Caught an interesting article recently about two Indian waste management projects that have been nominated and shortlisted (along with 8 other nominees) for Ashden Awards, also know as the “Green Oscars”.
Apparently Al Gore will be presenting the awards to the winners at the June 21st ceremony, taking place at the Royal Geographical Society in London.
Here is an exerpt:
Biotech from Kerala and SKG Sangha from Karnataka will compete with contenders from Bangladesh, China, Ghana, Lao PDR, Nepal, Peru, Philippines and Tanzania for the five awards and the prize money earmarked to help project expansion and replication in other communities both locally and nation wide.
Biotech has been selected for tackling the problem of dumping food waste in the streets of Kerala through the installation of biogas plants that use the waste to produce gas for cooking and, in some cases, electricity for lighting.
Biotech has built and installed an impressive 12,000 domestic plants (160 of which also use human waste from latrines to avoid contamination of ground water), 220 institutional plants and 17 municipal plants that use waste from markets to power generations.
SKG Sangha has been selected for radically improving the lives of thousands of rural families in Karnataka by supplying them with both dung based biogas plants for cooking and a specially designed unit that turns the slurry from the biogas plant into high quality fertilizer.
The units supplied by SKG Sangha produce fertilizer simply by combing the slurry with straw and leaves and then adding worms which re-digest the mixture to produce vermin-compost.
This vermi-compost improves the yields of family crops and women can earn as much from selling half the vermin-compost they produce as the household earns from selling the crops they grow. Since 1993, SKG Sangha has installed over 43,000 biogas plants in Karnataka alone.
I guess ‘vermi-composting’ and ‘vermin-composting’ are interchangeable terms!
Regardless, both projects sound great, and I really hope the worms go home with some hardware! 
Be sure to check out the full article to learn more about the Ashden Awards and some of the other nominees: Two Indian projects may win ‘Green Oscars’
Technorati Tags: green oscars, ashden awards, al gore, vermicomposting, vermi-composting, vermin-composting, biogas, waste management
Written by Bentley on May 29th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Waste Management.
On a recent visit to Brady’s Meat & Deli, (located in Waterloo, Ontario), I came across some organic milk products from Harmony Organic. I was instantly drawn to the old-fashioned glass bottles and intrigued enough to buy a few bottles and give it a try. I commonly purchase my milk in the plastic milk bags (which can be rinsed and recycled when empty).
Harmony Organic bottles their milk and each retailer charges a deposit for the bottle to encourage customers to return the bottles for a refund. What a novel idea!!!! No plastic packaging, it brings back a bit of nostalgia for baby boomers, better for the environment and in my opinion it simply tastes better!
On my first visit I purchased 2 bottle of 1 % and 2 bottles of chocolate milk. I was very pleased with both purchases and I found that each product tasted great. I will mention that buying harmony organic is more expensive than buying regularly produced milk. It is approximately double what you would normally pay. The question you need to ask yourself is, “Is it worth it?”. My answer is a resounding yes. The milk is produced organically and locally, it tastes better and simply looks cool!
A few weeks ago I went to buy some of the milk and I couldn’t even get one bottle. The staff at Brady’s mentioned to me that they keep selling out of their Harmony products. The milk is flying off the cooler shelves. Not to be disappointed,
I have set-up a standing order at Brady’s and I replenish my order every Friday.
Harmony Organic - At a Glance
According to the website, “The milk comes to you from cows treated with love and respect”. The goal for the dairy is to minimize stress and maximize comfort in anything they do. Harmony cows are treated as members of the family.
Facts:
* Farm is free of synthetic fertilizers and chemicals (at least 3 years)
* To discourage throw away mentality, use glass bottles for their products
* Products: Full line of fluid milk products, 10% cream and 35% whipping cream
Harmony Organic is located in Bornholm, Ontario, about 57 kms away from my house. Bornholm is Northwest from Waterloo.
Where Can You Buy Harmony Organic Milk?
I buy my milk at Brady’s in Waterloo, at Phillip and Albert street. This is a great store and I highly recommend that you pay them a visit (I will be writing about Brady’s in the next few days).
Other places:
Eating Well Organically - 104 King Street South - Waterloo - (519) 883-0734
Fieldgate Organics - Weber Street Waterloo Farmers Market - Waterloo -
Full Circle - 3 Charles Street West - Kitchener - (519) 744-5331
Natural Food Market - 75 Bridgeport Road East - Waterloo - (519) 884-1811
Olde Kitchen Cupboard - 710 Belmont Avenue - Kitchener - (519) 745-7765
Pfenning\’s Organics - 1760 Erb Road West - St. Agatha - (519) 725-4282
Pfenning\’s Organics and More - Home Delivery - 1760 Erb Road West - St. Agatha - 519-725-4282
* Cattle are fed organic feed (at least 12 months)
Technorati Tags: local produce, Harmony Organic Milk, buying local, Brady’s Meats & Deli, organic milk, green business
Written by steve on May 29th, 2007 with 2 comments.
Read more articles on Green Business and Green Living Tips.
I am on a quest to change my food buying habits and switch to locally grown goods as much as possible. I have been on this gradual quest for the last few years but have decided recently to kick my efforts up a few notches. A big part of my initiative will be to increase awareness about all of the great locally-owned businesses that are available in the Waterloo Region. I hope that I will be able to motivate many of our readers to change their buying habits and support local businesses. If you know of any local businesses that should appear on our website, send me an email and I will do my best to review and write about them
In the past few weeks I have been touring our region and visiting a few local grocery/specialty food stores. A few of the stores that I visit regularly are:
* Brady’s Meat & Deli
* City Cafe Bakery
* St. Jacobs Farmer’s Market
* Hilltop Acres Poultry (St. Jacob’s Market)
Over the next few days I will write about each business and provide a brief summary about what they do, what their know for and how you can find them.
I hope that my posts on buying local will motivate you to start buying local!
Technorati Tags: local produce, buying local, farmer’s markets, organic produce, artisan food, St. Jacobs Farmer’s Market
Written by steve on May 29th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Green Living Tips.
