Underground Vault Will Resist Natural and ManMade Disasters
DISASTER VAULT PROTECTS THE PLANET'S BIODIVERSITY

Work started last April on an agricultural "Noah's Ark" designed to preserve the genetic diversity of the world's crops for thousands of years if necessary, beneath the Arctic permafrost.

Dr Cary Fowler is the mastermind behind the so-called doomsday vault which will be carved deep in the side of a mountain in the Svalbard archipelago. The $3 million depository will preserve around three million seeds representing all known varieties of the world's crops. Fowler is executive secretary of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, an international non-profit organisation that supports the world's most critical crop collections currently scattered among some 1,400 gene banks. According to him, the main threat to the world's crops is probably not a nuclear war, but annual budget cuts at plant institutes and their gene banks around the world, as well as the occasional power failure that thaws seeds so that they fail to germinate. "Of course there is also a risk of wars and other catastrophes wiping out a whole institute. But in most cases there are no big headlines when a variety is irrevocably lost," he says. Convincing the world of the problem hasn't been easy, Fowler says. "But people get a perception of the magnitude of the loss when I tell them that at the end of the 1800s, 7,000 named apple varieties were grown in the United States," he says. "Now, 6,800 of those are as extinct as the dinosaurs."

The road to the Svalbard vault was a long and bumpy one, but Fowler has played a major role at each stage, from inventories of plant resources to resolving ownership issues. "This is the only major problem in the world right now that I say, with a straight face, 'We can actually solve this!' "He says. "This is the one major problem we can fix, put on the back burner and move on to something else'." The Trust will work closely with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation to help support gene banks around the world, which will remain the first line of defence. "But the more I see of the various threats to crop diversity, the better I feel about Svalbard," Fowler says. "In 100 or 200 years the Norwegian government of today may not be remembered for anything else than building the vault on Svalbard. Such are the immense implications of the vault for the world. What we will store on Svalbard is not just one or two million seed samples and germ plasm, but the work of countless generations of farmers for thousands of years."

*NOW IT'S EVEN EASIER TO HAVE
A PERFECT GARDEN

THE ALL NEW
SQUARE FOOT GARDENING

Mel Bartholomew, a retired engineer, had a problem. He wanted
to know why gardeners grew vegetables in straight, long rows three feet apart. The rows promoted weeds, wasted space and seeds and took up a lot more room than necessary.

The answer he got from gardeners from Maine to Califoria was "That's the way we've always done it."

That settled it. Mel set about coming up with an alternative to
that hackneyed old way of thinking.

The result was Square Foot Gardening. He wrote his first book
back in the early 80s, and went on to print and media fame with this innovative and fun method of gardening for success.

Now Mel has completely redesigned Square Foot Gardening to
be even easier, cheaper, more productive and, yes, even more fun!

Hear the GreenMan's exclusive interview with Mel here!

"This is the Scotch Moss. You didn't water me enough! What were you thinking?"

BOTANICALLS GIVES PLANTS A VOICE

The Botanicalls project was created by Kate Hartman, Kati London, Rebecca Bray, and Rob Faludi at the ITP program at New York University.

"What we are trying to explore in this project, is how plants and people can relate on a more personal level. We have applied technology as an assistive tool to open up the channels of communication," team leader Kati London.

This is how the system works -- Each plant has a micro-controller embedded in it with a separate identification number, and when a plant's soil goes dry, the whole system gets activated, and the particular plant can place a phone call to its owner and ask for support.

According to London, the team-members made a conscious decision to use voice as opposed to text, email or SMS as the main form of communication between plants and people because of its inherently personal nature.

The team members who come from various backgrounds like communications, horticulture and computer networking, came up with the idea when they thought of how they could boost the survival rates of the often neglected plants within the Interactive Telecommunications Department.

London used her horticulture experience to select plants, analyze their specific needs and translate them into values the computer could recognize and respond to. When the computer sensed changes that needed attention, like dry soil, it would trigger the voice message for the plant and make the phone call. This involved connecting a wireless network to a phone system and figuring out how to orchestrate protocols between multiple systems.

London says that the project could be tailored for commercial or educational applications, and many people have expressed interest in owning a version of Botanicalls for their personal use. "Now that we have created a basic working system, we are developing a modular version intended for small-scale use," says London.

The intensity of the calls has a progression. And the plant makes it known by its tone how it is feeling. But it doesn't call every 2 minutes, because people would turn off their phones. That's what the students experienced during the testing. They also made sure the plants don't just nag. They also call with positive feedback, so that your heart doesn't sink every time the phone rings.

If everything turns out the way the students want it to, the system could be on the market very soon! You can call and get an orientation from a specific plant as to what it needs, too.

Check out the hilarious and educational Botanicalls Website!

SEPTEMBER 21, 2007
SCOTTS LAWSUIT UPDATE!

TERRACYCLE, SCOTTS REACH AGREEMENT

The Scotts Company and TerraCycle, Inc. have announced a settlement of their legal disputes regarding false advertising claims and trade dress infringement.

TerraCycle has agreed to change certain advertising claims and its package design to avoid possible consumer confusion, and Scotts has agreed to dismiss its false advertising and infringment claims.

The 280-pagesettlement agreement and press release are available on line at www.suedbyscotts.com.

Click for the location of retailers near you selling TerraCycle.

Or order directly from the company.

*CLAIMS OF TRADE DRESS INFRINGEMENT

TERRACYCLE SUED BY SCOTTS

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. By the same token, when you have a start-up, totally organic fertilizer product vastly superior to a century old, nationally advertised chemical brand, and that chemical brands starts hurling mud, you gotta know you've come up with something that makes them sweat.

TerraCycle, a company selling vermicompost in recycled soda and milk containers, is being sued by Scotts Miracle-Gro for false advertising and trade dress infringement. TerraCycle has launched a Web site that gives side-by-side comparisons of the companies. The site also mentions 81 other garden products that use green and yellow packaging similar to Miracle-Gro's.

For a complete report go to suedbyscotts.com.

Click for the location of retailers near you selling TerraCycle.

Or order directly from the company.

*Project Evergreen

Regardless of your politial affiliation or how you personally feel about our presence in the Iraq war, if you're a gardener looking for a practical, useful way to help the servicemen and their families, look into Project Evergreen.

This hands-on, nationwide outreach program recently launhed a program called "GreenCare for Troops: Serving You While You Serve Us." It provides free lawn and landcape care for families of military personnel serving in the Middle East.

It was started in 2006 by Project Evergreen, a non-profit representingthe green industry.

The flexible program can be adapted by associations, franchisees and independent operations to help them design a giving program that allows them to offer families of service men and women landscape maintenance assistance.

Current contributors to Project EverGreen will receive a "Mission Kit" that includes marketing and promotional materials as well as a business blueprint for efficiently launching the program in local markets.

At first only professional landscapers were called on to volunteer, and they helped 2,500 military families. This year, home gardeners are welcome to sign up, too.

For more details about the GreenCare for Troops program, including participation details and information on how to receive the special MissionKit call toll-free (877)758-9135.
Project EverGreen www.projectevergreen.com

SKYPE!
215-989-GREN (215-989-4736)

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