Organic Connections June 2009 by Natural Vitality

Organic

Connections JUNE 2009

The magazine of Peter Gillhamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Natural Vitality

Ashley Koff, RD Personalized Nutrition Winemaking Organic and Sustainable Practical Recycling Two Companies Making It Work

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Feel healthier—be happier!

Whose country is it anyway?

recently returned from a trip to our nation’s capital to do some lobbying on behalf of the natural products industry. It was a wake-up call for me, as I haven’t been all that interested in politics. We live in a great country. It was founded on the basis of the common welfare (“We the people…”). We also have an inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This, by definition, is a right that is unable to be taken away from us. Yet, a mere 233 years after this country’s founding, there are forces working hard to alienate us from this right. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not proposing a new conspiracy theory. What I am saying is that while our parents and, more recently, you and I were busy pursuing our lives and trying to experience happiness in the process, various people and corporations were taking liberties with our democracy for our own good (or so they said). The playbook for the American monopolistic dream had been written in the early twentieth century by oil baron John D. Rockefeller and still sets the example in certain quarters today. So what’s all the fuss about? Well, here is one example. We the people ended up with the short end of the stick after our financial experts, banking institutions and regulatory overseers took our economy out for a joy ride, which was great until they drove off a cliff into a ravine, leaving us with the towing and repair bills for a nearly totaled car running into the trillions (numbers so large they’re hard to comprehend). Here’s another: Vitamin B6 exists in three forms. By a pharmaceutical company’s legal request to the FDA, one of these forms was “tentatively” removed from the natural products market, with the FDA declaring it to be a new drug—despite the fact that this form of B6 exists in common brewer’s yeast! Or how about genetically modified food, which uses viruses or bacteria as a means to invade plant cells and introduce new genetic material? Talk about food safety! This is simply the largest biological human experiment ever conducted on this planet. A PhD I was recently speaking to called it a potential biological atomic bomb. But our government has granted GM food “generally recognized as safe” status! This means it doesn’t have to be labeled; so you won’t know if you or your children are eating it. Whose best interests is that in? Our elected representatives have a mandate from us, the voters, to represent our interests. If we don’t actively insist they serve our lives and liberties, there won’t be much happiness left to pursue.

In this issue

or•gan•ic |ôr ganʹik| denoting a relation between elements of something such that they fit together harmoniously as necessary parts of a whole: the organic unity of the integral work of art • characterized by continuous or natural development: companies expand as much by acquisition as by organic growth.

4 Ashley Koff, RD Celebrity and media consultant, health authority and registered dietitian Ashley Koff talks about personal nutrition, supplements and the problem with genetically modified foods.

Winemaking A look at two organic wineries, Frey Vineyards and Cline Cellars, reveals how unique and sustainable practices not only help the environment but also result in superior wines.

11 Practical Recycling Recycling isn’t just a buzzword at natural products companies Preserve and Radius—it’s their philosophy and the basis for well-designed and colorful lines of household and oralcare products.

Ken Whitman publisher

Organic Connections is published by Peter Gillham’s Natural Vitality 2530 N. Ontario Street, Burbank, CA 91504-2512 Editorial Office 323.664.1755 • www.petergillham.com For a free e-subscription, visit www.organicconnectmag.com. Statements made in this magazine have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. © 2009 Peter Gillham’s Natural Vitality. All rights reserved.

A portion of the profits from the sale of

Natural Calm ® and Organic Life Vitamins ® goes to our Natural Revitalization environmental action initiative addressing global warming, which helps fund Conservation International (www.conservation.org) and Remineralize the Earth (www.remineralize.org).

If registered dietitian Ashley Koff sounds like a familiar name to you, that’s probably because you’ve seen her interviewed on television (Good Morning America, Entertainment Tonight and other shows) or read one of her many contributions to the New York Times, Fitness, Shape, InStyle, Teen Vogue, Women’s Health or Food and Wine. Elisabeth Hasselbeck of The View recently sought Koff ’s assistance in creating her book The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide, which arrives on shelves in May 2009. Koff ’s extensive work in nutrition has led her to a multi-faceted career. She provides nutritional counseling to individuals from all walks of life, from normal career people to celebrities. She advises the media as regards nutrition and also consults with corporations. In 2008, she brought

