Volt. Doug Parks, a
global electric vehicle
executive at GM, swore to
me that all of these things
are improved because of its
previously undisclosed
trick of using the gas
engine to indirectly drive a
secondary ring gear after
the battery runs down (at
highway patrol speeds
only). This sneaky use of
commercialappeal.com
John T. Greilick/Associated Press
General Motors CEO Dan Akerson flashed the “V”
for Volt after driving the first Volt on stage at the
Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant last month.
mechanical energy allows Instead of leaving well
the main electric drive to enough alone, the
ratchet back a bit at high company said the Volt is
speeds, improving an “all-electrically driven
efficiency. vehicle” that has “no direct
GM is guilty of linkage from the engine,
misleading the public through the drive unit to
about the gas engine never the wheels.” The key word
driving the wheels. If, as there is “direct.” There’s
the company says, the new not a direct link, but there
development was “secret is an indirect one. And
sauce,” a proprietary trade according to Kevin Kelly,
secret awaiting patent manager of EV and hybrid
approval (until three weeks communications, at
ago), the company should speeds over 70 mph that
have just shut up about that indirect link is supplying
particular aspect, or said 70 percent of the car’s
something ambiguous power (leaving 30 percent
until the press launch. from the electric motor).
The Commercial Appeal Sunday, December 12, 2010 | GOING GREEN 25

Ford announces which cities get first crack at Focus Electric

Ford’s first all-electric, zero emissions
vehicle, the Ford Focus Electric, will go on
sale in late 2011. As is the case with the
Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf, initial
availability will be limited to certain
markets. Ford has announced that the first
wave of Ford Focus Electric sales will be
made in 19 American cities.
In late 2011, customers in the following
markets will be eligible to purchase Ford’s
first electric vehicle: Atlanta; Austin, Texas;
Houston; Boston; Chicago; Denver;
Detroit; Los Angeles, San Francisco and
San Diego; New York; Orlando, Fla.;
Phoenix; Tucson, Ariz.; Portland, Ore.;
Raleigh Durham, N.C.; Richmond, Va.;
Seattle; and Washington, D.C.
The markets were chosen for several
reasons including current hybrid
purchasing trends, the acceptance of
electric vehicle technology by local
governments and the potential to
collaborate with utility companies.
“Making electric vehicles a viable option
for consumers requires teamwork across a
variety of industries and government
entities,” said Nancy Gioia, director of
Global Electrification, Ford Motor
Company. “Working with utilities,
governments and technology companies is
a key part of our electric strategy to make
sure the infrastructure and support for
electric vehicles is in place as we begin
rolling them out.”
The Ford Focus Electric will be powered
by a 23 kWh lithium-ion battery with an
estimated 100-mile range that can be
recharged by both 120V and 240V power
sources. Compact Power Inc, located in
Holland, Mich., will manufacture the
battery. The Focus Electric will be built
alongside the standard Focus at the
Michigan assembly plant.
Melissa Hincha-Ownby,
Mother Nature Network

“While the engine is
running, we found a way
to boost range and make
the extended-range mode
more efficient,” Parks
said. “We are actually
very proud of our system.
If we’d just wanted to
cover our you-know-what,
we could have lost a few
miles of range and never
connected indirectly to
the gas engine. The most
important thing is that
the car is better because
that system is in place.”
As my colleague Jim
Henry points out,
customers aren’t likely to
care much about this kind
of dispute, and they
shouldn’t. What matters
most is whether the Volt
delivers on its
environmental promises,
and is it, in fact, the no-
compromise planet-
friendly car it claims to
be. I think, for most
people, it will deliver that
because they’re going to
be traveling within the
up-to-50-mile range of the
battery pack.
Jay Leno agrees with
me. In a phone interview,
he told me the Volt is “the
smart one,” because it’s
“an electric car 95 percent
of the time. But when you
need to go to Vegas or San
Francisco, it turns into a
regular car. That’s the key.”
OK, on the rare
occasions when I take my
Volt over 70 mph, as I
watch for Smokies, I’ll hear
a tiny mechanical whirring
noise as the secondary ring
gear engages. And it will
be the sound of GM lying
to me. And I’ll get over it.
Jim Motavalli is the
transportation blogger for
Mother Nature Network
(mnn.com/featured-
blogs/jmotavalli).