Mar

What Seeds Vertical Farms? Creative Problem Solving!

by Janine Boylan on March 11, 2013

Growing plants, illustrating creative problem solving at The Plant Chicago

Vegetables growing in water at The Plant, Chicago
© Plant Chicago, NFP/Rachel Swenie

How “The Plant” in Chicago Inspired Me

You may have heard that “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” Headed by John Edel, the team at The Plant in Chicago is putting this concept to work—in farming. Their creative problem solving is directed at achieving truly sustainable food production.

Housed in a former meatpacking plant building, The Plant is an indoor vertical farm with a closed-loop production model. How does it work?

Aquaponics

First, there is an aquaponics system which occupies one-third of the former factory. Fresh-water tilapia fish are raised in large tanks. The fish produce waste, which becomes watery fertilizer for the vegetable plants growing nearby in hydroponic beds. In absorbing the fertilizer, the plants clean the water, which is then returned to the fish tanks. The fish help the plants; the plants help the fish.

fish, illustrating healthy relationships at The Plant Chicago

Tilapia thrive in water cleaned by the vegetable plants.
© Plant Chicago, NFP/Rachel Swenie

Tea, Mushrooms, Beer

But aquaponics is just part of the system, which also connects food productions in other sustainable ways. For example:

Garden and factory, illustrating healthy relationships

Outdoor garden and factory building at The Plant Chicago
© Plant Chicago, NFP/Rachel Swenie

The Plant brews kombucha, a fermented tea. The staff plans to connect the growing room to the fermenting room so that the air can circulate between them. The brewing process absorbs oxygen produced by the vegetable plants, and it gives back carbon dioxide that the plants need. Some estimates show that this carbon dioxide will improve plant growth up to 20%.
Mushrooms were selected for production because they are natural decomposers that thrive on the waste from the fish and the plants.
Eventually beer brewing will be added to the system. The grains left over from brewing are a waste product that can be used for fish food and mushroom bedding.

Not all the waste is currently being used. And that’s where the Digester comes in.

The Digester

An anaerobic digester is being installed to “consume” excess food, human, and fish waste. It will produce methane gas which will be converted to energy to run the growing lights and fish filters, as well as to provide heat and electricity.

In all the digester will keep 10,000 tons of waste a year out of landfills.

Oh, and one more part of the creative problem solving: All of The Plant’s food products provide healthy meals, cooked and served by small food businesses in other parts of the building.

Jim Parks of Today’s Green Minute summarizes in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMBxJTQqnRI

If video does not display, watch it here.

Closing Loops At Home

My OIC moment from The Plant? It is inspiring to see an urban, zero-waste model of food production, but it also inspired me to recognize several examples of “closed-loop” problem solving in my own life:

Donating construction materials I don’t need to the waste management site; obtaining wood chips from them to put in my yard.
Giving moving boxes to a friend who needs them; receiving things like craft paper and yarn that she doesn’t want to move.
Feeding food scraps to the worms in my worm bin; harvesting the fertilizer they produce and using it to grow more fruits and vegetables.

Just as plants grow 20% better because of the input of the kombucha, our communities grow stronger and stay cleaner when we practice this closed-loop problem solving!

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Janine Boylan Comments

Clever Ideas/Innovations

Feb

Creative Ways To Say “I Love You”

by Meredith Mullins on February 14, 2013

Marvelous spatuletail has a creative way to say I love you and teaches us a life lesson in the process.

The Marvelous Spatuletail and his elegant tail feathers.
© Crawford. H. Greenewalt/VIREO

Valentine Love Stories Reveal Life Lessons

How can you send a meaningful Valentine’s message in a memorable way?

Chocolates

Flowers

Romantic dinner

Soul-revealing poem

Champagne toast

A truthful pledge to your loved ones that you think about them every day and not just on the Hallmark holidays?

As you ponder how best to show your love on Valentine’s Day, we offer some wacky/weird love stories and “Oh, I see” moments—creative ways to say “I love you” from our feathered and spiny friends.

Are there life lessons here? Read on . . .