Ashley Koff, RD Personalized Nutrition

“The point of the AKA brand being earned is important to me,” said Koff. “The object is to recognize who is doing quality work in fields from groceries to dietary supplements to what I’ll call accessories and also prepared food. I like to recognize restaurants that are going above and beyond and sourcing from organic, and this type of thing. I even recognize containers, cooking utensils and similar items.” Despite her plentiful broad media exposure, however, it is care for the individual and the personal touch that continue to motivate her and give her life meaning. Following her studies at Duke and New York universities and her training at LAC+USC and Columbus Children’s hospitals, Koff found her training was lacking in several areas. “While I loved dietetics, I realized when I was done that I was missing two things,” she said. “First, how do you personalize things? How do you make things right for the individual? And second, I sought an understanding of dietary supplements and herbs and how they assisted. So I kind of added to my training by attending conferences and connecting with some incredible experts in their fields.” These knowledgeable professionals included Dr. Andrew Weil, leading authority in the field of integrative medicine. Ashley Koff was guest faculty for Dr. Weil’s Program in Integrative Medicine (PIM), and currently Dr. Weil and PIM refer both patients and the media to her. Koff is

The Personal Touch

Ashley Koff ’s approach can best be seen in the way she consults individuals. “When I first sit down with someone, I put aside everything that I know and everything that I’ve learned from working with patients,” Koff said. “I just listen to them. I want to hear what their story is, what they think about their body, what they perceive as their issue, what they are looking for, what their goals are. I do personalized plans, and I think I’ve been sought out for that as well as for someone who’s interested in looking at integrative approaches, where I don’t dismiss traditional medicine but do look at the nutrients in all things as they’re found in nature and try to figure out solutions that are as close to food in its natural forms as possible.” Koff approaches every case as a puzzle, and the puzzle pieces come together in two different ways. The first is Koff ’s understanding of what works for that individual body, based on her knowledge. The second is actually observing the person and their lifestyle in order to create a program they will in fact be able to do. This would include factors such as, for instance, do they eat out quite a bit? Do they have a tendency not to exercise? Are they under a tremendous amount of stress that must be dealt with? A good number of Ashley Koff ’s clients are celebrities, and with the pressures of living under the magnifying glass, proper

THE BODY is an absolute GENiuS mAcHiNE tHat is CoMPletelY ReaDY to FunCtion iF it’s GiVen WHat it neeDs. all three of these functions together under the brand “Ashley Koff Approved” or AKA. “AKA is similar to the Good Housekeeping seal, which consumers, the media, physicians and healthcare practitioners can rely on to help them sort through what’s true, what’s authentic, what products they can be looking for, and what are trustworthy food sources,” Koff told Organic Connections. Unlike other such “seals of approval,” this one cannot be purchased but only earned. 4

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also the exclusive dietitian for integrative medicine guru Soram Khalsa, MD. Wherever possible, Koff strives for a natural approach to health. “Because of the way that our medical system is set up and because of the sort of perspective individuals and the country have on a general basis, I think we get into this mode of having to ‘treat’ things,” Koff said. “We don’t really recognize food as medicine or—even taking it out further—as prevention.”

nutrition is obviously vital. “When my celebrity clients are consulting with me, they’re not seeing me as their public personas; they’re seeing me as people,” she said. “I emphasize that with them and remind them that their bodies are ‘people bodies’ just like everyone else’s.” Celebrity client Emily Deschanel, who plays the lead role in the Fox hit series Bones, is a vegan and sought out Koff to address some imbalances she was aware

existed despite being on a “healthy” diet. “Emily thought she was doing everything right from an eating standpoint and wondered why she wasn’t feeling amazing,” Koff related. “She knew she worked long hours, but she still wondered if she couldn’t feel better. After analyzing her and working with her test results, we eliminated soy—which, if you’re a vegan, can be problematic because often you’re eating a lot of different soy products for protein. I suggested taking her off soy for a month and filling in her protein and various nutrients from other sources such as quinoa, hemp seeds and nuts. To date, she notes dramatic positive results, including improved energy, digestion and skin appearance. I pointed out to her that it wasn’t enough for her to follow a vegan diet; it had to be her vegan diet.” Let’s Go Shopping

