Self-reliance is back

By Jay Tompt

II/HEN the First Lady planted the V Y White House vegetable garden this spring, it did more than just promote home gardening. It harkened back to the Victory Gardens that were common during World War II, when our society pulled together for the war effort and our culture was imbued with the virtue of self-reliance.

It seems that our culture, which has been criticized over the last generation as being both selfish and disposable, might be taking a taking a sharp turn toward self-reliance and sustainability. Anecdotally, this seems true. A friend of mine has forsaken anything packaged and has taken to making her own cleaning products, toothpaste and yogurt. On a recent trip to Portland, Or., I saw more rain barrels and frontyard vegetable gardens than I could count. Though I don't know for sure, I'm inclined to believe that book sales for Emerson and Thoreau are on the upswing, as well. All this, of course, creates opportunities for the savvy retailer in our industry.

Let's start with gardening. Not only were sales of organic gardening products up last year, but more households were growing their own food. The National Gardening Association reports that 36 million households participated in food gardening in 2008 and projects that number to increase l9%o to 43 million households in 2009.

In a separate report, they found that nine out of l0 households believe that it's important to maintain their landscape in a way that benefits the environment, although only about half are knowledgeable about how to do so. That gap is the retailer's opportunity-a budding populafion of food gardeners with a thirst for knowledse.

For those dealers with garde-n centers (those without might reconsider), it should be relatively easy to source organic soils, plant foods, pest control products, and drip irrigation kits, as these product categories have been growing for years and most L&G distributors stock them. Seeds can be a different matter. I recommend Seeds of Change (www.seedsofchange.com), which stocks a wide variety of organic and heirloom varieties.

Getting staff educated is key. In California, there's a fantastic program called Our Water Our World (www. ourwaterourworld.org), a non-profit funded by state and utility grants that provides free training and education for store staff on pesticide-free methods for controlling garden pests. Similarly focused non-profits and organic gardening organizations sh the country, so they should be easy to find.

But there's more to household selfreliance than simply planting a garden. Households generate lots of organic waste, with food scraps accounting for a big chunk of what goes to the local landfill, where it's consumed by anaerobic microbes that produce methane-a greenhouse gas 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. The solution is simple: composting.

Composting organic waste produces a nutrient-rich soil amendment, which every gardener knows is essential. There are some good composters on the market that look attractive on the retail floor, such as those from EnviroCycle, Terracycle, and Earth Machine. Some, like Green Johanna, even work in cold weather and can handle meat and bones. An alternative to conventional composters is a worm bin, such as the Worm Factory, which works well for folks without a yard.

Little "economic recovery" gardens, irrigated by rainwater, with soil amended by composted organic waste. are ripe with merchandising opportunities for the self-reliant retailer.

- Jay Tompt is vice president of green product development at distributor Plan-It Hardware and a leading expert in sustainable business and supply chain issues. He can be reached at info@plan-ithardware.com or GI5) 359-9914.