WINTER 2018 ISSUE 113

LIVE BETTER. SAVE MORE. INVEST WISELY. GREEN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. AMERICAN GreenAmerica.org INSIDE REAL GREEN Healthy Soil, LIVING 4 BREAKING Cool Climate DOWN A widespread switch to regenerative BARRIERS TO COMPOSTING won’t just heal the soil. At scale, it can actually reverse the climate crisis. REAL GREEN INVESTING

176 GIVE -BASED INVESTING A TRY

18 DR. KOFI BOA ON REVIVING SOILS IN GHANA

24 PHOTO ESSAY: YOUR CLIMATE VICTORY !

8 ACROSS GREEN AMERICA 10 GREEN AMERICA VICTORIES 12 GREEN ECONOMY NEWS Jim Newberry Urban Ron Finley, founder of the Ron Finley Project, is embracing regenerative 30 LETTERS & ADVICE agriculture as a way to feed people in urban food deserts and cool the climate. p. 20

1 SUMMER 2018 GREEN AMERICAN GREENAMERICA.ORG Donate your vehicle

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2 WINTER 2018 GREEN AMERICAN GREENAMERICA.ORG Soil Power PUBLICATIONS ASSOC. MANAGER, Carbon Farming DIVISION DIRECTOR Dennis Greenia Innovation Network Charis Smith s I travel our beautiful country, I hear from MANAGING EDITOR Eleanor Greene DIRECTOR, Soil Health Initiatives ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sytonia Reid Sarah Andrysiak Apeople everywhere about the urgency of EDITOR-AT-LARGE MANAGER, Non-GMO Working Group moving forward on solutions to today’s exis- Tracy Fernandez Rysavy & Midwest Grain Initiative PROOFREADER Rob Hanson Jessica Hulse Dillon tential problems: climate and energy, food and TEMPLATE DESIGN Tania Kac PROGRAM COORDINATOR, Non-GMO Working Group Jennifer Brown agriculture, the need to protect workers and fam- GRAPHIC DESIGN Dennis Greenia, Tracy Fernandez Rysavy GREEN BUSINESS NETWORK® ilies—despite the chaos in Washington. EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD DIVISION DIRECTOR Fran Teplitz Devra Davis, Ph.D.: Environmental MEMBERSHIP & MARKETING That’s why I want to share with you the extraor- Health Trust • Clair Farley: Office of MANAGER Scott Kitson dinary progress you and I have made together this Trans Initiatives, City & County of San MEMBER SERVICES ASSISTANT Francisco Nana Firman: Global Muslim Mark Rakhmilevich year building green-economy solutions (p. 10). Climate Network • Catherine Coleman GREEN BUSINESS CERTIFICATION ALISA Flowers: The Center for Earth Ethics/ Together, we are curbing the climate crisis ... MANAGER Abigail Rome Alabama Center for Rural Enterprise, GRAVITZ GBN ASSOCIATE Mary Meade CDC • Jacqueline Patterson: NAACP getting the dirtiest corporations to make major Environmental and Climate Justice GREEN CONSUMER clean-energy commitments. We’re protecting Program • Catherine Plume: (r)evolve • MOBILIZATION & TECHNOLOGY Vincent Schilling: Indian Country IT & FACILITIES MANAGER Pat Keyes people ... taking cancer-causing chemicals out of electronics manu- Media Network IT FELLOW George Millican facturing so millions of workers are safer. We’re reinventing the way ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS PRODUCTS Monica Flores food is grown ... with regenerative agriculture practices that sequester DIRECTOR Shireen Karimi DIGITAL PRODUCTS ASSOCIATES DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER Duc M. Nguyen carbon and have the capacity to reverse climate change. Eleanor Greene DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS Economic activism is what allows us to achieve these victories, the DIGITAL DESIGN & COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT & SPECIALIST Alec Badalov ORGANIZATIONAL ADVANCEMENT power of consumer pressure, green-business innovation, and industry EXECUTIVE TEAM Kathy Harget transformation—100 percent without Washington. We are shifting our CEO/PRESIDENT Alisa Gravitz DEVELOPMENT MANAGER EXECUTIVE CO-DIRECTOR: Business, Kristin Brower destructive economy to one that protects people and the planet. Investing, & Policy FOUNDATIONS & BUSINESS Thank you for all you do to make these victories possible! Fran Teplitz RELATIONS MANAGER EXECUTIVE CO-DIRECTOR: Consumer Amanda Heerwig On the heels of the recent United Nations report on the climate & Corporate Engagement Todd Larsen MAJOR GIFTS OFFICER EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT Christy Schwengel crisis, you and I are called to put our economic strategies to work at Davina Etwaroo MEMBERSHIP MARKETING exponential speed and scale. And that’s why I’m so excited to bring you CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY DIRECTOR OF MEMBERSHIP PROGRAMS MARKETING Dana Christianson the “Healthy Soil, Cool Climate” feature in this Green American (p. 13). DIVISION DIRECTOR Todd Larsen MEMBERSHIP MARKETING It’s about the power of photosynthesis in to sequester carbon CLIMATE & RECYCLING MANAGER Rob Hanson DIRECTOR Beth Porter MEMBERSHIP SERVICES ASSISTANT in soil while improving soil health, yields, water resilience, and CLIMATE FELLOW Ayate Temsamani Mark Rakhmilevich DONOR SERVICES, OPERATIONS, & nutrition. At scale, it can reverse climate change. FOOD CAMPAIGNS DIRECTOR DATABASE MANAGER Jillian Semaan Stephanie Demarest It’s the two kinds of solar power working together. The sun gives FOOD CAMPAIGNS MANAGER Jessica Walton ORGANIZATIONAL SYSTEMS us renewable energy: solar and wind. And it gives us the power of DIRECTOR OF FINANCE Bob Bulik SOCIAL JUSTICE CAMPAIGNS plants to sequester carbon. These are the two essential strategies for MANAGER Caroline Chen ACCOUNTANT Jessica Tunon HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR reversing climate change. The first helps us end fossil fuels and stop GREEN AMERICA CENTER FOR Dennis Greenia SUSTAINABILITY SOLUTIONS DATA ENTRY SPECIALIST putting more CO into the atmosphere, while making the air cleaner Dave Feldman 2 CENTER DIRECTOR Deanna Tilden SENIOR FELLOW, STRATEGIC DESIGN worldwide. The second removes CO2 from the atmosphere and puts it & FACILITATION Russ Gaskin FOUNDER/PRESIDENT EMERITUS Paul Freundlich back underground while creating healthy soils and better economics CENTER, DIRECTOR OF STRATEGY & DEVELOPMENT Erin Gorman BOARD OF DIRECTORS for farmers and rural communities worldwide—and feeding the world. Danielle Burns, Joanne Dowdell, Clean Electronics Production Network: ASSOCIATE MANAGER Emma Kriss Monica Flores, Paul Freundlich, We are making great strides in renewables replacing fossil fuels. In Alisa Gravitz, Scott Kitson, Julie Lineberger, FELLOW Steve Brown Jeff Marcous, Deborah Momsen-Hudson, the last three years, 80 percent of new energy installations worldwide Sustainable Food & Ag Programs Sara Newmark, SENIOR DIRECTOR Ed Barker were renewable, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Green Adam Ortiz, Deepak Panjwani, DIRECTOR, Carbon Farming Tracy Fernandez Rysavy, America’s climate team, the elite technology forecasting group at Mary Johnson Innovation Network Meredith Shepherd Google, and the climate scientists at MIT estimate solar alone will be 50 percent of all electricity production globally by 2030. And the idea of carbon sequestration through soil health is spread- Copyright 2018 ing like wildflowers. Green America 1612 K St. NW, #600, Washington, DC 20006 • 800/58-GREEN fax 202/331-8166 Working together, you and I are a major force for harnessing the GREENAMERICA.ORG power of the sun—wind, solar, and soil. This gives me abiding hope The Green American magazine (ISSN: 0885-9930) is free with Green America Individual Membership for the future. So please turn the pages of this issue, and put a bright (starting at $20/year) or Green Business Network® Membership (starting at $130/year). dose of hope and joy in your holiday season—and for the work ahead For address changes or individual membership information, e-mail [email protected] or call 202/872-5307. For Green Business Network information, e-mail [email protected], call on behalf of our beautiful planet and all of its people. 202/872-5357, or visit greenbusinessnetwork.org. For article reprints, call 202/872-5307 or e-mail [email protected]. Together, we are powerful, Pinterest.com/greenamerica Instagram.com/GreenAmerica_

Facebook.com/GreenAmerica Twitter.com/GreenAmerica Printed on 100% de-inked recycled fiber, elemental chlorine-free. Alisa Gravitz, President/CEO m Designates a certified member of Green America’s Green Business Network® 3

REAL GREEN Living has an article called “Pick a Composter, Any Composter” on our website (green america.org/ pickacomposter) that details some of the most popular options in detail, but here’s the quick version: Breaking Down Barriers • Holding bins: You can build or buy a low-maintenance, open-top wooden or to Composting plastic bin, or build your own. It’ll keep your pile out of sight, and the open top allows you easy access to turn If you’re not composting yet, why not give it a try? your compost. It’s a major step toward regenerating • Tumbling barrel composters: Smaller than the open-air versions, these bins your soil at home. are basically barrels that rotate easily with the turn of a hand-crank, nicely aerating smaller batches of organic waste. You’ll need to pay extra atten- tion to getting the mix of brown and green waste balanced to achieve fast results, or you may end up with a bit of a backup. • Multi-tiered composters: These composters are basically a series of shallow bins stacked on top of each other. As your organic waste decom- poses, it falls into successively lower bins until it comes out of the bottom as finished compost. The smaller bins help the compost cook faster than a big pile or bin, but their stacked nature means they can hold as much waste as a large bin.

“Can I compost without a bin?” Anthony Slayter-Ralph Yes! Many people just find an out- Priscilla Woolworth, a Climate Victory Gardener (see p. 24) from upstate New York, put of-the-way area in their yard and start together a simple compost pile near her , which she enclosed inside a fence she made piling their organic waste there. In fact, of chicken wire and branches. She says of her pile, “It’s working perfectly and slowly filling up with vegetable garden detritus and leaves. I hope that beneficial insects will enjoy it as well.” my family has a small patch of woods in our back yard, so we just take our organic waste to a spot hidden in the trees, and omposting is no longer just a way to America’s Center for Sustainability we rotate it with a shovel occasionally. Creduce the amount of organic waste Solutions (see p. 13). Keep a roughly 50/50 mix of green headed for the landfill—although that’s a While the idea of composting for the waste (think fruit and veggie peels) great benefit. Farmers and who climate might appeal, perhaps you’ve to brown waste (think leaves, grass use regenerative agricultural practices yet to give it a try. Or, if you do compost, clippings, and coffee grounds), and turn it know that composting is key to building maybe you have a friend or family occasionally to aerate it, as organic waste healthy soil, as it provides food to soil member who isn’t following your needs oxygen to decompose aerobically microorganisms that improve plant stellar example. and turn into compost. You’ll soon have health and sequester carbon. The world To help you or your neighbors over- a nice pile of nutrient-rich humus (i.e. needs more composters to keep our soils come your organic-waste fears, here soil filled with plenty of dark, naturally healthy—which is critical if we want to are Green America’s best suggestions decaying organic matter) to use on your feed the world and cool the planet. for overcoming common barriers to garden or your house plants. In fact, a worldwide switch to regen- composting. Or, if you don’t have a garden and erative agriculture, including robust would rather keep things really simple, composting, could actually reverse the “I’m interested in a compost bin, but dump in a remote corner of your yard and climate crisis, according to the scientists there are so many to choose from!” let nature do its thing without you. and other experts participating in the It’s true: there’s a wide variety of Keep in mind that a compost pile with Carbon Farming Network of Green compost bins out there. Green America food scraps may attract rodents. We have

