Buying domestic - by way of China

I shopped at Harry and David prior to the holidays to put together a grilling-themed gift for the give-and-get pile that has become a family tradition. I selected cedar grilling planks and a variety of marinades and sauces.

The planks were cut from American-grown cedar. The planks were then shipped to China where they were sorted and wrapped with a printed label in clear plastic. Finished packages were shipped back to the US for distribution to Harry and David stores throughout the country.

Think about it. Harry and David found it to be cost-effective to ship American goods to China just for the sake of packaging.

Raising the Bar

I just finished a great read - Raising the Bar. I was drawn to this book while reading Small Giants, a book that showcases 14 companies that made the decision to focus on quality and remain independent.

Raising the Bar tells the story of Clif Bar & Company. from the perspective of one of the founders - Gary Erickson. In a nutshell, Gary got the idea for a good tasting, healthy bar during an epiphany at the end of a long bike ride. After months of development in his Mom's kitchen, the first Clif Bar was introduced by Gary and his partner. Tapping into natural demand for their products, the company grew quickly. After turning down $120M for the company, Gary bought out his partner and refocused the company on a foundation of five aspirations:

1. Sustain the brands
2. Sustain the company
3. Sustain the people
4. Sustain the community
5. Sustain the planet

This is a useful model, predicated on commitment, for creating a sense of shared understanding about the company, for setting goals, and for guiding decision making. At the end of each year, Clif Bar & Company reflects on performance against each of these aspirations.

I encourage you to read Raising the Bar for the details, and to understand why Clif Bar & Company chose to become what Gary metaphorically calls a white road company rather than a red road company.

Rain barrel systems from Sustain Dane

Photos by Jaime Zimmerman:
Tandem installation pictured right
Douglas the installer below right
Click on images for larger view

Rain barrels are a new take on an old design in which cisterns were used to capture the rain hitting and running off the roof of a building. In Madison, Wisconsin (located in Dane County) rain barrel sales constitute one of the programs of Sustain Dane, a non-profit community-focused organization. Since 2006, Sustain Dane has sold more than 1200 of the 55 gallon rain barrels according to the organization’s Web site.

The use of rain barrels results in a number of positive outcomes:

- water is captured for use where the homeowner needs it
- rain water, rather than chlorinated and fluoridated potable water, is used to support landscaping
- reduced demand for potable water saves money and reduces pumping and treatment costs
- less storm water runoff, carrying pollutants and fertilizers, finds its way to the local watershed

Last week, two rain barrel systems – one single and one tandem – were installed at the home of my brother Jaime, who lives in the Dudgeon - Monroe neighborhood of Madison. Jaime purchased the systems for $216 and spent $10 for the cement blocks that serve as the base for the barrels. Jaime also contracted for installation of the systems for an additional $136.

Residents of Madison use an average of 68.6 gallons per person per day at home, according to the City of Madison Water Utility. Residents pay $1.30 per 1000 gallons of water used. So, the decision to install the systems is driven by the positive outcomes cited above rather than by a return on the investment.

While installation is straightforward, requiring only a handful of common tools, there are clear advantages to having someone with experience install the systems. A do-it-yourselfer could install the two systems in less than a day. An experienced installer required 3 hours to complete the job.

Douglas, the installer, arrived at the house driving a van from Community Car, Madison’s car sharing program. He is shown holding a system diverter in the accompanying image. During my 10 years in the solar energy industry in Southern California, I witnessed thousands of solar pool and water heating system installations. With that experience providing perspective, I came away impressed by the clean, efficient and professional installation of the systems.

The 55 gallon barrels, fabricated of recycled food grade plastic, fill quickly even during a relatively light rain. The key component in the rain barrel system is the diverter. Ingeniously designed, it directs water pouring from a downspout into the rain barrel. When the barrel is full, the water is diverted back into the downspout.

The diverter traps debris to keep it out of the barrels; the debris is easily cleared via a removable door on the diverter. Other recommended maintenance includes keeping the gutters clean, occasionally cleaning the barrels with an environmentally safe product and winterizing the system by capping the water input ports on top of each barrel.

Jaime chose to connect soaker hoses to the barrel hose bibs. The soaker hoses utilize the captured water to irrigate about half of the landscaping around his home.

The rain barrels, pictured above, are rather obvious additions to the property due to their size and color (they’re also available in blue). The barrels could be screened with landscaping or other methods, painted, or left in their environmentally chic original look.

Sustain Dane does not ship rain barrel systems because it would not be sustainable to do so. However, they offer a locator at http://www.rainfordane.com/ to help you find suppliers in your area. Check it out.

