Greetings from Green Prairie.
This is the first entry into what I hope will be a continuing look at green efforts, sustainability and green political commentary here in the Heartland.

I'm an unabashed tree-hugger who's also an activist. A few years ago I had the opportunity to get into a green business which offers an alternative to plastic petroleum-based, non-degradable packing peanuts. I leaped in without a really good idea of all the obstacles that lie ahead. This is a manufacturing business, and I knew nothing about manufacturing. We compete with plastic packaging companies including manufacturers and distributers of peanuts, bubblewrap, foam, air bags, chemical foam-in-place and of course some of the more sustainable packing materials too.
We are a standalone protective packaging product with superb protection capability.

I completely underestimated the tenacity with which petroleum-based packing product manufacturers and distributors hold on and over power sustainable alternatives... but now with the price of petroleum rising, along with the price of the plastic packing, we're gaining a bit of traction for our product among volume shippers who want to use a packing material they can feel good about.

There are plenty of environmentally responsible companies who would rather not use the petroleum-based packing, but habits on the packing and shipping floors are hard to change. Over time we hope they'll be brave enough to shift to a more sustainable product. It would be great if they chose ours, but ANY sustainable alternative would be an improvement over sending billions of non-degradable peanuts out into the world...into waterways, landfills, and who knows where else.

Lately people are looking more seriously at the peanuts made from corn, potatoes, sorghum. And my response is that we need to use food stocks for food. People all over the planet are starving for lack of food and for the higher prices of food. That's because if we put more pressure on those crops and are willing to pay more for them as packing material, for instance, the price of food will rise dangerously for 3rd world folks who are living through war, famine, draught. Caring about other human beings is part of a sustainable outlook. Aren't we tired of easy answers that hurt people? Short term profits over long term sustainability has taken us to where we are now.

Packing material that performs well, that is made (as mine is) from a recycled/used product that would otherwise be in the landfills...... that makes a lot more sense to me than sacrificing food crops. Even though they are renewable... they are FOOD!

When I first started calling on companies and talking to big burly guys on loading docks I did so with trepidation. It wasn't long till I realized those guys are just like me. A lot bigger and a lot stronger, but with all the same concerns for the environment that I had. It didn't start that way though. Four years ago I encountered a number of business people, purchasing agents and yes, dock workers, who thought I was crazy to put effort and money behind an alternative to peanuts. "Here comes the tree-hugger" they would joke.... as if that was a bad thing!! When I took the time to explain how important sustainabilty was to our lifestyles, our environment, our local communities... they got it. Of course it helped that in the last few years more and more information has been coming from all sorts of places about why conservation and sustainability are important for dealing with or preventing climate change, peak oil impact, and the decline of local manufacturing, trade and jobs right here at home.

Now more and more folks are realizing that supporting local businesses and manufacturers is suppporting our community.... and that keeping America strong means making sure we can manufacture things from equipment to energy right here at home.

That's all for now, but you'll be hearing more about green products, green sustainability, green jobs and green policies. Thanks for listening!