The Marvelous Spatuletail: Good Looks Aren’t Everything

The Marvelous Spatuletail hummingbird really doesn’t need the word “marvelous” in his title at all. He just is. The male has elegant tail feathers, like a fluid Calder mobile or a hat at a British royal wedding.

His “tails” cross each other in graceful arcs and end with vibrant violet blue discs. He can move these feathers independently like an expert exotic dancer whirls her tassels.

The Marvelous Spatuletail is great looking. But does he rest on looks alone? Not a chance. He’s almost extinct in his native Peruvian forest-edge habitat (deforestation is the cause), so he gives the mating ritual his all.

He twirls. He spins. He flaunts his spatules. And, for the grand finale, he revs up and frantically waves his tail feathers as he hovers in front of a female. Hey, look at me! Hey look at me! Who could resist?

If video does not display, watch it here.

His dance is flashy and his tail speed impressive. Does he really need all that show?

Oh, I see. There can be good reasons to show off a little (not the least of which is preventing your own extinction). But there can also be more to love than flash (and tail speed). As H. Jackson Brown, Jr. said

Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye.

The Bowerbird: Setting the Stage for Love

Some might call the bowerbird a perfectionist, or workaholic. But most will applaud his desire to make everything perfect for his mate. With the skill of an architect and the eye of a flawless interior decorator, his choices are thoughtful and thorough.

The bowerbird shows creative ways to say "I love you" and teaches us a life lesson about building a beautiful home.

The bowerbird hunting for tasteful decor for his bachelor pad
© Thinkstock

He builds an elaborate tower and then tastefully appoints his home with beetles, nuts, flowers, leaves, and pebbles, and all manner of shiny things.

These gathered treasures are neatly, and artistically, arranged by color to attract the female. If one thing is out of place, he gets fussy. No disorderly bachelor pad for him. Everything is categorized and organized.

When a potential mate is attracted by the treasure trove of decorations, the bowerbird begins his song and dance, hoping that his musical abilities (and interior design skills) will set just the right romantic mood.

Oh, I see. As Mother Teresa said:

Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do . . . but how much love we put in that action.

(And a word of advice, Mr. Bowerbird. Lighten up, nobody likes a control freak.)

The Seahorse: A True Romantic

How can something so sharp around the edges and so full of spiny armor be so romantic at heart? Seahorses are just plain old-fashioned. They believe in courtship, slow dancing, and holding hands (well, holding tails).

A seahorse couple faces each other as they show creative ways to say "I love you."

Seahorse couples can be seen floating side by side, with their tails intertwined, or even floating face to face, where their bodies conveniently form a heart shape . . . to put them in the mood for love.

When the mating ritual begins, they dance gracefully, swirling around each other seductively, looking deeply into each other’s stony eyes.

Add to that the fact that seahorses are monogamous and the male carries the eggs until they’re hatched, and you have the ingredients for a perfect relationship.

Oh, I see. Romance, a faithful relationship, and a sharing of family responsibilities are hard to resist. Or, as Tom Robbins said:

We waste time looking for the perfect lover, instead of creating the perfect love.

A Valentine Vote

Men and women may have different views on what makes for a good valentine. Weigh in and check back to see how results shape up.

[polldaddy poll=6897170]Women, if poll does not display, take it here .

[polldaddy poll=6897408]Men, if poll does not display, take it here .

This Valentine’s Day, creative ways to say “I Love You” abound. All you need is a little imagination.

At the end of the day, though, love is what you make it. And . . . when all else fails, shake a tail feather, baby.

Video VIA Greg R. Homel and The American Bird Conservancy.

Quotes VIA Brainy Quote

See David Attenborough’s bowerbird video.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Meredith Mullins 2 Comments

Clever Ideas/Life Lessons/Quotes of Note

Jan

Bubble Wrap Has a Simple Life Lesson

by Janine Boylan on January 28, 2013

Bubble wrap, showing the life lesson that some things are just fun

It’s Fun to Burst My Bubble (Wrap)

Monday, January 28, is Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day. Bubble wrap is a great packing material for keeping breakables whole, but, really, who can think about bubble wrap and not think about popping it?

So I started to wonder, why do people love to pop bubble wrap? I researched and found theories that bubble wrap’s allure comes from:

Janine Boylan 7 Comments

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