In addition to the rain barrel project, Sustain Dane encourages citizen involvement in a variety of ways and promotes awareness and understanding of Madison as an eco-municipality. In that context, the organization appears to have embraced The Natural Step framework. I recently discovered that Oshkosh, Wisconsin has also embraced The Natural Step. Look for a post on the subject in the near future.

Post script. In response to this post, I received a comment suggesting that rain barrels would provide a habitat for mosquitos. Paraphrasing from rainfordane.com, the rain barrels are mosquito proof because they are sealed. Let me know if you have had experience in this regard.

Update: Starbucks should have sponsored my remodeling project

One of the “perks” of being a freelance writer is the time spent in coffee shops looking for inspiration and motivation in sixteen ounces of the daily brew. Spend some time in these establishments and the sharp baristas will get to know the way you like your coffee. (I’m happiest with a smooth blend of fair-trade, sustainably grown coffee from Central America with a splash of soy milk.)

Become a regular and some baristas will even get to know your name, what brings you to town and your blog address. After all, most of my time in the coffee shop is spent researching or writing for a project or a blog post, taking advantage of the free wifi (except at Starbucks) – behavior that my sister Anne has humorously and accurately labeled “the new vagrancy.”

My post dated March 26 jabbed good-naturedly at Starbucks for failing to sponsor my home remodeling project by providing at least a cap and/or tee shirt. Consider that most of my product choices were from the coffee color palette and that I was a regular at the stores in and around Midvale, Utah. Subsequently, a barista friend at a Starbucks in Wisconsin read the entry and posted a great comment in which she offered to fulfill my wish. I was reminded, once again, that if you put the thought out there the universe will respond.

I am now the proud wearer of the tee shirt pictured upper right. The shirt promotes Pike Place Roast – a smooth Central American blend that was recently introduced as Starbuck’s daily brew. Pike Place Roast is almost as appealing as my favorite - Casi Cielo.

After some reflection, I decided that my generous barista friend should remain anonymous. However, I want to recognize her thoughtfulness and kindness and thank her for reading my blog and providing a postscript to the original entry. I wish her great success on final exams this week … now if she could only find that cap.

Remodeling lessons: choosing granite

Like countless others involved in home improvement, I was enchanted with the vision of granite countertops in the new kitchen and bathrooms. The granite I selected for the kitchen was Juparana Fantastico and fantastic it was. Caramel-colored streaks coursed through brown and beige stone, interspersed with veins of gray. The granite I used in the bathrooms on the main level was more pedestrian but still beautiful. I had made my selections after visiting a local distributor, where the range of granite options was really amazing.

However, as should be the litmus test with any product choice, the question is whether granite is truly a sustainable choice. Does it make sense to carve granite from a quarry in Brazil, ship it to China for cutting, and then to the U.S. for sale and installation? Just think about the investment in time, labor, energy, and emissions to do that.

I visited the Green Building Center in Salt Lake City during the remodeling process. There I saw a variety of alternative countertop materials that I liked to varying degrees, including Vetrazzo which is fabricated from recycled glass and a masonry medium. Vetrazzo is available in a variety of colors, reflecting the use of a single color of glass or combinations of colors. I had seen the product used in the green remodeling project accomplished last season in Austin, Texas by This Old House. I also liked PaperStone, made from recycled paper and priced at $40 per square foot. Elsewhere I inspected and reacted favorably to composition quartz and bamboo countertops.

I discovered that the product I saw in Salt Lake, Vetrazzo, was manufactured in California. Cost for the product at the time was $125 per square foot, or three times what I had paid for granite from Brazil by way of China! It is now listed on the Green Building Center site at $75 per square foot. Notwithstanding the fact that the price is coming down, the question is begged: why aren’t we manufacturing such countertops locally, made from glass that is recycled locally, rather than paying to ship a heavy and bulky product over a long distance? I posed this question to a dealer at a local home show in Wisconsin recently. He smiled, said that he had asked the same question and was collaborating with a local concrete company to create a similar product.

While it appears that the folks at Vetrazzo are out ahead on this, there must be an opportunity for entrepreneurs throughout the country. At the same time, it frustrates me that some recylcing facilities refuse to accept anything other than brown glass because there isn't a ready market for it.

I enjoyed spending time during the winter helping a niece and her husband finish remodeling their 1908 vintage home, located just a block from Lake Winnebago in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Mel and Jason opted for locally made concrete countertops to complement their colorful, contemporary update. It was a great choice not only because of the look but because of reduced embedded energy in the materials, and the benefits to local businesses.

For the same reasons, concrete was also the material of choice for the countertops at the new Aldo Leopold Legacy Center in Baraboo, Wisconsin. The Center is currently the highest rated LEED project in the country. More about countertop choices, my visit to the Center and the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED rating system in upcoming posts.