4 WINTER 2018 GREEN AMERICAN GREENAMERICA.ORG COMPOSTING woods behind our house, so we’re able to too, so make sure to resupply the news- RESOURCES set our pile several feet away from paper (brown waste) as the worms eat • Gardener’s Supplym : Composting our home. If you want to avoid rodents, through it and your produce peels (green bins and tools of all types, as well as an enclosed bin or a simple fence with waste). A proper balance will ensure that mail-order worms for - chicken wire around your pile will help. your bin doesn’t smell. ing. gardeners.com One big benefit: worms will process • Lotech Products, LLCm : Makers “I have a bad back. Turning compost your organic waste quickly. Red wiggler would be difficult for me.” of the Compost Crank, which makes worms will recycle half their weight in turning compost piles easier on your You have a few different options to 24 hours. back. lotechproducts.com make composting gentler on your spine For more information on worm • Worms Eat My Garbage: Written and joints. composting, see our article, “Worm As noted above, a tumbling barrel by Mary Appelhof, the 35th anniversary Composting, All-Natural Recycling,” at edition of this book(Storey Publishing, composter lets you easily aerate small greenamerica.org/wormcomposting. 2017) walks you through the process batches of compost with the turn of a For an even easier option, a growing of creating a worm compost bin. hand-crank. Or, try a worm bin for the number of municipalities offer drop-off fastest results and smallest batches. (See composting or may even pick it up below for more on the latter.) curbside for processing at a municipal disrupting the composting process. Or, you can combine the simplicity of composter. Call your local waste authori- They’ll will attract flies and maggots, and a pile with the ease of a tumbling barrel ty to see if this service is available to you. cause your compost to smell. with a Compost Crank. Sold by Lotech In addition, local businesses are Note that unlike home bins, municipal Products m , a family-owned green popping up across the country that offer composters are designed to break down business in Tucson, AZ, the Compost compost pick-up services, where they’ll meat, fish, and dairy (in addition to Crank looks like a giant corkscrew. You collect your organic waste and turn it into things like compostable plastics that just stick the Crank into your compost compost products that they sell. Or local won’t decompose in your home bin), pile and turn it with the ergonomic community gardeners or farmers may so don’t feel bad about sending those handle, and your compost will be mixed accept organic waste from you to turn curbside if your city has compost pick-up and aerated without your ending up in into compost for their plants. Check your and says they’re okay. bed for days. In fact, inventor Charlie local business listings and ask around You can compost meat, fish, and dairy Ambrose handcrafted his first Compost to see if you can find someone willing to anaerobically; the Bokashi One-Bucket Crank when his own bad back made take your organic waste. method of composting works in this turning compost a challenge. manner. Bokashi (meaning “fermented “I live in a cold climate. Can I still organic matter” in Japanese) composting “I don’t have a yard.” compost in winter?” requires a plastic bucket with a spigot Sure, stores often showcase Along with oxygen, your pile of brown at the bottom. You put your organic spiffy composting bins or rotating barrels and green organic waste will need heat waste, including meat and dairy, and a with plenty of bells and whistles, but you to turn into compost fairly quickly. If fermenting powder (usually a mix of bran need a place to put a bin or barrel first. you don’t have the heat, your compost and anaerobic bacteria) in, and the waste And that’s easier said than done if you won’t “cook.” ferments. You’ll end up with liquid and a live in an apartment or a place with a lack If you live in a snowy climate in winter, smaller amount of organic waste that you of outdoor green space. you can buy insulated composters that can then bury in the soil. Our solution: Try worm composting. will keep your compost pile decomposing. However, there’s a downside: Well- Also known as vermicomposting, this It won’t cook as quickly in cold weather, aerated organic waste decomposes aer- type of composting is as simple as 1-2-3: but you’ll likely get some results. obically, meaning that microorganisms 1) Place a five- to ten-gallon wooden or If you have a compost pile out in the that need oxygen to survive assist in the plastic bin under your kitchen sink or in open, there’s no reason you can’t keep decomposition process. Without oxygen, another place that’s warm and dark. contributing organic waste to it in the your pile will decompose anaerobically, 2) Buy some red worms, also known as winter. It may end up feeding animals meaning bacteria that don’t need oxygen Eisenia foetida and Lumbricus rubellus. If versus turning into compost, but isn’t help it decompose. Unfortunately, you don’t have a local bait shop or worm that better than sending that waste to anaerobic bacteria release methane, a farm, you can mail order them from a landfill? They’ll consume your scraps, m potent gas, as they work. businesses like Gardener’s Supply . eliminate some as waste, and that waste 3) Put the worms in the bin with some becomes natural fertilizer for the soil Your best bet for the climate? Compost damp strips of newspaper to provide a come spring. Mission accomplished. aerobically with a pile, bin, or a worm nice, cushy (and edible) bed. Then, all bin, and take steps to reduce food waste you have to do is dump in your fruit and “I’d like to compost fish, dairy, and meat. overall, especially when it comes to foods vegetable scraps, and the worms will turn Is that possible?” like meat, fish, and dairy that can’t be them into rich compost. You can’t put fish, dairy, or meat into composted at home. The 50/50 rule applies for worm bins, a traditional compost pile or bin without —Tracy Fernandez Rysavy, editor-at-large m Designates a certified member of Green America’s Green Business Network® 5

REAL GREEN Investing Plant-Based Investing Plant-based investing goes by many names; you might hear it called vegan in- vesting, humane investing, or cruelty-free investing. What all of these approaches have in common is the intention to sup- port plant-based industry as a means to transition away from practices that either harm animals or promote unsustainable animal agriculture. Green America uses “plant-based investing” as a blanket term to best explain this movement. Plant-based investors may do one or more of the following: • Seek out investments in businesses that offer plant-based products, as well as plant-based alternatives to common animal-based products. • Exclude investments in companies involved in animal slaughter, abuse, testing, and exploitation from portfolios. • Participate in shareholder activism to spur positive changes in compa- Plant-Based Investing, nies regarding animal welfare. Since plant-based investing is still new, what each term means varies among for the Good of Animals investment managers and advisors, says Brenda Morris, a vegan financial planner Invest in businesses that avoid animal exploitation and founder of Humane Investing LLC. “At Humane Investing, we may invest and may be good for the climate, too. in a retail company that sells fur, but we’d advocate for changes in their practices so n October, the United Nations Inter- based businesses with their portfolios. that they stop selling fur,” says Morris. Igovernmental Panel on Climate Change Plant-based and alternative meat “Excluding any company that sells prod- (IPCC) published a historic report estimat- businesses are booming: From 2013 to ucts affiliated with animal exploitation— ing that governments only have 12 years 2017, plant-based product purchases for example, airlines with leather seats on to meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of increased by 62 percent, and in 2017, the planes—will have very little impact on holding the increase in the global average sales of vegan or vegetarian food totaled the company’s behavior. I will not go that temperature to 1.5°C above pre-industrial $2 billion US dollars, according to Innova far because believe engagement is a more levels. While government action is critical Market Insights and Statista, respectively. effective strategy.” to meet this goal, citizens can also help. Enter plant-based investing—a new, When many of us take action together, How to Do It promising strategy within the larger it’s powerful. If you’d like to try plant-based investing socially responsible investing (SRI) move- One way individuals can help cool the on your own, here are a few ways you can ment that supports a global transition climate is by going vegan or vegetarian, or take to get started. from animal- to plant-based products. eating less meat. A 2016 Oxford University • Screen for plant-based companies: Innovative plant-based “meat” study found that vegetarian and vegan You can positively screen for companies start-ups like Beyond Meat and Impos- diets can reduce food-related emissions that are on the cutting edge of plant-based sible Foods have been the darlings of by 63 percent and 70 percent, respectively, products. And, you can screen companies as compared to what the researchers the venture-capital set for the past few that are involved with animal exploitation called a “business-as-usual diet” with years. (Note: Some of these companies, and abuse out of your portfolio. high amounts of red meat. including Impossible Foods, use genet- To do so, you can do your own research, You can support plant-based eating ically modified ingredients.) But you or find a socially responsible investment with more than just your fork, however. don’t need millions to get involved in the advisor to help. Any SRI advisor is Socially responsible investors are getting plant-based investing movement, just well-versed in screening for social and in on the act, too, by supporting plant- the know-how. environmental issues, and some now

6 WINTER 2018 GREEN AMERICAN GREENAMERICA.ORG INVESTOR RESOURCES specialize in plant-based investing. to adopt a more humane chicken welfare • Cruelty Free Investing (CFI): To help his clients, Tom Nowak, policy. Groups like the Humane Society A nonprofit developing investment founder of the investment advisory firm charge that chickens from McDonald’s resources that protect animal rights. Quantum Financial Planning LLC m , says and other fast food companies are bred Publishes lists of dedicated plant-based he develops a portfolio of about 30 stocks to grow at an unnatural pace and live in investment advisors and programs on that are screened based on the criteria laid overcrowded conditions. Since Aramark, its website, CrueltyFreeInvesting.org. out in his book, Low Fee Vegan Investing Burger King, Kraft Heinz, and Subway • Green America’s Shareholder (CreateSpace, 2014). Like many advisors, have pledged to give chickens more floor Focus List: Our annual list of social Nowak’s screening criteria isn’t available space by 2024, McDonald’s is considered and environmental shareholder res- to the public, but for those who like to the laggard in the industry. olutions to watch, including any on do their own research, he recommends In response to the letter, McDonald’s animal rights. ShareholderAction.org. CrueltyFreeInvesting.org, a nonprofit announced commitments this fall to • GreenPages.org: Green America’s website where over 4,000 companies have improve chicken welfare, including raising directory of green businesses includes already been screened for animal abuse chickens in safe environments that SRI advisors who can help you get and exploitation. promote natural behaviors, implementing started with plant-based investing. He cautions that just because a compa- monitoring systems, and embracing ny is listed on the site doesn’t mean it’s third-party audits, as reported by an an ethical company across the board: “A October 2017 company press release. socially responsible investor may avoid Also, in 2016, Green Century Capital [some of the companies listed on the site] Management m , a -based SRI Green America’s shareholder focus list, because of their governance or hiring firm, filed a shareholder resolution at which is updated annually shortly before practices,” he says. “Still, it’s a great start Tyson Foods, the country’s second largest the spring shareholder season. because it allows advisors like me to show processor of chicken, beef, and pork, clients a list of stocks that have already calling on the company to produce plant- Seeds of Change gone through the cruelty-free filter, and based eating options. Following that The shift to plant-based eating is a now we can apply other filters to it.” resolution, as well as a robust grassroots global movement: 70 percent of the • Check out the US Vegan Climate campaign by the nonprofit Mighty Earth, world’s population is currently opting for Index, which debuted in June 2018 on Tyson became an investor of Beyond Meat less meat or no meat at all, according to Bloomberg under the ticker VEGAN. and started a $150 million venture capital GlobalData. Created by Beyond Advisors, a vegan fund supporting alternative protein The rise in plant-based eating is on investment products company, the Index development. track to influence more corporations is a collection of US large-cap stocks that Though Jared Fernandez, shareholder to develop alternative meat products have been screened according to environ- advocate at Green Century, says he can’t and more financial institutions to mental and anti-animal-abuse principles. say for sure that Tyson made the invest- create plant-based investing products. Since extracting and burning fossil fuels ments solely because of Green Century’s For example, in September, a New continues to spur global warming, the efforts, it does seem that the shareholder Zealand-based investment management Index also excludes oil and gas companies. resolution, coupled with the consumer company, Pathfinder Asset Management, “I’ve never met a vegan who’s a climate campaign, nudged the company in the announced that it will remove companies change-denier,” says Claire Smith, CEO right direction. involved in animal testing and animal of Beyond Advisors. “So we’ve combined Fernandez notes that the dialogue with products from its stock portfolios. And those two elements and called it Vegan Tyson started around the notion that going in 2017, Walmart asked its suppliers to Climate because animal agriculture is an plant-based is good for business. “Ulti- identify products that could be marketed enormous contributor to climate change.” mately, if you’re not addressing a burgeon- to vegan and vegetarian consumers. While you can’t invest directly in an ing market like this, you’re restricting your Actions like these anticipate a change index, Beyond Advisers has created an own access within the greater market,” in consumer sensibility—even a small, exchange traded fund (ETF) that mirrors he says. “That can impact a company’s personal choice like buying a soybean the US Vegan Climate Index. The ETF is bottom line and make a company seem burger can be a form of investment in our currently pending SEC approval and is like they’re not exploring all the opportu- planet’s future. expected to launch in January 2019. nities for growth they could.” “Meat and dairy are huge parts of • Use your shareholder power: Share- To support change within companies, our everyday lives, and there’s a huge holder activism is already making a visible voting during the upcoming proxy season infrastructure in place to deliver them,” impact on the American food industry. for resolutions demanding plant-based says Nowak. “But if consumer preference In September, the New York State food products and an end to animal changes and consumers want plant- Pension Fund, which owns at least $344 abuse and exploitation is a gradual but based products that factory farms aren’t million worth of shares in McDonald’s, promising strategy. To see if there will be designed for, [those farms] could turn into made headlines when comptroller shareholder resolutions in 2019 asking stranded assets,” i.e. assets that have lost Thomas DiNapoli wrote a letter to companies to address animal cruelty or their value. McDonald’s imploring the fast food giant offer plant-based products, check out —Sytonia Reid m Designates a certified member of Green America’s Green Business Network® 7 ACROSS GREEN AMERICA

NEWS FROM OUR PROGRAMS AND MEMBERS GreenAmerica.org Our New Chocolate Scorecard Goes Beyond Certifications to Address Deeper Causes of Child Labor

they alone are not enough to solve the underlying issues that contribute to child labor in cocoa, including farmer poverty and a lack of infrastructure.” With that in mind, this year, we expanded our Chocolate Scorecard to go beyond commitments to certify chocolate. In our updated scorecard, we are not only looking at how much certified cocoa a major choc- olate company has, but we are also looking to see if companies have programs and projects in place to address other underly- ing issues of child labor in cocoa. Such programs include child-labor monitoring and remediation systems, which work with communities and families to address why child labor is happening on farms; farmer income-generating programs (programs that help farmers diversify their or grow more efficiently, both of which may boost income); and traceability mechanisms for fuller supply-chain trans- parency. Although companies may have programs beyond certification that sound similar, they can vary in practice in how comprehensive and impactful they are, and the final grade on the scorecard reflects those differences, Chen explains. This scorecard is, of course, not a com- prehensive list of ethically sourced choc- olate companies. However, the scorecard features companies that are also Green Business Network® members, as Green America has screened them for their practices. Chocolate companies with an “A” rating have certified 100 percent of their n October, Green America released Côte d’Ivoire work in hazardous conditions cocoa fair trade and are organic and/or Ithe annual revision of our ever-popular growing cocoa. And according to Caroline non-GMO certified. Chocolate Scorecard. The scorecard grades Chen, Green America’s social justice cam- companies based on their commitments to paigns manager, many of those children are Share Green America’s 2018 Chocolate Scorecard eliminating child labor from the chocolate victims of trafficking and online at greenamerica.org/ChocolateScorecard. industry. child slavery. Seventy percent of the world’s cocoa “Many major chocolate companies have Remembering SRI Leaders is produced by small farms in West Africa, sustainability plans, and some even have This past summer, the movement for where many farmers and their children commitments to have 100 percent certified socially and environmentally responsible live on less than $1 per day. The US cocoa in their supply chain by 2020,” says investing (SRI) lost two leaders, too soon. Department of Labor estimates that Chen. “Although certification programs are Green America worked with Susan White more than 2 million children in Ghana and an important step in the right direction, and Tessa Tennant over the years as they

8 WINTER 2018 GREEN AMERICAN GREENAMERICA.ORG pioneered new directions for SRI and made an enduring impact on finance that works for people and the planet.