Ashley Koff even accompanies those she is consulting to the market on a normal shopping trip. Her approach to this practice is not what you might think. “Instead of starting off by showing them all the things that I think they should purchase, I start in with, ‘Show me what you would get.’ The reason I do that is because I can tell a lot from an emotional standpoint when somebody goes in kind of shaking and not wanting to show me what they’re getting,” Koff explained. “In such a case I know that’s a favorite food, so I’m going to try and incorporate it or talk to them about a better option, but one that is going to be equally satisfying.” She also notes what the person is avoiding. “It’s amazing to see people skip four aisles or the entire vegetable section,” she said. “A lot of people walk right by all the frozen organic fruits and vegetables, and to me that’s a gold mine of a health opportunity.” One group of items Koff helps her clients avoid is genetically modified produce, otherwise known as GMO (genetically modified organisms). Such produce has been modified for more robust resistance to pests or to add in certain qualities. Many experts are concerned about the introduction of viruses

Ashley’s website: www.ashleykoffapproved.com

and bacteria into plant cells as carriers for foreign genes. They are also alarmed that the government has given “generally recognized as safe” status to GMO food, which means consumer labeling is not required, when there is insufficient science to establish safety. “There is a lot about genetically modified produce that I still feel we’re trying to find answers to,” said Koff. “I’ve been extremely impressed by some other countries, such as England and France, that have just said no— and that no has come from their consumers. Their consumers have said, ‘We don’t have all of the answers, and because we don’t have all of the answers we don’t want to put it in our bodies.’ I think what happens in this country is that our government notes we don’t have

figure out how to work differently is a recipe, if you will, for the start of increased risk for chronic disease.” Even if someone is totally committed to their health, Koff believes it is challenging to obtain optimal nutrition from food alone, simply because of the lack of availability of high-quality food, in addition to lifestyles in which there just isn’t time to properly seek it out. So supplements are essential as well, and she educates both consumers and the media as to what questions they should be asking about those supplements to ensure they will be truly helpful. Koff is always asking such questions herself; an example is her own research of magnesium supplements. “Magnesium exists in a ton of

THE PROBLEm iS tHat iF GMo FooDs aRe PRoVen baD in ten YeaRs’ tiMe, We’Ve alReaDY been eatinG tHeM FoR ten YeaRs anD tHe FounDation Has been laiD FoR Disease.

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all the answers and it follows the practice of ‘innocent until proven guilty,’ allowing these foods till they are proven troublesome. The problem is that if they’re proven bad in ten years’ time, we’ve already been eating them for ten years and the foundation has been laid for disease. My viewpoint is genetically modified means that they’ve modified, in some manner, the gene in there. I don’t want to put things into my body that have modifications, that aren’t coming the way nature intended them. My personal belief on GMO is I would rather not have it in my body; because if I do get cancer one day, I’d like to be able to not say, ‘You know, I could have done a better job not having GMO or not having artificial stuff.’ I’d rather give myself the best shot at knowing what’s coming into my system.”

different forms, and I used to recommend magnesium glycinate in tablet form. I saw decent results, but sometimes my patients needed to take 5–10 tablets a day, which was annoying and expensive for them; however, it was a good learning experience for me. It’s not enough to know there’s a need for more magnesium and to understand why; it’s also important to solve that need effectively.” Dr. Soram Khalsa introduced her to magnesium citrate, specifically Natural Calm from Peter Gillham’s Natural Vitality, and she immediately felt the results herself. She began recommending it to clients and saw the same things occur—almost immediate relaxation, relief from tension headaches, and many other benefits. She now recommends the product as her preferred source of magnesium.

Nutrition and Supplements

The Motive

“The body is an absolute genius machine that is completely ready to function if it’s given what it needs,” Ashley Koff stated. “If we don’t give the body what it recognizes, or if we give it what it recognizes and then we also give it things that either confuse, frustrate or irritate it, we net out at a place where the body either slows down or misfires, or feels like it has too much on its plate—pun intended. It gets tired out, annoyed. If we don’t give the body what it needs at the right time or if we give it too much, the body starts trying to figure out different ways to work. My fundamental belief is that the body trying to

“People often ask me why I do what I do,” Koff said. “I love it, but it’s also selfish. I want better quality medicine out there—for me, for my future children, for my family members—and I genuinely like being around people who are happier. When people eat right they are funnier, they are more relaxed, they are more interesting human beings, and we can hear and respect what their approaches are, what their interests are and what their flavor preferences are. I think all of that comes out when we allow people to be individuals, which to me is hugely important.”