Susan White Susan White, trust enrollment direc- tor of the Oneida Nation in Wisconsin Trust Department m , was a warm and wise presence and a strong advocate for socially responsible investing. Susan played a key role in overseeing how trust funds could support scholarships and a life-insur- ance policy for tribal members, making a difference in the lives of young and old. The Oneida Nation was the first Tribe to adopt SRI strategies for its trust funds, and Susan deepened that involvement over the years. Working in SRI coalitions, Susan was par- ticularly involved in shareholder advocacy on issues confronting Indigenous Peoples. She served as co-chair of the Indigenous Peoples Working Group of the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investing Green America honors the legacies of social investing pioneers Susan White (left) and Tessa Tennant. Foundation m and did much to educate investors and corporate leaders. Issues she championed included working against first Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed wrong items into your recycling bin can the misappropriation of Native American by the Financial Times/IFC Transformational contaminate other items that are actually symbols and imagery, advocating for the Business Awards. Her commitment to green recyclable. And when a recycling batch is need to respect sacred lands and Indian finance was life-long, and she brought deter- contaminated, it often gets sent straight to burial sites, and educating the public on the mination and a wide smile to every project the landfill.” power of language to reinforce damaging and meeting. Beth’s new book, Reduce, Reuse, Reimagine: stereotypes. Her work made companies No matter where Tessa served, she Sorting Out the Recycling System (Rowman & such as Walmart, Federal Express, and always insisted that finance can and must Littlefield, 2018), which hit stores on Nov. Peabody Energy confront the negative play a positive role in society and for the 8th, provides answers to clear up confusion impacts of their actions and marketing in environment. She was able to carry this and spark a recycling revolution. Indian Country and beyond. Susan also message to new sectors in ways that Says Todd Larsen, Green America’s played an important role in the decision of previously hadn’t been tried or were not executive co-director, “We’ve all heard the National Congress of American Indians sufficiently convincing. Tessa’s fortitude, that recycling isn’t working well anymore to pass a resolution encouraging Tribes to welcoming demeanor, and creativity have in the US, but we’re not hearing how we use SRI strategies. brought SRI into new realms. She leaves an can fix it. Beth takes us beyond the act of Susan’s dedication and hard work earned incredible legacy to carry on. recycling itself to an understanding of the her well-deserved recognition over the ways in which we use and waste materials years, including the SRI Service Award and as a society, and she maps out the solutions Harvard’s Honoring Nations American Green America’s we can start implementing today in our Indian Economic Development Award. communities and in our homes.” Through her activism, truth-telling, and Beth Porter Learn more about the book at bethrecycles.com. bridge-building, Susan improved the lives of many and demonstrated that investors Releases New And look for our in-depth interview with Beth working together can mobilize to make a coming in the Spring 2019 issue of the Green real difference. Book on American. Recycling Tessa Tennant Tessa Tennant brought vitality and Here in America, we a tremendous “can do” spirit to the recycle only about a various leadership positions she held in third of our trash, while other countries NOURISH YOUR SKIN SAFELY® the world of finance. She co-founded the around the world recycle twice this amount or more. Why the discrepancy, and how can Artisan Natural & Organic Skincare Carbon Disclosure Project, the UK’s first Cruelty-Free | Affordable | 30+ EWG Verified green investment fund, the UK Social we do better? Those are the questions that Green Investment Forum, and the United Nations 10% off your first order America’s climate and recycling programs Environment Programme’s Finance Initiative, with code GREENAM and she also helped create the Association director Beth Porter set out to answer when she started writing a book. for Sustainable and Responsible Investing BeGreenBathandBody.com in Asia. Tessa’s many contributions led to “Many of us are confused by inconsistent rules and labeling of what we can and can’t Follow us on Instagram her being appointed to the Order of the @begreenbathandbody British Empire earlier this year. She also recycle,” says Beth. “And that confusion received the Bavaria Award, as well as the has huge consequences, as putting the m Designates a certified member of Green America’s Green Business Network® 9 A Year of Green America Victories!

FAIR LABOR GOOD FOOD

Samsung Takes First Mango and Topshop Sign Soil Carbon Initiative Steps for Workers in Bangladesh Accord on Standard Enters Electronics Factories Fire and Building Safety Pilot Stage

greenamerica.org/labor greenamerica.org/labor greenamerica.org/food

Art Directors & TRIP / Alamy Tero Vesalainen / iStockPhoto ligora / iStockPhoto The Problem: Supplier factories making The Problem: In 2013, 1,135 workers The Problem: Over-reliance on electronics for major retailers offer making clothing for major US brands chemicals in the agricultural industry their workers little protection from the died when the Rana Plaza factory building is resulting in dead soil that no longer often-toxic chemicals they handle on in Bangladesh collapsed. In response, sequesters carbon. A worldwide a daily basis. While other electronics organizations, governments, and retailers switch to regenerative agriculture companies have taken steps to address created the Bangladesh Accord on Fire could heal the soil so it better acts as worker safety, Samsung has been dragging and Building Safety, a legally binding a carbon sink, which could eventually its feet. Since 2007, more than 100 agreement to improve workplace safety in reverse the climate crisis. workers in Samsung supplier factories the country. The original Accord expired in Victories: In 2018, Green America’s have died from work-related diseases, 2018, and some major retailers have yet to agriculture networks, in partnership with and hundreds more have fallen ill. sign the updated agreement. The Carbon Underground, began devel- oping the Soil Carbon Initiative, a holistic Victory: In July 2018, Samsung signed a Victory: In 2018, holdouts Mango and agriculture standard encompassing soil binding arbitration framework that will Topshop signed the new Bangladesh Accord. To date, 180 companies and health, animal welfare, and fairness for ensure victims of chemical exposure in its 1,600 supplier factories have signed, farmers and farmworkers. The standard Korean factories are properly taken care helping to ensure the safety of more will provide assurance to food brands of. It will compensate injured workers than 2 million garment workers. that the ingredients they purchase were and implement third-party-recommended grown regeneratively. The SCI standard safety measures. Samsung also published Our Fair Labor Program Mobilized: will start being applied to company a list of 11 chemicals it is restricting in its More than 10,000 signatures on petitions to supply chains in 2019. supply chain, including bans on n-hexane five major apparel companies, and benzene. + A major social media push. Our Food Programs Mobilized: Two networks of farmers, scientists, Our Fair Labor Program Mobilized: What’s Next? In 2019, our Fair Labor farmworkers, and food companies, A global day of action that amplified activist campaign will: including DanoneWave, Ben & Jerry’s, voices in multiple countries, • Continue to pressure major apparel MegaFood, and others. + More than 33,000 petition signatures, companies to adopt policies that What’s Next? In 2019, our food + A major social media push. protect people and the planet. programs will: • Push Godiva to eliminate child labor What’s Next? In 2019, our Fair Labor • Continue to promote the benefits in its cocoa supply chain and improve campaign will: of regenerative organic agriculture. farmer livelihoods. • Pressure Samsung to remove all toxic • Get major companies to certify chemicals throughout its supply chain. their products.

10 WINTER 2018 GREEN AMERICAN GREENAMERICA.ORG Mobilizing pressure from multiple angles—individuals, green business members, shareholders, allied organizations, the media, and large company allies—Green America has been moving multiple industries closer to embodying a truly green economy that works for all. Join us as we celebrate several of our big 2018 victories.

CLIMATE ACTION RESPONSIBLE FINANCE SYSTEM TRANSFORMATION AT&T Makes Companies Take Action Major Companies Clean-Energy on Gun Safety Sign Up for Change Commitment greenamerica.org/ centerforsustainabilitysolutions.org greenamerica.org/climate shareholder-activism

The Problem: Small, green businesses bring social and environmental solutions to market. The next step: Scaling those solutions to shift supply chains and entire industries to sustainability. Victory: Our Center for Sustainability Solutions brings major corporations—along with scientists, sursad / iStockPhoto Frances Roberts / Alamy workers, farmers, and others—to The Problem: The majority of The Problem: The US gun homicide transform supply chains and industries AT&T’s operations are powered with rate is 25 times higher than that of other to more just and sustainable practices. a mixture of dirty coal, nuclear, and developed countries. The powerful gun Our Center’s Clean Electronics natural gas. In 2015, AT&T used 14.8 lobby has halted political progress on Production Network (CEPN) million megawatts-hours (MWh) of solutions like limiting gun sales to those helped several major electronics energy to connect its 150 million under 21 and those who cannot pass a corporations and supplier factories wireless subscribers, with only 1.26 background check, as well as restricting start devising ways to remove toxic percent coming from renewables. sales of rapid-fire accessories. chemicals from supply chains. CEPN has been included in HP, Apple, and Victory: In February 2018, AT&T Victory: Green America educated Dell’s annual sustainability reports. announced it would purchase 820 our members about weapons-related Our Carbon Farming Network is MW of power from wind farms in shareholder resolutions, and we sent helping large companies and farmers Oklahoma and Texas. letters to major financial institutions start shifting toward climate-cooling asking them to act for gun safety. regenerative agriculture, including Our Climate Program Several companies took positive steps, by moving 5 million more acres to Mobilized: including Dick’s Sporting Goods, REI, small grains grown in rotation in the More than 32,000 petition signatures, Bank of America, and Citigroup. Midwest, to help reduce soil-depleting + A major social media campaign, mono-cropping. The network’s + Major media coverage, Our Responsible Finance overall goal is to reverse the climate + 1 video by T-Mobile’s CEO Program: crisis through agricultural carbon challenging AT&T and Verizon to + Supported 4 shareholder resolutions sequestration while restoring soil “Hang Up on Fossil Fuels.” filed by allies. health, water quality and eco-system + Gathered 7,000+ petition signatures. biodiversity, and improving global food What’s Next? In 2019, our + Educated thousands on shareholder security, farm economics, and rural Climate Action campaign will: resolutions related to gun safety. livelihoods. • Push Verizon and AT&T to power The network recently teamed What’s Next?: In 2019, our their operations with 100 percent up with The Carbon Underground Responsible Finance campaign will: green energy. to launch the Soil Carbon Initiative • Create new resources on standard (see previous page). • Work for climate justice in responsible investing and banking. Our Healthy Agriculture Supply Working communities of color. • Advance 2019 shareholder Group continues to help farmers and • Mobilize individuals and businesses resolutions on social and major food companies to go non-GMO against fracking and pipelines. environmental issues. and organic. m Designates a certified member of Green America’s Green Business Network® 11 GREEN ECONOMY NEWS

THE LATEST FROM OUR GREEN BUSINESS NETWORK®

GreenBusinessNetwork.org + Find green companies in our National Green Pages®: greenpages.org

Eutree owners install log collection contain- Green Home Business Leaders ers at tree-service partners’ locations, so they can much more efficiently obtain the lumber they need for their products. Win People and Planet Awards “This prize will enable Eutree to increase the number of logs diverted from landfills,” says Sims Acuff, president of Eutree. “Being able to provide this service to our tree- service partners contributes to Eutree’s long-term goal to reduce the demand for harvested timber from forests, while providing sustainably sourced, forest-free hardwood products to consumers and businesses at an affordable price.” The People & Planet Award recognizes innovative US small businesses that inte- grate environmental and social consider- ations into their strategies and operations. The winners were selected by the public during a month-long online voting period. In spring 2019, Green America will begin accepting nominations for the spring awards. Stay tuned for the theme!