M Modern technology may be a mixed blessing when it comes to the ancient art of winemaking. While some new techniques may have raised production capacity, it could be argued that others have actually caused harm to time-proven practices that promoted longevity of the land and the vineyards—the all-important source of life for wines. In an effort to take advantage of what can be a highly lucrative market, some growers speed up grape production with chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, and “enhance” wine production with the addition of chemicals and flavoring ingredients. An increasing number of winemakers, however, have turned against this “tide of progress” and gone back to ways and methods that sustain the land and the vines, support rather than harm the environment, and result in a product of unsurpassed purity. Organic Connections recently visited with two of these viniculturists and learned how wine can be sustainably produced. While the USDA has a definition of

Winemaking Organic and Sustainable by bruce boyers

organic farming that mandates growing without the use of chemical pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers, both of these producers go considerably beyond the scope of that definition. Instead of using “organically approved” compounds (as can be done under the USDA definition), they have achieved the utilization of agents that are completely from nature. These particular vineyards not only produce grapes organically but their entire winemaking process is organic as well. Frey Vineyards

Frey Vineyards is situated in the beautiful Redwood Valley in Mendocino County, California, and was actually the very first organic winery in the United States. Paul and Beba Frey both grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and after they were married settled in Redwood Valley. They raised their twelve children with a total love of the land and agriculture, and in the late 1960s planted

Cabernet Sauvignon and Gray Riesling grapes on the ranch’s old pastureland, selling the fruit to nearby wineries. A decade later, sons Jonathan and Matthew Frey realized the vineyards’ potential when a Cabernet Sauvignon made from Frey’s grapes won a gold medal for a Santa Cruz winery. Frey Vineyards was established the next year, in 1980. Frey Vineyards is a completely family owned and operated business. Seven of the twelve Frey siblings, along with some of their spouses, work full time at the winery. Sustainable practices have been part and parcel of the plan from the beginning; the family knew they were there to stay, wished to contribute to the overall ecological community instead of robbing from it, and wanted a legacy to pass on to their children. Into the Ground

Wine begins with grapes, and grapes, of course, depend on the land on which they are grown. Frey Vineyards has as a primary goal organic connections

GRaPes tHat aRe GROwN

current “modern” methods, and these vines are commonly sprayed with pesticides every five to ten days, producing crops that aren’t nearly as robust as the ones grown at Frey Vineyards. “It’s been our observation that there are a lot of natural predators to phylloxera and nematodes in healthy soil, which the chemicals normally used in agriculture will kill off,” said Dahlen. “That kind of practice allows the pests to flourish.” Due to their care of the soil, Frey Vineyards’ plants have become resistant to such pests. No GMO Here

A current farming practice in the nonorganic world that Frey Vineyards won’t participate in is that of utilizing genetically engineered crops (also known as genetically modified organisms or GMO). This “technology,” which aims to genetically alter a crop to give it certain properties, consists of infecting crops with viruses or bacteria to implant them with new genes. Genetic engineering has been outlawed in many areas of Europe, and while currently allowed by the USDA without requiring labeling, it is being strongly protested in many organic quarters as highly experimental and potentially unsafe for consumers. Frey Vineyards was directly involved in the passing of Measure H in Mendocino County, a measure that actually outlawed the growing of genetically altered crops. While GMO has not as yet invaded wine vineyards, research is well underway elsewhere in the US to produce GMO wine grapes. “They say they’re trying to get grapes more resistant to certain

To determine ripening and harvesting times, Dahlen and his staff utilize refractometers, devices that measure the sugar content in the grapes. At the same time, samples of the grapes are brought back to winemaker Paul Frey Jr., who administers what he calls the “chomp test.” Without consulting the numbers obtained through the refractometers, he tosses a handful of grapes into his mouth and chews them up, carefully considering the flavors of the skins, the seeds and the juice. The third test is putting juice from the grapes through a hydrometer in the winery’s lab that also provides a measure of the sugar content. With these methods, they are able to determine usually a few days in advance when particular grapes will be ready to harvest. The final proof, of course, is in the crop itself, and of that Frey Vineyards is truly proud. “Our grapes do not have any chemical residues of any kind and have a very healthy native yeast population,” said Dahlen. “We make a number of our wines without inoculating with cultured yeast; they ferment on the native yeast that is in the field.” This is a most uncommon practice, as adding cultured yeast is a traditional part of winemaking. Allowing wine to ferment in this fashion retains the intrinsic characteristics of the grapes. Crops at Frey Vineyards consistently yield ripe, flavorful fruit that results in more flavorous wine. Vines are also not overwatered—a practice that produces grapes

cOmPLETE wiNE.