For more information, visit greenamerica.org/ people-planet-award.

courtesy of Eutree Eutree’s white oak wide plank flooring is made from logs saved from tree- service companies in Georgia. Eutree was one of two winners of the fall 2018 People & Planet Award. Green America Seeks Business Member Candidates to Serve he awardees in the fall 2018 season of humans, pets, and the environment. With TGreen America’s semi-annual People & the award, the owners plan to expand their on Board Planet Award went to companies in the cat- company’s reach throughout their home Green America’s board of directors egory of green homes. Nature’s Magic and state of Ohio and beyond. is a member-elected stakeholder board Eutree represent two very different aspects “At Nature’s Magic, we create plant- with representatives elected by individual of having a green home. Each received a based, nontoxic cleaning products that members, business members, and Green $5,000 prize from Green America. are sustainably made, cruelty-free, work America worker-members. Board members serve three-year terms; the full board con- “Green America is thrilled to honor effectively, and as a bonus, smell so good venes on a quarterly basis. At this time, we companies offering eco-friendly products you will want to clean,” says Danielle Young, are looking for diverse candidates passion- for the home,” says Fran Teplitz, Green founder and owner of Nature’s Magic. “As ate about Green America and our mission America’s executive co-director. “These a very small, woman-owned business that to harness economic power for social businesses are unique because they are began with a simple yet passionate idea, I justice and environmental sustainability, who creatively meeting the demands of encourage others who are inspired to take are also members of the Green Business American consumers, and they are the leap.” Network®. responding to those demands with new Eutree is a lumber supplier and sawmill If you’re interested in running for a seat alternatives needed to protect people and that diverts logs from urban tree-services, on the board representing Green America the planet.” which otherwise would be ground into green business members, please send your Nature’s Magic is a woman-owned mulch or thrown into landfills, turning them letter of interest to Fran Teplitz at fteplitz@ business in Athens, OH, that produces into beautiful flooring and other products. greenamerica.org. plant-based, nontoxic cleaners. Using mostly Based in Villa Rica, GA, the business reduces organic ingredients, the company works demand for forest timber, thereby saving To view our current board members, visit to ensure that its products are safe for climate-cooling trees. The award will help greenamerica.org/board-directors.

12 WINTER 2018 GREEN AMERICAN GREENAMERICA.ORG heal the soil

T h e G r e e n A m e r i c a n F e at u r e HEAL THE SOIL, Cool the Climate A widespread switch to regenerative agriculture methods wouldn’t just help feed the world by making soil healthier. It could actually reverse the climate crisis, once and for all.

Angie Mosier Will Harris, owner of White Oak Pastures ranch in Bluffton, GA, has been farming regeneratively since 1995. See the inspiring video about his ranch, 100,000 Beating Hearts, at vimeo.com/170413226.

ack when I first started at Green the word “end” for accuracy. Regenerative agriculture is a set of BAmerica, in 2000, I remember That’s not to say that she wasn’t opti- farming techniques that help regenerate our president/CEO Alisa Gravitz often mistic about the potential of renewable the soil. It’s not the same as organic. It cautioning those of us on the editorial energy—particularly solar—to make a includes organic steps, but its focus is team against using the term “end” dent in climate change. Or that she wasn’t on improving soil health. Even farms when it came to climate change. There hopeful that businesses could come up that aren’t yet organic can add in more simply wasn’t a solution available that with some powerful innovations. Or that practices that heal the soil. In fact, if would “end” or “stop” the climate homeowners could cut their energy use you have a yard, you can regenerate your crisis, she would say. The best the world in half through efficiency measures. But soil, too. could hope for was collective action “ending” climate change simply wasn’t in When you over-farm soil and douse that would curb the worst of its effects. her vocabulary. it in chemical fertilizers and , We’d get excited about a set of climate So imagine my surprise when she start- you kill soil microbes and fungi. On the solutions and write that they could help ed talking about something that would other hand, rich, healthy soil has micro- “end global warming,” and Alisa would “reverse the climate crisis”: regenerative organisms in it that consume carbon and shake her head sadly and ask us to strike agriculture. sequester it. If society can convert a good m Designates a certified member of Green America’s Green Business Network® 13 portion of the world’s agricultural land to regenerative practices, we could heal the soil enough that it could start sequestering a whole lot more carbon—enough to actually reverse climate change. Today, Green America’s Center for Sustainability Solutions is helping US farmers and major food companies make the switch to regenerative agriculture through our Carbon Farming Network, a working group of scientists, experts, farmers, food-industry titans, and others. Alisa’s right in the thick of the Center’s efforts to catalyze a widespread shift in the US to regenerative agriculture. And whenever she talks about their work, her hands start flying around, and she talks Green America president/CEO Alisa Gravitz. courtesy of Bioneers a mile a minute, eager to pass on her minutes go to climate scientists, and one goal is to draw greenhouse gases in the at- excitement over the potential for us to minute goes to hydrologists. None goes to mosphere down to pre-industrial levels of heal the soil, heal the Earth, and, yes, end soil scientists. 280 parts per million [ppm] of CO -equiv- climate change. Really. 2 In recent years, there have been more alent. That assumes a fossil-free energy As Dr. Vandana Shiva, a physicist and and more soil scientists looking at the system and no new CO emissions by 2050, world-renowned food activist, writes in 2 question of, “How do you more quickly so then we can begin drawing down legacy her book Soil Not Oil (North Atlantic Books, regenerate soil?” And they began to really carbon that’s currently in the atmosphere. 2015), “Rebuilding soil fertility is the very talk about soil’s ability to help with the basis of sustainable food production and In 2017, the world passed 410 ppm. climate and water crises. food security. There is no alternative to If we shift land use to more regenerative As soil scientists began to tell their story fertile soil to sustain life, including human practices, we could sequester enough through those lenses, many people—in- life, on Earth. It is our work with living carbon to get back to 280 ppm. cluding me—began to go, “Whoa! This is soil that provides sustainable alternatives Green America is working with a team of our superpower to not only mitigate the to the triple crisis of climate, energy, and scientists and other experts who have done climate crisis but actually to reverse it— food.” the math, using data from the UN FAO, and —Tracy Fernandez Rysavy, editor-at-large while feeding the world.” we’ve found that we’d need to convert 58 percent of the world’s current farmland Green American/Tracy: How does Green American/Tracy: What was your and 42 percent of our current forests to regenerating soil help the climate and “a-ha!” moment about regenerative regenerative practices. (See p. 16 for a list water crises? agriculture? What made you realize it of regenerative techniques.) was such a powerful solution? Alisa Gravitz: No matter which lens you How long our goal will take to achieve look through—a climate lens or a water will depend on the speed and scale of the Alisa Gravitz: Soil scientists have always lens—you need to regenerate the soil. strategies/actions deployed. Dr. Rattan Lal, known that healthy, regenerated soil is You’ll capture more carbon, because the the world’s preeminent soil scientist on key to solving the climate and water crises. microbes in healthy soil eat and sequester soil-carbon sequestration, says we need We’ve been so badly degrading the soil carbon. And healthy soil can hold more to start by increasing the carbon in the we rely on for food, particularly over the water, which is good in drought—more world’s soils to at least two percent, which last 50 years, with chemical agriculture. plants survive. It’s equally good in case would offset 100 percent of all greenhouse UN FAO [the United Nations’ Food and of a flood, because rather than having gases going into the atmosphere. In the Agriculture Organization] released a report everything erode, the soil is able to absorb US, the average is less than one percent. in 2017 that said depending on where you more water, and the roots in healthy soil’s This kind of scale is totally doable. But live and the conditions of soil there, the organic matter can hold it in place. Regen- we need to move quickly. world has about 30 to 60 years left in our erating soil better equips it for the ability soil unless we take action. This soil and to grow food, as well. The soil has more Green American/Tracy: The UN also food crisis is exacerbated by the interrelat- nutrients, so it naturally fertilizes crops. just released a report saying that we ed climate and water crises. have about 12 years to keep world But until the past four of five years ago, Green American/Tracy: What would it temperatures from rising further and not many people were listening. They call take to reverse climate change? How catalyzing the worst effects of climate it “the soil scientists’ lament.” If scien- big of a switch are we talking? change. Can we regenerate the soil tists as a group get 15 minutes of fame, 14 Alisa Gravitz: Scientists agree that our quickly enough?

14 WINTER 2018 GREEN AMERICAN GREENAMERICA.ORG Alisa Gravitz: We can. For the last five years or so, soil scientists have been look- ing into how we encourage soil’s natural abilities to go further faster. How do we regenerate soil faster so it can sequester carbon faster? The great news is that the potential to increase carbon in soil is much higher than two percent. Leading US regenerative farmers and ranchers have increased the carbon in their soils to six to eight percent. Nastco / iStockPhoto New research from soil scientist Dr. REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE 101 David Johnson shows that introducing su- What is regenerative agriculture? per-compost, which he calls “inoculants,” along with the most regenerative practices, Regenerative agriculture is a holistic land-management practice that uses the pow- can shoot soil carbon to ten percent and cut er of photosynthesis in plants to sequester carbon in the soil while improving soil the time for restoring degraded soil from health, crop yields, water resilience, and nutrient density. 10 to 15+ years to four to five years. Why is regenerative agriculture important? These scientists are finding that under We are plunging into climate crisis. Regenerative agriculture draws down the right regenerative conditions, soil can atmospheric carbon dioxide and, at scale, can reverse the climate crisis. sequester up to ten times more than any- We are about to run out of topsoil to grow food worldwide. Regenerative one thought it could. agriculture rebuilds top soil and, at scale, can provide global food security. But back to the overall work of reversing climate change. When it comes to climate, We are about to lose adequate water to sustain human societies. Regenerative we have two tasks: 1) Stop putting fossil agriculture recharges water cycles and restores water quality, and, at scale, can fuels into the atmosphere, and 2) draw provide both drought and flood resilience. down the legacy carbon already there. Are “organic” and “regenerative” the same thing? We can stop using fossil fuels. It’s not They are not the same, though organic and biodynamic have a huge head start. All just Green America’s climate team saying forms of agriculture, including organic, can become more regenerative. that, but scientists at Google, at MIT, are saying, “We could get to where we’re not For sure, regenerative organic is the North Star, the ideal. At the same time, to putting new carbon into the atmosphere reach the scale needed to get the benefits of soil health and carbon sequestration, by mid-century, maybe even 2030.” it is urgent that everyone who touches soil becomes more regenerative. Organic Yet, even if we did that tomorrow, we’d is one percent of global agricultural acres, and regenerative organic is still have the legacy carbon wreaking all a small fraction of that. Regenerative agriculture also needs to reach the other this havoc, like with Hurricanes Michael 99 percent. and Florence, and other big storms. How do I advance regenerative agriculture? It’s possible to get legacy carbon down 1. Plant a Climate Victory Garden at home or your community garden (see p. 24). to 280 parts per million if we stop putting 2. Buy regenerative organic, biodynamic, or organic whenever you can. carbon in the atmosphere and change land use to regenerative, higher carbon- 3. Move to a primarily plant-based diet. If you buy meat, make it organic, grassfed, sequestration practices. In fact, 280 is a or Land to Market (a certification for food that’s farmed regeneratively). conservative number. We can sequester 4. Share this issue of the Green American far and wide. Contact us for additional even more carbon. That’s what got me copies or share our articles online. really excited about regenerative ag. 5. Ask farmers, food companies, and retailers if the products they sell are rebuild- Green American/Tracy: This is much ing soil health and sequestering carbon. Everyone in the food system needs to more optimistic than I’ve ever seen you hear that consumers care! Here are some questions to ask: about climate change! • Ask farmers: Do you know if cover crops, crop rotations, and low tillage was used to grow this food? (If they don’t, send them to Green America’s Alisa Gravitz: Yes! I believe that we really website, greenamerica.org/restore-it, to get them started.) can solve it. Science keeps making new discoveries that give us even more hope. • Ask food companies and retailers: Do you require the producers who For example, because oceans are make your products to report to you on their soil health and carbon acidifying and temperatures are rising, sequestration progress? (If they don’t, send them to our Soil Carbon we’ve had global collapse of seaweed Initiative director at [email protected].) forests. The seaweed industry farms it for m Designates a certified member of Green America’s Green Business Network® 15 models are based on degraded soil. Again, the average amount of carbon in agricultural soils is less than one percent. In the current research, when carbon in soil approaches three percent, you have enough diversity in the microbial commu- nity where you go from sick soil conditions

~UserGI15633745 / iStockPhoto to a healthy enough soil to really start regenerating and rebuilding the soil. And REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE PRACTICES that sequesters more carbon that stays The following farming and gardening practices help regenerate the soil: sequestered. Beginning practices include using cover crops, reducing tilling, rotating crops, The three percent tipping point is also spreading compost (as well as super-compost “inoculants”), and moving away from when the soil microbial and fungal com- synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, , and factory farming. munity just takes off. The things that they do! The networks that form with the root More advanced farming practices include growing multi-species cover crops, system can literally signal for miles what integrating animals and crops, and introducing more trees and other perennial kind of nutrients a plant needs and can crops. Other advanced practices include silvopasture (the intentional combination call those nutrients from great distances. of trees, forage plants, and livestock together as an integrated, intensively managed When soils are healthy, single-cell mi- system) and agroforestry (the restoration of trees and tree crops on farms). crobes act as a unit that then can do a lot More advanced ranching practices include using adaptive multi-paddock (AMP) more. They can be a lot more regenerative. grazing, which uses high livestock densities for short durations between long peri- They can protect soil and plants a lot better ods for the land to rest and grow diverse grasses. from diseases and invaders, just like the Everyone can regenerate their soil, even in your home garden! Turn to p. 24 for human immune system. It’s just so cool. more information on Green America’s Climate Victory Garden campaign, which Which is also why, if you can regain soil provides a version of regenerative practices just for gardeners. health, you can have amazing yields, too. We can save the world and feed the world. food, fillers, and cosmetics. Most is raised 2,000 acres where a solar company came Green American/Tracy: So regenerated by small farmers off the coasts of the Phil- to put in a solar farm. They asked Will if soil sounds like it doesn’t need chemical ippines or Malaysia. Seaweed has collapsed he would be willing to manage the land, so fertilizers to feed the world? by about 50 percent because of warming they could have a regenerative solar farm. oceans, so these farmers’ earnings have On solar farms, weeds can grow between Alisa Gravitz: That’s true. Soil itself been cut in half, and their communities are the solar panels, and the companies often fights diseases, and it can give plants the in desperate need as a result. put chemical weed killer, glyphosate, on nutrients they need without synthetic fer- If we can regenerate seaweed forests, them. But this company wants to work tilizer and other chemicals. People like Will we not only sequester huge amounts of with Will to allow him to use the land to Harris, who have spent 20 years making carbon, but it also revives the economy graze underneath the panels (see p. 26). their fields really healthy, show that even in those farming communities, and that I’m seeing more and more of these types if you know nothing about regenerative regeneration can help the land. New of solutions as people catch on to the ben- agriculture, you walk onto these fields, and studies show supplementing cow feed with efits of regenerative agriculture, and our you know there’s a difference. There are seaweed greatly reduces methane from work at the Center brings these solutions butterflies; there are bees. You can see the cows. And seaweed fertilizer can speed up to more farmers and companies. Green healthy, diverse plant life above ground, remediation of the soil. America members will hear more of these and it’s reflective of the diversity below it. I’m also excited because soil and cli- stories when we launch our Soil Heroes In fact, one of Will’s problems is that mate work is coming together. Let me he’s made his land so healthy—without campaign next year. tell you about Will Harris, a fifth-gen- chemicals—that the eagles know it’s a eration rancher who participates in our Green American/Tracy: Are there any great place to hang out, so they like to go Carbon Farming Network. Will converted naysayers who don’t believe regenera- after the chicks on the ranch. The adults his Bluffton, GA, ranch to regenerative tive agriculture can cool the climate? only eat what they need, but the juveniles agriculture starting in 1995. I’ve seen his go in and destroy a whole pasture full of ranch, and it’s so healthy. It’s for real. Not Alisa Gravitz: You will find some people chickens. That’s why he thinks farming only that, but his daughters loved what saying, “Oh, no no no, carbon will not be among solar panels would be great because he’s doing and came back to the ranch sequestered in soil because there’s a car- chickens can hide under solar panels. after leaving it. And business is booming, bon cycle, and it will respirate back out.” It’s kind of like the early days of solar, so he’s hiring more people. It’s true that some of it does. But what the where even if you don’t believe in the Just north of his ranch, there’s another new research has shown is that a lot of the climate crisis, it has other benefits. Re-

16 WINTER 2018 GREEN AMERICAN GREENAMERICA.ORG generative agriculture will also increase agriculture. And we’ll help project devel- Alisa Gravitz: There are three reasons: biodiversity, create more jobs, and make opers know how to speak “investor,” so 1) The focus on regenerating soil is soil more flood-resistant and more fertile, they can better encourage people to invest. spreading rapidly in farming communities. so we can grow more food. 6) Roots in the Ground: We have two I have seen that shift since the Center first initiatives to encourage farmers to put started this work in 2013. At first, farmers Green American/Tracy: So much regenerative farming into place. would say, “No way am I joining them.” behind-the-scenes work is happening Rotating crops is a big part of regen- Now they’re asking to take part. through our Center for Sustainability erating the soil. So our Midwest Grains For example, farmers call me because Solutions. Can you tell us more? Initiative aims to put 5 million more acres they hear what Danone is doing, and they to work growing a rotation of barley, oats, Alisa Gravitz: Basically, the Center es- want to be part of the Danone supply chain. and other small grains. We’re developing tablished a goal to reverse the climate crisis If farmers call you early in the morning, markets and putting together a list of buy- through agricultural carbon sequestration that’s very specific and real proof that they ers for those crops, to reward farmers that while restoring soil health, water quality, know something good is happening. make the switch. and ecosystem biodiversity, and providing 2) Companies are actually ahead of And our Drawdown Dairy initiative is global food security. Our core metric is to consumers on the soil health question, creating a model dairy that can be regen- reduce atmospheric CO from 410 ppm to and how loss of healthy soils impacts their 2 erative, rather than a greenhouse-gas below 280 ppm by 2050. So we don’t have supply chain. Not all, but many companies emitter. Cows alone represent huge a small goal! . recognize they have a food security prob- methane emissions. But there are a range Our work includes: lem due to widespread soil degradation, of solutions that can make a dairy a net 1) Identifying a suite of financial and they have to start addressing it. carbon sequesterer—even accounting for benefits for farmers, so doing regenera- 3) Also, companies have made big, the methane cows emit—by growing food tive agriculture is more cost-effective. public climate commitments they need to in a regenerative way, giving cows better There are number of federal grants and meet. For a food company, at least 50 to diets and more grazing opportunities, and certain farm credit bureaus that will give 70 percent of the climate problem—and finding better ways of holding manure. you a reduced rate on loans for organic and therefore, the opportunity to meet those 7) Soil Heroes: We’re generating regenerative practices, but not everyone commitments—is in their agricultural movement momentum by telling stories knows those are available. supply chain. All of these things are push- of what’s happening and who is doing it. 2) Putting together farmer-buyer ing big food companies to look at what’s Consumers don’t really know about the innovation forums. We’re getting the going on in soil. soil connection to climate and water. It’s farmers who are doing regenerative ag There’s really a fourth. Around the like fair trade 25 years ago, when Green together with the companies that want to world, there’s now global attention on cli- America staff knew about it, but most of purchase regeneratively farmed foods, so mate. We’re the last of the climate denier our members didn’t, so we went into high they can do business together. countries. The rest of the world is really gear to educate people about fair trade. 3) We’re also putting together a looking at these climate questions, and, database of agencies that can provide more and more, they’re having these soil Green American/Tracy: There are some technical assistance with regenerative conversations. France has a plan to in- big companies involved. Are any of them agriculture. Our database will help farmers crease its soil carbon content, for example. willing to be named? learn where they can go for regenerative I just got an e-mail today from Finland, information and technical assistance. Alisa Gravitz: Danone and Ben and where they’re doing a research project 4) The Soil Carbon Initiative: We’re Jerry’s are very involved in working with us with 100 farms, providing full public developing this standard, along with our to switch their supply chains to regenera- funding for a transition to regenerative ag- partners, The Carbon Underground, to tive agriculture. General Mills is involved. riculture in a pilot program, and, after this provide assurance that farmers are actu- Several companies in our network that are program, they’ll spread regenerative ag ally doing regenerative agriculture. So if a not household names are important to the country-wide. They’re looking into using company says, “Yeah, I’ll buy your food, supply chain. our Soil Carbon Initiative as the standard. but I need to know you’re doing it,” our The switch to regenerative agriculture standard will provide proof. Green American/Tracy: Why are you is happening, and it’s happening fast. 5) Help Build It! This work will help so hopeful that the world can act fast Our job is to get the US on board. We can investors learn what they need to know, so enough with regenerative agriculture reverse the climate crisis. The answer lies investors can invest more in regenerative to end (Yay!) the climate crisis? beneath our feet.

“[Regenerative agriculture] is our superpower to not only mitigate the climate crisis but actually to reverse it—while feeding the world. ” —Alisa Gravitz m Designates a certified member of Green America’s Green Business Network® 17 planting, which gives crops an initial nu- trient boost but kills the soil life necessary for sustained, healthy farmlands. I spoke to elders in the village when I was 12 and learned that, rather than use fire, they used to cut vegetation, leave it on the ground for a year, and then come back to plant crops—especially cocoa—when it had decomposed. This technique was called proka in the local Akan language. I started practicing proka at that age and have adapted it by planting in the mulch immediately after slashing, without the one-year waiting period (which was to allow enough time for the cut vegetation

courtesy of The Centre for No-Till Agriculture to settle and decompose, so farmers could easily move around to work on the field.) Reviving Soils in Ghana Green American: What inspired you to continue no-till farming for so many an Interview with Dr. Kofi Boa of The Centre for No-Till Agriculture years? Dr. Kofi Boa: Human population has r. Kofi Boa, 63, lives in the town of Toase in Ghana, a country on West Africa’s Gulf of dramatically increased in Sub-Saharan DGuinea. When he was a kid, his mother’s cocoa farm burned to the ground because of Africa over the past two decades, resulting a poorly managed slash-and-burn on neighboring land. From then on, Boa was interested in increasing demand for food. While the in fighting the slash-and-burn tactics that many farmers in the region used, and in finding number of people that need to be fed is practices that worked better for the long-term health of farms in the community. When he rising, the arable land area suitable for grew up, he studied agronomy at the University of Nebraska, then took his education home, producing food is declining. This is due where he started the Centre for No-Till Agriculture (CNTA). Dr. Boa is also a member of the to enhanced desertification, flooding, Soil Committee, overseeing the design of our Soil Carbon Initiative standard (see p. 17), a joint accelerated urbanization, and unfavorable project of Green America and The Carbon Underground. farming practices—especially land prepa- The CNTA was created with support from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and is sup- ration methods. ported in its work in the Foase area of Ghana’s Atwima Kwanwoma district by Grow Ahead, a I am inspired by the regenerative power nonprofit and Green America ally that helps bridge the financing gap for small-scale family of agriculture to build healthy soils, in- farmers worldwide as they address the challenge of climate change in their communities. crease organic matter and nutrient levels, Grow Ahead’s fundraising and revolving loan programs are especially critical for farmer enhance soil life, and improve soil struc- organizations in the developing world, which historically have had limited access to capital for ture to meet rising demands for food. growing their organizations beyond their day-to-day needs. The practices I use and advocate for al- Here’s Dr. Boa’s story, in his own words, with thanks to Alex Groome at Grow Ahead. low for continuous and intensive farming in an environmentally friendly and prof- Green American: How did you become cover crops. I grow more than ten different itable manner, whilst satisfying human interested in farming? crops on six different farms (a total of 25 needs for food and/or income. This is all possible because of soil health. I believe Dr. Kofi Boa: My parents were farmers, acres) scattered around my village. these practices help balance production, and when I was a young child at age six, Green American: When did you learn costs, environmental considerations, and they had to take me to the farm on week- about the importance of soil health and economic sustainability. ends and school holidays. Just like all the begin farming regeneratively? children in the village, I only knew the Green American: What regenerative school and the farm. I liked the farm be- Dr. Kofi Boa: My father died when I was growing practices do you follow? ten years old. When I was 12, my mother’s cause there was always so much to eat and Dr. Kofi Boa:Everything I do on my farm a lot of space to play. This got me interest- cocoa farm—our family’s main source of is guided by a goal to regenerate the soil: ed in farming, and I wished every day was a income—was burned by a neighboring 1. Minimal soil disturbance through weekend or holiday. farmer who had set fire to his field to pre- no-till and/or reduced tillage prac- Today, I am a farmer and educator. I pare for planting corn. From that day on, I tices such as planting directly on the grow a wide variety of food and cash crops, pledged to fight slash and burn, a method mulch-covered field. including trees, vegetables, grains, and used by farmers to prepare their fields for 2. Permanent soil cover by retaining

18 WINTER 2018 GREEN AMERICAN GREENAMERICA.ORG crop residue on fields after slashing, or using cover crops if there is no residue. 3. Crop diversification through crop rotations.