we’re set, and we’re training our vines to reach mildews and disease,” Dahlen remarked. deeper into the soil to obtain more minerals.” “They also want to have them resistant to Soil-borne pests such as phylloxera and heavier doses of poison they’d like to spray nematodes are a threat to grapes grown using on them, because funguses and insects have become much more resistant.” Research is also being conducted on genetic modification of yeast, which is used in the fermentation of wine. “This would be a huge disaster,” Dahlen said. “Yeast has a very short life cycle and spreads through the air, which means it would potentially take over native yeast populations and infiltrate every nearby vineyard.” Locally, however, this is not to happen, thanks to the recent legislation. Also, largely due to Frey Vineyards’ influence and example, rog a n i c c o n n e c t i o n s

Proof Positive—the Wine

NATuRALLY anD alloWeD to aCHieVe Peak PHYsioloGiCal

RiPeness Make a VeRY Well BALANcED,

a full 30 percent of the wine grapes produced in Mendocino County are organic.

that are actually diluted. “Using a limited amount of water during the growing season, encouraging the plants to work harder to get water, giving them little amounts of stress during the summer, pushes them to create a more concentrated, flavorful fruit instead of a heavy, watered-down version,” Dahlen said. “Vines can also get ‘pumped up’ and overproduce as a result of the quick-fix fertilizer normally used, which creates a diluted product as well. Grapes that are grown naturally and allowed to achieve peak physiological ripeness make a very well balanced, complete wine. They generally have a very good acid-to-sugar balance and a higher tannin amount that helps preserve the wine longer naturally.”

Photo credits: Cover, page 7, page 8, and page 9, middle left and bottom left and right, courtesy of Frey Organic Wines; page 9, top and middle right, and page 10, courtesy of Cline Cellars.

to be entirely self-sustaining, and most of their growing activities are supported by products in and around the vineyards. In addition to preserving native health, this also helps maintain what is called the terroir (pronounced “terr-wah”) of the crop—something that winemakers in Europe have concentrated on for centuries and US winemaking has begun paying attention to as well. Terroir takes into account the special characteristics bestowed upon the grapes by the native geography. Along with soil composition, it includes such conditions as shade, sunlight, amount of rainfall, influence of local bodies of water, and numerous other factors all considered to be an essential part of the character of the grapes. “We start with returning the grape waste from the winery back to the vineyard as compost,” vineyard manager Derek Dahlen told Organic Connections. “We plant cover crops in the fall—such as oats, bell beans, winter peas, mustard and crimson clover—which helps soil nutrition, and the grazing animals that we use to mow the cover crop help fertilize the soil.” Encouragement of predatory insects and birds is also part of the natural management of the vineyards and reduces the need for pesticides. Mineral content of the soil is extremely important, and in the past they have used agricultural lime and oyster shells to assist it. But the geographical area in which Frey Vineyards is located is rare in that the native soil is actually quite healthy. “Our soils are not very deficient in minerals and have a healthy microbiological life,” Dahlen explained. “They have a good calcium content and a good calcium-to-magnesium ratio. So, right now

Preservation of wine is ordinarily effected through the use of sulfites—preservatives that give wines longer shelf life. Frey Vineyards has completely eliminated these in their wines. Frey Vineyards produces a long list of wines and has won awards and medals for their Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Pinot Noir, Merlot and many others. You can browse their available products and find out more about the winery at their entirely family maintained website, www.freywine.com. Cline Cellars

Tucked away in northern California’s famous and picturesque wine country, Cline Cellars has a rich and colorful history. In the latter part of the 1800s, a gentleman named Valeriano Jacuzzi (yes, the same man involved in the invention of the pump and spa that bear his name) bought a ranch in Oakley in Contra Costa County, California, on which he planted grapes. Jacuzzi’s grandson made many visits to his grandfather’s ranch, acquiring a love of the agricultural life and a fascination with vinification—the production of wine. This grandson, Fred Cline, went on to acquire a degree in agricultural science and management from UC Davis, and in 1982 he founded Cline Cellars near Oakley. In 1991, Fred and his wife, Nancy, relocated the winery from Oakley to the Carneros region of Sonoma County on a historic 350acre estate with new vineyards and facilities, but they retained the Oakley vineyard. When Cline founded his winery, he had his own distinct approach. “I’m in it for the long term,” he told Organic Connections. “Most people want to see return on their investments quickly, and don’t mind that in 20 or 25 years they’ve worked a vine so hard that it just can’t withstand a disease coming through. Their vineyards are always changing because they’re always looking for the next quick fix. I’m much more interested in longevity and sustainability. We farm a lot of old vines—we have some that are over 100 years old in Contra Costa County. That has been a good lesson; they’ve been around for so long they’re stable in their production and we don’t have huge inputs into them. So I’d rather wait the long term and reap the benefit.” The foundation of Cline’s approach is in observation. “We are letting the ground tell us what to do with it, letting the plant tell us what to do with it, instead of just forcing things like so much of modern farming today,” he said. What he feeds his plants is all natural, such 10

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as the composts that he himself formulates, mixing them with whey from a local cheese factory. A good amount of fertilization comes from the “wooly weeders”—sheep that graze up the weeds competing for water and nutrients with the vines. Sheep are also used for “leafing”—removing excess leaves from the vines. One might ask, don’t the sheep also eat the grapes? “You’d think sheep would eat the grapes right there and wipe you out, but they don’t,” said Cline. “If the timing is exactly right, you can get the sheep to eat the leaves so you get more sunlight into the bunches. You put the sheep in the vineyard when the bunches are almost pea sized and take the sheep out when the grapes reach about 14 degrees Brix.” [Brix is a measure of the dissolved-sugar-to-water ratio within the fruit.] To prevent mildew—a serious problem with the growing of grapes—Cline dusts the vines with organically approved sulfur dust. He also uses a natural compound called Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) that kills mildew spores. One great source of Bt is crab shells, which Cline and the winery have gotten

the full richness of the biological and mineral components in your soil. When the soil has a good tilth [the condition of tilled soil], it is not compacted and has an ‘airiness’ to it. The plant is healthier because it can mine for more of the minerals and benefit from the bacteria that are breaking down the minerals. These processes impart true flavor into the grapes.” Another component to Cline Cellars’ production is the timing of the harvest. “You’ll notice in wines that if you harvest them ripe, you get more flavor than if you harvest them not quite ripe,” Cline explained. “You get more acidity when they are not quite ripe. On the other hand, if they’re harvested too late you get a kind of flavor like raisins, with alcohol being more prominent, instead of a balance.” Like many winemakers, Cline samples the grapes and has learned from long years how to decide on harvest time from their taste, their feel and the appearance of the seeds. As a scientific benchmark, he also uses a refractometer, with which the sugar content of the grapes can be determined. It is sugar that converts into alcohol and is also the primary measure of ripeness of the grapes. As well as having sustainable farming practices, the Cline Cellars winery runs completely from 2,000 solar panels installed on the roof. The result of a partnership with Solarcraft, this installation has reduced 690,000 pounds of greenhouse gases since implementation and of course is far more energy efficient. The Bottled Result

clever in obtaining. Cline Cellars hosts a crab feed just prior to the Super Bowl every year, which is a fundraiser for his local high school. Eight hundred people attend the event, and Cline keeps all the crab shells. The nutrition of the soil is of paramount importance, and instead of force-feeding it chemical nutrients as others do, he adds oyster shells either in the compost or directly to the plant to provide potassium and calcium. For trace minerals, he uses rock dust obtained from a cinder cone—the steep slope surrounding a volcano, built almost entirely of loose volcanic fragments called cinders. Grapes grown in this fashion are far healthier and, as such, produce a lot more flavor. “The difference I’ve seen in our grapes is that there is so much character and flavor in them,” Cline remarked. “If you’ve ever had a hothouse tomato as opposed to one that is farm ripened, it’s the same difference; they have

“Our intent,” Cline concluded, “is to produce top quality in flavor and use skill in making the wine while maintaining good value. We can do this repetitively and we’re not going to imprint the earth with any negative and bring it down; instead we are improving the earth.” Cline Cellars’ wines have received many accolades, rave reviews and awards throughout the years. Top winners include their Cline Sonoma Zinfandel, Oakley Five Reds, Pinot Gris, Viognier and Syrah. You can visit their shop, and find out more about their story, at www.clinecellars.com. To Last for Generations

The methods now being restored by operations such as Frey Vineyards and Cline Cellars are returning the craft of winemaking to its rightful place—ensuring it, and our planet, will be there for generations to come.