Green American: Tell us about the Centre for No-Till Agriculture (CNTA) and the outcomes you witness when regen- erative agriculture is adopted by the communities you work with. Dr. Kofi Boa:I founded the CNTA to show the benefits that come from conserving and regenerating the soil. I had been using these farming practices on my farms as an example, where farmers could see results. courtesy of The Centre for No-Till Agriculture I began to teach others, and farmers were Dr. Kofi Boa stresses the value of cover crops for building soil health to a group of getting interested, so I started the Centre. visitors to the Centre for No-Till Agriculture. At CNTA, I teach farmers about forest productivity, fallow land (Fallow means Green American: When people are resis- land that has been left uncropped for one yields. Two years later, Kwame now has tant to adopting regenerative practices, or more growing seasons.), and how to several regenerative farms scattered in the what changes their minds? replicate healthy soil conditions on arable village, and he uses his farms to teach other lands using the principles I mentioned Dr. Kofi Boa: I work with smallholder farmers. Kwame practices no-tillage, crop earlier. I build farmers’ confidence with farmers who mostly would not have much residue retention, and rotations involving interactive and visual evidence on demon- formal education to be able make mean- food crops and cover crops. He has experi- stration plots and other farmers’ fields. ingful conclusions and inferences from enced a complete change in life and is well- Once farmers become confident that the written research results and scientific respected in the village. Now he works approach works, they complete hands-on presentations. The numerous talks and with me to continue to show regenerative practical training so they feel comfortable the volumes of published materials avail- ag to farmers. implementing on their own lands. able on regenerative agriculture continue One more benefit Kwame saw that With healthy, productive soils, farming to have no impact on this group of people motivated him was that he didn’t have can be a real business and an assured who continue to produce the bulk of food to spend so much time and effort to plow means of livelihood. Outcomes are visible in Africa. and make ridges to plant vegetables such in the community, with farmers no lon- For them, seeing is the truth, and so as tomatoes and peppers. He invested the ger starting bushfires, year-round food what really turns them around into trying free time to work on his cocoa farm, which security, and the creation of wealth among on their own fields is on-farm visual evi- had not been receiving that much care for vibrant youth in rural areas. dence. This requires creating opportunity lack of time. for them to be part of the establishment Green American: How can people who Green American: What are the biggest of a field demonstration (learning plot) or aren’t farmers support regenerative challenges in getting farmers on board? to create the chance for them to see a field agriculture and your work? Dr. Kofi Boa:The benefits of building soil demonstration repeatedly. health are slow to come into effect, and Dr. Kofi Boa:Rising consumer demand Green American: Do you have a good no-till practices are not widespread. There could trigger more interest in products story about how someone saw benefits is a lack of support and promotion around grown regeneratively, which in turn would and got excited after being skeptical? regenerative agriculture. drive the recognition and adoption of Financing is needed for creating addi- Dr. Kofi Boa: I know a man named Kwame soil-conserving practices at the farm level. tional learning and demonstration plots Anane in Amanchia, Ghana. When I met This would greatly support our initiatives for farmer training. Farmer-to-farmer Kwame over ten years ago, I realized that at CNTA. Rising consumer demand for extension services (education and men- he was a hardworking farmer, but he was these products will have positive impacts torship) are very important, but the lack not getting much yield from his efforts. I on the changing climate, as more environ- of incentives for getting outstanding talked to him about regenerative agricul- mentally friendly production practices are smallholder farmers involved continues to ture, but he was not in any way prepared to employed. hinder the spread of regenerative agricul- accept me. To learn more about Dr. Boa and the Centre’s ture. Inadequate inputs and market access He finally agreed to try it on a field that work, visit centrefornotill.org. To learn more is also limiting and slows more widespread he had been monocropping maize on con- about Grow Ahead’s work with farmers like adoption of these practices. tinuously and was experiencing declining Dr. Boa, visit growahead.org. m Designates a certified member of Green America’s Green Business Network® 19 Turning “Food Prisons” into Gardens How urban gardening is regenerating L.A.’s soil—and community

courtesy of the Ron Finley Project

on Finley is an urban gardener and he says, can provide fresh food for South-Central neighborhood to get fresh Rfashion designer using regenerative communities where there’s a dearth produce, Finley decided to plant on his agriculture to increase access to healthy of healthy food stores. They can bring own land. After taking a University of Cal- food and bring neighbors together in his community members together to work ifornia Cooperative Extension gardening South-Central Los Angeles community. toward a common purpose. And they can class at L.A.’s Natural History Museum, He has traveled to Denmark, England, also help cool the climate and ensure your Finley began gardening on his parkway—a Greece, New Zealand, and Brazil; spoken local soil is fertile enough to feed future 1o-foot by 150-foot-long strip of land at conferences including the American generations. between the sidewalk in front of his home Public Gardens Association; and Community gardens, he says, are and the street that most passersby didn’t delivered a 2013 TED Talk that garnered “about sharing and realizing that there’s pay much attention to. 3 million views on the platform website enough for everybody. This is about When his swaths of celery, tomatoes, to date—all to share the story of how feeding communities, cities, and each broccoli, peppers, melons, and eggplants starting his own urban garden planted a other and realizing there’s so much we sprouted, Finley’s neighbors took transformative seed in his South-Central can do collectively.” delight—and the Los Angeles Bureau of Los Angeles neighborhood. Street Services took action. Recently, he starred with actress Ro- “Gangsta Gardening” While Los Angeles residents have sario Dawson in a short video for Green In 2010, long before he was the quint- the responsibility of maintaining their America’s Climate Victory Garden effort. essential “Gangsta Gardener,” as he calls parkways along with their yards, the City Produces with our ally Kiss the Ground, himself, Finley was just trying to maintain of Los Angeles owns them, and Finley’s the video touts the benefits of starting a his yard while regrouping from the Great food forest was a bit taller than the city’s regenerative garden (see p. 24). Recession of ’08 and ’09. 36-inch height limit for parkway plant- Regenerative community gardens, Tired of traveling 40 minutes outside his ings. So, an enforcement officer told him

20 WINTER 2018 GREEN AMERICAN GREENAMERICA.ORG he would have to cut the excess vegetation or get a $400 food-planting permit. Back in 2003, before Finley had ever en- visioned an urban gardening movement, he’d planted banana trees on that same strip. A neighbor had reported him to the city, and he’d been forced to remove the banana trees. When asked why he decided to plant on the parkway again in 2010, given the ordeal he went through in 2003, Finley said, “because it was still right.” This ordinance is why Finley calls L.A. and other cities “food prisons,” as he does in the 2015 documentary Can You Dig This: “You can grow things in a desert. In a prison, you need permission to do everything. That’s why growing food in the city is so defiant, because you’re disrupting a system in place.” In round two of his battle against the City of Los Angeles, Finley decided not to cut down the food forest, and he solicited the support of 900 petition signatories to fight L.A.’s parkway ordinance. Finley found allies in Steve Lopez, a Los Angeles Times writer who documented Jim Newberry these events in his regular column, and L.A. residents get their hands dirty at DaFunction, a community event Councilman Herb Wesson, who argued held by the Ron Finley Project to celebrate urban gardening. alongside Finley that South-Central L.A. is vegetable-poor and that Finley’s garden regularly top the list of those hit hardest people the tools to turn food deserts into brought much-needed access. by food scarcity. good food oases. Though it took Finley an arrest warrant, South-Central L.A. has higher obesity “This work isn’t just about the garden two court dates, and a public hearing, all rates than more affluent neighboring or food; it’s about freedom, and beyond over the span of two-and-a-half years, communities like Beverly Hills, Glendale, that, it’s about people,” he says. “I want the city overturned the ordinance in 2015, and Pasadena, which are only a few miles to show people how to be free from the officially allowing L.A. residents to garden to its north, according to a 2011 study designed paradigm in which they think on their parkways. conducted by the Los Angeles County this is the only way they can live.” Since then, Los Angeles has developed Department of Public Health. Following his success overturning the plans to grow more urban farms and There may not be a definitive answer gardening ordinance, Finley turned to marketplaces to increase food access, for the stark difference in food access his life’s work: teaching people organic which is exciting, but the question between South-Central L.A. and its neigh- urban-gardening basics to create a remains: Why is it still so difficult to get bors, but studies like one conducted by the source of fresh food for their community. fresh, organic produce in South-Central Associated Press found that out of 2,434 In 2012, he launched the Ron Finley Los Angeles anyway? US grocery stores that opened between Project—a nonprofit combining educa- 2011 and 2015, only 250 of those stores tion, business, and community bonding to A Paradise within a Desert opened in food deserts. So South-Central nurture the people of South L.A. through South-Central Los Angeles is a food L.A., like other cities across the country, regenerative, organic urban gardens. desert: a geographic location where access has likely been overlooked by supermarket to healthy food options are extremely developers that anticipate lackluster Regenerating South-Central L.A. limited or nonexistent. There are currently profits from low-income communities. “HQ,” short for the headquarters of the 23.5 million people living in food deserts What isn’t hard to find in South L.A. is operation, is also the Ron Finley Project’s in the US. And cities with high African a surplus of fast food restaurants, liquor flagship garden, which is located on Expo- American and Latin American popula- stores, and vacant lots, which Finley says sition Boulevard and is adjacent to Finley’s tions, including Atlanta, Chicago, are part of a larger design he talks about own home. Taking up about 150 feet, HQ Detroit, New Orleans, and , often. His work, he says, aims to give is lush with numerous fruits, veggies, and m Designates a certified member of Green America’s Green Business Network® 21 Jim Newberry A panoramic view of the Ron Finley Project headquarters. herbs including, lettuce, broccoli, egg- Finley, meaning that he tries to mimic time, and I’m honored by that. I don’t plants, potatoes, collard greens, tomatoes, natural growing cycles in his gardens. For have the words to express how that makes pears, bananas, basil, sage, and mustard, Finley, regenerative gardening starts and me feel.” to name a few. Ten-foot tall sunflowers ends at the soil. For example, he’s devoted Currently, Finley has plans to bring and graffiti murals collaborate in creating to composting—the process of taking the ultimate garden experience to life by a soulful neighborhood paradise. plant material like trimmings, grass, old finding a larger location where he can At HQ, Finley and the Ron Finley plants, twigs, leaves, and food scraps and include not just the garden but a café, Project staff lead gardening classes for the allowing them to decompose. a greenhouse, and a food stand where adults and kids he’s recruited from the “One of the things I learned gardening people will be able to trade their extra neighborhood. and working with compost is that we’re produce. The Huffington Post originally carbon, and we’re part of the soil,” he In addition to regenerating the area, reported on Finley’s plan to build a garden continues. “If you look at compost, a Finley and HQ’s gardeners are also behind one of L.A.’s Carnegie Libraries in collection of things that were supposedly regenerating the soil. In his gardening 2014, but he says government bureaucracy dead, and then see the heat produced practice, Finley abstains from pesticides is halting the process, so he’s exploring from it, it makes you question where the and , and keeps soil covered private funding options. heat comes from. It shows that we’re with plants, which helps improve water And he continues to encourage people energy, and energy never dies; it just infiltration. He also embraces across the US to embrace regenerative transforms, and gardening makes you hügelkultur-styled raised soil beds, in understand that.” “biomimicry” techniques in their gardens. which mounds of logs, branches, and “We have communities nationwide that compost are topped with soil. As the Paying It Forward are food prisons that could be producing wooden materials decay, they provide Finley says he has no idea how many their own organic food while addressing nutrients to that soil and greater aeration gardens he’s helped plant, and though it climate change,” said Finley in the video. over time. would be nice to know, he isn’t concerned “By educating the public about regener- Finley says he’s grateful to participate with numbers. What he says is most atively homegrown food, Climate Victory in a larger ecosystem as a gardener and rewarding is seeing how far his message Gardens are raising awareness about one has witnessed bees, butterflies, and has traveled and inspired people around of the biggest global challenges of our hummingbirds return to his neighbor- the world. time and showing Americans how they hood. Though regenerative agriculture “It’s crazy how many people have can make a difference for themselves, may be a fairly new term, Finley says gotten into [urban gardening] after saying their households, and their communities. he’s been doing it all along but calling it they’ve heard me speak,” says Finley. “I Soil equals life.” “biomimicry.” was in New Zealand recently, and Maori —Sytonia Reid, associate editor “The forest does regenerative agricul- elders told me they’ve been following my ture by itself. So what I’ve done is replicate work for years, and I was like damn. I get For more information on Ron Finley and the the forest by doing biomimicry,” says to see the fruit of the seed I planted in real Ron Finley Project, visit ronfinley.com.

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m Designates a certified member of Green America’s Green Business Network® 23 ven if you’re not a farmer or a corporate CEO, Eyou can take part in the effort to regenerate our soil and reverse climate change. All you have to do is garden. Americans planted Victory Gardens during WWI and WWII to feed their communities and families at home, as part of supporting the . (That way, more food from farms went overseas to feed soldiers.) By 1944, nearly 2o million Victory Gardens produced nearly 8 million tons of food. Green America is asking Americans to garden for the common good once more. By planting what we call a Climate Victory Garden, all of us have the opportunity to use our gardens to fight global warming. To grow a Climate Victory Garden, all you have to do is shift to regenerative gardening practices.

You’ll regenerate the soil in your corner of the of courtesy Tom Brodersen country, allowing it to sequester more carbon. Use the techniques listed on the right to grow a Climate Victory Garden during your next growing season. (Note: You don’t have to use all of the above techniques. Even using some of them will help regenerate your soil and fight the Tom Brodersen, a Climate Victory Gardener from Prescott, AZ, climate crisis.) encourages other gardeners to grow edible plants. “Eat your vegetables! Jes Walton, Green America’s food campaigns Save the world!” he says. manager, is an avid gardener-turned-Climate Victory Gardener. “Climate Victory Gardens gives individuals a chance to engage with regenerative agriculture in their own backyards,” she says. “They represent a very real, tangible action that anyone can do to support and take part in the fight against climate change. And that’s just the beginning. Gardening gets people outdoors, engaging with their natural surroundings, creating community, and eating fresh foods. It’s a win all around.”

For more information, regenerative gardening tips, and the opportunity to add your garden to our Climate Victory Garden Map, visit greenamerica.org/ climatevictory.

24 WINTER 2018 GREEN AMERICAN GREENAMERICA.ORG INTEGRATE CROPS AND ANIMALS: Jes Walton, Green America’s food campaigns manager, allows her chickens to roam about her yard and garden. Their manure naturally fertilizes the soil and feeds the microorganisms that sequester climate-warmng carbon. Jes wants people to know that even if you don’t have chickens, you can still climate garden.“This year, we had 1,000 Climate Victory Garden join our movement,” she says. “Of those gardens, 215 of them were brand new gardens, which gives us so much hope for the future of climate change mitigation through regenerative gardening. Currently, these gardens cover over five million square feet or around 90 football fields.”

courtesy of Jes Walton

ENCOURAGE BIODIVERSITY: This summer, Cynthia Schaefer completed a 30-day Eat Your Yard Challenge, where she only ate what she grew in her Davie, FL, garden. Cynthia is committed to organic gardening with a wide range of edible plant types. She says, “I’ve found that if you feed the soil and cultivate biodiversity, the system will find solutions. It’s my lazy way of gardening....”

Cynthia Schaefer

GROW EDIBLE PLANTS: John and Holly Trimble ripped out their front lawn in northern Utah and replaced it with raised garden beds, on which they grow organic produce. “We have transformed our own landscape into climate victory gardens we also call ‘foodscapes,’” says John. “ We also started a small volunteer group, Utah, that helps people near us foodscape their front yards. ... We believe people would love to grow some of their own food if they had some help getting started. Homegrown fruits and vegetables taste amazing, are incredibly nutritious, and bring beauty to our surroundings.”

John and Holly Trimble, Foodscaping Utah m Designates a certified member of Green America’s Green Business Network® 25 Moses Thompson Students from Manzo Elementary School in Tucson, AZ, study regenerative gardens planted underneath solar panels—a University of Arizona experiment in dual-use farming Farms Harvest the Sun—Twice Dual-use farms are becoming the rage—allowing the same swath of land to combat climate change on two fronts: soil and solar.

n a greenhouse in Santa Cruz, CA, Solar Above, Soil Below Solar companies typically tear up and Itomatoes are bright red, lemons look In Bluffton, GA, Will Harris has been level the ground underneath arrays in the a little orange, and green basil has a regeneratively farming his White Oak process of installing solar panels, and once definite pink glow. This isn’t a genetic Pastures ranch since 1995 (see p. 16). He’s they’ve finished construction, they limit modification project, but it is a science one of the farmers who has been teaching vegetation because they don’t want their experiment. These plants are growing in others how to achieve his success with re- panels to be shaded by overgrown grass or the tinted light of a greenhouse made of generative agriculture through our Carbon trees. Normally, solar farms use chemical magenta solar panels. The techniques the Farming Network, part of Green America’s pesticides to keep the weeds underneath their panels in check, and they hire gardeners use to grow their produce also Center for Sustainability Solutions (see pp. landscapers to keep vegetation short. help regenerate the soil beneath. 13-17). And, he’s currently in talks to be a land manager for Silicon Ranch, a solar “The engineering feat of building This structure is just one example of company that just bought up 2,000 acres mechanical panels that will harvest the dual-use farming, a growing practice of of land abutting his 3,200-acre farm. energy of the sun and send it down a wire incorporating solar-energy collection and Through the arrangement, Silicon to your home is just an act of brilliance by regenerative farming or gardening in the Ranch will pay Harris to manage the land engineers,” Harris says. “But those people same places. This practice will combat under and around their solar panels (about cannot be expected to know about the climate change on multiple fronts: water, 800 acres under, and 1,200 around) using balance and biological science that occur soil, and energy, allowing the same patch his regenerative practices, which include in a well-managed ecosystem. For a [solar of land to provide clean energy and more laying down compost; planting diverse engineer], it’s all about building from the food to feed a growing population, while species like legumes and grasses; and ground up with no consideration from the the healthier soil is able to hold more grazing his animals: cows, goats, sheep, ground down.” water and sequester more carbon than chickens, turkeys, pigs, ducks, guinea But with Harris’s help, Silicon Ranch’s chemically farmed soil. fowls, and rabbits. array in Bluffton will be -free,

26 WINTER 2018 GREEN AMERICAN GREENAMERICA.ORG and the land underneath the company’s (UCSC), professor and plant physiologist they would in a typical clear greenhouse. equipment will be put to good use growing Michael Loik and his lab is running tests Because of the relative shade of the food, rather than just sitting fallow. Harris to see just how well hothouse plants can greenhouse, water stays in the soil longer sees collaboration between farmers and grow under solar panels. The lab workers before evaporating, which accounts for solar utilities as a natural partnership use regenerative growing techniques. that change. that will benefit people, the land, and Loik got started on his project after his But dual-use farming doesn’t always ecosystems. colleagues Sue Carter and Glenn Alers look like growing plants in a pink green- When asked what benefit he’ll see with developed the magenta solar panels. house. In fact, it rarely looks like that. this collaboration, Harris responds that Unlike conventional panels, these Wave- More often, it looks like the setup that he simply wants to grow the regenerative length-Selective Photovoltaic (WSPV) Greg Barron-Gafford works on at ecosystem in his region. He explains that systems let sunlight on certain parts of University of Arizona in Tuscon, and at his is one of 20 holistically-managed the visible light spectrum pass through, Biosphere 2 in Oracle, AZ. farms certified by The Savory Institute, while collecting green- and blue-colored an organization that works with farms to wavelengths to generate energy. The pair Farming Under Solar Panels make the change to regenerative agricul- asked Loik to test the impact of growing A 2016 study from University of ture and then uses those farms as working plants under the WSPV systems. Maryland and University of Arizona shows classrooms for teaching others. He prides currently cover 9 million that large solar farms tend to store heat, himself on making healthier land, raising acres on Earth, which means the WSPV both in the panels themselves and by animals in a way that mimics how they technology could mitigate reliance on trapping hot air under them. Arizonans, would be in nature, and teaching people dirty energy to power the agriculture Barron-Gafford found, were particularly about regenerative agriculture. industry. If the world doesn’t work concerned about how solar farms might Harris’s plan is to regenerate the soil quickly to restore soils, desertification and heat up their already sweltering com- under and around Silicon Ranch’s solar degradation may make less land available munities. He explained that land being panels enough to one day use the space in the future for agricultural purposes, sited for new solar arrays was often in to grow certified organic crops. Since which may mean an increased reliance on historically agricultural communities, and the land where the array will be hasn’t greenhouse-grown foods. families were hesitant to let the industry been managed regeneratively before, the What the lab found was that its 20 vari- in if it meant abandoning their farming White Oaks Pasture team’s first step will eties of tomatoes, along with cucumbers, heritage and heating up their region. be laying down compost and planting a lemons, limes, peppers, strawberries, and Those ideas inspired a project at mix of grasses, legumes, and pollinators, basil, thrived (and without pesticides) the University of Arizona called which will begin to draw down carbon and under the pink roof panels. The plants all “agri-voltaics,” a term that combines attract microorganisms. Once those plants grew just as quickly and well in this less the words agriculture and photovoltaics. get going, the land can be used for grazing bright, cooler setting, and tomatoes ended animals. The animals’ droppings will also up using five percent less water than continued on p. 29 help the land be restored. Eventually, it will be suitable for growing certified organic vegetables. “In a healthy ecosystem, you have many cycles going on at one time: carbon cycle, water cycle, energy cycle, mineral cycle, microbial cycles,” Harris explains. “Under a normal solar-voltaic array, those cycles would be broken—the effort is to limit the vegetation; no care has been given to keep the cycles cycling. When the cycles are operating properly, they pull carbon and other greenhouse gases into the soil through photosynthesis, and it’s sequestered there.” Silicon Ranch and White Oak Pasture’s dual-use space is projected to be online in the next several years.

Growing in Pink Light courtesy of Michael Loik In the pink greenhouse on campus The pink glass of the greenhouses at the University of California–Santa Cruz at University of California–Santa Cruz allow sunlight in and perform double duty as energy-generating solar panels. m Designates a certified member of Green America’s Green Business Network® 27 Eating in a Warming World

The climate crisis could cause staple crops to lose nutritional value. Food farmed regeneratively, on the other hand, experiences an increase in nutrition.

merc67 / iStockPhoto

or years, scientists have tested how it’s actually good for crops—to a limit, wondering: Can plants be grown on a carbon dioxide (CO ) levels affect of course. large scale without vast use of synthetic F 2 crops, including whether CO2 affects This year, scientists conducting a fertilizer, and can we afford to risk the how fast and tall plants grow, and what multi-year study of the impact of a Earth as we continue to use it? the nutritional value is of the harvested warming climate on 18 rice varieties “The biggest question is how can we crops under study. in Japan and China published their sustain and ensure the soil is still nu- It’s not hard to imagine that a warm- findings in Science Advances. They ob- trient-rich to produce the crops that we ing climate will affect the food supply. served averages of a ten percent drop in need while reducing emissions,” Deryng Hotter weather and more humidity protein, eight percent in iron, and five says. She explains that regenerative means more insects. Changing rain percent in zinc, which they also discov- agriculture practices like cover cropping patterns mean more droughts, fires, and ered correlates with an accompanying and crop rotation can mitigate farmers’ floods. More frequent and more intense rise in CO2 levels. Several B vitamins reliance on high-emissions fertilizers. storms will undoubtedly have effects on also fell between 13 and 30 percent. “There are soil-management growing crops and raising livestock. But “Overall, these results indicate that practices that can compensate for rising temperatures will also affect the the role of rising CO2 on reducing rice the use of fertilizer, by sequestering food itself, causing staple crops like rice, quality may represent a fundamental, carbon from the atmosphere to the wheat, corn, and soy to lose nutritional but underappreciated, human health soil, using management practices like value because of increased levels of effect associated with anthropogenic mixed cropping systems where you mix carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. climate change,” the scientists write. crops with legumes that can use nitrous While a drop in food nutrition may On another note, a 2016 study from oxide to fertilize the soil. [Regenerative be scary, it’s not a change that is set in NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space agriculture] is a practice that offers stone. Regenerative agriculture provides Studies showed that staple crops soy, win-win solutions,” she says. interconnected solutions: restored wheat, corn, and rice, grew better at Who Will Be Affected soils grow healthier plants while also higher temperatures when the CO2 drawing down carbon in the atmo- levels in the air were also higher. When For those who eat a diverse diet, whether omnivorous or vegetarian, sphere. Drawing down carbon prevents the temperatures increased and CO2 dangerous warming and reduces risks to stayed the same, crops grew less well. food losing its nutritional value isn’t crops—both from extreme weather and Delphine Deryng, the lead author on that concerning. Less protein in rice reduced nutrition. the NASA study, also confirmed that means you can just eat more protein nitrogen, a main ingredient in synthetic from other sources. But this becomes an The Science Behind It fertilizer used widely on conventionally environmental justice issue when you One of the first things we learn in grown fields worldwide, is itself a major consider the two billion people on Earth biology class is that people breathe source of greenhouse gas emissions. who rely on rice as their primary food in oxygen and breathe out CO2, but But, she says, there is no simple source, and one billion people who are plants “inhale” CO2 and “exhale” solution regarding nitrogen, because it considered food insecure. Not all people oxygen during photosynthesis. While is an essential element for plant growth. who rely on rice are also food insecure, an increasing amount of CO2 is bad for That leaves scientists and farmers but staple goods like rice make up a many natural processes and for people, stuck between a rock and a hard place, large part of the diet of folks who are