Bringing Conservation into Focus Practical Recycling Two Companies Making It Work

The number of “disposable” items actually consumed today is staggering: 60,000 plastic bags used in the US every 5 seconds, 2 million plastic bottles every 5 minutes, 1 million plastic cups handed out on airline flights every 6 hours, 1.14 million paper bags and 106,000 aluminum cans used every hour. While a fraction of these items are recycled, the majority continue to be discarded. It becomes a common issue of “out of sight, out of mind”; but as landfills are packed with material such as plastics that never break down, we continue to build tomorrow’s problem every day. In an ideal world, such items would never be thrown away. They would be packaged up and shipped to recycling plants and then to manufacturers that “The idea driving the company, when utilized these materials to once again pro- our founder, Eric Hudson, started it, was duce usable goods. A growing number of to capitalize on and promote the growing forward-looking companies have been consumer interest in household recycling, founded on these very principles—and are to really prove the impact of that recycling,

fantastic lightweight material that maintains its integrity after it’s been recycled over and over again.” Because it’s FDA approved, #5 polypropylene is highly prevalent in food containers,

tHe iDea DRiVinG tHe CoMPanY, WHen ouR FounDeR, eRiC HuDson, staRteD it, Was to CaPitalize on anD PRoMote tHe GRoWinG ConsuMeR inteRest in

HOuSEHOLD REcYcLiNG, to

ReallY PRoVe tHe iMPaCt oF tHat ReCYClinG, to Close tHe looP FoR tHe ConsuMeR anD HelP HiM oR HeR see tHe REAL

VALuE OF THEiR REcYcLiNG EFFORTS.

setting a fine example of the future world we all need to start creating now.

to close the loop for the consumer and help him or her see the real value of their recycling efforts,” Preserve marketing director “Nothing Wasted. Everything Gained.” C. A. Webb told Organic Connections. “The concept was to also create new markets for So goes the motto of a firm called Preserve different types of plastics that were underthat was founded on completely sustain- recycled. So, specifically, we’ve chosen to able principles. use number 5 polypropylene, which is a

such as yogurt cups and health-food packaging, and in many other forms. Oddly, this particular type of plastic is not recycled in most communities, and due to its usability and longevity, Preserve is out to change that pattern. The company, along with partners Organic Valley and Stonyfield Farm, runs a program called “Preserve Gimme 5,” organic connections

encouraging people to drop their #5 poly- to offer people great products that are betpropylene in marked bins at numerous loca- ter for the earth, and to do it in a way that tions, now including Whole Foods Market requires no compromise. So if we can give

ouR aiM Has alWaYs been to REDucE

THE imPAcT

CauseD bY tHe inDustRial aGe. on MoRe oF a ConsuMeR leVel, it’s to oFFeR PeoPle GREAT

PRODucTS tHat aRe

BETTER FOR THE EARTH, anD to Do it in a WaY tHat RequiRes NO

cOmPROmiSE.

stores. The program puts these items back into the manufacturing cycle and continues their lives. It’s no mean feat. In addition to postconsumer collection of this material, they also collect this plastic from industrial sources. With branded products that consumers are accustomed to seeing, consistency of appearance is important, and the company has had to learn how to collect and efficiently use various items for coloring and thickness. One trick has been to produce a now famous black-handled toothbrush, as plastic of any color can be utilized for it. Another is to maintain plentiful sources of light-colored containers and clear container tops, since these can be easily colored. Preserve has certainly made it all work. Their line consists of personal care products, comprising several toothbrushes, razors, tongue cleaners and flavored toothpicks; tableware, including plates, cutlery and tumblers; and a variety of kitchenware. Eye appeal has been important to the company, and to reinforce this they have partnered with a firm called Evo Design to produce a highly attractive range of kitchenware, including colanders, food storage containers, mixing bowls, measuring cups and cutting boards. This collaboration seems to be paying off. In the natural channel, Preserve products are best sellers in all of their lines and are now spreading into other channels as well. They are available nationally at Whole Foods Market and Target locations, and are additionally in a wide variety of natural food stores and grocery stores. They can also be found on Amazon.com and at their own website, www.preserveproducts.com. “Our aim has always been to reduce the impact caused by the industrial age,” said Webb. “On more of a consumer level, it’s 12