28 WINTER 2018 GREEN AMERICAN GREENAMERICA.ORG “Solar Panels,” continued from p. 27 regularly hungry. Deryng explains that those who are “We wondered if you could co-locate the array. In addition, though the panels already likely to go hungry will be the agricultural production and solar cut back the gardens’ sunlight exposure installations. Could you allow for this most affected, while folks who currently by half, doing so has only cut the plants’ green energy source, but allow for the maximum potential by ten percent. have money and access to healthy foods agricultural lifestyle to stay within the And like the work on Harris’s farm, may just rely on vitamin supplements. community?” Barron-Gafford says. “In developing countries, there’s planting crops underneath these solar To find answers to these questions, clearly a need to get enough food on the panels gives life in a place that would Ph.D. students, undergrads, and profes- plate,” she says. “The question is how typically have none, especially in the sors got to work planting on 60-foot by to ensure people have enough food that region Barron-Gafford is working in, 30-foot plots (about the size of a commu- is nutritious.” where people are having to choose nity garden), which they’d located both between holding onto less productive Eating in a Warming World under solar arrays and in regular sunny agricultural land and a steady income from conditions. It was important that they set To feed the 9.8 billion people on Earth a solar utility that might be interested. up the voltaics to a height where tractors in 2050, the world must increase food Like Harris, they can have both. could drive underneath, making the plots production by 70 percent from 2005 below usable on a large scale, so the panels levels, according to the United Nations Solar Symbiosis are set up 15 feet off the ground. Food and Agriculture Organization. But These instances of dual-use, regenera- He goes on to explain that on the plots as food production is rising, so are glob- tive spaces do not stand alone. At research they test, they use several regenerative al temperatures, by 0.13 °C per decade universities from Minnesota to Massachu- farming techniques: people power, since 1950, now at 0.2°C per decade. setts, California to Germany, studies are compost, no chemical inputs, and a A 2016 study from the European showing that not only does solar energy diversity of plants species to grow an Geosciences Union shows that if average not hinder plants, but the two can often understory that attracts pollinators and temperatures rise by 1.5˚C over pre- have a symbiotic relationship. Studies are deters herbivores. industrial levels, corn, wheat, and other also being done with livestock, testing “Beyond making more use of our crops will be much less affected than how sheep and chickens can coexist with lands, reducing irrigation use due to lower if the Earth gets 2˚C warmer. The Paris renewable-energy generation, and holistic evaporation rates [thanks to the shade the Agreement of 2016 states that countries farmers like Will Harris are putting those panels provide], and boosting renewable ideas into practice. should aim for emissions low enough so energy production, our dual-use or ‘solar “Every little wedge we can put into global temperatures only rise to 1.5 C. sharing’ approach speaks to multiple core societies’ use of energy that reduces how “The main difference between a 1.5 and principles of regenerative farming.” much we rely on burning coal or oil to 2 degree rise is extreme rainfalls, which generate electricity, then all the better,” will particularly affect regions that are The Results Loik says. “Some of the work that we’re already at the limit of extreme,” Deryng The garden plots in Arizona grow doing is developing these wedges—little says. “For regions in the tropics that ingredients for salsa—tomatoes, peppers, technological things to reduce our already have a high-temperature climate, cilantro, and onions. Like Loik’s lab, greenhouses gases.” they would step into higher levels, which Barron-Gafford kept looking for the The University of Arizona has repli- would be fatal to crops, and we see more downsides to the project but found none. cated the agri-voltatics project at two extreme precipitation patterns and heavy He found that when vegetation was rain that can affect agriculture.” present under solar panels, the warming local elementary schools, where kids Some scientists are looking to genetic effect Arizonans were so worried about are involved in planting, collecting data engineering of crops to solve this prob- disappeared. With a garden below, about the growing plants, harvesting, lem. Make plants hardier in the face of conditions under the panels are much and selling their goods at a bi-weekly farmer’s market to benefit the gardening drought, heat, and CO2, and there will be cooler, partially because of the shade, enough for folks to simply eat ten percent and partially because of the way plants program. Barron-Gafford said last season, more rice. But we know that’s not the “sweat” and create moisture in the the kids harvested so much basil that they solution, because genetic engineering process of transpiration. The cooler worked with the school’s kitchen to make generally requires increased applications temperature under the panels causes and sell seven gallons of pesto that was of pesticides and herbicides, eventually evaporation to slow by about 50 percent, “solar-shaded and kid-powered.” resulting in dead soils that won’t be able which means the team can water the “Part of what makes it fun for me is not to grow much of anything. plants every other day instead of once a only making new discoveries but working By looking to regenerative methods day, as they’d have to do in the sun. with kids who are so excitable and inter- to restore soil health and make farming Barron-Gafford’s lab’s preliminary ested,” he says. “They understand what as chemical-free and low-emission as research shows the significant cooling kind of future they’re going into. They possible, we will be saving lives in the benefits workers (or livestock, should they hear about climate change and drought process. be present) as well, as tests have recorded enough living around here. They see this —Eleanor Greene, managing editor skin temperatures up to 20°F cooler under as playing their part to fix it.” m Designates a certified member of Green America’s Green Business Network® 29 Curb Your “Food-Print” In addition to drawing down greenhouse gases in the atmosphere through regenerative farming, we can also choose food with a lower carbon impact.

Suzanne Tucker / Unsplash

reen America’s work is always “We all have a chance at least three due to the methane that is produced as a Gcentered on individual action, and times a day to express our values through natural part of the animals’ metabolism.” reducing the climate impacts of food is no food,” says Jennifer Jay, a professor in Below, you’ll find the approximate CO2 different. In addition to choosing regener- civil and environmental engineering at emissions per serving of common meats, atively grown foods as they come available UCLA who researches pollution in the alongside plant-based or Earth-friendly (or growing your own!), you can control environment. “The same choices that are substitutes. the carbon “food-print” of your meals by healthy for us are generally easier on the The difference between choosing a eating less meat. planet and kinder to animals, so there any lentil-based meal over a beef-based is The key word here is “less.” If you many co-benefits.” relatively small, but if someone makes simply opt for one meatless meal per day, Jay also advocates for plant-based that substitution every day for a month, you could seriously lower your personal diets through her website Meals4Planet. the amount of CO2 emissions saved is climate impact. (And perhaps you’ll be org. Simple choices, such as switching equivalent to not driving 163 miles. If inspired to add more meatless meals in the protein we eat at lunch, can have a every person in the US made the same the future.) significant impact on the Earth, she notes. choice once a day every day for one week, A little change goes a long way when “Animal foods generally have higher it would be equivalent to saving the annual taken collectively. According to the footprints due to the resources that go energy use of 543,326 homes. Earth Day Network, if everyone in the into growing all of their food,” Jay says. Put simply, changes in diet are an US went meatless for one day a week, it The UN’s Food and Agriculture Orga- effective way to combat climate change, would be the equivalent of not driving 91 nization (FAO) estimates that 50 percent especially when they’re compounded over billion miles, or taking 7.6 million cars off of corn grown in the US goes to livestock time. Grab your friends and forgo meat, the road. feed. Many farmers monocrop corn for eat less meat, or stay away from ruminant One of the methods for regenerating the purpose of providing animal feed, but animal products. The climate will thank soil is integrating crops and animals (for rotating crops is key to regenerating soil. you! natural fertilizer and ). But In addition, she says, “foods from rumi- —Jenna Nichols is a freelance writer and the way most animals are raised now—on nant animals have even higher footprints former Green America editorial intern. factory farms that confine pigs and cows by the tens of thousands and chickens by the hundreds of thousands—such Approx. grams Approx. grams Animal-based Food Vegitarian Food CO emissions CO emissions integration is impossible. In addition, the (serving size) 2 (serving size) 2 per serving high concentrations of manure from those per serving factory farms pollutes the surrounding Lamb (3oz) 3,334 Eggs (2) 480 environment and waterways. Beef (3oz) 2,296 Potatoes (3oz) 247 If consumers reduce their demand for Cheese (1.5 oz) 574 Rice (90 grams) 243 meat, farmers can diversify their lands. Overall, shifting to more plant-based Pork (3oz) 1,029 Tofu (150 grams) 300 diets, especially those that are regenera- Turkey (3oz) 927 Dry Beans (¼ cup) 300 tively grown, will cut back significantly on Chicken (3oz) 580 Lentils (½ cup) 89 the carbon emissions from your meals.

30 WINTER 2018 GREEN AMERICAN GREENAMERICA.ORG

LETTERS & ADVICE

Essential Adventures Food Waste Woes s I write this, the midterm elections have just passed. As Aalways, the beauty of our work as Green Americans is that no I just received your publications matter how your favorite candidates fared, all of us can continue [as a new member] and am to take action for a better world through green-economy solu- shocked by a lot of the informa- tions together. In fact, as I learned in my interview with Green tion [that I didn’t already know]. America presid+ent/CEO Alisa Gravitz, some of the best and most I am going to look into green high-impact solutions, like regenerative agriculture, are being clothing, investments, etc. One thing I would like to ask tackled by forward-thinking farmers, innovative businesses, and you regards plastic bags. I would everyday citizens—not legislators. I never thought I’d be able to TRACY like to stop using them, but how write that those very groups are working on a solution that could FERNANDEZ can you throw out “wet” food “reverse the climate crisis,” but as you’ll see once you’ve read RYSAVY waste—examples: the stuff that this issue, that’s exactly what’s happening. gathers in the catch basket in Those of you who are familiar with author Joanna Macy’s work the kitchen sink, rotten food, dis- will know that she often discusses the “Great Turning.” As she est thing you can do is compost carded vegetable peels—without wrote in 2007 for Yes! magazine, the Great Turning “is a name for it. See our article, “Breaking a plastic bag? I’ve asked people, the transition from the industrial growth society to a life-sus- Down Barriers to Composting” and they’ve said to use a paper taining society. It identifies the shift from a self-destroying on p. 4 for more information. bag. So I did, and the wetness political economy to one in harmony with Earth and enduring for of the contents soaked into the bottom of the bag, so when I the future. It unites and includes all the actions being taken to Should I Rinse My picked it up, the bottom broke, honor and preserve life on Earth. It is the essential adventure of and the wet refuse fell out onto our time.” Recyclables? my kitchen floor. Please help. I don’t know whether this massive shift toward the good Many of us make an effort Judith Wine that Macy predicted will come to pass, but whenever I discuss to recycle. To do so correctly, White Plains, NY regenerative agriculture with our Green America staff, especially all plastic and glass should be washed. I wrestle with all the TRACY: Welcome to Green Amer- with Alisa, it gives me a lot of hope that maybe Macy is right to ica, Judith! There may be times dwell in optimism. water I waste cleaning. What when you do need a plastic Meanwhile, I’m embarking on an “essential adventure” of should I do? Nancy Dunitz garbage bag to keep your refuse my own. I recently accepted a position teaching English at the Facebook from exploding all over your university level. And though it’s difficult to step down as edi- house. But the key is to reduce tor-in-chief, I leave you in the very capable hands of our editorial TRACY: I asked our recycling and the number of plastic bags you team, including Eleanor Greene, recently promoted to managing climate programs director Beth need by reducing your trash editor, and Sytonia Reid, who has moved from an editorial Porter (and author of a new overall. book on recycling—see p. 9), fellow to associate editor. I’ll be sticking around for a while as Food waste is a big problem and she says, “The water used editor-at-large, to help with the transition and, perhaps, beyond. in the US. Americans throw out to wash recyclables is worth it around 40 percent of the food It’s been a privilege to work with Green America’s devoted and compared to how much water we grow, according to research talented staff, and to cover all of the amazing green solutions it takes to make products from by the Natural Resources that Green Americans across the country are effecting. Talking virgin materials.” Defense Council (NRDC). That or e-mailing with Green America members was always a big Beth notes that plastics are means we are also wasting the highlight of my job. As I often say, you’re some of the most washed at recycling plants. land, fertilizer, and pesticides, active, thoughtful, engaged people I’ve ever known. If we do However, food and liquid residue involved in growing that food, achieve the Great Turning, I’ll know who was behind so much of from those plastics can contami- and we’re wasting the energy it: Green Americans. Thank you for inspiring me—and so many nate paper waste so its unrecy- and fuel used to grow, transport, others—for so many years. clable. To help lessen the chance store, and cook it. The NRDC —Tracy Fernandez Rysavy, editor-at-large of recycling contamination, give notes that the climate impact of your recyclables a quick rinse, all of this food waste is equal to then towel or air dry before 39 million cars’ worth of green- cutting down on food waste at ment at [email protected] tossing them in the recycling bin, house-gas emission annually. home. You can find articles from to order a print copy. and separate your paper waste What to do about it? Our that issue online at green For all of those veggie peels, in paper bags if your local waste Winter 2016 issue of the Green america.org/foodwaste, or e-mail coffee grounds, and other food authority doesn’t already require American is filled with tips on our Member Services depart- waste you can’t avoid, the green- that you do so.

Please send your letters to: Editors, Green America, 1612 K St. NW, Ste. 600, Washington, DC 20006. Or e-mail [email protected]. Letters used in this column may be edited for length and clarity. Interact with our editors and staff at Facebook.com/greenamerica and @greenamerica on Twitter. m Designates a certified member of Green America’s Green Business Network® 31 Leave a Legacy of a "I am comforted knowing that some of what is important to me while I am Clean, Green, alive will carry on after I'm gone. Leaving money for Green America to Healthy, and Just continue its work does that for me." World with a Chrissy Washburn, member since 1983 Planned Gift to Green America

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