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you a product that has great style, that you’re glad to bring into your home and use, that performs as well as or better than other products that you could have bought, and if we can do it with better materials and a better process made closer to home so it has a reduced environmental impact, and sell it to you at a price that’s competitive with all the other products that are next to it on the shelf, then we’ve won. And that’s really what we aim to do—provide a great product that’s better for the earth and that delivers on what we all need.” Radius: Toothbrush of the Future

In the early 1980s, two architects living on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands made the decision to move away from architecture and “find an area of life that needed improving.” They shortly arrived at the toothbrush— an implement that had remained virtually unchanged since the 1950s. Appalled at the small-headed hard toothbrushes of the day, they became fascinated by the idea of a functional and enjoyable toothbrush. Research indicated that the major problem in oral hygiene was that of compliance—people didn’t use toothbrushes for long enough and tended to keep their toothbrushes for too long. Dentists believed that with diligence, teeth and gums could be perfectly maintained for a lifetime. So the two partners set out to make a toothbrush that was comfortable, efficient and fun to use. They carved their prototype out of wood, and the Radius toothbrush was born. The final design, launched in 1983, was about two-thirds the thickness of an Oral-B 40 and had four times more bristles. It came in right- or left-handed versions, and the body of the toothbrush was made of cellulose, a plant-based plastic.

“No one else had ever done anything with a handle that was so solid, beautiful and thick,” Saskia Foley, Radius executive vice president, told Organic Connections. “You didn’t want it too heavy, you didn’t want it to break, but you wanted some warmth to it. Cellulose was the chosen plastic because it’s made from wood and it comes from sustainableyield forests.” The company was not only using sustainable materials, it was having to evolve technologies in order to manufacture such radical toothbrush designs. One example is their toothbrush heads. “The bristles in the head are basically a complete redesign from everything that’s ever existed in terms of toothbrushes,” Foley explained. “The standard toothbrush has a head consisting of 55 tufts of bristles. The reason why those tufts exist in that number was largely determined by machine capabilities; machines can only go so fast. The solution for that was to make the holes in the heads bigger in order to fit more bristles into each hole. Fewer holes to drill and less time to make the product meant it was cheaper. However, fewer holes with a lot more bristles in them ends up being considerably tougher on the mouth, because the bristles won’t bend as much, due to being bound so tightly together.

Evolution in design and sustainable materials continue to be part and parcel of the Radius method of operation, and the company recently released a uniquely designed toothbrush—with a handle made from shredded dollar bills. “This past summer I was researching different materials and I came across old currency,” said Foley. “The United States Mint recalls old, worn-out bills from banks, gives the banks credit for them and then they are shredded. Sometimes people buy the shredded bills for gags and use them in gift boxes, but they’ve never been used in any kind of industrial sense. It looks great—very ‘bling-bling’— and it’s reusing something that would be thrown away regardless, and it mixes with recycled plastic.” Handles are also being made with recycled flax husks that are a wasted by-product of the linen production process. Along with toothbrushes, the company offers snazzy toothbrush, razor, soap and other travel cases as well as a selection of biodegradable silk and natural cranberry dental flosses. Radius products are available at Whole Foods Market, the Vitamin Shoppe, Bed Bath & Beyond and many other stores nationwide. To find a store near you, or to

no one else HaD eVeR Done anYtHinG WitH a HANDLE tHat Was so soliD, beautiFul anD tHiCk. You DiDn’t Want it too HeaVY, You DiDn’t Want it to bReak, but You WanteD soMe

wARmTH to it. Cellulose Was tHe CHosen PlastiC beCause it’s MaDe FRoM wOOD anD it CoMes FRoM SuSTAiNABLE-

YiELD FORESTS. “Our replacement bristle heads have 77 purchase direct, visit the company’s website tufts. The reason we can get that many is at www.radiustoothbrush.com. because we radiate the bristles. There is less plastic and there are substantially more Setting the Example bristles covering the surface of the plastic, allowing for twice as many bristles in your The “traditional” manufacturing model of mouth as with a standard toothbrush.” That producing goods from non-sustainable raw arrangement of bristles means that not only materials that are then simply wasted cannot do tight spots get brushed but gums are mas- continue—at least not on this planet. Companies would do well to look to Preserve and saged as well. Brushing longer is also a factor in good Radius as examples of the only future that is oral hygiene. Radius solves this problem truly open to us. with their Intelligent Toothbrush containing a two-minute timer, ensuring that the user brushes long enough. organic connections

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